lauren3210

How to Get Away with Murder

I'm still very in love with this show, even though I'm disappointed that Michaela's not a lesbian (I was hoping for it okay). I'll admit I wasn't very impressed with her storyline about her fiancee and Connor's past together, because that came across as very bisexual erasing - her anger over not being told about a past relationship "with a boy" and asking him if he's gay was very irritating for me to watch. But I think I understood where she was coming from? She has a very specific life planned out for herself, one that will eventually lead to the public eye, and her husband having a previous relationship with someone of the same gender would cause a scandal (sigh, society) that she doesn't want to deal with, I guess. But it was still annoying, and I kind of hate her a little bit now. I was also becoming a bit concerned that the gay sex was being used as a gimmick; look at us being all progressive and shit, which no, that's still not representation folks, but it's seemed to have evened itself out a bit now, which I'm grateful for - I don't just want to watch a show about queerness, I'd like it to be normalised and just a part of the overall characterisation, which it seems to be now. I'm super into the murder mystery aspect still, and I haven't yet worked out the story behind the flash forwards which is a bonus for me; I'm usually very good at working this stuff out way before the reveal, but this show is keeping me on my toes. So far this show remains my no.1 anticipated episode of the week.

The Fosters

My friends Judith and Ellis encouraged me to watch this show, which is currently in its second season, and I marathoned all the episodes over the weekend and I'm in love. Two moms bringing up a mix of biological, adopted, and fostered teenagers and all the trials that come with these issues, and it's just such a lovely show. It's got a lot of good representation too - a transgender teen, latin@ and their culture, a biracial character and her struggles with where she fits in, a kid struggling with ADD, a young boy learning that he might be gay, I could go on and on. it doesn't shy away from addressing any of the problems that exist in society today and deals with them all frankly and sensitively. Because of this, I would urge anyone considering watching it to be aware that some things may be triggering to watch - I was triggered quite badly over an episode and had to go sob in a ball in the corner of my room for a few hours - but they're all things that I think need to be discussed openly, and this show is amazing at what it does.

The Flash; Constantine; Gotham

I am loving The Flash; it's cheesy in all the right ways and just tries to have fun, and I'm enjoying it very much. I watched the first couple of episodes of Constantine, but wasn't overly impressed. Then I read that the producers have decided to make the character straight rather than bisexual as he is in the comics, so I am noping the fuck out of there - queer erasure is a guarantee that I will not give you any of my time, and I'm kind of expecting this show to be cancelled fairly soon. And I've given up on Gotham too, because young catwoman was literally one of the very few good things about this show, and she's not in it anywhere near enough to keep me interested, even if Jada Pinkett Smith is awesome. Sorry, lady, I still love you though.

Returning shows I'm still keeping up with:

I'm still watching Grimm, because the main dude is hotter than hell, and it's still cheesy and fun. Plus I have no ships to cry about, and sometimes I just need that, to not be so invested in ships that ain't gonna happen, lol. Supernatural is getting worse and worse, please, for the love of God, let this season be the last, because I can't give it up but it's actually becoming painful to watch. Bones and Castle are still fun to watch, as is Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., but nothing to really get excited about anymore. The same goes for Criminal Minds (dear lord, when are they going to give me my Derek/Penelope ship IT HAS TO HAPPEN OKAY IT JUST HAS TO). Grey's Anatomy is still awesome, although I'm very upset that Callie and Arizona seem to be splitting up, why can't I just have ONE ship go right??? OH, and White Collar came back on last week for its sixth and final season. Now, I've never shipped the Neal/Peter ship; I just really love their friendship and was always happy with it the way it was. But then, they go ahead and put the line "so you chose Neal over your wife" in there and now I'm all kinds of conflicted! I think I might have picked up another ship. God damn it.

It's possible I watch way too many shows. Oh well, I have to go catch up with The 100, apparently this is also a show I just have to watch...

Has anyone else seen this show yet? Because I've been basically freaking out over how good it is for the entire weekend. Anyone who knows me, knows that equal representation in mainstream media is a Big Thing for me. I was raised a feminist, I am queer, I suffer from mental health disorders, and I'm mixed race, and even now, at the tender age of 33, I can count the number of TV characters that represent me on one hand, and still have fingers left over to swear at all the heteronormativity. But this show? Yeah, How To Get Away With Murder is like a visual template on how representation works.

The first episode managed to break some kind of premiere episode viewership numbers record, and after watching it with my jaw on the floor, I can see why. So far this show has given me: an even mix of white characters and POCs; interacial couples; female characters not just there to look pretty or drive the male character's narrative; queer characters with queer sex happening; straight sex where the female wasn't hypersexualised for the male gaze, and WOCs in professional positions. Oh, and Alfie Enoch, who as we all know, played Dean Thomas in the HP films as one of the main characters.

The writer of the show, Peter Nowalk, has assured us that the queer sex wasn't just a gimick for the premiere, and will be seen sporadically through the show, because he believes that it's a part of life, and that the reason why people can get uncomfortable with it is because we just don't see it often enough. This is something I have said many times, what with life imitating art, and all that jazz, so I am backing this dude all the way. I think he might be my new favourite person.

Oh, and it has a murder mystery! Those are always fun, right?

Anyway, for anyone who hasn't seen it, I urge you to do so, even if legal dramas aren't usually your cup of tea. Because we need to let this show know that they're doing representation right, and let other shows know it too, so that hopefully they pull their thumbs out their heteronormative asses and get on board the equality train.

Come and tell me what you think if you've seen it, or even if you haven't! <3