More films and TV shows featuring queer characters are being made than ever before. But while there has been great progress in depictions of gay, trans and gender-nonconforming characters, the B in LGBTQ+ – bisexuality – has struggled to make progress, notably in film.
Filmmakers often assume that audiences need to see the romantic and sexual relationships between characters to recognise and categorise their sexualities. A character may do this explicitly by engaging in a romantic relationship onscreen, or there may be coding – dress, performance, or use of symbols and props to imply their sexuality.
In recent years, TV shows have started to explicitly state a character’s sexuality, either in dialogue or through a coming out scene. Brooklyn 99 and Heartstopper are two of the best-known examples. But bisexual characters rarely have such scenes in film.
Instead, bisexuality is implied in film through partner choice. A character must have a history of dating one gender and then switch – and if this is made clear visually, so much the better. Velvet Goldmine (1998) and Disobedience (2017) both feature characters that follow this pattern.
