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Rethinking Marginality in New Queer Television
  • ISSN: 2055-5695
  • E-ISSN: 2055-5709

Abstract

This article uses the character Todd Chavez (voiced by Aaron Paul) from the adult animation (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 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.

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2022-06-01
2024-04-27
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  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): animation; attraction; compulsory sexuality; hyperbolic eroticism; romance; social bonds; television; Todd Chavez

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