I’ve become a fan of the BBC show “Torchwood”. It’s a spinoff of Doctor Who, of which my brother is a lifelong fan, so it was pretty much a given that I’d watch it at some point. (A fair bit better, and so far more successful, than the other recent spinoff “Sarah Jane Adventures” – which is also coming to BBC America, I think.) One of the unusual things about the show is that everyone on it is bisexual. Yes, everyone. And they show it. Everyone’s had some sort of same-sex encounter (by the end of just the first season) although it’s been a one-off for most of them.
When I heard about “the bi thing” for it, I was a bit skeptical, honestly. It seemed to be the sort of thing that might have arisen from An Agenda on the part of the executive producer, who’s gay. “Can’t give the Doctor too much of a sex life, or we’ll lose the show – ooh, let’s create a spinoff team of Gay Alien-Busters! No, wait, we’ll get more of a soap-opera drama angle if we make everyone bi. Then we can get a decade’s worth of love triangles out of it. And stick a finger in the eye of Narrow-Minded Tradition, too!” And indeed:
Without making it political or dull, this is going to be a very bisexual programme. I want to knock down the barriers so we can’t define which of the characters is gay. We need to start mixing things up, rather than thinking, ‘This is a gay character and he’ll only ever go off with men.’
(So perhaps it’s not intentionally “political”, but it’s still “polemic” – I’d rather see shows that simply present things as “this is our view of how things could be, and see? doesn’t it work out rather nicely?” Although Torchwood’s writers have done a rather better job than some shows – and books!)
Aside from some boy-kisses and a smaller number of girl-kisses, there’s two appealing sides to the bi-ness. First, there’s an underlying implication that the person inside matters more than the anatomy they have, when it comes to falling in love. (Or else that anatomy doesn’t stop someone from becoming a convenient target of lust, for a slightly less positive take on it.) Of course, that’s only because they’re edgy enough to “knock down the barriers” and “mix things up”… Right, can’t show people who just happen to be bi, any more than you can show a group of friends which just happens to include someone with a different color of skin. Gotta be deliberate about these things or people might Miss the Point that it’s OK to be “different” – so long as everyone’s aware that you’re different. Why, they might even manage to forget that Differences Matter.
*coughs* *steps off the soap box* Yes, well. Where was I…
Second, it makes for some very interesting contact. Not to be too much of a spoiler, but: The main cast is five alien-hunters stationed in Wales, who find aliens and other dangers that come through a “time rift” in Cardiff. The boss is “Captain” Jack Harkness, who seems to prefer men; the other two male characters are Owen (seems to prefer women, but went home for a threesome with a guy and his gf) and Ianto (now involved with Jack). There’s a lot of touching involved – between Jack and Ianto, obviously, but Jack is still “allowed” surprisingly close to Owen sometimes. (That is, Owen doesn’t immediately jump back when Jack’s closer than six inches.) They don’t paw at each other all the time, or generally overdo it, but definitely touch more than “usual”. (Unless the rules are just very different in the UK.)
Downside: How much of the “extra touch” is OK only because “they’re all bi”? Owen and Ianto don’t touch each other more than “usual”. Toshiko and Gwen (the two women, both of whom have had only brief flings with women, in one case under the influence of drugs) don’t touch each other more than “usual” either. So really the only one who’s “knocking down the barriers” (with respect to personal space) is … Jack, the alien.
So much for being “edgy” and showing everyone that skin contact between males does not immediately cause them to start Doing It.
