Monday, 27 November 2017

EASING INTO IT: Riverdale, BoJack Horseman, and Asexual Representation Done Right

Jughead #4 (Archie Comics, 2016).

In 2016, Archie Comics released “Jughead #4”, in which Jughead Jones, a main character in the Archie universe, is revealed to be canonically asexual. When Archie was adapted to television, Riverdale was born and promptly projected into stardom, creating an incredibly rare opportunity for representation to escape niche/indie media and receive immediate mainstream attention. Yet despite the acclaim it could have collected for this bold choice, it seems the CW has decided to pass on that opportunity: Jughead’s asexuality has yet to be acknowledged, and has as good as been erased entirely since he began dating Betty Cooper in the debut season.

I am a firm believer that asexuality is embarrassingly underrepresented in education, popular media, and critical study. I regularly reminisce on the years of soul-searching and sexual discovery I could have skipped in my teens if only there had been asexual characters to whom I could relate, so it saddens me to see the CW take what I consider to be a cowardly step in the wrong direction, in terms of diversifying popular culture. Erasure of any sort is pretty despicable -- removing an aspect of a character’s identity to make them more consumable, and thus easier to monetise, is an oppressive and morally ugly act. However, I would argue that if Riverdale’s showrunners were simply determined to follow the ‘Bughead’ storyline, the erasure of Jughead’s asexuality was probably wise.

In all honesty, I don’t think that the public is ready to understand asexuality in a context as complex as an asexual Riverdale-universe Jughead would require. Jughead being asexual, and also being in a committed romantic relationship, is certainly not a unique or out-of-the-ordinary phenomenon -- heck, that literally describes my own relationship status. But only recently has the public become conscious of the fact that asexuality even exists. My mom is a really good example: she’s awesome, and very accepting of my sexuality, but as a heterosexual woman, on a fundamental level, she still struggles to understand asexuality as a concept. It contradicts her entire understanding of sex and sexuality. Currently, audiences are only just beginning to grasp a general understanding of asexuality -- to complicate the matter at this point in time would be confusing and disorienting, stagnating awareness as opposed to propelling it forward. To quote Jennifer Barkley when Leslie Knope suggests that she is “underestimating the [public]”, “I don’t think that’s possible” when asexuality is so antithetical to a majority of human nature.

So how do we begin to represent asexuality? This is the part where I indulge myself and rant about something that I love: BoJack Horseman. A dark but hysterical satire set in a Hollywood where humans and anthropomorphic animals peacefully coexist, BoJack Horseman is known for two things: its knack for hilarious, stupid, and well-timed animal puns; and its daringly candid commentary on relevant social issues,  such as the toxicity of modern celebrity culture, the epidemic of drug abuse and alcoholism in Hollywood, as well as dedicated episodes on abortion controversy, sexual assault and rape culture, gun violence and failing legislation, all that fun stuff.  (I promise it is also really fucking funny.) BoJack has received endless critical acclaim for its topical subject matter, existential musings, and nihilistic sense of humour, but its fourth season, released on September 8th, has people talking for a slightly different reason: Todd Chavez, loveable former sidekick to the titular character, discovers that he is asexual.

With this reveal, BoJack does what Riverdale, so intent on utilising romantic entanglement as a dramatic tool, cannot: it introduces asexuality in a way that the public can easily digest. (Disclaimer: I know that it isn’t the responsibility of the asexual community, and those choosing to represent it, to coddle the masses as they struggle to empathise with this ‘alien’ take upon sexuality. I’m just hypothesising on the best ways to introduce asexuality, as I know first-hand how non-asexual people can struggle to understand it.) BoJack has a knack for simplifying asexuality without dumbing it down. In S03E12, before Todd’s asexuality was even specifically labelled, Todd confides in a friend,

 I’m not gay! I mean, I don’t think I am, but -- I don’t think I’m straight,
either. I don’t know what I am. I think I might be nothing.  

 Here, Todd’s self-discovery begins, at a point where he is just as in the dark about the existence and meaning of asexuality as almost everyone else in the world. In S04E01, the same friend tells Todd that she wants a boyfriend “who isn’t asexual”, putting a label on Todd’s uncertainty. In “Jughead #4”, this is where all discussion of Jughead’s asexuality is completed -- and in fact, it’s more of a throwaway line than any sort of formal acknowledgement of diversity. In BoJack, the word ‘asexual’ isn’t used to label Todd and thus explain away his behaviour. It starts a conversation, both between the characters on the show and between the show and its audience. It also creates a new story arc for the show that follows Todd as he discovers, and comes to terms with, his asexuality, focusing on positive, accurate representation and also emphasising the process one goes through as they strike a path alternative to heteronormative society.

That’s the wonderful thing about BoJack’s depiction of asexuality: the asexual viewer enjoys empathising with, and relating to, Todd’s journey -- enjoys, in short, representation -- and the non-asexual viewer goes on that journey with him, learning about asexuality at the same time as Todd does. Asexuality is not too complicated as an isolated subject matter, especially to me, an asexual person who only felt understood once I learned what asexuality was. Yet it is a statistical abnormality, and while it most certainly isn’t “weird” or wrong, it is unusual, and difference of such a calibre can be difficult to understand. Not impossible; just difficult. BoJack is helping to ease the under-educated into it. By documenting Todd’s journey from its very genesis, the viewer not only learns from Todd; they learn with him, too, and develop a corresponding empathy.

So what’s the next step for Todd Chavez and BoJack Horseman? In my opinion, the way forward is clear: season 4 was the introduction. The next few seasons should be the body paragraphs, where the real discussion begins. I think the next move from the writers should be to take the leap that Riverdale backed away from. With Todd’s asexuality established not only as an aspect of his personality, but also as a storyline on the show, BoJack now has the opportunity to take things up a notch and potentially focus on portraying the more complicated side of asexuality -- the side of asexuality Riverdale dropped the ball on by failing to acknowledge Jughead’s asexuality when he began dating Betty. (Of course, Todd being single and asexual is perfectly adequate. I’m just spitballing here.) I’m all for easing the viewer into it, for educating an audience on an unfamiliar concept in a simple and accessible way. I’m also all about challenging audiences, because we can’t just keep coddling them forever. BoJack has laid the foundations of representation and awareness with its touching, honest, and brilliant fourth season, and now it’s time to raise the stakes.

WORKS CITED
Webpages/articles

 Comic books/comic strips
  • Henderson, Erica and Chip Zdarsky. “Jughead #4.” Archie Comics, 10 Feb. 2016.

 TV episodes
  • BoJack Horseman, S03E12: “That Went Well”.
  • BoJack Horseman, S04E01: “See Mr. Peanutbutter Run”.
  • Parks and Recreation, S07E09: “Pie-Mary”. (I can’t be fucked citing TV shows in MLA)
Posted by Sarah Tribble at 23:04

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