Just Jared Jr: "Cole Sprouse Clears Up Questions About Jughead's Sexuality on 'Riverdale'"

[ithaca]

http://www.justjaredjr.com/2017/04/11/cole-sprouse-clears-up-questions-about-jugheads-sexuality-on-riverdale/

 

 

TUE, 11 APRIL 2017 AT 8:00 PM

Cole Sprouse Clears Up Questions About Jughead's Sexuality on 'Riverdale'

One of the main questions Riverdale fans had before the show premiered was – will Cole Sprouse‘s character Jughead be asexual?

That was the case in one of the versions of the comics, and Cole opened up about why the writers decided to not follow that exactly (so far) on the show.

“I continue to hope this question is asked, over and over, it will only increase visibility,” Cole started off during a recent Reddit AMA. “Yes, I’m still a big proponent of this representation, and it needs to be done correctly.”

“To give depth to asexual Jughead, it first needs to be stated that Jughead’s asexuality was a recent character development,” Cole wrote. “Chip Zdarsky made it canon in his more modern universe. In all other universes (including the digests), Jughead was either (a) a woman hater, or (b) aromantic. Aromatic Jughead and asexual Jughead are two different kinds of representation that deserve separate attention and discussion, as the two orientations are different and don’t deserve to be grouped.”

He continued, “Jughead is 16 going on 17 (as of episode 10). Sexuality is fluid. And where his sexuality is headed has, already, been heavily discussed. How closely Jughead is going to resemble either Zdarsky‘s universe or the digest remains to be seen. As an actor, I can only lend myself so much. Riverdale is a new universe, and we first need to think of Jughead as a human agent within his environment, his decisions about his sexuality are going to be informed by his upbringing and his immediate and longterm desires. Betty and Jughead’s coupling are a great example of such an informed decision.

[KendraPM]

This...actually makes me feel way better about the future of Riverdale!Jughead. I've always been a big fan of aromantic Jughead and wished to see him portrayed that way. However, if they are going with asexual-and-still-romantic, then I'm better with that than them erasing all of his previous orientations. Side note: but I personally see woman hater!Jughead as aromantic!Jughead who hasn't learned the label.

I also love that Cole recognizes the differences and is looking on the Brightside, that the questions about Jughead are bringing attention to two very ignored orientations.