[The Boys spin-off show explores trans identities through its
shapeshifting supe]
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PORTSIDE CULTURE

HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GEN V’S BIGENDER SUPERHERO  
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Nic Crosara
October 4, 2023
Diva [[link removed]]

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_ The Boys spin-off show explores trans identities through its
shapeshifting supe _

, Prime Video

 

Whenever I’m asked the age-old icebreaker question “If you could
have any super power what would it be?”, my answer has consistently
been the ability to shapeshift. Yeah, if my wish were granted, it
would be cool to transform into a bird, what truly appeals to me is
the ability to change my form to bring my genderfluid self affirmation
in abundance. So you can imagine my delight when I tuned into The Boys
spin-off show and saw a shapeshifting bigender superhero, Jordan Li,
within the main cast.

Like The Boys, Gen V is not for squeamish audiences. It’s gory,
graphic, and constantly catches viewers off guard. And while queerness
was explored in the original series, this spin-off is already more
queer than its predecessor.

Before we dive into the representation this series has provided so
far, let’s do a quick definition of what bigender means for those
who may not have heard of the label before. The basic definition is
someone who connects with two distinct gender identities. However,
like with other labels, no one group of people is a monolith and
people’s labels will mean different things to them as an individual.

Now, before pressing play on Gen V, I was already crossing my fingers
for some LGBTQIA representation. After all, The Boys had given us
bisexual superhero Queen Maeve who subverted the “Kill Your Gays”
trope. And so far, this spin-off has certainly delivered.

Gen V follows the lives of college students who have superpowers. And
the first episode saw two sapphic students kissing in the corridor. We
also meet Emma, a student who has the ability to get really small when
she purges and big again when she eats. Don’t worry, the show is
very aware of the parallels between her abilities and eating disorders
and this is highlighted by those around her. And while it’s yet to
be confirmed, I’m convinced Emma is bi or pan. She gives off major
queer vibes and is openly enthusiastic about wanting a threesome with
the campus’ most popular m/f couple.

And that brings us to Jordan. They have the ability to shift between
male- and female-presenting versions of themself. Most of their peers
use they/them pronouns for Jordan, though some use she/her or he/him,
depending on how they are presenting. So far, they haven’t corrected
anyone on their pronouns, however, in one scene they were clearly
uncomfortable when their parents exclusively used he/him pronouns,
even when they were in their femme-presenting form.

While shapeshifting to explore trans metaphors and experiences has
been done before, this is my first time witnessing such a character
who overtly uses a label, with Jordan identifying as bigender.

The Boys has always used its supernatural genre to tackle social
issues. And this spin-off has doubled down in how it does so. Our lead
protagonist, and eyes into the world, Marie, is a young Black woman
who’s abilities mean she can use her own blood as a weapon. The most
popular guy in school is an attractive white man who is actually
called Golden Boy, and is able to go up in flames and burn out at any
moment. And his beautiful blonde-haired, blue-eyed girlfriend not only
has pretty privilege, but her powers enable her to get anyone to do
whatever she wants by just touching them. So yes, as you can tell, the
show is intentionally heavy-handed with its use of metaphors when it
comes to the abilities of its cast.

The way Jordan’s powers work is also thought provoking. Their
different forms have different strengths, when they are femme, they
can shoot energy blasts from their hands and they appear to be super
agile. In comparison, their masc form is incredibly strong and
invulnerable.

What makes The Boys Universe so different from other superhero films
and shows, is that, in this world, being a superhero is much more
about marketing, popularity and capitalism than it is actually saving
people. The challenges that Jordan comes up against as a bigender
superhero are sure to resonate with many.

Jordan is an overachiever who, at the start of the series, is ranked
number two in their class. They are a model student and extremely
powerful. However, it’s soon made clear by the higher-ups that their
gender and pronouns are not palatable for their audiences. While
Jordan faces a lot of resistance from older generations, their peers
don’t seem to be fussed by their gender or pronouns.

So far, my only qualm is that neither of the actors who play Jordan
(London Thor, Derek Luh) are openly trans. And as I’ve avidly
written time and time again, in my opinion, it’s important for trans
characters to be cast authentically. However, I can personally
understand that the genre may have added some complexities to this. It
was however great to see a bigender Asian character, as I’ve never
seen such a trans character onscreen. The series has certainly served
up some powerful trans metaphors, but it is my belief that this could
have been strengthened with authentic casting. Just look at the
powerful trans storylines from SEX EDUCATION’S
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season, THE TRANS CHARACTERS WERE WRITTEN BY AND PORTRAYED BY TRANS
PEOPLE
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And the end result was a powerful and honest depiction of trans lives.

It’s still too soon to say how trans-positive the representation in
Gen V will be, as more episodes from the season are yet to be
released. But for now, I’m impressed with the way the show has
portrayed the struggles of living in a binary world when you don’t
neatly fit into these societal expectations. I’ll be tuning in on
Friday to see what happens to Jordan and the rest of the cast.

_Episodes one – three of Gen V are available to stream on Prime
Video now. Episodes four and five will be released on 6 and 13 October
respectively._

@NICCROSARA [[link removed]]

DIVA magazine celebrates 29 years in print in 2023. If you like what
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generation. Your support is invaluable. 
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* transgender representation
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* gen v
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* prime video
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* gender identity
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