Alcock and Watters

The upside, if you can call it that, to having a cold for a week is that you spend plenty of time browsing the internet for stories to write about. They’re not always exciting, but they’re not nothing. Such is the case with a controversy that circulated during Pride Month, involving Milly Alcock and Fox News host Jesse Waters. It’s a nothing-burger story, and I probably shouldn’t be giving it oxygen, but I’m discussing it anyway. I’m sorry.

Supergirl has been struggling for about a week. Critically, it’s the first flop in James Gunn’s DCU. Financially, it’s under-performing at the box-office, leading to speculation that this could ruin The DCU. It’s unfortunate that the first superheroine movie in this franchise is disappointing, as superheroines, sadly, still have much to prove juxtaposed to their male counterparts. Simply look at the numbers. They don’t lie.

What gets me going involves something that made the rounds after the movie debuted. While promoting Supergirl, Alcock was asked if the character was queer, to which she responded that she wasn’t sure, but the character might go both ways. It was innocent, and there are many possibilities for why she said it, but Fox News anchor Jesse Watters wasn’t impressed. To quote him: 

“But the whole bisexual thing…guys don't get into that…[m]aybe that's cool when you're 18, but when a girl's bisexual, we don't trust her. We don't trust her. And the ones I've met are super weird. So to say you're bisexual, it's not a turn on. It's not a turn on.”

Watters’s remarks drew backlash, with people chastising him for being ignorant about something that has nothing to do with him. However, it speaks to a grander issue with Fox News, namely their demographic. Because while not all of them, Fox News frequently caters to Bible enthusiasts who believe that queerness is an affront to God. We’ve seen that play out, most-notably during The AIDS Crisis. Despite knowing better now, the consensus was that HIV was a “gay person’s disease”, hence dying from it was “Divine punishment for immoral sexual acts”. Yes, people talked like that.

There’s plenty I can say in response here, but I won’t. Instead, I have to ask why Watters opened his mouth. Was he being provocative? Did he want to stir the pot? Or did he genuinely believe his words? It’s hard to tell, especially since many of the anchors secretly hate Trump, but it doesn’t really matter. As long as there’s a base that listens to this, politicians included, it’ll cause real world ripple effects. So while Alcock’s statement may have been harmless, Watters was in the wrong.

It speaks to bigger issue involving queer portrayals of characters in media. Supergirl has been around for over half a century, and openly queer media was censored for the longest time. The movie industry had The Hays Code, while comics had The Comics Code Authority. Comics had to abide by strict rules or risk being pulled, including depicting openly-queer individuals. Comics, therefore, had to use coding and subtext.

I don’t know enough about Supergirl to be an expert, but like how Hollywood’s still living the post-trauma of this era, so too are comics. Because for several decades now they’ve been treading in darker territory, getting more mature and dating themselves for shock value. They’ve also had to reinvent their characters as a result of changing interests of readers, including being more daring with sexuality. Essentially, if Superboy’s allowed to be gay, why can’t Supergirl?

Supergirl’s also meant to be rougher than her cousin. Like I pointed out last time, while Superman’s flawed, Supergirl’s more flawed, with her being arrogant and accident-prone. She’s not a girl scout, so being a rough-and-tough lesbian would make sense. Because why not? Really.

Before anyone complains, yes, the rough-and-tough lesbian trope’s overused. But Supergirl was created to be more adventurous and daring than Superman. If Supergirl wants to be queer, that’s her prerogative. And it’s no one’s obligation to say otherwise, especially since she’s not real. Also it’s creepy.

I also take issue with religious fanatics who think being queer’s blasphemous. Firstly, their text refers to a specific action done by two men, it says nothing about being queer. Secondly, it uses that same language to describe using dishonest weights. And thirdly, said text is both designed to be analyzed, and a byproduct of its time. Because it doesn’t exist in a vacuum.

There’s plenty of queer-coding in Scripture too. Joseph’s described as being effeminate several times, such that it’s possible he refused Potiphar’s Wife because he was gay. King David had an incredibly deep friendship with Prince Jonathan, and some have argued they were lovers. I’m sure there are more examples as well. But the point is that puritanical sexuality is a relatively-recent invention historically, so it’s not fair to graft that onto Scripture.

I’d rebuke the hypocrisy of Bible thumpers, but it’s not worth it. Instead, I’ll remind them that queer people exist in their ranks. I know religious Jews who are queer, both openly and closeted, and I don’t judge them. Because it’d be oppressive, and Scripture has plenty to say about that. So while people jeer at Alcock’s suggestion that Supergirl might be bisexual, I don’t think it’s helpful. Nor do I think it’s right.

I’m not calling Milly Alcock a saint. She’s a human with celebrity status, and she has her own agenda separate from her characters. I’m sure she’s made remarks that have aged poorly, too. But like other people, she deserves some grace. If it wasn’t appropriate to be sexist toward Brie Larson, after all, then it’s not okay to be sexist toward Alcock either. That goes for other female celebrities as well.

This whole situation’s ridiculous. And Jesse Watters owes Milly Alcock, let-alone the queer community, an apology. I doubt he’ll do it, he doesn’t appear to have shame, but I can hope. Because he has a responsibility to his base, and he’s doing a bad job currently. He might not care, but someone will. They might simply be too ashamed or scared to admit it.

Happy Belated Pride Month, either way.