On Sat, 14 Jun 1997, farah mendlesohn wrote:
>
> But the heterosexual pairings don't have to settle for innuendo!
>
> Farah
>
Exactly! And the innuendo was pretty darn weak to begin with. Sure,
sexual tension, but keeping lesbianism always a subtext gets extremely
frustrating. Especially because Ivanova's "bisexuality" was made such a
big deal of in the press, I saw numerous references to it. But no kiss,
nothing except Ivanova admitting to Delenn as her ceremonial gift "I think
I was in love with Talia." and no mention after than. AAArrrrrgggh! And
why does the press say Ivanova is bisexual when there's been even less a
hint of her being involved with a man, and no open discussion about the
nature of her awakening attraction to women? I'd be happy to have the
character be bi or lesbian but neither was actually portrayed. And I
worry that she's called bi just because her attraction to Talia was
layered on a presumption of heterosexuality.
On the other hand the ABSOLUTELY HOTTEST LESBIAN SCENE ON TELEVISION YET
goes to Daz and her forbidden love. The entire episode was well written,
and while it took the traditional Star Trek line that homosexuality is no
big deal in the future even though we never see it, it drew a lovely
parallel with the forbidden nature of love between trills who have been
involved as previous hosts. The attraction, love and sexual, between the
two women-hosted trills was well written and well acted. The chemistry
was visible. And the kiss! Yay! I can't say enough. Went a long way to
making up for the attrocious STNG episode which came out of the queer
communities lobbying efforts, you know where Riker falls in love with the
androgynous (hermaphrodite???) who is forbidden to be her true desire -
feminine! Now if he had fallen in love with one who was forbidden to be
his true desire - masculine, we might have had something interesting.
But I must say I hardly watch DS9 anymore, Kira's pregrnancy and Dax's
relationship with Worf have disheartened me greatly, both used as tools to
diminish the strong independence of the character. I love Babylon 5, the
ongoing and complex storyline and great political intrigues! I miss
Na'Toth though too. And while she needs to loosen up her acting, I like
the new 'Number One' leader of the Mars rebellion.
Gay men in space? Alas, while gay male sexuality has always been more
visible, in continues to be more threatening to our culture as well. Sure
B5 hints that same-sex marriage is a norm in the future when Marcus and
Steven play a honeymoon couple on their first trip to mars, but where are
the real gay men?
unapologetically a fan of television sf:
Robin Gordon
--------------------------------
"I want a women's revolution like a lover,
so much I long for it..."
Robin Morgan, Monster
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