Black Mirror fans outraged as new season fails in LGBTQ+ representation
Black Mirror San Junipero (Netflix)
Fans of Black Mirror have shared their outrage online over the lack of LGBTQ+ representation in the new season.
The Netflix original was acclaimed in past seasons for including LGBTQ characters.
Hang The DJ (Netflix)
Most notably, the Emmy award-winning episode San Junipero was celebrated for it’s heartbreaking lesbian storyline.
However, fans are disappointed in the release of season five as it fails to include any LGBT storylines.
It was hinted that episode four, Hang The DJ, would include some representation but a fleeting five seconds of lesbian action disappointed viewers.
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On Twitter, fans complained that the show had let itself down since it’s San Junipero days.
One person wrote: “i love @blackmirror but out of the entire 4th season (about 6 hours total) there was about 5 seconds of lgbt+ representation… san junipero didn’t exempt you from having any representation for the rest of the show’s run.”
Another said: “Abt black mirror s4,,, it’s like such queerbait to put the gays in s3 and then NOTHING in season4,, right?”
A third wrote: “San Junipero had me really hopeful for making an effort to tell LGBT stories until season 4 of Black Mirror consisted entirely of straight people not trusting each other.”
The lesbian clip in Hang The DJ (Netflix)
Others wrote that they were disappointed after the hype around the Hang The DJ episode.
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“The heterosexuality in black mirror hang the dj is gross where are the gays why isn’t the episode about a gay who keeps getting paired with the wrong gender,” a Twitter user stressed.
A separate person added: “FULL OFFENCE @ black mirror hang the DJ should have been more gay.”
However, someone else disagreed and believed that Hang The DJ was good, although had room for more representation.
They wrote: “While I love #HangTheDJ, let’s consider for a moment that we gays basically gave the world dating apps, yet aside from a quick “lesbian try out session” for the main character LGBT people don’t seem to exist in this world. #BlackMirror”
Yorkie and Kelly’s lesbian love story is featured in the Black Mirror episode ‘San Junipero’ (Photo by Netflix)
Different Twitter users felt that the across all four seasons more room could have been made for representation.
Related: Black Mirror’s iconic lesbian love story San Junipero wins two Emmy Awards
One said: “You’d think in Black Mirror; worlds with advanced technology, that there would be more LGBT characters. I know in season 3 there’s one love story devoted to two women, but there’s 19 episodes. I can only think of two instances of LGBT characters. I do hope I’m wrong on that.”
“I’m actually really sad about black mirror and the lack of lgbt+ representation this season? san junipero won a fucking EMMY because it was groundbreaking in terms of lgbt characters in sci-fi and charlie brooker was like… “let’s make it the season of straights,” another explained.
Others were more direct in their disappointment in the show.
“I’ve watched two episodes of black mirror season 4 and there has been nothing gay whATSOEVER,” someone wrote.
Another added: “Why can’t all Black Mirror episodes just be like San Junipero, I watched 1&2 of the new season last night and I’m still stressed as heck. I JUST WANT MORE GAY UTOPIA MAN.”
