Bisexuality in How to Get Away With Murder
Jenna Rogenski
How To Get Away With Murder is a popular prime time television show that has aired on ABC since September 2014 (“How To Get Away With Murder”). The show was created by Peter Nowalk and produced by Shonda Rhimes (“How To Get Away With Murder”). The television drama is produced by the production companies ShondaLand, Nowalk Entertainment, and ABC Studios and distributed by Disney-ABC Domestic Television (“How To Get Away With Murder”). The first three seasons of the show can also be watched on Netflix, a streaming media. I chose to analyze this media text because of its reputation as being a progressive account of the Black experience, female experience, and LGBT experience in today’s society. I was curious to research and discover whether or not the show truly lived up to its reputation, specifically regarding its depiction of LGBT characters.
Bisexual Representation
The actress Viola Davis plays Annalise Keating, the main character in How To Get Away With Murder. Annalise is a law professor and lawyer who balances teaching with heading her own law firm. She was married to a psychology professor named Sam Keating for ten years before he was accidentally murdered by some of her law students and interns. Although Annalise is portrayed as heterosexual throughout the first season of the show, during the second season it is revealed that during law school, she had a relationship with a woman named Eve.
Annalise’s sexuality is very ambiguous throughout the course of the show, as she never classifies herself as bisexual or heterosexual. In one pivotal scene in season two, episode 13, Annalise goes as far as denying she is gay. Eve accuses Annalise of leaving her because she was afraid to be lesbian, stating that Annalise had to go to therapy after their relationship ended because “It was the fact that I had a vagina” (“Something Bad Happened”). Eve prods Annalise even further in this episode demanding that Annalise state that she left her because she was scared. In response Annalise retorts, “No, I left you because I’m not gay” (“Something Bad Happened”). However, this statement is very confusing as Annalise admits to loving Eve and the two share an on-screen kiss. The closest Annalise gets to classifying her sexuality during all three seasons of the show is the following statement made during this episode: “Live your life. I live mine, straight or gay, whatever you want to call it” (“Something Bad Happened”).
Annalise is also cast in a bisexual light throughout her relationship with Bonnie, a law associate at Annalise’s firm. Both Annalise and Bonnie share a common characteristic in that they were both sexually abused as children, making the two women’s relationship very complicated. Although Annalise speaks in derogatory tones towards Bonnie, Bonnie’s loyalty to Annalise never wavers. The women share an on-screen kiss during season three after Annalise comes home from a drunken fight with her boyfriend, Nate.
Analysis
Annalise’s reluctance to define herself as bisexual has been praised by many critics for serving as a modern example of gender fluidity, however, it is truly more harmful to the LGBT community than good. In “Representing Bisexuality on Television: The Case for Intersectional Hybrids,” author Michaela Meyer states, “They [bisexual characters] do not ‘come out’ as bisexual, rather their sexuality is introduced casually, usually as a secondary plot device. Although this could be read as a blurring of our understanding of sexual identity, or an attempt to provide more fluid sexual identities on television, it can also be read as refixing hegemonic discourses by stabilizing heterosexual and homosexual as valid, nondebatable identities” (Meyer 380). Essentially, by depicting gay, lesbian, and heterosexual characters as stable and rational in their sexual classifications, bisexual characters, such as Annalise, who are more reluctant to classify themselves on television shows, are embodying the stereotype of an “unstable, confused bisexual” (Meyer 380). This is evident throughout How To Get Away With Murder, as Connor, one of the openly gay characters on the show, is open and forthright about his sexuality from the beginning of season one, mirroring his logical and composed demeanor.
Annalise’s character is also stereotypical in that she is cast as slutty, overly sexual, unpredictable, and irrational, all common characteristics associated with characters with lesbian or bisexual tendencies. According to Meyer, bisexuals are generally stereotyped as having “over sexualized, morally depraved identities” (Meyer 377). In season one, episode nine, Sam Keating tells Annalise, his wife, “That's all you're really good for: dirty, rough sex that I'm too ashamed to tell anyone about. That's how foul you are, you disgusting slut” (“Quotes For Sam Keating”). This quote is problematic because it allows viewers to associate Annalise’s sexual preferences with her sexual identity, as Annalise’s husband denounces her and essentially casts her in an animalistic light. Annalise’s behavior throughout the show is also very questionable, as she is willing to play with others emotions, break the law, and use her sexual nature to manipulate others in order to win her legal cases, exemplifying the bisexual “morally depraved” stereotype.
