[Poll] Thoughts on Riverdale's Jughead being asexual?

[WinterWanderer]

Hey everyone. We've known for a few months now that Jughead from the Archie comics is officially asexual. (At least, the current version of him is. Like all comic book characters, it sounds like Archie characters tend to be portrayed differently by different writers.) This year, The CW aired a new Archie TV spin-off called "Riverdale," with the same characters as in the Archie comics, but with a completely different storyline.

 

I've seen some complaints online about Jughead not being ace in the show. I'm curious to see how people here feel about Jughead's (a)sexuality being mentioned in the show. Should they make Jughead ace?

 

In The CW's defense, Jughead's asexuality is fairly recent news. The show was already in production at the time.

 

Personally, I'd really like the validation of seeing more asexual characters on TV. And seeing as how The CW has already introduced LGBT characters in some of its other shows (i.e., in "Arrow" and "Supergirl"), I can see them writing Jughead's asexuality into a future script.

 

What do y'all think?

[God of the Forest]

7 minutes ago, Fioryn said:

Hey everyone. We've known for a few months now that Jughead from the Archie comics is officially asexual. This year, The CW aired a new Archie TV spin-off called "Riverdale" - which really isn't like the comics, but hey, are any adaptations ever true to the original anymore?

 

I've seen some complaints online about Jughead not being ace in the show. But in The CW's defense, Jughead's asexuality is fairly recent news. The show was already in production at the time.

 

Anyway, I'm curious to see how people here feel about Jughead's (a)sexuality being mentioned in the show. Should they make Jughead ace?

 

Personally, I'd really like the validation of seeing more asexual characters on TV. And seeing as how The CW has already introduced LGBT characters in some of its other shows (i.e., in "Arrow" and "Supergirl"), I can see them writing Jughead's asexuality into a future script.

 

What do y'all think?

 I don't care what any characters sexuality is as long its a good character...

[WinterWanderer]

2 minutes ago, King of the Forest said:

 I don't care what any characters sexuality is as long its a good character...

Good point. I agree.

 

I finished the first season yesterday, and I like what they're doing with Jughead so far. I didn't like the show at first, but I kept watching because I liked Jughead. I hope the writers keep up the good job with his character development in season 2.

[Guest]

He doesn't need to specifically stated to be ace, but having him show a romantic or sexual interest in anyone would be breaking from what's traditionally shown with him. To my understanding at least. I'm somewhat familiar with the Archie comics, and the 60's (or was it 70's?) cartoon, my mother and aunts had tons of the old comics and I liked reading their collections, but haven't had a consistent viewing of them.

[Grumpy Alien]

I haven't watched it but yes, I think he should be.

[Guest]

I like Riverdale (and Archie comics). I don't care about his sexuality at all.

[Tystie]

I have watched Riverdale. I wouldn't have done, if not for all the comments and discussions here. And I actually enjoyed the show. 

 

But... And it's a huge but. I am not familiar with Archie comics, and I suspect that affected how I watched and reacted to the show.

 

I'd heard of the comics, but they're not something I've ever seen in the UK. So while I like the idea that the comic has an asexual character, I probably don't feel as invested in it as other people. Archie comics don't form part of popular culture in my part of the world.

 

Yes, I would have been delighted had the show's Jughead been portrayed as asexual...or even confused. But, on the basis of what I saw, I'm not sure that the show could make him asexual now in a way that would feel genuine to me. There is a scene in the final episode that, for me, absolutely passed the point of no return. But that's just my opinion.

 

I guess I'm going to have to wait for another show to come along that will include an ace character from the outset.

 

I don't know whether I'll watch the next season. I enjoyed episodes 1 to 12, and I looked forward to the new ones each week. But episode 13 left me feeling irritated and let down. Up until that point, I had enjoyed the story and the mystery, but I felt that the last episode didn't do anything constructive by way of adding to the story or wrapping anything up. Instead, it was a set up for whatever comes next, and I got the feeling that what comes next will be a soap opera of angst, which really isn't my cup of tea. I like my stories to have beginnings, middles and ends, and clearly defined arcs. I'm not sure that is the direction Riverdale is headed in.

 

(BTW, the poll required me to answer question 2, so I checked 'other'.)

 

 

[WinterWanderer]

9 minutes ago, Tystie said:

But, on the basis of what I saw, I'm not sure that the show could make him asexual now in a way that would feel genuine to me. There is a scene in the final episode that, for me, absolutely passed the point of no return. But that's just my opinion.

Yeah, I noticed that too. I think that it's still possible for them to make him ace. I mean, maybe he just wanted to cuddle. XD (Kidding.)

 

11 minutes ago, Tystie said:

(BTW, the poll required me to answer question 2, so I checked 'other'.)

There was an option for having watched Riverdale in the answers.

[Tystie]

1 minute ago, Fioryn said:

 

 

There was an option for having watched Riverdale in the answers.

Darn! I should have paid more attention! Oops.

