By definition, queerbaiting is a marketing technique for fiction and entertainment in which creators hint at, but then do not depict, same-sex romance or other LGBT representation. It’s a ploy to get a queer audience to watch their show and get invested in stories while also never giving them the satisfaction of actual representation. Benefiting off their back.
The term queerbaiting has been used left and right on the internet in the last few years, in the right or wrong way. But sometimes queer relationships can be nuanced too. Being explicit right away isn’t always right. For years, Killing Eve was accused of queerbaiting with the relationship between Eve and Villanelle, both from fans and critics, while really, it was just a slow build towards a twisted and toxic, but nonetheless romantic, relationship. The use of queerbaiting is something that should be despised and should disappear forever, but sometimes, the term queerbaiting should simply not be used.
Such is the case with Arcane.
Arcane is an animated television series that adapts the world of League of Legends to the small screen. Amidst the escalating unrest between the advanced, utopian city of Piltover and the squalid, repressed undercity of Zaun, Arcane follows sisters Vi (Hawkeye’s Hailee Steinfeld) and Jinx (Army of the Dead’s Ella Purnell) who find themselves on opposing sides of a war over twisted ideologies and arcane technology.
When Arcane arrived on Netflix, the discussion around the show centred mostly on how beautiful it was and how it might just be the best video game adaptation ever. While the conversation stayed on how good the show was and how we were all watching something special, it wasn’t until the second part was released (episode 4 through 6) that a new topic arrived.
When a show hints at a queer relationship but does not depict it right away, the conversation quickly turns to how we are being queerbaited. This is exactly what happened with Arcane, where a discussion began surrounding the show and how it was queerbaiting the queer audience.
The subject of such discussion was because of the relationship, or the implication of a relationship, between Vi and Caitlyn (Katie Leung).
If anyone has played League of Legends, Vi and Caitlyn were partners. Nothing more really, since the game was never about relationships. Even Vi and Jinx were never really explored as sisters. That is just not what League of Legends is about. But of course, for the show, things had to be explored with more detail. And so, it gave the writers a lot of freedom. Established connections were already there, now they just had to expand on them.
From Jinx and Vi’s relationship to Viktor and Jayce or even Silco and his power over the undercity, Arcane was able to craft stories out of the backstories they never got to use within the game. It was a world so rich with lore and yet, they were only able to use it for the first time now. Caitlyn and Vi’s relationship was no different. From having Vi use Caitlyn’s signature move in the game as a nickname, Cupcake, or finally giving Caitlyn a last name. The show was able to create stories out of a game that is never about that.
And that is where the criticism for Vi and Caitlyn’s relationship stems from. As queer people, we starve for representation. We want our relationships to be at the forefront of television because for so long, implied relationships were all we got. This is where the term queerbaiting starts to get abused and not used in the right context. Relationships don’t have to be explicit, they can be slowly built, taking seasons upon seasons to be at the forefront of everything. We see it all the time with straight couples that take eight seasons to even share a first kiss, but with queer couples, too often, we ask for everything all at once.
Vi and Caitlyn do not even know each other at the start of the show, they don’t meet until episode 4. And yet, certain people on the internet seemed to want them to be explicit from the start. Instead, what Arcane gives us is a relationship that will develop over time, a slow burn. A relationship that does not need to be said out loud. Hell, even the sexuality of the characters is implied, with scenes like Caitlyn’s reaction at the brothel or even her parents’ reaction at seeing Vi in her room, implying that this is not the first time they have caught her with a girl there.
This is where people have a problem. Queer characters seemed to never be queer in the eyes of the general public unless they are explicitly confirmed in the show, and it is understandable, it comes from a long line of shows implying sexuality and never doing anything with it. But at the same time, queer people do not walk around screaming “I am gay!” every five minutes. The implication of sexuality can be enough at times if it is handled right.
And Arcane does it right. From the very first meeting, there is tension between Caitlyn and Vi. That tension can be explained at first by a simple hatred for each other. These are two women from different worlds, that just do not trust each other, that are using each other for something else. But over time, that tension can’t be explained by anything else but a growing relationship. Vi calls Caitlyn hot multiple times, the show gives us scenes that imply that Caitlyn is not straight, their relationship becomes the center of their story, it is all there and yet, people continue to say that the show is queerbaiting them.
But what can we qualify as queerbaiting? Many would say that queerbaiting is a marketing technique for fiction and entertainment in which creators hint at, but never depict, same-sex romance or other LGBT representation. If we go by this definition, it is safe to say that what Arcane is building with Caitlyn and Vi does not qualify as queerbaiting.
The show never tried to use the relationship between Caitlyn and Vi to get more viewers, before the show started, nothing implied that it would even go there. After the show aired, people who worked on it started talking more about the relationship and how, yes, it was implied for now, but it was not just a figment of our imagination, that the implication was meant to be there, that it would be developed into something more.
Queerbaiting is when someone uses queer viewers by manipulating them into watching their shows while never giving them what was promised. But over time, queer viewers have taken that word and moved it to simply any relationship that is not explicit from the very first frame. It is normal, many shows have used queerbaiting and created an environment that makes everyone uncomfortable when things are not explicit from the very first second, but sometimes slow and steady wins the race. Sometimes, it is what is needed.
Now, we might have a different story to tell when season two arrives, but from everything that has been said on Twitter by a writer of the show, every single detail between Caitlyn and VI’s relationship was chosen to imply a developing romance. From the small moments, like when Vi and Caitlyn go to a brothel and Vi sees Caitlyn chatting up a woman to Caitlyn’s face when Vi leaves her on the bridge to go back and get Jinx, everything is deliberate. So why don’t we just wait a bit and see where it goes.
No, Arcane did not queerbait you. They are instead giving us a slow build relationship that seems to be in good hands and will probably make it worth our while.
