Queer Joy in Hit Survival Thriller Series Yellowjackets
{ Maya Capasso }
Since the release of the psychological survival horror series Yellowjackets' (2021-) second season this past May, fans have been burning to know what happens next. The show follows the stars of a high school girls' soccer team who earn a spot in Nationals. But while traveling across the country to the competition, their plane crashes in the Canadian wilderness, and the girls must survive in this harsh environment for over a year before they're rescued. The series bounces back and forth between the girls' harrowing experiences in the wilderness and the survivors' lives twenty-five years later as they do whatever it takes to keep the horrors they endured after the plane crash a secret.
What makes this suspenseful storytelling masterpiece even more compelling to many fans is its fantastic depiction of queer characters and relationships. The series showcases diverse LGBTQ+ narratives, ranging from assistant coach Ben's (Steven Krueger) missed opportunity to come out to the world to adult Taissa's (Tawny Cypress) wholesome lesbian family ideals with her wife Simone (Rukiya Bernard). While Coach Ben's story is more tragic than joyful, Taissa, one of the survivors of the seventeen-month-long stay in the Canadian wilderness, experiences queer joy in her lesbian relationships that makes my queer heart sing.
But why are depictions of queer joy in the media so important to the LGBTQ+ community? Because we're tired of seeing the same sorrowful tropes of a queer character's conflict being tied to their sexual identity and queer relationships tend to end in tragedy. We see this in popular TV series like Pretty Little Liars (2010-2017), where Emily (Shay Mitchell) struggles to come out to her homophobic parents before her girlfriend Maya (Bianca Lawson) is murdered by her jealous ex-boyfriend. Other films and movies are guilty of aligning queerness with secrecy, tragedy, shame, and unhappy endings include Brokeback Mountain (2005), The 100 (2014-2020), Orange is the New Black (2013-2019), Killing Eve (2018-2022), and Supernatural (2005-2020).
Yes, society can be homophobic. That's a reality we must acknowledge. But at the same time, being queer isn't always a constant battle to be yourself against a harsh opposing force. Often, it's about the pleasure of kissing the person you love, trying on an outfit that makes you feel like yourself, or the excitement of a new same-sex crush. Seeing happy queer characters on TV who don't have to hide who they are or fear repercussions for being gay is a breath of fresh air. We see happy straight couples all the time, and even when they're sad, it isn't because of their sexuality. That's what we need more of for LGBTQ+ characters in the media, And that's precisely the narrative that Yellowjackets presents.
Twenty-five years after a rescue team finds the girls struggling to survive in the wilderness and brings them back to civilization, Taissa has created an ideal life for herself. She went to a prestigious university, became a lawyer, and started a family with her loving wife, Simone, before running for state senate. On the campaign trail, Taissa receives praise for her relationship, and it seems she's living a perfect life. To Taissa, those who surround her, and the viewer, we see her relationship with Simone as the image of an ideal life of normalcy and stability. The narrative shows the audience that this loving lesbian relationship is a desirable goal for success-driven women.
While Taissa's life is far from perfect, her troubles have nothing to do with her relationship. Taissa never processed the traumas she endured during her seventeen-month stay in the wilderness, and her resulting mental health issues caused problems with her son, her career, and her wife. The joy in Taissa and Simone's relationship dissipates quickly after the first few episodes of season one. Still, their pain has nothing to do with sexuality and everything to do with the fact that Taissa cannibalized her fellow teammates to survive and never truly forgave herself for what she did.
A young Taissa (Jasmin Savoy Brown) learns to embrace her lesbian identity and creates her ideal image of her happy lesbian future while trapped in the dense forests after the plane crash. There, she and her fellow teammate Van (Liv Hewson) begin a secret romance to find connection in their isolation and distract themselves from their harsh reality. While the two attempt to hide their relationship from the others for a little while, the couple comes out to the group by the middle of season one, and no one has any problem with their relationship.
Yellowjackets is a show that doesn't permit its characters to feel much happiness. So, the moments where characters smile, laugh, and feel safe stand out even more. Van and Taissa's queer joy acts as a beacon of hope. Their connection helps them stay motivated to survive. One intimate scene between the girls occurs at night while they skinny dip in a lake together. They trace words onto each other's back while giggling and pausing for the occasional kiss. The joy in that moment is tangible because it is so relatable. Despite their terrible circumstances, the girls find time to step away and find joy in each others' presence, if only for a moment.
It's a welcome relief to see more and more shows like Yellowjackets, Schitt's Creek (2015-2020), and Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts (2020) emerge from Hollywood with healthy depictions of queer characters in happy relationships. As fans patiently (or impatiently, like me) await Yellowjackets' third season, we look forward to unraveling more of the mysteries held within the wilderness and the minds of its captives. But what I look forward to the most are more glimpses of joyful moments between young Taissa and Van as they depend on each other's love to survive.