Our Flag Means Death Shows That TV Has No More Excuses For Queerbaiting
Contains spoilers for Our Flag Means Death.
The Our Flag Means Death season 1 proves that TV has no more excuses for queerbaiting. Loosely based on the true story of Stede Bonnet — a man who left his privileged life to become a pirate — Our Flag Means Death evolves into a romantic comedy between Stede (Rhys Darby) and Edward Teach, also known as Blackbeard (Taika Waititi). Their slow-burn romance has been well-received by audiences, even if some initially did not believe that the LGBTQ+ relationship would happen.
Our Flag Means Death includes many common romance tropes such as caring for the other when they're sick or injured and meeting a jealous ex. Stede and Blackbeard share many small intimate moments with each other that eventually culminate in a kiss in episode 9. The show's lack of a traditional «coming out» for any of the characters was also refreshing — Stede admitting to his wife Mary (Claudia O'Doherty) near the end of Our Flag Means Death that he'd fallen for Edward Teach came the closest, but even then, the TV show put more weight behind the fact that he'd felt real love at all, and less so that it was for a man.
Related: Our Flag Means Death: The Real Pirates That Jim Is Based On
The easy way Our Flag Means Death portrays Stede and Blackbeard's relationship proves how outdated and harmful the queerbaiting excuses are from other TV shows. The slow development of their friendship-turned romance parallels many other on-screen romances, and viewers have been overjoyed with how well it's been handled. Despite how much progress has been made with queer representation, it's still far too common for same-sex relationships to remain buried in subtext or to be played off as a «bromance» rather than properly exploring
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