Little C: Rosa Diaz is My Patronus
Readers, the holidays are an emotional time. Sure there's all the love and peace on earth stuff, but also for most of December I feel like I am inches away from either screaming or crying at all times. So I could easily blame the end of year stress for the fact that I spent 30 minutes ugly crying to a sit-com. Except that's not the case. I cried because the episode in question was Brooklyn Nine-Nine's "Game Night" and it hit pretty close to home.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine is a staple in our house. It's rare that all three of us agree on a comedy and we have spent many a night ending the argument of what should we watch with "Find me a random episode in season 2." It's a show that tackles a lot of big and heavy issues but always returns to the core of a group of cops who have a lot of fun on their jobs. And I've always really identified with the character of Rosa. She's tough and a little angry and generally gets what she wants by intimidating other people. So you can imagine my ecstatic freak out when it was revealed that her character was bisexual. There is a huge problem with under-representation of LGBT characters, and most times when a character comes out they essentially have a giant timer over their heads that counts down to the episode where they are killed. Does that make me sound bitter? Cuz I am a little bitter. But Brooklyn Nine-Nine is a sitcom. Which means that Rosa is safe from a hasty death that will only serve to motivate the straight characters in their seasonal arc! Again, I'm a little bitter.
So Rosa being bi was more than I could have hoped for. As they say on tumblr, it cleared my skin and watered my crops. I was satisfied. But then "Game Night" focused on her coming out. I can think of a handful of coming out stories on TV. Mostly they focus on men and women coming out as gay or lesbian. And they're good valuable stories that I mostly watch through tears because they're both affirming and incredibly heartbreaking. But there are differences to coming out as gay vs. coming out as bi. Brooklyn Nine-Nine really nailed the struggle that a lot of bi people (myself included) go through when they come out. Rosa has to explain that her sexuality is real, that this isn't a phase she's going through on her way to being either gay or straight. She has to deal with people in her life not accepting her, and she turns to her friends to support her when parts of her family can't. All of this was familiar.
I also want to give a huge shout out to how Justin Noble and Carly Hallam handled the writing of this episode. It handled a very intense and heavy premise but balanced it out with enough humor and heart that it wasn't a downer episode. Also a shout out to Danny Trejo who absolutely killed it as Rosa's father. Mostly I'm just really grateful to this show and to Fox for giving me a character I can really see myself in.
Happy Watching
Little C
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| source |
Brooklyn Nine-Nine is a staple in our house. It's rare that all three of us agree on a comedy and we have spent many a night ending the argument of what should we watch with "Find me a random episode in season 2." It's a show that tackles a lot of big and heavy issues but always returns to the core of a group of cops who have a lot of fun on their jobs. And I've always really identified with the character of Rosa. She's tough and a little angry and generally gets what she wants by intimidating other people. So you can imagine my ecstatic freak out when it was revealed that her character was bisexual. There is a huge problem with under-representation of LGBT characters, and most times when a character comes out they essentially have a giant timer over their heads that counts down to the episode where they are killed. Does that make me sound bitter? Cuz I am a little bitter. But Brooklyn Nine-Nine is a sitcom. Which means that Rosa is safe from a hasty death that will only serve to motivate the straight characters in their seasonal arc! Again, I'm a little bitter.
 |
| source |
So Rosa being bi was more than I could have hoped for. As they say on tumblr, it cleared my skin and watered my crops. I was satisfied. But then "Game Night" focused on her coming out. I can think of a handful of coming out stories on TV. Mostly they focus on men and women coming out as gay or lesbian. And they're good valuable stories that I mostly watch through tears because they're both affirming and incredibly heartbreaking. But there are differences to coming out as gay vs. coming out as bi. Brooklyn Nine-Nine really nailed the struggle that a lot of bi people (myself included) go through when they come out. Rosa has to explain that her sexuality is real, that this isn't a phase she's going through on her way to being either gay or straight. She has to deal with people in her life not accepting her, and she turns to her friends to support her when parts of her family can't. All of this was familiar.
 |
| source |
I also want to give a huge shout out to how Justin Noble and Carly Hallam handled the writing of this episode. It handled a very intense and heavy premise but balanced it out with enough humor and heart that it wasn't a downer episode. Also a shout out to Danny Trejo who absolutely killed it as Rosa's father. Mostly I'm just really grateful to this show and to Fox for giving me a character I can really see myself in.
Happy Watching
Little C
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