A few thoughts on Malex and fandom and biphobia
Yes, this post is inspired by the most recent podcast episode of Queer Alien Blast. I have a few thoughts. These are my thoughts, and I’m sure many people will disagree. As they should. The world would be boring if we all agreed!
First of all -- thank you to @queeralienblast, @fraudulentzodiacs, and @vlamito for creating this podcast. A project like this takes time and effort and isn’t free. While this isn’t the only Roswell podcast I listen to, it has been a delight during this incredibly long hiatus.
Second, thanks for the shoutout -- I was not expecting that at all. (I’m readwithjoy on Twitter.) And ugh...”the pieces want to be together.” Kills me every time. And yes--Alex--it’s a metaphor. These boys need to use their words and communicate! Talking is sexy. Very sexy. Please let them get a cup of coffee. Or a milkshake at the Crashdown. Or something!
The podcast mentioned those first few days after the finale and all the declarations of doom that seemed to be everywhere. I also thought these were so weird. Granted, yes. I was also upset that the season ended with Alex and Michael separated. BUT. It’s the end of the season, not the end of the series. There is so much yet to come.
Perhaps it is my history that gives me patience here...but I’ve been in fandoms and have been watching LGBTQ+ characters and relationships for literally decades. I remember the days when fandom happened through the MAIL. Yes. Snail mail. If you wanted to read a piece of fanfic, you sent a self-addressed stamped envelop and a money order (do these even exist anymore?) to the writer, and they sent you back a paper copy of the fanfic and/or fanzine. I remember when the major queer relationships were Kirk/Spock, Starsky/Hutch, and Cagney/Lacey. And there were zero mainstream canonical queer couples. Zero. And bisexual characters? Definitely not a thing that existed.
So--waiting until Season 2 to find out what the next steps are for this couple who are not only canon, but also one of the two main couples on the show? No problem. No problem at all. (Although, I really wish we were getting a full season that premiered this fall! Can it be March already???)
The podcast also mentioned that there have been some complaints that Malex drowns out other shipper content. There is some truth to this...however there is also a solution. If #malex is all you see on your feed and you want to see more #echo or #miluca or #kylex or whatever...then create some! Creators have absolutely no obligation to do what other fans want. They are making stories/gifs/art/whatever for free. On their own time. And they absolutely should be creating exactly what they want to create. Fandom creations are often acts of catharsis. They are personal. And reflect what a creator is interested in. Even creators who very kindly accept requests have no obligation to fulfill any request they aren’t interest in creating! Perhaps the Roswell fandom is a bit overwhelmed with #malex content. But that’s what the people who are posting want to create. So--if you want something else? Create it! I bet there are some fans out there who are interested in exactly what you want to make. There is not a limited amount of space on social media. You can make and post whatever you want. Fandom is not pie. There is always more room.
And now to the key issue that people seem to be so up-in-arms about that I was getting anon messages...and I had nothing to do with the podcast...and I hadn’t even listened to it yet!
From what I can gather, the issue is people who don’t like the Miluca ship and the reasons they have for not liking it.
I want to be upfront. I am not a Miluca shipper. I am a Malex shipper. If Michael was exactly the same character and Alex wasn’t in his life, I would 100% be on board the Miluca train. I loved their dynamic in the OG Roswell, and I think they would make an awesome couple. Heather Hemmens and Michael Vlamis? They have great chemistry and there could be some serious fire there. But. I love the Alex/Michael relationship so much, and I just can’t ship Miluca because I want Malex to get back together!
I also think the writers skipped the scene where Maria and Alex talk about their friendship and their attraction to Michael. That scene really needs to happen, and perhaps it did. I have a bit of a faint hope that we just didn’t see it and we’ll see it in flashback in Season 2. I really want Maria to have talked with Alex. I love her character, and it just seems so insensitive for someone who has been built up as insightful about other people and Alex in particular. When he finds out...it’s going to hurt so much, and I hope that he finds out from his friend and not from the grapevine or stumbling onto them kissing or something like that. (Although it’s the CW...so I’m guessing the “catching them kissing” scene might happen. Ugh.)
As for shipping Alex with New Guy whose name is possibly Forest, (but do we know that for sure?) I kind of get why this is happening, maybe. I mean, with the understanding that Alex and Michael are “pieces who want to be together,” I’m intrigued with what will happen in their developing friendship with both of them in some sort of relationship with other people. So much potential for angst! But I definitely don’t get the idea of spite shipping Alec with New Guy. I mean...they are fictional characters. Who don’t actually exist. Who are we trying to piss off with this? The writers? Carina? Malex shippers? It just baffles me a bit. And perhaps New Guy will be abusive. Or angry. Or a narcissistic jerk. Or maybe he’ll be wonderful and kind and supportive. We have no idea. So it seems a bit odd to me to be jumping on that ship at this stage of the game.
And so we come to the biphobia issue. Is it inherently biphobic to not ship Micheal and Maria? No. You can fully acknowledge Michael’s bisexuality and celebrate his potential attraction to people all along the gender spectrum without wanting him to be with Maria. For sure. That’s where I find myself. I don’t want Michael to be with Maria, but not because I don’t want him to be with a woman. It’s because I want him be with Alex. (For what it’s worth...that’s what the QAB folks said in the podcast.)
However, is it biphobic to want Michael to only be with a male character because you think he has to be with a man to be a representation of a queer character? Um...yeah. It is. The very definition of bisexuality is the attraction to both men and women. If Michael is attracted to Maria, he is still queer. And if he only dates women for the rest of his life, he is still bisexual. Still queer. I understand the desire to have characters in relationships that look like queer relationships to the casual viewer. But it is a dismissal of the very nature of people who are bisexual to insist on this type of relationship as the only queer representation. A bisexual person in a relationship with a person of the opposite sex is not in a straight relationship. How could they be when they are not straight?
So---if you don’t like the thought of Miluca because you want Malex to be happening...they weren’t calling you biphobic on the podcast. Relax.
If you don’t like Miluca because Alex is your favorite and you think Michael and Maria did him wrong...they weren’t calling you biphobic on the podcast. Relax.
If you don’t like Miluca because you think it messes with the queer representation on the show...you might need to examine your thoughts and feelings about bisexuality and see if there is something there that you aren’t addressing. Because to erase Michael’s queerness when he is with Maria is to erase his bisexuality. And yes, that is biphobic.
And on my last note--I can’t wait to see what they have waiting for us with the Not That Complicated website! This sounds like it could develop into a fantastic (and hopefully multi-fandom?) resource!!
