missy pantone: uberdyke

[schmerica]

Last night during a chat with fox1013, she mentioned that she had recently rewatched Bring It On with some of her friends, and one of them had mocked her afterwards, louding proclaiming Missy's heterosexuality.

Which, you know, actually surprised me. Because, Missy? Say what you want about slash goggles, but she's totally coded as queer. I cannot think of, off the top of my head, anything in the movie to support her heterosexuality besides a default "Everybody's straight unless expressly said otherwise!" attitude.

On the other hand:

--She is referred to as a "dyke" or "dykey" more than once in the movie, and later inquires after two other characters' lesbianism (or lack thereof).

--All her primary relationships in the movie are either with women, or with men who are either queer (Les) or perceived as such (Jan, with whom she has no sexual tension). The lone plain straight guy she interacts with is her brother.

--She has no romantic interest in the movie. She's not the main character, like Torrance, with her romantic subplot with Cliff, but even characters like Jan, Les and Aaron -- all of them smaller roles -- are shown to have romantic interests (thumbs with Courtney, the male cheerleader, the "you're not my cousin" girl).

--On the same line, Missy is one of the few characters whose sexuality *isn't* expressly stated. Jan, Aaron, Courtney and Whitney are all firmly stated to be straight, and Les to be gay; Torrance and Cliff, as said earlier, have a whole heterosexual subplot. Missy (again, one of the bigger characters) is left completely ambiguous.

I mean, I'm sure there's a way to not read her as queer as a three dollar bill. I just don't see it.

Comments

[voleuse.livejournal.com]

Word. The straightest Missy every gets in my mind is bi, and that's only because it's Eliza playing her.

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Eliza Dushku does tend to give off the pansexual vibe, anyway.

[obsidian-rai.livejournal.com]

I completely agree with you. Even though I know that Eliza is straight, all the characters she's played have been so inately sexual that you can't help but see her as bi. Missy? Major crush on Torrance IMO. That's why there isn't any romantic interest for her in the movie.

Rai

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

Eliza's sexuality doesn't really have anything to do with it, of course. And yeah, I totally watch BiO with slash goggles. "missy and torrance are soinlove, omg!"

Word with word sauce

[luluminion.livejournal.com]

Missy is completely queer--and I think it's meant to be read that way. It's left ambiguous enough that people who don't wanna see it can be in denial. (Les, being a minor character, isn't threatening and makes a safe token expressly gay character.)

I mean, I'm sure there's a way to not read her as queer as a three dollar bill. I just don't see it.

From a barge traveling down a river in Egypt, her heterosexuality is clear as day.

Re: Word with word sauce

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

*nod* I totally agree.

(Wording a word post is tacky, isn't it? Hmm.)

[fox1013.livejournal.com]

I nub you like an insanely nubbable thing.

*snugs you*

You're my favoritest of all the Ericas in the world. *nods*

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

*snugs back*

Our otp puts others to shame!

[raincitygirl.livejournal.com]

I agree. There was no way for me to read Missy as anything other than a baby dyke. And I didn't go into the movie with expectations of seeing that, either.

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

*nod* It's totally there; there's no canon heterosexuality, man. It's hardly subtext.