According to a Gallup poll from February 2021, LGBTQ+ identification has risen to 5.6%. This is a slight rise from 3.5% in 2012. Although these numbers seem miniscule, it’s important to remember that media, along with social, cultural, and political discourse, have rapidly changed in the last decade. Indeed, there has been a continuing parade of LGBTQ+ characters in both film and television along with diverse portrayals of queer culture in overall mainstream storytelling. Film and television, in particular, have always either contributed or responded to nondiegetic conversations of social and political norms.
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On top of that, the increased popularization of the superhero genre has served as a sort of creative cushion for exploring contentious—and, in many ways, eruptive—topics in present society. It seems instinctive, then, that such a genre, with its finger on the pulse of timely issues, would inevitably feature a queer superhero lead. The CW’s Batwoman, in fact, has taken that crown. Bringing the bisexual hero—now Black and bisexual—is a step in the right direction in terms of diverse and equitable representation in media. What’s happening today in America is directly relected in and through Batwoman. Here’s why she is an important figure on television.
Batwoman Belongs to Two Massively Underrepresented Groups
Batwoman is somewhat of an experimental series in that it’s propitiously juggling many themes in a cohesive manner that ultimately challenge the perception of who is allowed to be a superhero. Previous superhero movies predominantly offered a uniform “straight, white, and male” image of a hero. What’s more, representation in movies and tv, in general, have historically offered little opportunities for those who aren’t straight, white, or male—and, if they did, there were more often than not delegated to small, supporting, and rather odd roles, playing characters whose sole purpose was to be a mirror to the dysfunction of a generally white, cisgender, straight, and male protagonist.
Now, with Batwoman being an unapologetically bisexual and Black woman, Batwoman has now assigned itself to two massively underrepresented groups. As such, stories surrounding same-sex attraction and romance and narratives that respond to the Black Lives Matter movement all have opportunities to be a focal and grounding point on primetime television, opportunities that weren’t typically accessible before.
Batwoman’s Casting Was Done Right
The first season of Batwoman saw Ruby Rose as the titular character. While LGBTQ+ characters featured prominently in many primetime telvision series by the time Batwoman premiered, it was ultimately revolutionary for an openly gay actress like Rose to play an openly gay character and, on top of it all, an openly gay superhero. More significantly, even with Rose’s much publicized and scrutinized departure, Javicia Leslie’s consequent casting kept in line with the producers’ continued desire to have an LGBTQ+ actor play the caped crusader. As a Black and queer actor, Leslie’s take on Batwoman has been a has been a supplemental addition to an already marginalized character. Also with Leslie’s arrival, there have been stories involving Black Lives Matter, police brutality, social inequity and the educational deficit that permeates racialized communities in America. For many comic books fans, Batwoman has been a slight beacon for groups who have felt restrained by the perceived American dream.
Batwoman Ultimately Transcends Ratings
Generally, with a little under a million viewers for each episode, Batwoman is transcending ratings and becoming what some superhero installments of the past have only professed to do: deliver diverse and nuanced storytelling and representation. For parts of American society, Batwoman is viewed as simple cultural continuity—another television show that goes along with the rapid influx of openly gay characters dominating numerous shows on endless streaming platforms and networks. For those who have been longing for intentional queer representation in media, this feels like a soft form of vindication. No longer are gay characters delegated to a public squaller of stereotypes. A strong, self-sufficient superhero is now part of the equation. A superhero who has romantic, succesful relationships with someone who happens to be the same gender. As with anything, the full scale of social change that Batwoman is making probably won’t be fully appreciated in present time. But as Batwoman moves forward with season 3, and as Leslie’s Ryan Wilder rightfully takes up space on our screens, it’s inevitable that other television series—superhero and otherwise—will finally allow characters (and, significantly, actors and other artists) with similarly marginalized experiences the same.
