Schitts’ Creek has been a great companion for me during lockdown. My parents randomly flicked it on about 6 months ago and despite it being advertised as queer it didnt feel queer to me straight away. I grew annoyed, where was the queerphobia and unsafety in day to day life for pansexual character David Rose? It took a while for the characters to grow away from their lost family fortune and to display that long-term-investment character growth Eugene Levy is well known for.
All of a sudden I realised here we are in a small country town and despite a bit of confusion, stumbling over terms the people there hadn’t come across before, raised eyebrows at advantgarde fashion, there wasnt queerphobia. There wasnt xenophobia despite clear cultural differences. Side characters showed over time that they were polyamorous or gay. No fan fare, no danger, no violence.
The Rose Family which the show centers around take time to come out of their shells, need time to heal, and the siblings David and Alexis need to learn who they are – something they are doing in their 30s which probably is one of the braver parts of the show – coz how many millennials are told they should have their shit sorted by 30; whether that be marriage, family, sexuality, gender identity, financial security, a mortgage, travelled the world, created the next new original thing, making friends, owned a business… etc. The pressure the Rose siblings feel to find themselves and to figure out what they want to do away from the lifestyle of New York and the Elite class is so relatable, especially as a genderqueer nonbinary person in iso sitting there going “What now? What’s next?”.
Rather than showing the hardships queer people go through, the show gives us an example of a way to heal; without compromising who you are, your skull sweater wardrobe, your kilt wearing ways, your artistic eye. It shows to me at least that queer people enhance every environment they are in and in a safe space- yes they can heal; but others heal too through their individuality – their art – their love – their soul.
alephaekho 