How To Get Away With Murder also capitalizes on Annalise’s ambiguous sexuality. In the book The B Word: Bisexuality in Contemporary Film and Television, the author remarks, “A highly commodified version of bisexuality can be exploited by a wide range of markets, especially media markets” (San Filippo 21). While How To Get Away With Murder is targeted towards a heterosexual audience, Annalise’s questionable sexual identity draws in viewers from the LGBT community. However, show producers are careful not to clearly identify Annalise as a bisexual so as not to deter the heterosexual audience from identifying with her as the main character. Essentially, producers are seeking the best of both worlds as “openness to queer erotics both establishes one’s hipness and serves as a marketing strategy (San Filippo 21). Since Annalise does not identify her sexuality, How To Get Away With Murder is more marketable, as it is relatable and enjoyable for heterosexual, homosexual, and bisexual audiences.
Significance
Overall, this analysis is significant in that it is a prime example of the main topic discussed in chapter 13 of The Handbook of Gender, Sex, and Media by Karen Ross. According to this chapter, “GLBT representations are constrained because they have to appeal to large and largely heterosexual audiences” (Ross 210). While How To Get Away With Murder attempts to be progressive in its depiction of LGBT characters, it fails in that it complies with today’s societal standards by basing characters on common stereotypes, choosing to openly represent gay sexualities while dancing around bisexuality, and portraying a normative account of the LGBT experience. Producer Shonda Rhimes’ quote demonstrates this idea best, as she stated in an interview, “I really hate the word ‘diversity,’ it suggests something…other. As if it is something…special. Or rare… I have a different word: normalizing. I’m normalizing TV” (Williams). In “normalizing” or failing to define LGBT accounts in Annalise’s character, Rhimes is contributing to society’s hegemonic values and undermining the struggles that the LGBT community face on a daily basis. While it is positive that LGBT characters are prominent in How To Get Away With Murder, when “queerly subversive readings might be dispensed with in favor of an investment in gender normative representation of GLBT people,” the LGBT community suffers as a whole (Ross 213).
References
“How To Get Away With Murder.” IMDb. IMDB.com, Inc., n.p. Web. 10 April 2017.
Meyer, Michaela D. E. "Representing Bisexuality on Television: The Case for Intersectional Hybrids." Journal of Bisexuality, 10.4 (2010): 366-387.
“Quotes For Sam Keating.” IMDb. IMDB.com, Inc., n.p. Web. 10 April 2017.
Ross, Karen. The Handbook of Gender, Sex, and Media. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012. Print.
San Filippo, Maria. The B Word: Bisexuality in Contemporary Film and Television. n.p.: 2013.
“Something Bad Happened.” How To Get Away With Murder Transcript. Forever Dreaming, 4 March 2016. Web. 10 April 2017.
Williams, Brennan. “Shonda Rhimes Says She Isn’t ‘Diversifying’ Television, She’s ‘Normalizing’ It — There’s A Difference.” Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc., 16 March 2015. Web. 10 April 2017.
Discussion of "Bisexuality in How to Get Away With Murder"
I liked the representation
Yes, her sexuality should a second plot device, and yes, she can be a horrible person as well as bisexual, and yes, she is allowed to be confused.Her sexuality does not have to define who she is, nor does it have to be her most redeeming quality. The plot does not have to be centred around her sexuality, nor do the producers have to walk on tip-toes to make sure anything Annalise does must be in line with her sexuality and must do her sexuality justice.
She is a normal woman, a great lawyer, someone who does some good and some bad. She is an outspoken woman, and a strong human being. These are her redeeming qualities, the ones she chooses to be defined with, and not who she chooses to sleep with. She doesn't have to come out and say "I'm a bisexual woman" for her to be a good representative. She's Annalise, that's all there is to it.
Posted on 5 February 2021, 2:44 pm by Drake | Permalink
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