Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Asexual disruptions in Netflix’s BoJack Horseman
AU - Girard, Danielle
PY - 2022/6/30
Y1 - 2022/6/30
N2 - This article uses the character Todd Chavez (voiced by Aaron Paul) from the adult animation BoJack Horseman (2014–20, Netflix) as a launch point for exploring on-screen queerness that exists outside of the confines of compulsory (hetero)sexuality. Sex and sexuality, I argue, provide a limiting framework for the expression of queerness. Using key episodes such as ‘Hooray, Todd Episode!’ (2017), ‘Planned Obsolescence’ (2018) and ‘Ancient History’ (2018) I argue that the use of hyperbolic eroticism in BoJack works to frame Todd’s asexuality as distinctly queer. Through the mobilization of asexuality as a theoretical advancement for queer studies, this article considers how non-sexual identity formations work to destabilize and queer the institutions of the relationship and attraction. It is, I argue, reductive and limiting to view queerness exclusively through the lens of sex and sexuality.
AB - This article uses the character Todd Chavez (voiced by Aaron Paul) from the adult animation BoJack Horseman (2014–20, Netflix) as a launch point for exploring on-screen queerness that exists outside of the confines of compulsory (hetero)sexuality. Sex and sexuality, I argue, provide a limiting framework for the expression of queerness. Using key episodes such as ‘Hooray, Todd Episode!’ (2017), ‘Planned Obsolescence’ (2018) and ‘Ancient History’ (2018) I argue that the use of hyperbolic eroticism in BoJack works to frame Todd’s asexuality as distinctly queer. Through the mobilization of asexuality as a theoretical advancement for queer studies, this article considers how non-sexual identity formations work to destabilize and queer the institutions of the relationship and attraction. It is, I argue, reductive and limiting to view queerness exclusively through the lens of sex and sexuality.
KW - animation
KW - attraction
KW - compulsory sexuality
KW - hyperbolic eroticism
KW - romance
KW - social bonds
KW - television
KW - Todd Chavez
U2 - 10.1386/qsmpc_00067_1
DO - 10.1386/qsmpc_00067_1
M3 - Journal article
VL - 7
SP - 41
EP - 54
JO - Queer Studies in Media & Popular Culture
JF - Queer Studies in Media & Popular Culture
SN - 2055-5695
IS - 1-2
ER -