‘Queering’ TV, one character at a time: How audiences respond to gender-diverse TV series on social media platforms

Abstract

This article builds further on research in gender/queer TV studies to understand how interpretive communities form around gender-diverse TV series on social media platforms, while questioning the influence a broadcaster/content provider may still have on the reception of LGBTQ characters. Since recent technological innovations have deeply upset normative definitions of television and of its ‘identity’, this article seeks to understand whether the inclusion of LGBTQ characters in TV series has a similar potential to encourage viewers to queer or challenge normative knowledges about human sexualities and identities. To this end, the article provides a qualitative analysis of discourses that have been published on the official Facebook page of two US serialised dramas: Sense8 (Netflix 2015–2018) and Billions (Showtime 2016–). This research reveals that conversations around Sense8 and Billions differ significantly, ranging from a tendency to deflect criticism and promote progressive readings of the show ( Sense8), to more aggressive debates and frequent attempts to ‘solve’ gender ambiguities ( Billions). Through a detailed analysis of comments and interactions on a popular social media platform, this article, therefore, argues that the nature of a particular content provider might still affect – though never determine – the formation of interpretive communities online, and the nature of comments published around a series featuring LGBTQ character(s).