Alien
abductions and sexuality issues may at first seem like
strange bedfellows, but in the Canadian science
fiction series Alienated they somehow go together very
well.
Isabelle
Blundell (Iris
Graham) is a typical teenager living in the suburbs of Victoria,
British Columbia with her family: father, Roger Blundell (Jonathan
Whittaker); mother, Sarah Blundell (Sarah-Jane Redmond); younger
brother, Cameron Blundell (Andrew Robb) and grandfather, George
Crickmore (Campbell Lane). Isabelle is just an average
16-year old who has the usual teenager hang-ups, with a daily
routine that consists of going to school, going home doing her
homework, going to concerts with her best friend, making fun
of her brother, and whining about her parents, her granddad
and her life.
But
Isabelle's ordinary life comes to an end one weekend when, while
eating lunch, Isabelle and her family are shocked to find an unknown
ray of light scrutinizing them. This causes much hysteria and
confusion, until they discover the light beam is of alien origin
and that extra-terrestrials have selected their family to be the
subject of alien experimentation.
Isabelle's
life suddenly gets very complicated, for although she is one
of the only family members who isn't abducted, everyone around
her is acting very strange, and she's got a big secret of her
own already: she's gay.
Isabelle's
secret is revealed to viewers in the third episode, "Pass
the Saltpeter," when Isabelle arrives home
after school with her best friend, Nina Valdez (Mercedes de la
Zerda), who also happens to be her girlfriend. Isabelle's father
Roger comes home unexpectedly looking for Sarah because he's having
sexual thoughts about her (one of the effects of his alien abduction)
and wants to have sex. He barges in on Isabelle and Nina making
out. He doesn't notice at first, because of his anxiety to fulfill
his sexual need, but realizes after and asks Isabelle what they
were doing. She tells him Nina is teaching her how to kiss. Roger
asks her if there is a boy she’s interested in or if there
are boys who are interested in her at school. She says no, telling
him she’s just curious about them and asks him: “Is
that a crime?” Roger says “No, of course not. It’s
okay to be curious from a safe distance.” Isabelle
asks him not to tell her mother and her dad agrees. Roger apologizes
for the intrusion and continues looking for his wife.
After
he leaves, Nina asks Isabelle if she really is curious about
boys but before she could answer, the scene dissolves into a
commercial break. Later in the episode, Isabelle follows an
upset Nina who is trying to leave the Blundell house. “I
didn’t mean it like that,” Isabelle explains but
Nina ends their disagreement by saying: “Just forget it.”
Later, Isabelle fears her mother knows that she’s gay
because of the kissing incident. When Sarah asks Isabelle if
she’s having sexual feelings because of her alien abduction,
Isabelle lies and says yes, relieved that her secret is still
safe.
As
the show develops, Isabelle and Nina’s sexual relationship
moves closer to being discovered. In the episode, "Something
has to be Something," Roger and Sarah install closed circuit
cameras in every room of their house to monitor the strange behavior
caused by the aliens. One night, Nina and Isabelle are talking
in Isabelle's room, while unbeknownst to them, her parents are
watching their every movement from a television set in the master
bedroom. Nina lights a cigarette and starts to smoke, which upsets
Sarah even though she doesn't see Isabelle herself smoking.
The
following day, Sarah knocks on the door of her daughter's room
to confront her and finds Isabelle naked under the covers while
Nina is in her underwear hiding in the closet. Sarah asks why
her daughter is naked, and Isabelle makes up another excuse.
Sarah then confronts her about smoking in her room, but Isabelle
tells her she doesn't smoke. A disagreement follows between
mother and daughter and Nina is later forced to go home.
In
the episode "Unfit Parents," conflict finally erupts
between Isabelle and Nina over Isabelle’s refusal to come
out. Nina approaches Isabelle at school and asks if they could
go as “a couple” to the concert for the group Sex
and Marriage, and is upset when Isabelle says she doesn't want
to go as a couple because "it's not time yet."
The
night of the concert, Isabelle opens the door of her house to
find an intoxicated Nina, who drunkenly asks for a kiss. Isabelle
doesn't want to kiss because her family is nearby eating dinner,
so Nina just kisses her on the cheek instead. Sarah invites
Nina to dinner before they go to the concert but Isabelle makes
up yet another excuse to get out of there in case Nina does
something stupid to reveal their relationship. But before Isabelle
can stop her, Nina blurts out that the band Sex and Marriage
is a lesbian group.
Fortunately,
the parents hardly notice what Nina says because they are too
busy trying to pretend through scripted conversations that they
are a normal family due to the surveillance devices they found
implanted in their house by Social Services (after the girls
finally leave, Roger and Sarah found out it was the aliens that
implanted the bugging devices and not Social Services).
The
series is groundbreaking
because it exposes Canadian audiences to the issues faced
by a teenage girl dealing with her sexual orientation,
and does so in a thoughtful, sensitive way that doesn't make Isabelle
seem doomed to a life of unhappiness, but doesn't sugarcoat her
experiences, either. It is clearly difficult for Isabelle to hide
her sexual identity from her family and her schoolmates: in one
episode, she called her brother gay to detract attention from
her own sexuality, and her decision to stay in the closet has
caused Nina to question their relationship more than once.
By the end of the first season, it is clear that Nina is getting
tired of waiting for Isabelle to come out, and Isabelle's reluctance
may eventually cost her their relationship. But Isabelle--like
many closeted gay, lesbian, and bisexual teens--fears being
disowned by her family and facing ostracism from her peers,
as well as other repercussions of being different in a society
that stresses conformity. Through a sympathetic portrayal of
Isabelle's experience, Alienated provides straight
viewers with a window into what it's like to struggle with your
sexuality, and gay viewers a chance to see a little of their
own experiences represented on screen.
Alienated
is unpredictable and funny, and there are no aliens similar to
the ones you'll find on The X-Files or other sci-fi series.
It boldly explores a variety of important but controversial subject
matters like sexuality, old age, peer pressure, relationships,
parental issues, and privacy.
Although
superficially a series about alien invasion, Alienated
is really about how humans react to the invasion of their privacy.
The
title of the series is not just a reference to the alien abductions,
but to the fact that the Blundells have become alienated from
other people because of their experiences and the side-effects
of their alien abduction. Each family member's behavior and
personality has changed, and in this context Isabelle's sexuality
crisis seems almost, well, normal.
As
the beginning of Season Two approaches in July, questions
abound. Will Isabelle have the courage to come out as a lesbian,
or stay in the closet? Will Isabelle and Nina's relationship become
stronger, or will it end? Will the writers even continue to explore
their storyline, or focus more on other characters in the new
season?
I'm looking forward to finding out the answers.
