I jumped with delight when I received my recent mail deliveries from Alternate Worlds of the latest Willow and Tara comix. I had previously bought the first of the series from a specialty shop in USA via the Internet -- it is now extremely hard to find. Willow and Tara are two of the main characters in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Willow is Buffy's best friend, and Tara is Willow's lover. One of the very nice things about the spin-off Willow-Tara comix is that they are actually written by the multi-talented Amber Benson, the actress who plays Tara in the show. Amber has many other projects, including directing independent movies.
The Buffy writers have handled the relationship between Willow and Tara wonderfully. It has been portayed as just another pair in love instead of being exploited for prurient interest. They haven't even tried to raise its profile as part of an awareness campaign -- the girls are just there and in love. Very nice.
When their love first blossomed, it was frustrating to see the girls almost kissing, but the filmmakers were bound by the Warner Bros. directive that gay kisses were not allowed. Later, that rule was either lifted or else Joss Whedon (the main force behind Buffy) decided to flout it. In any case, in the devastating and ground-breaking episode of Buffy, "The Body," they did finally kiss.
The writers managed this in a way that few could reasonably object to: Tara consoles Willow after Buffy's mother, greatly loved by all, has died. After the writers had this foot in the door, there was no stopping them. The pair is soon seen strolling arm in arm, kissing and even going to bed together.
Another recent SF show that includes a lesbian in its main cast is James Cameron's Dark Angel (not related to the Buffy spin-off show, Angel). Max (Jessica Alba) has a best friend named Cindy (her full name in the show is supposed to be Original Cindy), who is a matter-of-fact lesbian. No big deal is made of it. It just is. Like Buffy, it is nice to see a major character whose unconventional sexuality is readily accepted.
Cindy and Max are great pals: they hug, hang out together, and are completely comfortable in each other's company. Sexuality is totally irrelevant; this is how it should be. In the first season we met some of Cindy's ex-girlfriends and even saw her consorting with them. The new season has given her a lower profile, which is a pity. It seems the accountants had more power over the show more recently. The bean-counters have a real talent for destroying good shows.
Roswell, another of my favorite shows, was forced to close after battling the accountants for a long time. It had no gay characters but dealt with issues of hiding your true nature for fear of victimisation, and the burden this places upon relationships. The early episodes were based upon the wonderful books by Melinda Metz and were an amazing exploration of these emotional complexities. The tension and poignancy of those first shows was almost painfully sharp. Unfortunately, later seasons succumbed to pressure to add sex and violence to the stories, which I thought was a great pity.