With the second episode airing on Channel 4 tonight I wanted to do a brief overview of Desiree Akhavan’s latest project The Bisexual. With her first transition to the small screen The Bisexual follows Leila (Desiree Akhavan) a 30 something woman who is taking a break from her relationship with long-term girlfriend and business partner Sadie (Maxine Peake). In the pilot we join Leila as she leaves the lavish flat she shared with Sadie to room with washed up novelist Gabe (Brian Gleeson); following her as she is struggles to navigate post relationship dating more specifically having sex with men for the first time.
The major theme throughout The Bisexual is exactly that, bisexuality. In a world that is obsessed with the binary of gay or straight we have Leila fresh of her break up struggling to open up about her own bisexuality; “I’m pretty sure bisexuality is a myth created by ad executives to sell flavoured vodka” she states to her group of lesbian friends, moments after flirting with a male cloakroom attendant. The show is a refreshing and honest take on what it means to be bisexual, how difficult it can be to come to terms with it and how valid it truly is. Themes of biphobia run throughout the series, especially the discrimination that comes from within the gay community, yet this isn’t overly dramatized to induce shock from the viewer. Instead subtle aspects of everyday biphobia are presented through sly comments wit and dry humour with Leila’s friend using the term “sex tourist” to describe a woman she perceives to be a straight girl experimenting. The script written by Akhavan and co writer Cecilia Frugiuele is original, comedic and a little bit bonkers which makes for entertaining viewing that is right on home on Channel 4.
Akhavna and Frugiuele are taking back the queer woman’s narrative from the men of the media and telling our stories from a personal and ultimately realistic point of view. The subtle and at times comical ways of addressing anti queer rhetoric has become a winning formula for Desiree and bares similarities to her and Ceclia’s. As with their prior outings Appropriate Behaviour and The Miseducation of Cameron Post the duo have proven they can produce quality queer content and The Bisexual looks to be just that; quality queer content made by queer people for queer people.
- Sara Crompton
The Bisexual airs Wednesdays at 10pm on Channel 4.