In
the fourth season of Showtime's series Soul Food,
a drama about the lives and loves of a middle-class African-American
family, we may finally see a first for a black sitcom or drama
on television: the development of a lesbian relationship between
the youngest sister Tracy "Bird" Van Adams (played by
Malinda Williams) and her lesbian friend and television producer
Eva Holly (played by Terri J. Vaughn, of The Steve Harvey
Show).
This isn't Bird's first encounter with a lesbian--she rebuffed
a lesbian friend's advances in Season Two. Then last season, Bird
(who owns her own beauty salon and is married to Lem, who is played
by Darrin Dewitt Henson), began appearing on a local talk show
as a beauty consultant where Eva was the producer. The two became
friends, and Eva came out to Bird as a lesbian when Bird made
a "dyke" joke and Eva called her on it.
But
these storylines have always been only one or two-episode arcs,
and not seriously intended to raise questions about Bird's sexuality...until
now.
In the opening episode of the fourth season (which
premiered on Wednesday, April 9th at 10pm), Eva is back
and comforts Bird when she is stalked
by an ex-lover. While Eva's sexuality is not referenced in this
episode, there is subtext in her concern for Bird, which is reinforced
by Bird's sister Terri's (played by Nicole Ari Parker, who got
her acting start playing a teenage lesbian in the 1995 indie filmThe
Incredibly True Adventures of 2 girls in Love) obvious
dislike for Eva.
But
what cements the development of a sexual relationship between
Eva and Bird beyond mere speculation is a clip in the scenes from
the upcoming season in which Terri catches Bird and Eva kissing.
On the official Soul Food site, Eva is described as a
character who will appear in several episodes this season and
"whose appearance will shake up the life of Bird." In
an interview on the site, Vaughn describes Eva as someone who
is "professional, strong and just happens to be a lesbian.
I look forward to giving a voice to women who aren't normally
represented." She further notes that her character will "add
a major twist to the Soul Food storyline." "
Clearly,
Bird and Eva's relationship will go beyond friendship,
but the question remains: is Bird bisexual, or
just bi-curious? Is this a serious attempt by the Soul Food
writers to integrate this storyline into the series, or just exploitation
designed to improve ratings?
There
is evidence to support both arguments.
On
the one hand, it seems unlikely that Bird will actually
determine she is bisexual (or a lesbian), for several reasons.
Soul Food has always been a show about family, specifically,
the three sisters. Few of the characters interact on a regular
basis with someone they're not related to (either by blood or
marriage), and the only non-family members who ever get any screen
time are someone one of the family members is dating (like Damon).
Since
it's unlikely that Eva would be welcomed into the fold, that limits
her character development from the start unless the writers wanted
to explore how Bird's family would deal with her new girlfriend--which
would take a lot of time and detract from the central storyline
of the three sisters.
Homosexuality
is an especially controversial and divisive issue within
black communities, which is likely to make Showtime execs a little
more skittish than usual about introducing the topic in the form
of a regular character.
This
is one of the reasons network sitcoms with African-American casts
like Abby, Bernie Mac, Moesha, or Living
Single had never had a recurring lesbian or bisexual character
(not that other sitcoms have a lot of them either, but I can at
least name a few predominantly-white sitcoms with recurring lesbian
or bi characters, like Roseanne, Mad About You,
That 80's Show, and both Ellen shows). It's
also why middle-class African-American movies (like Love and
Basketball, Waiting to Exhale, Brown Sugar, and the 1997
film this series is based on) are noticeably
lacking in lesbian and bisexual characters.
Although
it attracts viewers of all aces, African-American viewers are
the core of Soul Food's fan base and Showtime can't afford
to alienate them. Where a one or two-episode character or storyline
might create only a few complaints, an integrated, long-running
lesbian theme or character could start driving viewers away--at
least, that's the fear.