[Allegra]

I like the show as a show, for the same reasons I've enjoyed other shows like Scream (which I only started watching for movie nostalgia, but then got sucked into it). But to me, it's barely related to the canon comics. The characters vary so much from their original incarnations. If Riverdale the show was more like the Archie comics, I might be more annoyed, but to me it's as if they took the names and physical descriptions, picked maybe one or two traits from each character to keep, and then went in completely different directions. I would have liked to see Jughead as asexual, but given the massive differences I can't really feel too disappointed. He's still one of the most interesting characters in this Riverdale universe.

[Knight of Cydonia]

I like the show, and while I'd like to see ace Jug, I'm not that disappointed about it. The show is so different from the comics. They changed most of the characters, not just Jughead. And besides, Jug's only been considered ace for one very recent series across all 75 years of Archie history, so him being ace is by no means a standard. I'm way more concerned about whether he's an interesting and well developed character, and I think he's one of the best characters on the show.

[cooliocool]

I never watched the show but I have heard of the show and about the character. I think Jughead should be asexual because we need to have an asexual character for once. 

[LightsShineBright]

O.O not sure if this is considered as constituting SPOILERS or what. Or if there is anything to spoil. Read at your own risk I guess 

 

Jughead's character is pretty good as it is imo. But I'd also like it if they write him as an ace in the future. I really think it'll be interesting to see how he'll discover and deal with it considering everything that happened in season 1. Like, the realization and stuff and how he'll deal with Betty since he practically crossed the line at the final episode.  And how Betty will react and stuff (thinking that it could be her fault and with him still claiming that he still love her). Cause it happens I guess. And I really like the idea of having some distinct ace representation in the media. But I'm a bit biased I guess cause this issue is literally how I've found out about AVEN. So I'm kind of supportive of the idea and thankful with it even. I guess this could sound ignorant but I somehow think that without this Jughead thing maybe I wouldn't have looked into asexuality deeper and maybe I'm practically still so so confused and not sure about everything. I'll be glad if it can do some good to others as well. Just my opinion, of course .

[WinterWanderer]

@LightsShineBright Oh that's neat! I didn't think about the possibility that the Jughead/asexuality controversy could bring awareness of asexuality to more people. That's pretty cool And welcome!!

[The Dryad]

Personally, Jughead was a personal favorite of mine, the Archie comics are much older than me, but my grandma loved them and introduced me to them. Jughead was the only character similar to me....I really didn't get that Veronica...Betty..Archie mess, still don't tbh, but Jughead made so much sense. I know some people think of Riverdale's Jughead's sexuality as something irrelevant in this new age or whatever, but they took away a fundamental part of Jughead's characterization.

[LightsShineBright]

17 hours ago, Fioryn said:

@LightsShineBright Oh that's neat! I didn't think about the possibility that the Jughead/asexuality controversy could bring awareness of asexuality to more people. That's pretty cool And welcome!!

Thanks . Yeah, I didn't expect that random watching and surfing will change my life forever either . I'm really thankful and happy about it (though still a bit confused, it was a bit of a shock). I hope it can help others as well. I guess that's my stance lol.

[cooliocool]

I read up on this controversy further today. This is messed up and I got so angry. I'm pretty sure they were all aware of the comics and how Jughead was the aromantic asexual character in those comics. Jughead is a famous, fictional character in the asexual community. Jughead is a popular character who many asexual and aromantic people can relate to. Young men like me can strongly relate to Jughead and he inspires us to feel proud. I can't believe they suddenly (out of nowhere) made Jughead sexual/romantic in the movie and in the show. Cole Sprouse advocated for Jughead to be the asexual character but the movie director was a douche and said no. It definitely was a douchebag move and I won't turn a blind eye to it! Like couldn't they have paired Betty up with another character if they needed a romantic part that badly? This shows how society marginalizes asexuals and continues to not care about the lack of representation of asexuals in the media. If the media can represent people of other sexualities, why can't they represent us? This is disparate treatment. This is asexual and aromantic erasure. 

 

Sorry guys, I just needed to vent that out. 

[adrainsmith]

Latest Update: Riverdale's New episode set to air this Wednesday, March 21, 2018 at 8pm est on The CW. Stay tuned with FANdemonium Network for more updates.

[SilentRose]

I have to admit, I truly wish he was ace. It upsets me that even with all the strides we've made in LGBT+ visibility, asexuality has remained largely ignored. I think having an asexual on a show like that that specifically targets teens would be really incredible...teenagers are bombarded with all this sexuality which is why I think it seems a lot of them on this site have a particularly hard time. Even something as simple as an ace TV character to identify with can go a long way in making a person feel less alone. 

[EmotionalAndroid]

On 6/3/2017 at 8:45 PM, Lemonasculine said:

I never watched the show but I have heard of the show and about the character. I think Jughead should be asexual because we need to have an asexual character for once. 

This is exactly how I feel. We need more mainstream ace characters. I was so excited when I read that Jughead was officially ace in the comics, and absolutely outraged when I heard that he was no longer such in the TV show, where most people would see this character.

[iff]

@Rynn

 

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iff, Census Forum Moderator