Ups for Batwoman
I’m on vacation and still trying to keep a posting schedule! Forgive the typos. I’ll edit this better from home. It’s Friday Fluff!
I’m so annoyed that nobody told me about Batwoman, y’all — for realz!
A show about an androgynous, queer, likely lesbian who identifies as a woman (a bat woman to be precise). She, Kate Kane, happens be cousins with Bruce Wayne (who is secretly the Batman for those who don’t follow pop culture). Bruce and Batman have been missing for three years. Kate puts on the suit and cape (after a fleek tailoring) to dip into some criminal shit. After sightings, people assume Batman’s return.
Batman’s enemies crawl out if the woodwork. To stave that Kate dons slick ass red tresses and paints the bat-shaped chest plate (and lush mouth) bright red. Actor Ruby Rose, rocks as the lady in bat-clothes.
[!!!Spoiler Alert!!!]
Kate’s father, Colonel Kane, runs the private militia (Crows) on contract to keep the city on lock. She don’t seem to like him that much. He won’t let her be part if the the militia, which turns out to be pretty effective, other than the blatant terrorism of their posturing with heavy weapons. It’s still problematic when there’s no apparent oversight for these hired guns. Kate was raised by a single parent (the aforementioned Colonel) after her mother and twin sister died in a horrible car crash (I warned about the spoilers). The Colonel blames Batman.
Kate had a romantic relationship with Sophie, who is a Crow (and, by extension, the Colonel’s) agent. Sophie gets kidnapped by the villain of the piece, prompting Kate to put the suit on. In other words, the romance aligns with the romantic track of every other superhero. The gender of the characters is not part of the drama or discussion. It doesn’t avoid the reality of being queer (there are assholes who try to diminish Kates value). There’s also the bullshit that anyone who is not cis, straight, White and male face in the workplace. It’s not what Kate is even trying to care about. She’s Batwoman. She rolls her eyes and bat-cables the f*ck on.
There is a love triangle that introduces a penis into the mix, but gender isn’t the focus as much as the romantic betrayal. Instead of tripping that her former girlfriend is a little closety (but mostly just bi) she moves on to someone else who identifies and a queer woman (at least they jump right into the bed without a second of conflict). Yes, Kate is a player like most other wealthy bachelors are portrayed in action movies (my name is Kane…Kate Kane).
It’s a frigging action adventure that passes the Bechdel test. Two women who have names…not talking about men. Even the use of cosmetics is a conscious choice by a character who generally could give two flying ducks (quack quack) for outward appearances. She breaks out the wig (Kate wears her shit cropped close) and throws on the bright lipstick to Telegraph that she is not Batman. Her mouth and chin are all you can see of her. The red hair is basically a second cape. One might call Kate “butch,” but her “male” performance is really gender non-conformance.
The villain is also female. She is in fact Kate’s sister, who was believed to have died years before. What? There are few cis male characters and the most prominent of those is BIPOC (web search it) and of unspecified gender and orientation. By default that makes this character queer. They are the “Alfred” (the “sidekick”). As far as action adventure TV shows go, it hits all the notes. It’s not brilliance, but as much as can be expected from a network series. Where’s my Buffy fans? Why has the show been around for three years and no one told me we had that representation?
The point is, queer and trans people get almost zero screen time where our gender and sexuality aren’t half (if not the whole) drama. If anything, we get erased. If we don’t uplift the few examples we have of queer in the mainstream, who will? Sorry to put this in the shoulders of queer people and their allies, but our girl needs us. Act right!
