'Riverdale' | Oversexed or Asexual?
'Riverdale' is an American CW/Netflix teen mystery-drama television series based on characters created by Archie Comics. The show explores the small town life, darkness, and weirdness bubbling beneath Riverdale's wholesome facade.
Featuring an ensemble cast starring the titular characters of Kiwi KJ Apa (Archie Andrews), Lili Reinhart (Betty Cooper) and Camila Mendes (Veronica Lodge), the cast is also complimented by child star Cole Sprouse as Jughead Jones, and Madelaine Petsch as Cheryl Blossom.
The thing about this show is that the initial trailer for it hardly portrayed the potential of the show. There's a distinct style and tone that begs for you to watch as it displays the picturesque town of 'Riverdale' from America's greatest period of nostalgia.
Each character provides its own compelling arcs, whether they attend Riverdale High or apart of the working community.
If you're a purist, this incarnation of the well-loved comics isn't for you. What the show does do is take something that's adored and revamp it for a modern television audience. It has become a show that's incredibly hard to stop viewing, despite how artificially predictable it may seem.
In the early episodes of the show, there's a lot to enjoy in all its ridiculousness. As it progresses, it leaves huge room for improvement; this is something that can be understood with shows that boast a large ensemble of characters. It is difficult to tell everyone’s story, so it makes one wonder if there's too much to tell in the first place.
One of the first things that will strike viewers about 'Riverdale,' and what will draw them into the dark history of this small town, is the overall production value - from it's design to colouring to cinematography. It's something for those who love a darker mystery plot and matching aesthetic.
All of this, however, cannot hide the feeling that we may have seen something like this before. From what starts out as a show that you hope will focus on the murder of Jason Blossom, the majority of the script focusses on the oversexed relationships between characters. Arguably, the time wasted on the angsty high school romance and love triangles could have focussed more on developing an interesting murder-mystery. Some may even consider that the initial plot of who killed Jason Blossom is almost forgotten, becoming more of a backstory than the overarching plot it should be.
Many elements feel undoubtedly cliché, especially when it comes to the show’s stock characters: the gay best friend, the jock, the annoyingly aforementioned love triangles, and the 'mean girl.'
Who knew that the world of teen television dramas could have decreased so rapidly in recent years? 'Riverdale' is a decently produced show, but it's recycled content. This version of the universe really plays into the archetypes in a place that exists away from the true clutches of the modern world, much like that of the New York Veronica may have come from. In its 76-year comic history, a lot of things have come about: from the zombie apocalypse to Archie dying amongst the events that have occurred so its no surprise that this take has added another aspect to the 'Riverdale' universe as a whole, despite how cliché it may be.
The main issue of the show, especially as an asexual individual, is representation. Though the show does prove to have reaches for characters of colour, there's the singular gay character that's barely given screen time, and the supposed asexuality of Sprouse's Jughead Jones as described in the comics.
When going into this show, and finding out more about the character's, I found that the character of Jughead was supposedly asexual, and Sprouse pushed for his character to remain that way, though he backed off in understanding why they didn't want to make his character that way.
Although it Sprouse can be commended for pushing for his character to be as such in the comics, it's disappointing that the show’s writers didn't take his request – or even the need for the representation of character's of different sexualities, more seriously.
There are few instances in television where there have been asexual characters, without the trope that there is something "wrong" with them, and they need to be "fixed".
Television needs to showcase more than the more commonly known straight, gay, bisexual, and transgender. It needs to acknowledge the plethora of other individuals on the LGBTQIA+ spectrum. It's too often that the 'A' of LGBTQIA+ is removed - mainly due to lack of understanding, which is why we need to see this on our screens.
It may be thought that society is progressing in terms of representation on the screen, and there has been significant progression, but there's still a long way to go. Hopefully, ‘Riverdale’ addresses this issue as it goes forth.
But as Wednesday Addams said:
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