“Faking It” is a wildly addictive new romantic comedy series on MTV. It joins “Awkward” in providing an entertaining alternative to pregnant teens and binge-drinking reality stars. The series focuses on a pair of best friends who pretend to be lesbians to be popular. It strives to break barriers and subvert stereotypes. However, by still using these stereotypes, is it keeping them alive in people’s minds? Is lampooning political correctness the key to equality, or does the show just keep harmful assumptions alive?
The fictional Austin, Texas, high school Hester High is a mirror image of your typical expectations of high school. Students who are “different” are popular. Karma Ashcroft (Katie Stevens) is desperate to fit in so far as to pretend to be blind to be interesting. When Shane Harvey (Michael Willett), the gay, benevolent version of Regina George, thinks Karma and her best friend Amy Raudenfeld (Rita Volk) are lesbians, they decide to embrace “faking it.” They even get voted prom queens. The only problem is that Amy might actually have feelings for Karma. Meanwhile, Karma’s newfound popularity has brought her closer to her crush Liam Booker (Gregg Sulkin).
The series is fun and whimsical and doesn’t seem to try to offend. Everyone is accepted, and the villain Lauren Cooper (Bailey Buntain), once a blonde, popular cheerleader is now unpopular because she’s bitter about being stuck in a bizzarro world where she’s an outcast. However, the show still embraces stereotypes to get its point across. As the potential lesbian, Amy is a tomboy. This isn’t a negative stereotype, but it’s a missed opportunity to show that anyone can be LGBTQ. Random stereotypes are also pimped out to get the point across or land a joke. In the first few episodes, a little person makes an appearance as part of the entourage. Rather than have them as an integrated member of the in crowd with lines, she’s just there. The actress pops up used as a little person and a joke rather than a full-fledged cast member. Lauren’s minions are a meek Asian girl (Courtney Kato) and a chubby wallflower (Breezy Eslin). They both pander to stereotypes of docile Asian nerds and chubby girls making jokes about food. It seems strange that they wouldn’t be popular in this alternate universe.
Don’t get me wrong, the show has smart dialogue and is ultimately trying to send a positive message. It was created by actresses Dana Min Goodman and Julia Wolov, both of whom have been featured in a ton of Happy Madison productions. It also has “G.B.F.” writer George Northy as part of the team, so it delivers on funny and personality. It just seems like a missed opportunity to really subvert audience expectations and present positive representations of disenfranchised groups. It could present a more diverse cast and put a human face to racial, cultural, sexual and physical differences rather than relying on archetypes and stereotypes. Rather than celebrating traditional stereotypes, it could just have gay characters who happen to be gay. It could have racially diverse and other “different” groups embraced as people rather than politically correctly included. Bullying is still an important issue, so anything to try and decrease homophobia and other alienation is great. It’s just a question of better vs. best.
In the show’s defense, it’s on MTV. The show may be beholden to some sort of network mandates. After all, “Awkward” is such a smart show, but it does sell sex to teens. When MTV tried to adapt the popular British teen drama “Skins,” it did shamelessly change the gay character to a cheerleading lesbian. Here’s hoping that “Faking It” reaches a level of success where it can open the world beyond sensationalized stereotypes. After all, it’s not just gay teens that get ostracized.
Ultimately, “Faking It” is a step in the right direction. It doesn’t feel as forced or overwrought as other shows targeting the LGBTQ community. However, it would be great if, in 2014, a show could celebrate diversity, integration and acceptance without having to use the stereotypes that still keep people oppressed. It’s progress not perfection, so here’s hoping “Faking It” lasts long enough to make some changes.
Christian Cintron is a contributing journalist for TheBlot Magazine.
