The Serie Hannibal has received accusations of queerbaiting since it began airing on American television, but now its creator has come out in defense of the story presented in it. What happens is that at the center of the episodes is the relationship between detective criminal profiler Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) and cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen). This relationship gradually evolves from being a cautious “rivalry” to becoming a complicity in which many people perceived homoerotic overtones.
The queerbaiting it is a marketing practice that consists of presenting a work as if the center of the narrative were a love relationship –with all its physical implications– between two characters of the same sex, all with the aim of attracting gay audiences. However, in the stories in question, such demonstrations of love are not fully developed, usually remaining as hints.
There are those who think that, throughout its three seasons, the project based on the Thomas Harris novels did just that, approaching the closeness between Graham and Lecter as if they both wanted to be in a relationship with the other, although in the end this never happened. happens.
The opinion of the creator of the series Hannibal about the accusations of queerbaiting
In an interview with IndieWireto talk about his documentary Queer For Fearfor the platform shudder, Bryan Fullercreator of the series, who is openly gay – and actually featured a lesbian woman in the story, Dr. Alana Bloom (Caroline Dhavernas)– spoke about the controversy, mentioning that, as he sees it, the series is very explicit when it comes to the representation of homosexuality between both protagonists. This was what he said:
“I was trying to tell an authentic story because I think exploring queer from a heteronormative point of view is a difficult path. Certainly, it started out as a same-sex couple not having sex, experiencing greater intimacy than they had ever experienced before. Later, that could transition to an intimacy that was qualified as love. Then, to a physical intimacy between them, where they are both penetrating a man. That is a culmination of your relationship. Then they fall into each other’s arms off a cliff.”
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What Fuller is referring to is the season three finale, in which Will and Hannibal team up to stab a man. After this act, both embrace passionately and decide to drop. It is somewhat subjective, but for the filmmaker it is not, because it does represent intimacy, only in a different way than it is usually portrayed on screen. Even Mads Mikkelsen recently revealed that kissing scenes were filmed, but not used because they were thought to be “too obvious.”
For that reason, Fuller argues that the accusations are baseless.
“I have never had the feeling of doing queerbaiting. I think that’s a buzzword for a lot of people to find something to complain about, because they feel like they’ve been misled or misled.”
In addition, he added that he is proud of the open way in which homosexuality was portrayed in the series:
“I’m just as proud of how explicit queerness is in that relationship. The growing homosexuality of what happens between Will and Hannibal never felt exploited. The idea of someone who previously identified as heterosexual having a complex and intimate relationship with someone of their own sex seemed authentic to me. The journey with those feelings towards what’s in the way felt less codified and more authentic to the story of this man on this journey.”
And I add:
“Because it became explicitly queer in terms of the conversation about their love for each other and where that love was going to take them. I think dismiss it as queerbaiting he’s cynical and a bit of an idiot«.
Hannibal can be seen on Amazon Prime Video.
Jose Roberto Landaverde Film buff and music lover. I am fascinated by writing, listening, reading and commenting on everything related to the seventh art. I am a fan of Rocky and Back to the Future and of course one day I will climb the “Philly Steps” and drive a DeLorean. Faithful believer that the cinema is the best teleportation machine, and also that we can all see ourselves represented on the big screen. Constantly, like Scott Pilgrim, I ask myself: “Does bread make you fat?”