Carmilla
- Show runtime: 3 seasons, 2014-current
- Shown On: YouTube
- Creators: Directors Spencer Maybee and Mars Horodyski, Writers Ellen Simpson and Jordan Hall, Producer Steph Ouaknine, series is based on the novel by Sheridan Le Fanu
- Queer Characters: Laura Hollis (Elisa Bauman) Carmilla Karnstein (Natasha Negovanlis), LaFontaine (Kaitlyn Alexander)
- Sexualities: Creators Ellen Simpson and Jordan Hall have both made comments making it appear that they are queer, while main actresses Natasha Negovanlis and Elisa Bauman have not made their sexualities clear
- Show Description: (from IMDB) A modern take on Sheridan Le Fanu's gothic novella, Carmilla follows Silas University freshman Laura hollis, as she investigates the disappearance of her roommate while dealing with her odd, nocturnal and sarcastic new roomie Carmilla -- who may or may not be a centuries-old vampiress.
- Queer Summary: Laura and Carmilla become roommates at the beginning of the series, and after having an originally antagonist relationship in their first semester, become friends and then lovers. They break up for a short time after a series of unsolvable differences, and Carmilla later abandons Laura to the villain Vordenberg. However, later Carmilla kills Vordenberg and it is suggested that Carmilla and Laura's relationship may continue later. Eventually, the two agree to become friends and then friends with benefits but are wary of beginning another relationship. Later, they both admit their true feelings and begin another romantic relationship. After Laura sacrifices her own life to defeat the villain The Dean, Carmilla is able to resurrect her by making an argument with the Death Goddess. They leave their college campus shortly afterwards, and are shown to still be together five years after these events.
- Creator Comments: Ellen Simpson describes reading Le Faun's novel at a time when "seeing two girls fall in love, even in a problematic way, was very important to her." Simpson also said she and Hall decided not to make Carmilla the main antagonist of the series because they felt furthering the "evil lesbian" tropes the originally novel set up did not bode well fore a modern adaptation. Producer Steph Ouaknine also described a need to push queer narratives to the front of the story, rather than to the back, and to diversify female stories. Elisa Bauman and Natasha Negovanlis have both expressed their gratitude and support for queer fans in the past.
- Analysis: The series represents multiple queer women in leading roles, and also represents a regular, prominent nonbinary character, LaFontaine. All queer characters are fully developed in terms of their backstory. Their plots are more than just about their sexuality, yet their sexuality is not ignored either. No queer character deaths. The show is based off the 1872 novella Carmilla but the show altered the plot and made sure queer characters were represented in a better light. Carmilla’s character in the novella is a lot more violent than on the show. They toned down her violent personality to attempt to eliminate the idea of a “lesbian killer” and give her less of a pure villain reputation. While there is a strong queer representation, there is very little race diversity on the show. Carmilla (at times) is still portrayed as a sexualized, "killer" lesbian.
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