I have fond memories of sitting in my dorm room with my friends, popping in the DVD, and disappearing into the often over-the-top show that is The L Word (2004-2009). Yes, this was a number of years ago. I mostly remembered it as an over-the-top soap opera about a bunch of lesbians and one terrible bi lady.
So when I sat down to rewatch The L Word in preparation for The L Word Generation Q, I was curious to see if the bi representation was as problematic as I remembered it.
The L Word follows a group of mostly lesbian friends in West Hollywood. Together they navigate relationships, breakups, pregnancies, cheating, careers, cancer, murder, and everything else under the sun.
The show manages to tackle some pretty big issues at times and at times is just ridiculous, but for a generation of queer women, it was a defining moment.
From here on out there will be plenty of SPOILERS. That being said, a lot happens in this show, so many, many points will not be spoiled. If you are unfamiliar with The Unicorn Scale, here's a quick guide to how it works.
What I Liked:
Imagine this: The year is 2004, you're watching a slightly smutty Showtime show and two, not one, but TWO, characters say "I'm bisexual".
I cannot emphasize this enough. As we often discuss in this column, there are a ton of bi characters appearing in popular media, but there seems to be a shortage of bi characters who are willing to talk about their bisexuality. Instead, we get a lot of "I don't do labels" talk around. It is really refreshing to just see characters embrace their bisexuality whole-heartedly.
We see Jenny (Mia Kirschner) discover her own sexuality. She begins in a relationship with Tim, who seems to enjoy sheltering his fragile writer girlfriend/fiancee/wife/ex and is eventually seduced by Marina. She falls in love with Marina, goes back to Tim, tries to go back to Marina, and continues then dating some more men and women.
Alice (Leisha Hailey) is the other bi character. She mentions her bisexuality in the first episode, proudly stating,
I'm looking for the same qualities in a man as I am in a woman.
Later in the season, Alice talks openly about missing being in a relationship with a man. She tries to date men, including Lisa (Devon Gummersall), the male lesbian (more on him later). Although her friends laugh at her bisexuality, they do not shun her and even occasionally help set her up with men.
What I Didn't Like:
Over time these two visible bi characters begin to shift. Alice goes from confidently bi, to, in her words, "A gross bisexual love addict", to denying her bisexuality. She decides that she is only capable of falling in love (becoming addicted to in a crazy way) with women and therefore cannot be bi. She reinforces the incorrect idea that bisexuality means that you must have the same degree and type of attraction to men and women.
And then there's Jenny, possibly one of the most hated characters on television ever. She sows chaos and pain wherever she goes. Her infidelities seem to hurt everyone she touches, but she also somehow never claims any responsibility. I think it's pretty clear where I stand on team Jenny. She is duplicitous, manipulative, and selfish. The revelations that she is evil also go hand in hand with the fact that she is bi.
Although her and Tim have some very real sexual chemistry in the first season, Jenny ultimately rejects her bisexuality. She later breaks up with Max because he has fully transitioned and now she sees him as a straight man. (Let's hope that the reboot does a little better by its trans characters as well.) She identifies as a lesbian who is not at all interested in men.
Tina (Laurel Holloman) another longer bi arc. Her bisexuality is revealed later when she cheats on Bette (Jennifer Beals) with a man because she is craving male sexual energy. Tina had identified as straight and only dated men until she meets and falls in love with Bette. At that point she swears off men forever, even telling Alice that she used to be bisexual. That is until she begins going behind Bette's back. So yes, Tina proves to be just another untrustworthy bi character.
There is a complete lack of male bisexuality. On the one hand, this is a show about women and so it's not really surprising. On the other hand, they have made space for Lisa, who identifies as a male lesbian. I'm assuming 15 years later the language used around Lisa would have been very very different, but I don't have enough space to unpack that particularly contentious character. Plenty of folks have attempted it, and feel free to read more about Lisa.
My issue is when Alice dumps Lisa to find a straight guy to sleep with. It is incredibly important to her that he is straight, 100% straight, not any questioning straight. Alice is admittedly not the introspective character of the show, but it would have been nice for her to be more open to the idea of a bi dude.
There are other male characters, both gay and straight. It would have been wonderful to see a few bi men scattered in the show as well.
The Rating:
The L Word started off surprisingly strong. Although many of the characters mock bisexuality, the bi characters seem confident in their bisexuality. Sadly that amazing energy does not continue throughout the next 5 seasons and bi just becomes a transitional identity or code for untrustworthy. Let's hope that the reboot does a better job with its bi characters.
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