The Cheating Bisexual
Another trait which bisexual characters are often known for is cheating, or causing the breakup of heterosexual couples. It’s instantly assumed that since bisexuals are attracted to more than one gender, they can’t maintain a stable relationship without switching between partners.
Casey Gardner, or affectionately known as ‘Newton’ by Izzie, is the feisty, star track athlete at Clayton Prep. Casey has quite a controversial storyline in Atypical, but it’s also a very necessary one. After transferring schools at the beginning of season two, Casey meets Izzie. They start as enemies, becoming friends, start developing feelings for each other… you get the gist. But there’s a realness to the story, it’s not a smooth ride for any of the three characters involved. Casey struggles with her developing relationship and feelings with Izzie, including not wanting to hurt her boyfriend by cheating on him and end up a cheater like her mother. She faces these internal conflicts and tries to distance herself from her feelings but eventually discovers herself, though not without sharing a wholesome scene with her brother Sam. Best of all, she’s played by a queer actor, Brigette Lundy-Paine, and they do an amazing job. We need to have more queer people taking on queer roles.
Lastly, even before being introduced on the show, one of the most recognisable sapphic characters from young-adult TV was wrongly assumed to be behind the destruction of a fan favourite couple. Toni Topaz (Vanessa Morgan) was one of the first bisexual characters I’d ever seen on TV, and she still is one of my favourites to this day. Whilst not one of the ‘core four’ of Riverdale, Topaz has been a regular player in the show since the second season (not that she gets much backstory). With her pink hair and leather jackets, she took the show by storm and sparked some outrage from devoted fans when she had a fling with Jughead Jones. But what stands out the most to me is that she was the show’s first openly bisexual character. For once the show didn’t diverge from the comics in terms of representation – which is groundbreaking in itself. However, no good deed goes unpunished, so Topaz’s character is not entirely perfect. As mentioned before, Toni has ultimately been sidelined as merely Cheryl Blossom’s girlfriend without proper development. Though I gave up with the show’s absurd plot a long time ago, there’s still hope for fans that season five will allow more screen time for Toni.
Though these are only a few examples of characters that have stood out to me, they are all equally important in the progression of bisexual representation on TV. Each of these eight individuals are unique in the way they are portrayed: they have different flaws and quirks. They feel human and not one-dimensional clones of media stereotypes – even the ones who aren’t entirely human.
Words by Emilia Butcher-Marroqui