(WARNING: May contain spoilers regarding The CW’s The 100, Supernatural, and Supergirl)
The CW and the LGBTQ+ community have a long, complicated past. In it’s earlier days(before 2016) the TV network did an exceptional job at presenting genuine, LGBT+ characters. We had Charlie from Supernatural, Josh Rosza from The Originals, and Sara Lance and Nyssa al Ghul from Arrow. But once The 100 was born, things started getting rocky. In case you’ve never seen the show, the basic plot points surround the story of Clarke Griffin, who is one of 100 delinquents sent down from space to learn if earth is inhabitable after some few hundred years since the 21st century. LGBT+ characters don’t show up until season 2, however, where we meet Commander Lexa. One of the best things the CW has ever done to date was their demonstration of a genuine relationship between two powerful females. Leader of what we’ll call her clan, known as Skaikru, Clarke slowly but surely found herself falling for Commander Lexa, leader of the opposing clan, Trikru Grounders. Their relationship was vastly different from any previously demonstrated in entertainment. Both Clarke and Lexa struggled with their feelings for each other, the balance between love and survival all too inconsistent in such a universe as presented in The 100. They had their ups, downs, and in-betweens, as any relationship should. Often in mainstream TV shows, LGBT+ relationships are kept to the side characters only, and on the odd occasion the main character is LGBT+, those relationships generally aren’t explored to as deep a depth as straight, cisgender pairings. The 100 truly is an exception, for Clarke’s and Lexa’s relationship not only overshadowed any other relationship in the show, but definitely took up the most screen time and had the most impact on the show’s future episodes since season 2. We saw Clarke and Lexa fall for each other, and after a season and a half of self-doubt and struggle, the two girls officially got together.
And then Lexa died.
Yeah, there’s no punchline here. In the very same episode Clarke and Lexa got together, only a few minutes after the exact scene, Lexa was shot.
I still remember how I felt that night, watching Lexa bleed out as Clarke held her body close. I was sad, but not solely because of Lexa’s death. I was mad, but not because Clarke and Lexa would never be together now. I was suddenly hopeless, but not for some fictional TV show’s fate. All of these emotions were a direct result of betrayal. The fact is, Lexa was killed off for dramatic effect. In fact, Clarke and Lexa only allowed themselves to get together because they knew they would be departing in a matter of hours. Clarke had made the decision to return to her clan’s capital as a dictatorial leader had stolen power and was running amok. But she wouldn’t leave without granting her this one bit of happiness and freedom; she wouldn’t leave without making sure Lexa knew she loved her. Thus, Lexa didn’t have to die. The two girls could have gotten together then easily departed, all without Lexa ever dying. From the get-go of the episode, we knew we wouldn’t be seeing Lexa for a long time as a result of Clarke’s departure. So what was the point in shooting her? Lexa, a powerful lesbian commander, killed from a single bullet? To make matters worse, she didn’t die in battle. She merely went to check up on Clarke, who at the time was fleeting a murderous prophet, Lexa’s own mentor. The bullet was meant for Clarke, but hit Lexa as she walked into the room. Killing off a lesbian character for no good reason is one thing, but the way Lexa died was down right embarrassing. At the very least, she should have died in a way that preserved her legacy.
Of all the queer-baiting The CW has done (and there is indeed more), the death of Lexa was the most close to home. As a teenage girl, it was inspiring to see two girls struggle with their mutual attraction and find it within themselves to pursue who they really are. I saw my confidence in Lexa, and I saw my stubbornness in Clarke. I saw my strength in their relationship. At a time where my sexuality was merely a mess of question marks and unbalanced equations, Clarke and Lexa provided me with answers. A fictional relationship it was indeed, but the representation of a bisexual female falling in love with a gay female was what I needed to find myself. It was definitely a slap in the face to LGBT+ viewers to see their favorite relationship ruined merely for the purpose of dramatic effect.
Moreover, we must not forget about the death of Charlie from Supernatural, a lesbian character who again was killed off for dramatic effect. Aside from these tragic deaths, the CW has introduced more queer-baiting with it’s new show, Riverdale. In the first episode, the two main female characters, Betty and Veronica, kissed- but it was only for show; a random act. It was a scene created purely to attract LGBT+ viewers, and unless the show changes its plans somewhere along the way, no relationship is blooming between the girls. (And do we even need to mention the disastrous casting of Cole Sprouse?)
Overall, the history of The CW is truly a mess of silver linings and disaster. Unless, that is, they can begin repairing their reputation with their hit show, Supergirl. The show’s title says it all: Supergirl centers around the life of superhero Kara Danvers, the cousin of Superman. Consequently, one of the main characters is 20-something Alex Danvers, Kara’s very-human sister. From the very beginning of season 2, Alex encounters an NCPD officer named Maggie Sawyer. The two get off to a rocky start, but eventually become good friends. Such good friends, in fact, that Alex learns Maggie is an open lesbian. Eventually, Alex begins realizing she has feelings for Maggie, and it takes a handful of episodes for Alex to accept her sexuality and officially come out to her friends and family (all of whom accept her). A few episodes later, and Alex and Maggie officially become a couple. While Alex’s coming out story is essential for any struggling LGBT+ person to watch, the focus of this article isn’t the gritty details regarding Alex. Instead, the focus is all on the enigma that is Maggie Sawyer.
This past Monday, February 20th, a Valentines Day-themed episode of Supergirl aired. While the episode surely didn’t focus too much on the relationship between Alex and Maggie, they did get enough screen-time for us to learn Maggie hates Valentines Day. She tells Alex that the holiday is dumb and that every day should be an opportunity for one to express their love for their partner. Alex, of course, still wants to do something special for her girlfriend, and decides to throw Maggie a surprise Valentines celebration. When Maggie walks in on the surprise, however, she becomes furious.
This is where we learn about Maggie’s troubled past. As a child, Maggie quickly picked up on her feelings towards girls and only girls. At the age of 14, she realized she had a major crush on her best friend, Elisa. On Valentines Day, Maggie wrote Elisa a card revealing all of her repressed, romantic feelings and asked Elisa to dance with her at a school event. Elisa replied by showing the card to her mom, who then called Maggie’s parents and outed Maggie. From there, things went even more downhill. Maggie’s dad quickly kicked her out of the house, and she was forced to live with her aunt for three years. We learn that Maggie hates Valentines Day not because it’s a superficial holiday, but because it marks the day she was shamed for accepting who she is. On top of that, by the end of the episode we see Alex and Maggie work through Maggie’s traumatic past, all leading up to twelve important words:
“Alex, you’re the only one who could make me like Valentines Day.”
A powerful background story, The CW has taken a bold move in demonstrating such a realistic, hard-hitting struggle that the LGBT+ community often deals with. Plenty of LGBT+ people have been kicked out of their homes for coming out, or have suffered the trauma of being outed. A realistic relationship between two girls is important representation, but now the writers of Supergirl are exploring these lesbian characters and making them real for the LGBT+ community. This phenomenon shouldn’t be surprising- it should be commonplace to have three-dimensional LGBT+ characters from walks of all life. But on the fact that it is indeed a seldom practice, we’re glad Supergirl’s Maggie Sawyer (and Alex Danvers) has a story the community can relate to. The CW has made mistakes that cannot be redeemed. After all, killing The 100s Lexa with a stray bullet for no good reason remains burned in the minds of many. But at the very least, the relationship between Maggie and Alex is refreshing and inspirational for anyone struggling with their sexuality(or who simply wants to see their orientation represented).
Let’s just hope Maggie doesn’t get shot by a stray bullet.
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