A question for any Xena fans, because I seldom see the show - has the rumoured relationship between Xena and Gabrielle finally surfaced as part of the regular plot?
I got home late last night & flipped on the Sci-Fi channel to wind down before going to sleep. I caught the last ten minutes of what seemed to be a recent episode that took place in a modern setting, with Xena, Gabrielle and one of their mousy guy friends (can’t remember his name). Apparently Xena and the guy had had switched bodies somehow, and they were all experiencing flashbacks to their days in ancient Greece. What got my attention was the flashback dialogue between Xena and Gabrielle, in which they declared their everlasting love for one another. At the end of the episode, Lucy Lawless (in her modern male persona) leaves the room while the guy (with Xena’s personality) plants a long, passionate kiss on Gabrielle.
Was this a one-shot, tongue-in-cheek sort of thing that the writers finally decided to have fun with, or have they been outed permanently? I’m just having fun imagining what the public reaction would be if a “strong woman” role model for girls turned out to be a lesbian (or at least bisexual). I know that talk has been floating around for years, but I just sort of lumped it with Kirk/Spock relationship chatter.
I’m no Xena expert (nor a xenophobe) but I’ve read that the writers deliberately put innuendo into the script, not so much as to show the characters’ preferences, but because they know who their audience is. (Hey, Rogaine is a sponsor where I live–now how did I know that?)
The show has never explicitly made the point that the relationship is sexual, but they are entirely gay enough to satisfy all the gay women I know that they are gay. The fact of love, as a non-sexual but real human experience is easily available to the producers as a defense, when rabid homophobes attack them.
The characters are gay. The demographic of the show includes a lot of gay women, and the producers, and advertisers are well aware of that. The middle aged men, and preteen boys and girls either don’t care, or don’t know about it. Profoundly religious strict doctrinaire religious folks don’t watch. Me, I like chicks in leather, and diaphanous drapery running around kicking butt. I could care less if they are gay, I’m only watching.
Tris
Imagine my signature begins five spaces to the right of center.
Thanks, folks - I didn’t realize that this was basically old news. Yes, I’d heard about the innuendo, but this episode stopped just short of showing Xena kissing Gabrielle (i.e., action, not just words), which is why I asked what the latest scoop was.
I’ll just crawl back into my cave now and wait another six years…
Xena and Gabrielle are not lesbians. Period. Yes, the innuendo is there and the producers and stars are aware of the lesbionic energy and occasionally play it up and make it more overt (communal bathing and the like), but the characters are not gay.
Contrary to stereotype, I haven’t seen more than three episodes of Xena in my life, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen one all the way through. Based on what I have seen, and some interviews I read when I had nothing better to do, Xena may or may not be a lesbian, or at least bi. Lucy Lawless certainly isn’t. When they (whoever “they” are) realized that Xena was becoming something of a cult figure among the Sapphic persuasion, they started to play it up a little bit, while leaving it suitably ambiguous to not offend the censors and to leave open the possibility of hetero-type action later. Or something. I really don’t care. I don’t think much of the show. I don’t know about the portrayal of lesbian characters in Xena, because I never got that far. It’s the historical innacuracies that always made me want to retch.
An infinite number of rednecks in an infinite number of pickup trucks shooting an infinite number of shotguns at an infinite number of road signs will eventually produce all the world’s great works of literature in Braille.
Xena and Gabrielle do love one another, a physical relationship is often hinted at, but they both like men too. Gabrielle left Xena once to get married and Xena fell in love with Ulysses.
When I watched Xena more regularly (admittedly, it’s been a couple years now), most of the shows shared a familiar plot line that must be eons old: there’s the hero, and then there’s the cute babe who keeps on getting in trouble so the hero has to rescue her. Only here, the hero is Xena.
Call it what you will, but that certainly gives Xena and Gabrielle’s friendship a certain sexual undercurrent, which the show’s creators are quite aware of and cheerfully help along. Works for me.
Second Place (tie), Most Valuable Poster (GD) Second Place, Best Scientific/Expert Explanations (GD)
Not that it’s gone to my head or anything.
Whatever the actual sexual preferences of the characters in the show, I learned this weekend that from a lesbian friend I was hiking with that the Xena logo baseball cap she was wearing was not just a sign of her interest in the show, but a clear “signal” of her sexuality to those in the know. (Also, her Buffy the Vampire Slayer backpack was another clue).
They have played the lesbian angle, both with subtle innuendo (like communal baths) and less subtle innuendo (like the kissing scenes).
Gabrielle recently admitted strong feelings for Joxer - but then won’t do anything about it.
Xena has a close relationship with Argo, her horse.
The show is wildly historically inaccurate.
For some reason I still enjoy it.
If you don’t like Xena, then you’ll hate the newest replacements for Hercules. The same creative team has a show called “Back to Back Action”, that is two 30 min action shows: Cleopatra 2525 and Jack of All Trades. Cleo is set in the post-apocalyptic future, and destroys the laws of physics. Jack of All Trades is set in 1801 and plays as loosely with Early American history as Xena does with Greek mythology and history before 2 millennia ago. Give or take a century. Plus they are cheesy as hell, aiming for the comedic take on action shows. And if you’ve seen them, you may have noticed the casts are seeded heavily from guests on Herc/Xena episodes.
On Buffy, the lesbian angle has recently been picked up with Willow and her new Wiccan friend. So far it’s been a subtle undercurrent, but the latest episode approached an overt remark. There have been other teases in the show.
Angel is not gay. Wesley is just British. And a wuss.
