The new CW show Crazy Ex-Girlfriend has matter-of-factly unveiled a middle-age male bisexual character that’s turning long-held stereotypes about bi guys on their head, Buzzfeed reports.
The character is Darryl (Pete Gardner), the dorky, vanilla middle-age lawyer boss of the show’s protagonist, Rebecca (Rachel Bloom), who is suddenly in a blossoming love affair with a young gay guy named White Josh (played by David Hull).
The relationship began with a chaste peck on the cheek, during which it seemed that Darryl might step back from the opportunity before him. But it didn’t work out that way.
Gardner told Buzzfeed: “I’ve gotten letters from bisexual friends that have written to me, and said that actually, when I kissed White Josh, they were holding their breath because they were just waiting for me to go, ‘Nope! Not gay!’ [It’s] like a joke, their sexual orientation. And that’s just not what it is [with Darryl], and that’s what’s so nice about it.”
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The story notes that the character is a refreshing change from the usual bi-guy characters, who–GLAAD pointed out in a recent report–are often simply covering the fact that they are gay, or who are portrayed as evil, duplicitous and shady, such as Kevin Spacey’s Frank Underwood on House of Cards.
On Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Darryl came out as bi while performing a dorkily charming Huey Lewis and the News eighties-style song, complete with sax solo, in which he sang, “I don’t have the gotta-choose blues.” Before that moment, he confusedly referred to himself as “Bothsexual.”
“We definitely wanted to confront the stereotypes,” series co-creator Aline Brosh McKenna told Buzzfeed. “I think that Darryl has done his research and understands that people are going to confront him with these stereotypes, and so he wants to make sure that everybody knows that those are not the issues.”
