Article Writen by Lone Rasmussen

Right now there is increasing paranoia on various websites concerning spoilers about Showtime’s, The L Word. This is due to the many interesting yet unreliable spoilers that are placed week by week for everyone to see and for everyone to be horrified by. So why do we let ourselves be chocked by these rumoured spoilers, if that is all they are?

Let us take a look behind the scenes. For the first time in history there is a show which depicts the life of lesbians in Los Angeles and even though the geography does not apply for most of us, the show has caught the attention and captured and caught roughly 99 percent of all lesbians around the world. The show is just as interesting as if it had taken place in each of our own countries. But the way we perceive the show in my country, Denmark, as oppose to the US is very different. The US has a highly political agenda and the Bush administration and the continued debate about same sex marriages fill up many gay-related pages in papers and magazines. In Denmark, we do not see the show from a political point of view to the same extent, e.g. when it comes to same-sex marriages, which are legal here and the only ongoing debate is whether or not it should be legal to get married in church and not just city hall as is the case now. Same-sex marriages is a highly debated subject in the US but in the eyes of Americans it must seem downplayed in Denmark and makes Danes very privileged but perhaps unaware of it. Personally, I do not think that we fully understand the magnitude of this privilege. Many Americans feel ill-treated as they rightfully should because they are denied the right to marry whom they love. I am very fortunate since the only problems I have concerning marriage are practicalities such as which dress to wear, making guest lists and setting a date. Without realizing it I am very privileged to have a wedding to plan in the first place.

So, what does all this have to do with The L Word? It is actually very simple; we want to be represented in a way that is real and positive and in a way that shows that lesbians are just like your average heterosexual being, except for the gender they love, and then perhaps change the attitude towards same-sex marriage. If the show is able to portray lesbians in an everyday environment, doing everyday things, it will inevitably be an eye-opener for everyone and hopefully make a difference, not just concerning same sex marriages but in all aspects. However, The L Word has not lived up to its expectations yet; and this is a sad but well-known fact even though it has just wrapped its third season. The buzz around The L Word is that it is the first of its kind and expected to make a difference, politically. But almost every time critics have commented on lack of political content on the show, it has been dismissed by the show’s creator, Ilene Chaiken who claims it to be your average television series, apart from the lesbian characters and plotlines and that the show cannot represent every lesbian. This creates a huge problem for most people, including me, who think that Chaiken should set the critics straight instead of trying to explain the lack of political content by reducing the show to a mere drama series. Is the show to be perceived as a general political statement or just another television series that just happens to portray the life of a group of lesbians?

The debate has not been settled yet; the recent spoilers – and the turmoil which they have created – reveal that a majority of lesbians watching the show feel that they are incorrectly represented and seem to be unhappy with certain issues on The L Word – but still supporting it because it is a show about lesbians, period. Spoilers came to play an important role when Chaiken spent the first season splitting Bette and Tina up, climactically ending in the notorious fight scene but overall showing truthful and honest issues that occur in any – lesbian – relationship. After the season finale, we searched the internet for spoilers that would put us at ease, stating that Bette and Tina would eventually get back together despite Bette’s much debated affaire with carpenter-Candace. Thankfully, we were not disappointed and watched as the second season’s finale confirmed the spoilers and showed us a very pregnant Tina telling Bette that she wanted to move home again and have their baby.

But – if spoilers are blamed for taking the fun out of a show; it certainly seems to be the case now. Despite rumours of an impending death of Dana and the break-up of heartthrob Shane and sexy Carmen, we are mostly distraught by the aforementioned rumours about a(nother) break-up between Bette and Tina. So why is that exactly? Again, the answer is simple: Jennifer Beals and Laurel Holloman provide a realistic picture of a lesbian relationship and leave us drooling over steaming hot sex scenes, which show amazing on-screen chemistry between the two; chemistry that not even Chaiken dared to hope for and which is rarely seen on screen. It is no secret that most of us went through the first season hoping that everything would work out between them and waited anxiously throughout the second season for the time when a changed Bette, genuinely sorry and having to some extent learned her lesson, was forgiven by Tina. But what is the point of watching the third season if we already know that there is a break-up in store for them? And why do we care if they go their separate ways? The second season spoilers did confirm the two of them getting back together so now we await to see if the same could happen with the third season spoilers. That Tina is supposedly falling for a man in the third season is disturbing enough (despite Tina being bisexual and having a boyfriend before meeting Bette), but the fact is that the Bette/Tina storyline touches us because the problems they go through in their relationship are real to us and we only want what is best for them. Some might argue that everything does not end in a picture-perfect way and they should not have to – but why not use Bette and Tina to illustrate a committed lesbian relationship with its ups and downs including parenthood and perhaps even a wedding in the near future, and do in a way that shows a commitment which can carry love through the most difficult times?

In a May interview to TVGuide.com when asked about the third season character development, Holloman shed some light on storylines, which may or may not confirm the Bette/Tina break-up: “But, for some characters where you think it will all be better, it might not be.” If the rumours pan out, not only regarding Bette and Tina, but also Dana’s death and Shane and Carmen’s break-up, again what is the point of watching the show in the first place? It should be simple enough: because it is a television drama series and it entertains us! Even if we do not want to, we have to look beyond the political issues sometimes and be happy that lesbians are portrayed in a general forum at all. Whether we like it or not, and how much we want Bette and Tina to stay together forever (or at least for the duration of The L Word), we have to take into account that The L Word only represent a fraction of all lesbians in the US and not the rest of the world, and that Showtime needs good ratings if the show is to stay on for a forth and possibly fifth season. Living in Denmark and being in a long-term relationship, I do not identify with the L.A. lifestyle and sleeping around on a regular basis but I find it entertaining to watch, none the less. I identify with being in a committed relationship, extending Bette and Tina’s relationship timeline, and I would still watch the show if they – once again – go through a break-up whatever the reason might be. I may not like Chaiken or her development of the Bette/Tina storyline but I would still watch the show, despite of it.

Ultimately, my biggest disappointment would be the lack of discussing certain lesbian-related political issues. In order to keep my disappointment at a minimum, I have to convince myself – like Ilene Chaiken does from time to time – that The L Word is a television series highlighting both good and bad but not all aspects of lesbian lifestyle, and that the show is just now completing its third season, and that is why we should be hopeful for better things in store as viewers. No matter what we might think of it, it has to be a television drama series in order to stay on air. It has taken several years for lesbians to come to the place they are at today when it comes to visibility and acceptance and now we have our very own television show. Maybe that is the reason we should give Chaiken some time to develop her characters even further and see The L Word for what is actually is: a television series. A series we should all support in order to keep increasing visibility and acceptance despite it lacking political content and having questionable deaths and break-ups. And just maybe we should stop criticizing The L Word – and just enjoy the show while we can.

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