But
the primary reason this storyline doesn't seem bound
for long-term development is that it just doesn't seem
very consistent with Bird's character development so far. Bird
has always been very heterosexual, and besides the occasional
lesbian friend, has never given any indication of an attraction
to women. Of course, it is possible that Bird is bisexual
and just doesn't realize it yet--many women don't acknowledge
their bisexuality until their 30's or 40's--but this feels similar
to the much-hyped kiss between Ling and Ally on Ally
McBeal: you knew there was no way that Ally was really
going to come out as bisexual because it just wasn't consistent
with her character.
It also doesn't make sense given the amount of time and energy
the show has put into developing Bird's relationship with Lem
over the past three years. Bird and Lem's marriage, even when
it's in trouble, is one of the core relationships of the series,
and developing a long-term relationship between Bird and Eva would
fundamentally change the foundation of the show.
On
the other hand, the fact that this is the third time
that the writers have introduced a lesbian-related storyline around
Bird indicates that they may have been planning to reveal Bird
as bisexual (or lesbian) all along, which would imply a serious
intention to explore this issue. The fact that Eva is scheduled
to appear in several episodes this season also supports the argument
that Bird and Eva may well develop a relationship.
It
is also arguable that if any network were to attempt adding a
regular bisexual character in an African-American series, it would
be Showtime. Showtime has consistently proven itself willing to
push the envelope on issues of homosexuality, as evidenced by
the controversial series Queer as Folk
and the its new all-lesbian series Earthlings
(which follows a group of lesbian friends in L.A. and includes
Jennifer Beals and Pam Grier in the cast).
Still,
although we don't yet know what will really happen with
Bird and Eva this season, it ultimately seems unlikely that Bird
will come out as bisexual; it just has too many implications for
the series as a whole if this were to happen. It's more likely
that the writers are trying to have their cake and eat it too:
make the show appear controversial and cutting-edge to attract
lesbian and bisexual viewers (and liberal straight folks), but
keep the core fan base happy by ultimately revealing Bird to be
only bi-curious, not bisexual.
In
fact, the relationship between Bird and Eva will most likely end
up functioning primarily as a catalyst between Bird and Lem, an
obstacle designed to force their relationship to grow and change
(Bird's unexpected discovery in next week's episode that she is
pregnant serves a similar function).
TV
writers routinely throw in the temptation of adultery
as a plot device for character development, so there is nothing
inherently wrong with Soul Food just putting a same-sex
twist on this tactic. In fact, little about this particular storyline
would be objectionable at all--if it were just one among several
storylines about black lesbian and bisexual women available on
Soul Food, or even on television overall.
But
in a world in which black lesbian and bisexual women are virtually
non-existent on TV (since, besides the dearth of lesbian or bisexual
characters in sitcoms or dramas with all-black casts, lesbian
and bisexual women in racially diverse or predominantly-white
sitcoms and dramas are almost always white),
using lesbianism primarily as a tool for the development of the
heterosexual characters smacks of exploitation, and contributes
to the marginalization of black gay women.
Of
course, regardless of the writers' intentions, and even
if nothing happens between Bird and Eva, just introducing Eva
into the series as a recurring well-adjusted, non-evil lesbian
character is progress. It would just mean so much more
progress if this storyline doesn't become another flash-in-the-pan
plot device that ends with Eva disappearing and Bird realizing
she's straight, after all.
May
21st Update: on Episode 7 which aired May 21st, the two
women finally did kiss, and as predicted, Bird confirmed to her
upset sisters that it was just "experimentation" and
she has no intention of leaving her husband--but not after also
telling them it was non of their business. Surprisingly, Bird
also admitted to Eva after the kiss that she was attracted to
her ("not all women, just you"), instead of just taking
the easy way out and pretending it was all just a misunderstanding.
The women's friendship ended shortly thereafter, however, because
Bird (wrongly) accused Eva of sabotaging Bird's career because
Bird wouldn't pursue a relationship with Eva.
