A Secret 90s LGBTQ+ Nickelodeon Character Helped Make A Great First Step
Although today Nickelodeon openly and actively embraces its diverse characters, in the late ‘90s, it secretly introduced one of the first LGBTQ+ characters in its adaptation of Animorphs, making a great first step for representation. At a time of social change and experimental programming, Nickelodeon aired an adaptation of Scholastic’s popular books for television and pushed the limits of what they showed on their channel when it came to LGBTQ+ representation. Addressing profound themes of war, identity, and loss in a show adapted for a younger audience, in a series about shapeshifting aliens, it’s oddly fitting it helped to introduce positive social changes.
Based on the series of novels by Katherine Applegate and Michael Grant, Animorphs was about a group of friends given the power to shapeshift by an alien species known as the Andalites to combat mind-controlling alien parasites known as the Yeerks. As indelible to elementary to 1990s school book fairs as Harry Potter or Goosebumps, Nickelodeon aired a humble two-season adaptation of the novels. Featuring a cast that included Shawn Ashmore, who later played X-Men’s LGBTQ+ icon Iceman, Nickelodeon’s Animorphs stood out for its darker themes and unique premise on the channel before ending in 1999.
Related: Avatar: Why Korra & Asami DIDN'T Kiss In The End
The Animorphs TV show focused on six friends, including a human, Marco, and Ax, who is an Andalite. Throughout Animorphs, Marco (Boris Cabrera) flirts with women and in the novels he has a few girlfriends. But various interactions throughout the series hint at an LGBTQ+ subtext to Marco in Nickelodeon's adaptation, as it is hinted there was more to Marco's Animorphs sexuality than could be said bluntly on screen in a
Read more on screenrant.com
