Queerbaiting, according to the consensus, is when TV writers and producers add homoerotic tension and gay subtext between two characters to attract a LGBT viewership with no real intention of following through on an explicit queer romance.
Queerbaiting gives rise to a LGBTQ romance but doesn’t take the risk of consummating it because producers and studios don’t want the potential loss of straight viewers and because acknowledging the gay community by teasing them is easier than giving a more authentic voice to the LGBT community. It’s wrong for a number of reasons. The biggest problem is that it erases and mocks the voices of LGBTQ people represented as characters on mainstream television. Adding gay subtext to mainstream masculine male characters but not entertaining a serious same-sex relationship simply puts LGBT people in a box.
There are lots of shows that queerbait unethically: Supernatural, Sherlock, Merlin, Riverdale, and Teen Wolf are just a few. Gay subtext definitely exists in mainstream television. Sometimes, writers even acknowledge that there is a romance but it never comes to fruition. Queerbaiting perpetuates the heterosexual, male-dominated, and patriarchial society. If the same subtext was present with a female and male character, there would be an eventual consummation of that relationship; even if it was an expression of feeling, a kiss, a sex scene, whatever. They don’t want their male hero, portrayed as a strong powerful protagonist as gay. Even though by having one same-sex relationship does not mean someone is gay, but I digress. Whether or not that matters anyway is besides the point; it’s what viewers will say and how the rating may change. Television shows are more comfortable now with a feminine, female queer character but when it comes to masculine male protagonist characters, they deny queerness. Unless that protagonists story is solely about his queerness. Instead, queer male characters in television are protrayed as a superficial stereotypical queer person and that’s not accurate to the queer community as a diverse community.
Most production studios are not ready for a queer, masculine mainstream male character on television and that’s the problem. Television is still afraid of what too much LGBT acceptance might mean for their ratings. The shows that participate in queerbaiting want to acknowledge the LGBT community enough to get them excited, but not enough to show their authenticity and give proper and whole representation in mainstream media. I fear that society still has a long way to go before queer authenticity becomes a reality in mainstream media.
Now, despite my frustrations, I don’t think that Hannibal falls into this category and I’m not alone. Bryan Fuller, one of the writers and creators of the show, is queer and actively articulates the romantic relationship between Hannibal and Will. Now, yes, season three came out in 2015 but was released on Netflix this year. I know that I’m late to the game but I am obsessed nonetheless, leave me alone.
I know that if you’re reading this, you’re likely already familiar with Hannibal and hopefully have watched season three finale, but I still have to acknowledge, for the purpose of background, that Hannibal and Will have an extremely toxic relationship. They constantly try to kill each other. They cause each other severe depression and mental instability. They hurt each other as much as they help each other. Also, they kill people, so realistically, they are bad people. However, as viewers, the story is written to love these two despite their psychopathic tendencies. In the same way a cat brings a dead bird to your door. It’s disgusting and macabre but the cat is still kind of cute, even though you wouldn’t let it lick your face.
The way that Bryan Fuller created and developed the story of Hannibal and Will is not to queerbait. It’s to take you on a journey of their complicated relationship. Now, even though there are a lot of viewers that still want an explicit consummation of the relationship, even if it’s a kiss, I - and Bryan Fuller - don't think the relationship is ready for it. It may be a relief or just more excitement, but it wouldn’t make sense to the story and plus the tension is the good part, I think. Only because the viewer already knows that they love each other. If you know the characters well enough, they’ve already told each other in their own ways.
Not all on-screen relationships have to be consummated by a sex scene. Sometimes it just perverts it and takes away from the emotion. Bryan Fuller, Mads Mikkelsen, and Hugh Dancy aren’t adding sexual tension to torture the audience - well, maybe they are - but rather to convey how troubled they and their relationship is. For Hannibal and Will, a simple physical touch has more intimacy and significance than more explicit activities like sex or kissing, at least for now. Their relationship is extremely delicate and Hannibal is careful to not push himself onto Will and to let Will come to him. It has to be natural. It has to have clarity and stay on the right trajectory. In my own opinion, I want to see more of a domesticated relationship. I want to see what they act like on a lazy Sunday when they aren’t busy killing. Again, I digress.
In terms of queerbaiting, Hannibal doesn’t fall within the definition because the queer subtext goes beyond subtext to text. It is unclear what the sexual orientation is of the couple. Hannibal has had sex with a woman and Will has done the same and even married a woman. However, this does not mean that the characters are automatically heterosexual. I think that it’s very clear that Hannibal doesn’t subscribe to labels. I bet he thinks it’s rude. On the other hand, Will does worry about how people percieve him and would likely be uncomfortable with the title of being queer. “You called us ‘Murder Husbands’”, he said with disdain.
At the end of the day, Hannibal isn’t queerbaiting. Sure, we don’t get the kiss or a declaration of “I love you” but we don’t need it. Bryan Fuller isn’t marginalizing LGBT people, he’s telling a story about a tense and delicate relationship where sexual intimacy would be unrealistic for such important characters. That’s the beauty. However, this isn’t to say that sexual romance is impossible for this relationship. Though, one can expect that physical intimacy won’t be easy for them. The end of the third season really showed Hannibal and Will’s relationship growing stronger and gave realistic expectations for a romantic relationship in season four. The specifics are up to the viewer to decide.
Netflix JUST responded this to Jonathan Squires' tweet about Hannibal. Please support the show and follow http://bit.ly/2ckNUzM and request for Hannibal! Even if you personally aren't interested in the show it'll mean the world to us Fannibals! @allionne, something you and the rest of the Fannibal family should see!
do you ever imagine yourself reacting to finally seeing an on screen Hannigram kiss and feel as though you deserve an academy award for expressing 8 emotions in as little as 10 seconds?
I drew this for the #UncertainFutures coloring book project, but I figured I might as well post it for the @hannibalcreative #ItsStillBeautiful event too! So have some cheerful Murder Husbands and just a lil bit of tasteful gore~~ the high quality file will be available for download once @fannibalsketches releases the full collection. And if anyone wants to color it, pls tag me-- I’d love to see ;D
