THE SECOND SEASON of “The L Word” promises to be as entertaining and
titillating as its predecessor when it premieres on Showtime Feb. 20.
The buzz over the show’s new season is inspiring several premiere watching
parties. Showtime teamed with the Human Rights Campaign for a Feb. 15 preview
in Atlanta, and two events after the broadcast — one at the weekly “Flirt”
party at Underground Atlanta and another at My Sisters’ Room, a lesbian
bar in Decatur — will re-screen the show next week.
Expect high drama galore between Bette (Jennifer Beals) and Tina (Laurel Holloman)
over Bette’s seven-year itch and sexual indiscretion with Candace (Ion
Overman). And during several of the show’s 13 new one-hour episodes, the
spark last season between Alice (Leisha Hailey) and Dana (Erin Daniels) continues
to smolder.
Rest assured, sexy Shane (Katherine Moennig), the show’s likeable lesbian
lothario, is still up to her old tricks. But Carmen, a new Latina lesbian character
portrayed by Sarah Shahi, a former Dallas Cowboy cheerleader, might change all
this.
And seemingly just to keep things interesting a lá “Will &
Grace,” expect appearances on “The L Word” in the second season
by several gay and lesbian favorites.
Camryn Manheim, who played lawyer Eleanor Frutt on “The Practice,”
portrays bitchy (though appealing) movie producer Veronica Bloom. She develops
a business relationship with Shane.
Sandra Bernhard plays a famous author who teaches Jenny (Mia Kirshner), the
show’s perennially perplexed bisexual character, a thing or two as the
instructor of a writing class.
Feminist guru Gloria Steinem and political pundit Arianna Huffington also make
appearances.
“THE L WORD,” recently renewed for a third season, seems to hol
d
appeal for lesbian fans, among others, due to the sheer dearth of characters
on television who reflect gay women’s lives.
“I thought it was a groundbreaking show,” says Lisbeth Meléndez
Rivera, a fan of the show. “I never thought I would see scenes like I
saw depicting lesbians.”
Unlike Showtime’s “Queer as Folk,” which came under fire
when it debuted five years ago for its almost exclusive focus on a certain segment
of white gay male culture, creators of “The L Word” offer storylines
about women of color as well as transgender and bisexual women.
Two of the show’s leading characters, Bette and Kit (Pam Grier), portray
biracial sisters whose father is African American. The addition of Shane’s
new love interest Carmen, who is described by the series’ creators as
“a Latina production assistant-cum-deejay who could make Shane question
her policy of zero romantic attachments,” also should hold appeal for
the show’s current fans and, possibly, new ones.
“It’s going to help a lot of Latina lesbians who watch the show
because they will see themselves reflected,” says Mónica Taher,
the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation’s People of Color media
director.
Taher says GLAAD officials told the show’s producers that it would be
nice to see more women of color on “The L Word,” and they responded
favorably.
Officials with the show did not respond to interview requests.
GLAAD officials also favor the inclusion of a woman of Asian American/Pacific
Islander descent on the show in a recurring role, Taher says.
Dwight A. McBride, chair of the African-American studies department at Northwestern
University in Chicago, says “The L Word” has done more than most
television shows to portray varied lives of gay people.
“I applaud their efforts in this regard and hope that it might serve
as an inspiration to others that diversity of representation is not only interesting
but marketable as good TV,” says McBride, who is gay and author of “Why
I Hate Abercrombie & Fitch: Essays on Race and Sexuality.”
“When we rely on all-white characters to represent the totality of gay
(and not to mention lesbian) experience, we perpetuate the endowing of the image
of whiteness with the ability to represent universally,” McBride says.
Rivera, who describes herself as “a butch dyke,” applauds the addition
of a Latina lesbian character on the show.
“It’s ridiculous that you would have a series set in West Hollywood
and not include a Latina character,” she says, noting the region’s
large Latino population.
“I think that would be a powerful statement to make for us as long as
we’re not being made to look like teases and it doesn’t turn out
to be a typical role that involves the over-sexualization of women of color
— [depicting] Latinas as hot,” she says.
Rivera says she also would like to see “The L Word” include characters
from working-class backgrounds as well as someone in an obviously butch role.
“Not just a fleeting character,” she says, “but someone who’s
going to stay there and talk about the reality of what we as butches represent.”
ONE OF THE more interesting nods to diversity by the show’s producers
involves the relationship between Kit, a straight female character, and Ivan
(Kelly Lynch), “who has yet to transform herself into a man,” according
to a description provided by Showtime.
During an upcoming episode, Ivan and Kit grow closer and there is an obvious
mutual attraction between them. But Ivan discourages any romance, because she
is not sure that Kit is clear about what she wants.
Nevertheless, Ivan gives Kit a key to her apartment. But the friendship quickly
falls apart when Kit sees Ivan partially nude.
“I absolutely think that’s a plausible storyline,” says Jamison
Green, author of “Becoming a Visible Man,” and the former president
of FTM International, an educational organization for female-to-male transgendered
people and transsexual men.
“A lot of times when people are in a transitional phase they feel somewhat
incomplete,” he says. “And so they hold themselves back.”
Green says that he has not heard much interest in “The L Word”
from transgendered people, but he might be more inclined to watch to see how
well the show develops Ivan’s character.
Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality,
echoes Green.
“There’s a million different kinds of trans people, and Ivan is
a very good portrayal of a certain kind of trans person,” she says. “I
personally like the character. Ivan has a lot of humanity and is clearly a good
person. That is very exciting.
“Plus, it’s one of the first times I know of that a masculine transgender
identity has been shown in a major cul
