holiviabr Posted March 19, 2017 Share Posted March 19, 2017 Hello, I was wondering what everyone thought about the tv show "Riverdale" and their response and representation over the issue of asexuality and Jughead? Link to post Share on other sites
scarletlatitude Posted March 19, 2017 Share Posted March 19, 2017 Moving to musings and rantings scarletlatitude World Watch mod Link to post Share on other sites
fuzzipueo Posted March 20, 2017 Share Posted March 20, 2017 First - welcome to AVEN, holiviabr! As for Riverdale? Typical teenage angst. And, though I found the kiss between Jughead and Betty totally out of no where and made no real sense, it's early days yet. What annoys me more are the product placements in the show. Link to post Share on other sites
Vicky Angel Posted March 25, 2017 Share Posted March 25, 2017 I like the character of Jughead. I relate to him in many ways. But the tv producers said they are refusing to show him as Ace. So far he is coming off as a romantic Ace, which I like. But I will refrain judgement until we see more episodes. Link to post Share on other sites
TopHatCat Posted April 28, 2017 Share Posted April 28, 2017 I love Jughead in the comics, he approaches a lot of things with novelty like I do. The show did end up being a typical angst story, and I agree that the kiss with Betty seemed out of nowhere (but then again, as an ace, I have trouble seeing that stuff coming). Up until that point I had hoped that since they said the characters where discovering themselves that they would have Jughead discover that about himself, but alas it is not that deep. I do however care enough about some of the characters to follow the story until it's resolved or gets too convoluted to have any intrigue or continuity. I love a good murder. Link to post Share on other sites
iwannagayhorse Posted May 11, 2017 Share Posted May 11, 2017 We have to keep in mind that they're around 15-16 years old, so maybe he doesn't know yet. Also I've heard that in season 2 there is a possibility for aro/ace Jughead. Cole himself has spoken few times about it, you can find it on YouTube. Link to post Share on other sites
Allegra Posted May 11, 2017 Share Posted May 11, 2017 I watched the series and don't feel Jughead is obviously ace in the show, or not obviously ace. We don't really know all the details about his relationship with Betty at this point, so it's possible next season they could delve into that and perhaps the plot will move in the direction of Jughead talking about asexuality, or discovering his asexuality, or something else. It also could go in a different direction and make him allosexual in the show, who knows. I like his character, but I don't think of Riverdale's Jughead as asexual (yet). Link to post Share on other sites
Rhaenys Posted May 11, 2017 Share Posted May 11, 2017 The show in general sucks because aside from Jughead they butchered other aspects of the characters and stories to make it "kool teen angst omg so mainsteam and puppular." Representation wise. I had low expectations I mean it's CW. After the House bs I have very low expectations for channels like those to portray it correctly. Link to post Share on other sites
Anime Pancake Posted May 12, 2017 Share Posted May 12, 2017 I stopped watching after they had two female characters that I always assumed were straight kiss for no reason in the first episode. I like the classic version of Archie a lot more. This one is too dramatic and annoying for me. I do think it is probably a good show to a lot of other people though. On topic, I think it would be nice to have an aromantic or asexual character in a popular show. I think Jughead is probably more aromantic than romantic. Link to post Share on other sites
KendraPM Posted May 12, 2017 Share Posted May 12, 2017 I got really excited when I heard about the show, but then pretty upset when the writers said they didn't want Jughead to be asexual, and as of this point they are writing him as a "typical heterosexual male," their words, because it's "more entertaining" to the audience. However, Cole has recently come out and said that the backlash over making Jughead straight has caused the writers to think about possibly having him come out as asexual later. Doesn't completely make up for erasing his aromantic orientation, but I am so grateful that they are listening and possibly realizing their mistake in turning a queer character straight. As for the dark, nitty gritty version of the show; considering the archie comic they are loosely basing the show off of it's not surprising to me. It was weird at first, but the more I watch it the more I'm getting into it. I like the twist they've done on it, even if it's over the top and dramatic, it's still has it's entertainment value. Link to post Share on other sites
Adam_Jensen Posted May 12, 2017 Share Posted May 12, 2017 I overall enjoy the show but representation wise don't get your hopes up,it's CW we're talking about after all. Oh just watched the finale and.... Spoiler Yea Jug is definitely not ace in the show,I mean look how he pinned Betty in the wall and was ready to get all out. Link to post Share on other sites
iwannagayhorse Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 Hold on, I'm about to finish the last episode, but I'm... shocked. A little. Ugh, I bet that all those wet teenage girls were screaming. At least someone is satisfied. Did they have to make Riverdale like every other stupid teenage tv show? I still have some expectations for the 2nd season, although it's probably useless. I hope they'll listen to Cole and make him (aro) ace. Btw: Doesn't Bughead sound like some kind of rash on your head? Link to post Share on other sites
