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#it's still pretty damn subjective and like i know there's some things i consider queerbaiting that others don't
teacupsandcyanide · 3 years
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in all seriousness when i say “queerbaiting” i mean the phenomenon it actually refers to, this SPN nonsense of repeatedly manipulating the viewers - in an arguably deliberate way - into thinking queer stuff is going to be canonised and played out. and by that i mean having Cas tell Dean he loves him late enough in the game that they didn’t have to play it out, but early enough that they could wring in some more viewers for the finale - and then not acknowledging that moment at all. capitalising on the queer audience’s desire to be included and validated in order to up the success of their show, but not actually truly including or validating the queer audience. 
it’s a very specific set-up of ‘baiting’ and then setting the goalposts back, or (at the end of the show) acting as though those scenes never happened in the first place. the homoerotic moments have no effect on the plot, the relationships, the arcs - they are not significant or meaningful, but narratively identical heterosexual/normative moments are treated as significant and meaningful.
i understand that what qualifies as “baiting” is so subjective that people now overuse queerbaiting to mean "homophobic writing of any kind,” or even “presence of any level of queer subtext without direct canonisation” - which is wider thing that queerbaiting exists as a subset of. and personally i think that that wider thing isn’t always bad, isn’t always good, whereas queerbaiting is by nature insidious and homophobic. but i think “queerbaiting” is a very useful word that describes a specific  phenomenon and it’s good to remind ourselves what it actually means, so as not to lose the word all together.
#it's still pretty damn subjective and like i know there's some things i consider queerbaiting that others don't#and some things others consider queerbaiting that i don't#depends on where you draw lines#but it would be nice to talk about that phenomenon without it getting muddle with#'ship that has queer subtext but isn't canonically queer'#or#'ship that has queer subtext and it's unclear if it's canonical'#like i think queerbaiting requires SUCH overdoing of the baiting part#often using the parasocial relationship between creators and fans#to tease that queer things will happen and then not delivering#and it's a long term and often cyclical thing#where the queer ship or character is brought to focus whenever ratings are going pear-shaped#there's a direct line between Queer Content Promised and 'Profit'#and then the content not being queer or being really homophobic and non-committal#like yes#maybe the angel will confess hi love#but then he'll immediately die#and then it'll never be acknowledged in the same way a het love confession absolutely would be#and you'll never see the ramifications of it play out at all#it'll be as if it never happened#or a very gay moment will be uh#immediately followed by a moment that loudly corrects it back to heteronormativity#without acknowledging the double standard of moment 1 meaning nothing and moment 2 being Significant#honestly queerbaiting is just bad writing adjklsjdf bc it leads ur viewers in circles#bc it's DELIBERATELY confusing and unnconnected#hmp12
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abrilstevens · 6 years
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What would be the pros and cons of Beronica being a canon pairing (if the CW made Betty and Veronica a couple)?
hmm well i can think of a few cons right off the back tbh:
i’d be afraid they’d only do it for ratings, like maybe having them make out just for the sake of a sweeps week promo or something. i mean, they’ve already proven they’re fine with using queerbait ads to draw in an audience, so it’s not like i have a whole lot of confidence that they wouldn’t take that further (i know some people think they already did with the first beronica kiss, but i think that’s debatable)
my faith in their abilities to portray a non-stereotypical, unoffensive wlw relationship is so, so small lmao. i could definitely see both of the characters being bi, especially veronica, but the writers being able to convey that in a realistic way? idk. if they were made canon, i would bet good money that it wouldn’t be shown the same way as the Real Couples (i say that sarcastically, obviously, but i mean b.ughead and v.archie and b.archie)
THE CHERYL/JOSIE THING. god. i’m not sure they could have picked a worse way to explore cheryl’s sexuality than using the Predatory Lesbian trope. i mean, unless they used the Dead Lesbian trope. that would be worse (but i’m not 100% confident they still won’t pull another lexa, so). using that gross trope just proves to me that canon beronica would be a god damn mess.
pros:
i mean, representation. obviously. if it were done well, we would have two bisexual girls, one who is a woc, in a relationship on a huge network and a fairly popular show. the amount of young bisexual girls who would see that and realize it’s totally okay and normal to like boys and girls (and everyone in between)?? that would be huge
deviating from the heteronormativity. god. i think we all know that we are going to end up with some combination of the core four getting together by the end of riverdale. it’ll probably either be b.archie and j.eronica or v.archie and b.ughead. and like, i get it, it’s based on the archie comics, so that’s to be expected. but wouldn’t it be nice to mix things up a little along the way? i personally am already kind of tired of the whole ber.onchie love triangle and it’s only been 1 and a ½ seasons. what if we get 8 seasons of that? YAWN
this one’s more subjective, but i think betty and veronica have such a great dynamic and a lot of chemistry. it would be so much fun to watch them interact as a couple just because of how different they are and how they play off each other. it’s already one of the best parts of the show (in my opinion) when they team up for sleuthing missions or whatever because they work so well together despite their entirely different personalities. veronica’s so attached to betty, too, which is strange considering how long they’ve known each other. the whole “i feel like we were meant to be friends” thing? girl. that’s gay. and this season when betty was so distraught over ruining their friendship so she could protect veronica? i may biased, but i think it was pretty comparable to how upset she was about ruining her relationship with jughead. anyways, my point: they both already have really strong feelings about each other platonically, so i feel like that could be easily translated into romantic feelings if the writers decided to go there.
long story short, i’d love canon beronica but i don’t have any faith that the writers could do it justice. frankly, i’d rather watch their canon friendship and leave the romance to the fanfic writers. they do it better, anyway ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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