"This show/book/movie would be boring if they were a straight couple"

I posted this for my friends on a discord server but im gonna talk about it here as well since im falling slightly in love with blogging my thoughts on this site


i HATE when people critisize queer media with the argument that "if they weren't queer it would be boring!!" because holy fucking shit we need to all take a step back and think about context for a minute.

if a queer show has a main theme of queerness and queer struggles, then fucking of course its gonna be boring without the queer characters, because its just gonna be a boring straight romance with zero problems at all, like pretty much every single straight romance ever.

the whole point of a piece of media is to see how the characters make their way through the struggles they endure and sometimes those struggles just so happen to be related to being queer.

for me it's sort of like saying that Lord of the Flies would be boring without all the conflict, because yes OF FUCKING COURSE LORD OF THE FLIES WOULD BE BORING WITHOUT CONFLICT ITS A MAIN THEME OF THE FUCKING BOOK!



on the other hand, if a piece of media does rely on queerness to make a ship look good and NOT have it be a main theme in the media, that *can* actually show weak writing.

like Heartstopper is not a perfect comic/show, however it is good because it talks about queer struggles and provides good social commentary (whilst also just being a very feel good franchise overall).

on the other hand, HELLUVA BOSS IS BAD BECAUSE THEY RELY ON BLITZO AND STOLAS BEING A GAY COUPLE TO BE PERCIEVED AS A GOOD PAIRING, genuinely imagine how much criticism the show would get if blitzo was a woman, that shit would be torn to SHREDS, much more than it already is -_- (similarly, the problem of a boring queer romance pretending to be good because its queer is very relevant in hazbin hotel too with Charlie and her girlfriend that i cant remember the name of).


i just find the argument that queer media would be boring if it weren't queer to be very strange and seems to just be another way of tearing down any representation the lgbtq community gets because trust me, while heartstopper is not perfect at all it has done wonders for talking about actual problems in the lgbt community, ESPECIALLY in season 3 with Elle and the discussion of trans issues which is particularly relevant at the moment.