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Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll and Lesbian Awakenings?

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

You may not have heard of the indie show Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll, but don’t worry, you are going to want to binge the show after reading this article. S&D&R&R possibly has the longest show name in history, but it also has a few different Bi and Lesbian characters throughout that you may not know about!

The premise of the show is that Johnny Rock, played by Denis Leary, is failing in his music career. Little does he know, his long lost daughter Gigi is about to show up and rock his world. Gigi is played by Liz Gillies, who arguably put this show back on the map when she tweeted about it recently.

After this Tweet went out, fans of Gillies started asking about the show, discovering that the first (and only) two seasons are streaming on Hulu. The show is about Gigi connecting with her estranged father, Johnny Rock, and working with him and his ex-bandmates to cultivate her rock career. This becomes Gigi’s main theme, including why she enters a lesbian relationship. Huh? What does becoming a rockstar have to do with being bisexual or a lesbian? According to Gigi and her cohorts, it is an experience every young woman in the rock-world has to have.

Previous to this relationship, Gigi identified as straight and had never thought of being with a woman. This is kind of rude and homophobic at first, almost looking through the male gaze at how lesbian women are perceived. However, Gigi meets Davvy and the two hit it off. Davvy is a fellow musician, a woman of color, and an all-around badass who calls Gigi on her bad behavior. Davvy tells Gigi straight up that she thinks Gigi is just a straight girl trying to have a lesbian experience, which in reality was true at the time. However, the two go back to Gigi’s loft and at first have some trouble, but then finally Gigi lets herself go and things get heavy pretty quickly.

Soon after their first date, Gigi and Davvy decide to start a relationship together. What’s tricky about this is that Gigi is actually in a relationship already with her boyfriend and bandmate, Flash. Flash encouraged Gigi to hook up with Davvy, not expecting it to go much further. So when the two start dating Flash finds himself frustrated in the middle; suddenly Gigi is asking more from him sexually than he can give. Did we mention Flash is about 30+ years older than Gigi? This inevitably leads to their breakup, and begs the question for Gigi: is she Bisexual? 

Clearly Gigi has become attracted to women, even if it was in a pretty unorthodox way. Davvy and Gigi grow close, and the show really pivots towards their experience together. Gigi at first uses Davvy to her advantage because they begin to grow together as a couple on Instagram and Twitter, furthering Gigi’s rock career. This also continues the narrative that Gigi is not actually Bi, but rather, using the lesbian experience to cultivate a presence in the music scene that will boost her ahead of others. Gigi stands more to gain from the relationship than Davvy does, yet Davvy stays with her and continues to engage in the shenanigans.

Later on in the second season, Flash begins to date Ava, Johnny Rock’s ex-girlfriend, and Gigi’s ex-step mom for all intents and purposes. This infuriates Gigi, naturally, and she goes to destroy everything in Flash’s apartment. Whew. However, that is when Gigi decides to lock her relationship with Davvy down, almost out of spite. Davvy knows this is what Gigi is doing but blindly follows her into it. However, later on, Gigi and Davvy are at an event with Rock and his date, and Gigi finds Davvy cheating on her with Rock’s date. Talk about overlap in this rock n roll family. Also, cheers for Davvy, in a way?

So, is Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll highlighting a lesbian relationship through the male gaze in the music scene, or is it actually Gigi’s lesbian awakening? It is really hard to say. Gigi does genuinely seem to be attracted to Davvy and have feelings for her, but throughout the majority of their relationship, Gigi was using Davvy to further her career and get back at her ex-boyfriend. This could be considered lesbian-bating, luring viewers in with the lesbian narrative, without a genuine lesbian relationship. Hmm. As a viewer, you want Gigi to succeed because she is the protagonist, but you can not help but be concerned for Davvy and almost offended at how the show portrays lesbians.

Regardless of your opinion on the Gigi-Davvy situation, the show itself is actually really interesting. There are lots of cameos from famous rockstars, like Dave Grohl and Joan Jett. The show really gives viewers the chance to look inside the music industry and the heart of rock n roll. If you are a rock fan, this show is definitely one to check out, despite the confusing lesbian narrative.

Both seasons of Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll are now streaming on Hulu.

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