Nine Worlds Geek Fest

[jenoofer.livejournal.com]

Hi! Some of you may remember (or even have attended!) the Nine Worlds con a couple of years ago when Chris Barrie was one of the guests. I'm co-organising the LGBTQ+ track at this year's Nine Worlds, and am planning a session on LGBTQ+ representation in fandom. I'd like to include Red Dwarf as one of the fandoms to discuss because I know that the way queerness is represented in the show is very different to its representation in the fandom.

So I'm here to ask for a bit of help and some suggestions. How do you guys feel Red Dwarf fandom represents queer characters (by which I mean characters who are not heterosexual, not cis-gender or not sexual) compared to the show itself? Do you see fandom/fic as a way to deal with or 'fix' negative representations in the show? How do you deal with the show's sometimes negative representations of queerness?

At the moment I'm thinking the session is going to be a panel discussion with fic writers from different fandoms, but I'm open to suggestions if anyone has any other ideas - I have a 75 minute session to fill on the topic of LGBTQ+ representation in fanfiction/online fandom.

Any comments/suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Comments

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

Personally, although I'm a lesbian, there aren't too many moments in the show where something really strikes me as homophobic. If anything, there are more sexist moments, sadly. Especially in Series VIII where all the characters lose several IQ points and are presented as unable to control their libidos because they're in prison. :/

Getting back to queer representation, the Low version of Rimmer has already been mentioned, but I'd like to add that the reason I don't view that as a homophobic stereotype is because (a) he isn't actually identified as being gay; it can simply be read as sexual sadism, (b) the character is a fairly reasonable extrapolation of regular Rimmer's obsession with authority and (c) Low Rimmer is balanced out by High Rimmer who represents Rimmer's best qualities and is shown to have a homoerotic (or possibly homoromantic) bond with High Lister. The Highs are arguably asexual or aromantic.

There is also the episode "Blue" where one of the leads, Lister, is missing the other lead, Rimmer (Chris Barrie left the show for half a season but was soon back). Lister has a swooningly romantic dream about kissing Rimmer and wakes up in a panic. Although his reaction is disgust, it's not presented as disgust at dreaming about kissing a man, rather disgust at dreaming about kissing this particular man with whom his relationship is usually antagonistic.

The episode avoids falling into the heteronormative trap of then having Lister fall into the arms of the nearest available woman. Although he talks to Kochanski and she helps him to analyse the dream, romance is specifically off the table as soon as he blows his nose in a disgusting fashion. The show is a comedy and will always go for laughs before romance.

[lordvalerymimes.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I never thought that their intent with the Low version of Rimmer was for him to be gay, but I can imagine a lot of viewers coming away with that impression, regardless of what was intended. I don't know if this is perhaps less exaggerated in the UK, but here in the US, you stick a man in stockings and a garter belt, and you'll immediately have people slinging the word, "gay" around. Because why would a man ever want to wear women's clothing or lingerie unless he was gay? *insert rolling eyes here*

I like your thoughts about Blue. I always liked that Lister's disgust was clearly linked to the fact that he was kissing Rimmer, and not at all about the fact that he was kissing a man.