Pop Culture Fix: Evan Rachel Wood Has Had It Up To Here With Bisexual Erasure

Feature image via Motto

Pop Culture Fix is a lovingly curated list of all the queer entertainment news you need in your life. 

TV

+ You know what this year of Netflix Nostalgic Reunion Tours was missing? Palex. You heard me: Palex. That’s Paige and Alex from Degrassi: The Next Generation, one of the only queer couples on all of teevee during The L Word years. But it’s happening now! On July 22! CANADA.

+ A Buffy coloring book for adults is a thing you need in your life and now it is a thing you can have in your life.

+ Nickelodeon’s first same-sex couple made their debut this week on Loud House. I’m happy they’re including gay people on their cartoons, just like I was happy when Disney Channel rolled out a lesbian couple on Good Luck Charlie two years ago. But it’s honestly the very bare minimum they can do. Cartoon Network supports Steven Universe telling one of the sweetest and most layered queer love stories of all time with Ruby and Sapphire, and Adventure Time‘s “Stakes” mini-series finally fully went there with Marceline and Princess Bubblegum. What makes it normal is when you do it brilliantly and authentically and don’t make a big deal about it.

Movies

+ Yeah, that’s right: Suicide Kale won Best U.S. Feature Film at Outfest last weekend!

+ Oh, did you want to talk about Ghostbusters. Cool, man. Cool. Here:

Kate McKinnon’s 10 Gayest ‘Ghostbusters’ Gay Moments of Gay by Audrey

Oh Neat, Another Man is Trying to Kill ‘Ghostbusters’ Before Its Second Weekend by Erin

42 Insightful “Ghostbusters” Reviews From Actual Adult Males On Facebook Who Definitely Aren’t Sexist by Riese 

+ Also, Leslie Jones was forced to quit Twitter after the barrage of racist tweets that came her way after Ghostbusters’ release last weekend. Twitter’s refusal to do anything about horrific harassment is, once again, on full display here.

+ Related: Flavorwire has a rundown of all the best female-dominated societies on film.

Queer Humans, Out and About

+ Time magazine’s Motto published a really great profile/interview with Evan Rachel Wood. She talks a lot about bisexuality, bisexual erasure, bisexual representation in fiction, and the importance of vocal bisexual celebrities. The whole thing is worth a read.

You’ve said that you received a lot of hate for coming out as bisexual. What are people still getting wrong about bisexuality, and what do you want them to know?
I think because we’re usually erased, people just don’t have the information. There’s so many negative connotations with that label. I understand the argument about labels and the desire to do away with them altogether. I think that’s a great idea. But before that we have to give people a chance to identify with somebody or a group in some way. That helped me. It’s so confusing, especially when there’s not a lot of information out there … Erasure is causing people harm and diminishing self-esteem and putting people in harm’s way. It’s a real need. I want people to know that it’s ok, [bisexuality] is valid, and their stories matter.

I’m really feeling this new Celebrity Bisexual Power Squad that seems to be taking shape in the world.

https://twitter.com/evanrachelwood/status/749047444336472064

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Heather Hogan

Heather Hogan is an Autostraddle senior editor who lives in New York City with her wife, Stacy, and their cackle of rescued pets. She's a member of the Television Critics Association, GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, and a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer critic. You can also find her on Twitter and Instagram.

Heather has written 1718 articles for us.

27 Comments

    • Of course, he’s over on Brebeirt playing the victim in all this and blaming feminists and BLM activists(???) for his twitter demise.

      • *mega eye roll*

        Where’s my gif of Judy King when I need it? “You are a straight, white man. You don’t get to be the victim, sweetie.”

  3. As someone who’s seen the new episodes (they aired in Australia back in May, and they’re not hard to find online), I can say for certain that there’s no Palex reunion. Alex isn’t even mentioned in the episode. HOWEVER, there is another queer girl on Degrassi among the younger students, and her storyline is pretty interesting so far. Easily the best part of the first 2 seasons of the show since its move to Netflix.

    • YES! Her coming out story is just incredible. I hope Autostraddle writes something about it.

  6. I’m glad and Nick and Disney are slowly making a little process when it comes to putting same-sex couples into their cartoons at least. My issue with them has always been their defense over the years that they don’t want to sexualize children and that’s why they don’t feature ANY sort of romantic relationships. But that is a bold-face lie because my niece watches all of their live action shows and I know for a fact that all of them feature various m/f romantic relationships between their teen characters.

