Queerness and Kink in the Mirror Universe

Sep 24

Uh-oh! You've just experienced a transporter accident, and now everyone around you looks the same but is acting very strange. Your midriff is exposed, and your coworkers are making aggressive sexual advances. Welcome to the (dun dun dunnn) Mirror Universe. Don't worry, Becca and Ryan are here to hold your hand, while we explore how queerness and kink are used as shorthand for EEEEVIL.

******Mild Spoiler Alerts for: Star Trek Mirror Universe eps, The Suicide Squad, Stargate SG1, Rick and Morty (S5E5), and Netflix's Bonding.******

What We Watched

More or less, all of the Mirror Universe episodes: see Memory Alpha

Reviews!

Becca's Review: The Suicide Squad - tl;dr: just don't.

Ryan's Review: Stargate SG1 - racist! jingoistic! fun!

Queer Villainy

Opinion: TV producers, stop portraying bisexuals as villains by Zachary Zane via Washington Post

Many bisexual TV characters lack a moral compass. They exploit their own sexuality as a means to get ahead. They’re also unabashedly shameless in their actions, never having an ounce of remorse. It is as if, for these fictional bisexual characters, sexual fluidity equals moral fluidity. In this regard, sexuality is not seen as an identity, but rather, as a personality trait.

The tropes, as identified by GLAAD (from report WHERE WE ARE ON TV 2015-16)

bisexual characters who are depicted as untrustworthy, prone to infidelity, and/or lacking a sense of morality
characters who use sex as a means of manipulation or who are lacking the ability to form genuine relationships
associations with self-destructive behavior
and treating a character’s attraction to more than one gender as a temporary plot device that is rarely addressed again

Why Are So Many Bisexuals On TV Also Sociopaths? by Hannah Harris Green via BuzzFeed.News

The Trope of the Evil Television Bisexual by Spencer Kornhaber via The Atlantic

4 Terrible Bisexuality Tropes on TV — And 4 Portrayals That Defy Them by Gillian Brown via The Body is Not An Apology

Depraved Bisexual via TVTropes