Pride Month 2020: Clarke Griffin of 'The 100' normalizes bisexuality while being bold, brave and badass
When it comes to talking about LGBTQ characters on television, 'The 100' has its missteps and weakness, no one is going to forget Season 3's Lexa mishap when the character, played by Alycia Debnam-Carey, was killed by a bullet meant for the show's lead, Clarke Griffin (Eliza Taylor). It was especially the timing of it all that led to mass outcry - Clarke and Lexa had finally acknowledged their attraction for each other and spent a night in bed when Lexa was killed almost immediately after.
The Clexa fandom cried foul and they had every right to. Lexa was a beloved character and even though she had to be written off because the actress, Debnam-Carey had booked a regular role on 'Fear the Walking Dead', Lexa's sendoff could have been much better. Some fans still think that Clexa should be endgame and we see why it would make sense.
But of course, in all the Lexa-centric discussions about 'The 100', we often skip over a key fact that Clarke Griffin was the first LGBTQ lead character on The CW and the first bisexual lead character on network television. This is a huge thing, especially because of the way Clarke's bisexuality is portrayed. Her orientation is not the crux of the character, rather, her relationships with women are treated the same way as her relationships with men.
In the first season, Clarke was paired with Finn Collins (Thomas McDonell), whom she had to stab in the heart later in the second season to prevent a more torturous death at the hands of the Grounders - an act that won her Lexa's admiration.
By the time the third season rolled around, it was clear that Clarke and Lexa had a chemistry that could not be denied, something Jason Rothenberg eventually showed us when the two shared a kiss in the second season and again in the eighth episode of the season. But of course, we know how that ended. Somehow, Clarke's romantic interests seem to have a bad fate.
The only one who has escaped that fate so far is Niylah (Jessica Harmon), with whom Clarke started casually sleeping with during the third season. This also continued in the fourth season after Lexa's death. While Clarke and Niylah have never been emotionally involved, they are strong allies, a trend that continues in the present season. Niylah has also been fleshed out as more than just Clarke's lover since then.
One could potentially interpret that 'The 100' is propagating the stereotype of the promiscuous bisexual here. The trope involves the bisexual character having sex with many characters or indeed using sex as a method to escape feelings. And while this may be partly true, who Clarke sleeps with does not form a big part of the story in 'The 100'. Clarke's value as a bisexual character does not diminish if she is not in a relationship.
The CW show is about survival -- one in which the death toll might be the highest on the network and who the characters love is treated as naturally as possible. With Lexa's death, we worried that perhaps Clarke's bisexuality would be pushed to the back-burner, but that did not happen. Here is a character that young women can tune into television and watch (at least for a few more months) who normalizes bisexuality on television. As far as young adult characters go, Clarke is one of the most fleshed-out characters on the screen.
Of course, the elephant in the room is Clarke and her platonic (but maybe not) relationship with Bellamy Blake (Bob Morley). From the first season, Clarke and Bellamy have been the "head and the heart" of the show, leading the survival of the people, often making difficult decisions and supporting each other.
In the book series by Kass Morgan that the show is loosely based on, Bellamy and Clarke are romantically involved. But so far, Bellarke has not happened on the show. While some argue that the characters should remain platonic, others see that Bellamy and Clarke have shared too many moments that prove that they do have romantic feelings for each other, for example, when Bellamy was willing to risk everything just so he could save Clarke in the previous season.
However, there have also been talks of Clarke being shipped with another character this season - Gaia (Tati Gabrielle), with whom she bonds over their shared love of Clarke's adopted daughter, Madi (Lola Flannery). The scripts for the show seem to hint towards a Claia endgame and some fans are hopeful for the pairing.
All of this just goes to show that Clarke's bisexuality is treated as much a part of her fabric as any other characteristic of hers. Even while representation for gay and lesbian characters move forward, bisexual people still face stigma, they are often asked to "just choose." In such a day and age, Clarke Griffin's bisexuality is important and an example of what representation needs to look like (barring the Lexa fiasco).
'The 100' airs on The CW on Wednesday nights at 8/7c.
