Ciara Whelan explores the racial diversity, and lack thereof, of the sapphic storylines that will be celebrated this LGBTQ+ History Month.
This LGBTQ+ History Month, press outlets and social media feeds will no doubt become flooded with lists recommending the best queer film and television relationships to discover. These lists might be broad and all-encompassing, or narrow in focus to include a specific relationship paradigm, like the sapphic love story. Throughout the lengthy history of screen media, the lesbian and bisexual female love story has until recent years remained in the shadows of popular fiction, but textual revisionism and an increasingly progressive film industry have meant that there is a wealth of screen media to explore. However, in recent months, this canon of cinema and television has come under scrutiny for the lack of racial diversity in its most celebrated fictional couples.
Sapphic storylines have increasingly entered mainstream popular fiction in recent years, and popular films like But I’m a Cheerleader (1999), Blue is the Warmest Colour (2013), Carol (2015), The Favourite (2018), Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019), and Tár (2022) are a testament to this. However, these films are overwhelmingly led by White female characters, and even films that include a woman of colour in the sapphic couple like Mulholland Drive (2001), The Half of It (2020), Crush (2022), and the upcoming release of Love Lies Bleeding (2024) still feature a White character as a half of the pair. In the last two decades, the racial diversity of mainstream television series has improved at an increased rate in comparison, yet the popular ships that include women of colour often still include a White woman. Particularly, the central sapphic couples in television series like Grey’s Anatomy (2005-), Glee (2009-2015), Pretty Little Liars (2010-2017), The Fosters (2013-2016), include one White woman and her typically light skin partner. From these film and televisual examples, it is clear that the erasure of dark skin sapphic storylines is an issue in the industry that is beginning to garner attention on social media but is still far from being resolved.
In the last two decades, the racial diversity of mainstream television series has improved at an increased rate in comparison, yet the popular ships that include women of colour often still include a White woman.
Despite these deficiencies in representation, it is important to highlight the few screen media texts that champion women of colour in sapphic relationships, and dark skin women in particular. Blitz Bazawule’s musical adaptation of The Colour Purple (2023) is one recent example that has garnered attention and prestige in the mainstream media. The sapphic element of the relationship between Celie and her husband’s mistress Shug Avery (Taraji P. Henson), which is notably absent in Steven Spielberg’s adaptation from thirty years earlier, is a key storyline in last year’s musical remake. The pair are played respectively by Fantasia Barrino and Taraji P. Henson in the recent adaptation and perform a stunning rendition of ‘What About Love?’ which is followed by a kiss shared by the two women in a quiet film theatre. Their couplehood is a rare depiction of sexual desire and romance between two dark skin Black women in Hollywood film, and might just signal a turning point in sapphic representation in the future. Emma Seligman’s sophomore feature film Bottoms (2023) is another important example of a sapphic storyline that includes two women of colour, Isabel (Havana Rose Liu) and Josie (Ayo Edibiri). The security of their new relationship at the narrative’s end is a welcome change from the tragedy that has historically hindered queer relationships represented in screen media, and the depiction of a dark skin Black girl in a healthy sapphic relationship is, unfortunately, a change of pace for many queer audience members.
The sapphic element of the relationship between Celie and her husband’s mistress Shug Avery (Taraji P. Henson), which is notably absent in Steven Spielberg’s adaptation from thirty years earlier, is a key storyline in last year’s musical remake.
The consistent production of sapphic-centred screen media is something to celebrate this LGBTQ+ History Month, and yet it is still vital that the industry recognise the issue of colourism that continues to proliferate in sapphic screen media texts. By acknowledging and celebrating those films that endeavour to fill this representation gap, film audiences this month might contribute to change and transform the cultural canon that represents them.