Talespin Posted May 24, 2017 Share Posted May 24, 2017 I love Jughead in the comics and, even though I knew Riverdale would be very different, I was hopeful they would keep him aroace in the show. Representation is so important and severely lacking for the asexual community. If I'd been able to see an asexual character in the mainstream media when I was growing up it might've made things a little easier. Made me feel less alone and "weird" because hey, they're like me! Knowing that the actor playing Jughead also wanted the character portrayed that way gave me more hope. Aaand then they had him kiss Betty and I thought "well, okay...aromantic erasure is not cool but he could still be asexual..." Then...spoilers: Spoiler Then the finale happened and I just cringed at the almost-sex scene. Actually I think it bothered me more than it should have. To be honest sex scenes always make me cringe but this one...hurt? I guess that's the word I'm looking for. It hurt because it felt like they were erasing a big part of the character, a part I really relate to. I did see a recent interview with the Riverdale producers that seems to suggest they're still open to the idea, want to be "inclusive to everyone" and are "working on it" for season 2. You can see the interview here. So, I remain (slightly?) hopeful but mostly curious as to how they'll handle this, if they do; especially after the above mentioned scene. My mom actually really likes the show and is a "Bughead" shipper (yes it does sound like a rash), haha. It's certainly opened up some interesting conversations for us and she's been learning more about aro-asexuality thanks to me being vocal about it. Just the other day she told me she read a fan fiction where both Jug and Betty were asexual and she liked it. Hey, positives right? Link to post Share on other sites
LeChat Posted May 24, 2017 Share Posted May 24, 2017 As another person who grew up reading the comics a bit and enjoyed how silly Jughead's character was because he was the only character who wasn't interested in romance or dating like the others, I'm not thrilled with Jughead's portrayal on the T.V. show. With this show, as well as Sheldon Cooper in The Big Bang Theory, to me, it's as though the people involved in these shows who have the power to make these decisions, such as producers or executives, are basically saying (by only showing asexual characters who eventually have sex), that asexual people are only worth representing as characters if they have sex, that those are the only asexuals worth representing because sexual people feel that, only then, are asexuals similar or interesting to them because, on that front, they finally have something in common. In other words, I feel like it's less about showing asexual representation than it is about appeasing sexual people (who might not watch the show if they feel an aromantic asexual is "boring") and making them comfortable by showing them something they can relate to: an asexual character having sex. But even if the producers change his character and say that he's asexual, for me, I feel as though the damage of misrepresentation has still been done. I'm sort of wondering whether that might make things worse, that sexual people will see how Jughead's character changed, and might still believe that asexuals can choose to have sex if they just open their mind up to it, that aromantic asexuals can't exist. Link to post Share on other sites
yonah Posted May 24, 2017 Share Posted May 24, 2017 The whole debate about Riverdale's Jughead also brings up the common assumption by non-aces new to asexuality that ace = aro and vice versa. In the comics, Jughead is canonically asexual and implied to be aromantic as well. It's possible that Riverdale has a romantic ace Jughead, although I doubt it, in which case it could still be well done. However, Riverdale seems to be a cheap soap opera-style drama and I doubt they will let Jughead be ace, let alone talk about it. Link to post Share on other sites
The Dryad Posted May 24, 2017 Share Posted May 24, 2017 Can I just say I have that Jughead isn't his cannon self- I feel extremely targeted, as a fellow aromantic asexual, and we all know that the reason why Jughead isn't aro ace anymore is because of his marketable value-and people don't generally understand aromantic Asexuality, and therefore he's character would have been aloof (although that's what we liked about him to begin with, but I digress) and it's simply more marketable to have someone as famous as Sprouse to be somewhat romantic or sexual, it's the entertainment business after all... Plus can I say, I really don't like the idea of an aro ace Jughead after, all this mess, if you're going to completely change a character, at least be consistent! Don't try to fix the mistakes you already made. Plus it's like you're saying the asexuality is something you can't inherently know-how as far as I remember classic Jughead knew he was aro ace from the beginning and never dated, kissed, etc. All in all, idk guys, I'm just bitter they destroyed my favorite comic book character. Link to post Share on other sites
KendraPM Posted May 25, 2017 Share Posted May 25, 2017 On 5/23/2017 at 5:22 PM, iwannagayhorse said: Hold on, I'm about to finish the last episode, but I'm... shocked. A little. Ugh, I bet that all those wet teenage girls were screaming. At least someone is satisfied. Did they have to make Riverdale like every other stupid teenage tv show? I still have some expectations for the 2nd season, although it's probably useless. I hope they'll listen to Cole and make him (aro) ace. Btw: Doesn't Bughead sound like some kind of rash on your head? Anti-bughead shippers refer to the couple as "lice," which is pretty clever. I'm pretty neutral on the ship, I love the friendship and am not against the show having them explore something more if Jughead ultimately realizes he's asexual (and hopefully aromantic, but I'm not seeing that one happen.) On 5/12/2017 at 5:12 AM, Adam_Jensen said: I overall enjoy the show but representation wise don't get your hopes up,it's CW we're talking about after all. Oh just watched the finale and.... Reveal hidden contents Yea Jug is definitely not ace in the show,I mean look how he pinned Betty in the wall and was ready to get all out. I've been trying to justify it; maybe he asexual and thinking "this is what you do in a relationship," and maybe libido/hormones are also playing a part in this? It's thin, but my god I want him asexual! He was never even my favorite in the comics, but canonly he was just not interested in relationships. Even before the writers ever used the word asexual, he showed almost nothing but repulsion over the very idea of dating/romance/sex. I get that there are different versions of a character, but this is so out of character for him. Even demi or gray works better than full on allo. Link to post Share on other sites
Its okay to be ace Posted May 25, 2017 Share Posted May 25, 2017 I think I need to see more episodes before I make a statement. Link to post Share on other sites
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