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her past. All the characters are flawed in their
own way, and many of the fans could see a part
of themselves in them. However, unlike some
other female-empowerment shows, Xena
eschewed overtly feminist messages (with
occasional exceptions, such as a jab at beauty
pageants when Xena went undercover as a
contestant). Xena and Gabrielle fought a variety
of mostly male baddies, but they were not
fighting sexism or the patriarchy. Gender, in the
Xenaverse, just wasn’t a big deal. No one
questioned Xena’s ability to fight and command,
or Gabrielle’s desire to be a warrior, because they
were girls. Ironically, one of the few episodes
that dealt explicitly with gender issues
introduced a man-hating female outlaw just to
teach her the lesson that it’s not women vs. men,
it’s good people vs. bad. In fact, plenty of the
shows good people were men, its primary male
regular, Xena and Gabrielle’s occasional tagalong, Joxer, was a comically bumbling warrior
wannabe but also, in his own way, a true hero
willing to risk his life for his friends. Meanwhile,
the Amazons were not an idealised sisterhood
but tribes with their own power struggles,
conflicts and tyrannies. Women on Xena were
simply human, no better or worse than men,
feminism as it ought to be. It showed that
everyone has their strengths and weakness and
the gay audience appreciated that.
Various episodes within the Xena canon
showed gay characters in a positive light and how
everyone should accept and love them, even
resulting in a musical number in the episode,
Lyre, Lyre, hearts on Fire for Joxer's gay brother
Jace, but dedicated to the shows gay fans. And
while gay men adore the ass-kicking, leather clad
anti-heroine, it was our lesbian sisters who took
Xena into their hearts. They related to the strong
connection between the two friends and Xena
was one of the first major TV characters that had
a possible lesbian sub-text and the devotion
Xena and Gabrielle showed one another was
never in doubt. These were two women who
loved each other fiercely, and for a generation of
lesbian and bisexual women, that meant
everything. But even to gay men, the relationship
between the two women resonated with them,
simply because it was such a wonderful example
of solidarity, trust and overcoming all odds to
remain close to one another. But while the show
had the serious themes, the fact it didn't take
itself too seriously and could whip out a musical
episode or two, along with a drag queen winning
a beauty contest and many other humorous
moments kept the gay audience entranced. One
could say that Xena’s sexual ambiguity adds to
her larger-than-life quality. She is beyond labels,
all things to all people. And yet it’s a pity that so
much of the buzz generated by a show about a
mythic female hero has ended up focusing on
who she’s sleeping with. As openly gay Xena
producer Liz Friedman once said in an interview,
the show was “not about the romantic foibles of
Xena and Gabrielle,” it was about redemption
and friendship. Xena came at the right time to
bring fans together. The internet was out of its
infancy and people flocked to the Xena message
boards to talk about the show. But like
everything on the internet these days, the show
divided fans almost from the word go. Some fans
praising the idea of a possible lesbian
relationship between the two main characters,
while others thought it overshadowed the rest of
the themes of the show. My own personal
opinion is that at the beginning of the show the
characters weren't gay, but actually were close
friends who had formed a strong b ond, but
unfortunately towards the end, especially the 6th
season the lesbian sub-text became too apparent
and took the edge off the show. The fans stayed
true though, and it still spawned numerous spinoff media and in 2011 The Xena Movie Campaign
was launched on Facebook which encouraged the
fans to mass tweet and write to NBC and may
well have influenced them to consider rebooting
the series.
The annual Xena conventions used to
bring thousands of fans together from all walks
of life who could identify with the show. No one
was judged, everyone just went for a good time,
and even though the last convention took place
this year, if the re-boot is made and takes off,
there could be a new generation of LGBT fans
treading the floors of convention centres around
the world, screaming out a war cry or two.
ANDY ELLIOT GRIFFITHS
THEGAYUK | ISSUE 16 | NOV 2015 95