    So why not start there and integrate some LGBT teens into their teen shows? Instead of having a clown car full of boys fighting for the attention of Live and Maddie, why not make one of them lesbian or bisexual? Isn’t of having best friends since they were toddlers Riley and Maya fucking share Lucas and jeopardize their friendship, why not make one of them lesbian or bisexual? Why not make Farkle gay? Why not make the parents on any of these shows a same-sex couple? I think these networks would face much less opposition from people claiming they are indoctrinating children if they started with these teen shows first instead of trying to weave subtext into their cartoons aimed at younger kids and then claiming their hands were tied and they couldn’t do more.

  7. I genmewinely cannot read Evan Rachel Wood’s name anymore without feeling it looks wrong sans “Bisexual” on the end

  8. I may have squealed after reading about the return of Paige and Alex…I loved them so…

    But then I remembered how horribly that ended–one of the worst TV break-ups ever–and that tempers my enthusiasm considerably.

  9. Just wanted to take another opportunity to alert folks (again) about the lesbian storyline on General Hospital. A quick synopsis:

    Kristina, the daughter of the local mob boss and his former lawyer, gets suspended from college after her married, lesbian professor rebuffs her offer to trade sex for a better grade. Kristina’s only dated guys in the past but can’t get Parker out of her head, even after she finds a new guy to date. Parker wants Kristina to figure out her sexuality but says it can’t be with her–though that admission comes after they share a kiss.

    If you want to watch the storyline in its entirety, you can view it here.

    Parker’s been off-screen for a while, due to Ashley Jones’ maternity leave, but things heat up again this week. Literally.

    • I stopped asking for it to be covered because there wasn’t much to talk about for a while there. Especially after Aaron showed up. But now I hope it gets added to the regular tv column while this story is going on.

      I am so glad that Ashley Jones is back from maternity leave. Today’s clips are already on YT. I’m laughing that It took Kristina less than five minutes to get Parker into bed.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FN3OpZ8oi94&feature=share

      • I stopped commenting about it as well…mostly because I was guarding myself against the whole thing going totally awry, as daytime shows are wont to do. Once Aaron came on the scene, I thought, “oh, here they go again,” but what’s happened has been pleasant surprise.

        I thought it was interesting that, despite what their ages and respective roles (professor/student) might suggest, it was Kristina who played the role of seductress. Kristina saw her opportunity and she took it…even if it meant taking advantage of an emotionally wrought Parker.

        I’m anxious to see the morning after and if we’ll get any insight into what the writers have planned for Kristina long-term.

  10. Re:Brittani
    Hey girl, hey.
    I’m sure you’re very smart and incredibly funny but you’re getting hotter by the minute.

    And, ahem, congrats to the team on the award!

  11. Wait, if people are writing fan/ love letters to Brttani in the comments section, I want to be at the first of the line!

    Hey Brittani,

    I am so excited for all of your success. In addition to be witty and talented and motivated, you are incredibly gorgeous. If you are ever consensually interested in sharing some beverages and bake goods and listen to the Hamilton soundtrack why we ponder the world, I’m your girl.

    (Oh I also listen to your Hamilton Podcast, did I forget to mention that? I would’ve seen Suicide Kale, but it hasn’t made it to my city yet.)

    Anyway, congrats on the award! You cutie. You deserve all the good things the world is giving you!

    • Yes! Let’s all shower Brittani with love!

      Also, I’ll pobably download Suicide Kale if it’s available since I’m a Dominican living in the DR and there will probably be no screening here. Hey, maybe for the next Outfest? I currently hold a good friend’s award for best short documentary so I’m feeling adventurous.

      Autostraddle, do you have any other Dominican (from the DR) readers?

      Brittani, two words: Rita Indiana

  12. I have never joined twitter and I don’t feel like I have lost anything due to not joining it.

  13. Fyi it’s not Nickelodeon’s first same sex couple. Korra and Asami from the Legend of Korra, (both bi) got together back in 2014. This couple IS the first married same sex couple though.

  14. Really disappointed by Kate McKinnon’s transmysoginistic comedy outside of Ghostbusters…

  15. OKAY BUT FOR REAL. Is Palex really gonna be there, because I didn’t see Alex in the promo! :/

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