Alright. I finished #thesociety yesterday and have something to say.

Thread about #grizzam and why i'm done with writers giving us the bare minimum to string the queers in.

(1/?)

To clarify: I started watching the society solely because of Sam and Grizz. Not only is Sam gay but also deaf and that isn't something i see lot in current tv so obviously i'm in!

Grizz is a beacon of light in the toxic masculinity of the jocks and i really enjoy his character.

Here's the problem: their story was rushed, at best MILDLY explored and i don't wanna put up with stories where i can count their interactions WE SEE with two hands.

Over TEN 50 minut3 episodes. You know it's- and i'm quoting Grizz here- bullshit.

While the straight couples get 50 million different love interests, various scenes and dialogues to flesh out their romance we get two endearing characters who i wanna see more of and i just don't get to see more of.

Which sucks.

Spoilers for the first season follow.

Look at Allie alone. She gets a fling with Harry and finally romance with Will. The story between those two is LOADEDY with interactions that aren't always romantical but they get moments together. A lot of them.

It's clear Allie has feelings for Will in the first episode which makes sense for their background. BUT. There is quite a bit of change over the span of the season.

For Grizz and Sam it's different, yes. Sam is openly gay and Grizz is closeted.

Heck, Grizz planned to come out in college and to never see his jock friends again.

So when all this shit goes down he is basically fucked, right?

NOPE. Because Sam is there. Kind. Loving. Smart. Beautiful Sam. And Grizz actively seeks him out.

Because he feels alone. Because if this is IT there is no college and no chance to find someone.

And Sam? Sam thinks he's the only one in busses of aproximately 200 teenagers. If half of them are cis guys there has to be at least ONE but who knows if he likes him.

So Sam gives up on finding actual love and focuses on the kid.

We see scraps of their feelings but Grizz being into men is literally revealed after three fifths of the season. We get actual scraps.

And that sucks. Because their connection is the purest shit in the entire show.

(You can @ me for that i will argue and win)

So. Sam gave up. BUT. Then there is this sweet guy trying to talk to him. Making effort. Actively trying to learn sign language (even though a whole other language) he TRIES.

And Sam feels hope.

And Grizz seeking out the only openly gay kid between them all feels hope too.

Cut to fifty fucking scenes between straight couples who got developement for EPISODES already.

Like seriously. Grizz and Sam get closer in episode 7.

SEVEN. We were robbed.

We get the cute moment in the library. We get the tender moment in Grizzes little garden. (I cried.) We got the prom moment that foreshadowed it.

And that's almost it before they finally kiss (and i say finally as if there was more buildup than that lmao).

And the scene WRECKED me. These boys thought they had no chance of finding love. In this fucked up world where everyone else (given there are no aro/ace people because there never are right) is finding comfort in someone or at least a quick distraction there is nothing for them.

And yet. They find each other. And we get to see five minutes of them becoming closer. And i'm still here invested because i want to see my two boys happy.

And when Grizz asks Sam to kiss him i bawled my eyes out.

This big jock quietly asking for Sam to kiss him. His entire body language is screaming tenderness.

He probably never really got to explore his sexuality because football playing jocks aren't gay or bi right?

The straight folks his age had lots of time to explore and practice.

So he's sitting there, shy as hell, asking to be kissed, feet crossed over like a schoolkid, nervous but not unsure.

And Sam who probably encountered few gay guys who weren't assholes to him or willing to make actual effort to learn to talk WITH and TO him is in the same boat.

And they find each other. Seek each other out. And you see me getting emotional over this AND WE ONLY GOT ABOUT 8 SCENES.

And that SUCKS. The standard for the straight couples is entirely different. I'm not enjoying watching teenagers shagging but the hets get to do it a lot.

A MASSIVE FUCKING AMOUNT OF LOT.

(Pun not intended.)

Yes some of them are quick camera cuts to them naked next to each other but a lot are not.

Now look at Sam and Grizz. They get the kiss. The sweetest kiss in the entire show.

But don't get to attached because camera cut.

You see, library garden and kiss happened all in the same episode. And then they cut away to them naked in the bed in the next one. Did they sleep together? Did they make out only? No fucking idea because it's implied.

Gay sex is not dirty you cowards. Gay intimacy is not dirty.

And after all this we get the Sam doesn't tell Grizz he is having a baby and Grizz is obviously hurt and they don't talk after a very hurtful conversation.

Except Sam makes an attempt to fix it and Grizz is still hurt.

And god my poor babies.

Sam is stuck between being loyal to his friend, the promise he gave and the only chance he has for a child in all this shit. And (probably) the only chance for romantic and sexual love he can get in their new world.

And he is clearly hurting and can't talk to Grizz.

Grizz shuts him out but Sam can't tell him the truth without hurting Becca. And he keeps her secret. (Receipt 75 why Sam is the best guy in the show.)

And then Grizz is about to leave and last time someone DIED and Sam is panicking.

Because even though we saw literally two seconds of them forming their bond their connection is probably the only thing keeping the electric system running.

And so Sam and Grizz have the most heart shredding reconcilation ever and i'm over here crying

And that's it. And it's NOT ENOUGH. Not if the straight couples standard fills about two hours of longing eye contact, dialogue and actual ON SCREEN progress.

I've seen interpretations on how their small group represents different groups of people in our world and it's a metaphor and all that.

But you know what doesn't make this better? Reeling queer viewers in and feeding them them literal scraps to keep them watching.

Because that's happening all the time and i'm sick of it.

Story telling wise i enjoyed the show but some of the dialogue was just??? And i had to get through 7 episodes minus the prom scene to get some actual gay content.

Minus the two girls i saw kissing in the pool in one of the first episodes.

I'm not deaf or hard of hearing but i know there are a lot of queer deaf people who deserve to see themselves on tv with PROPER screentime. And what we saw was GOOD. The society can do better.

Hoping for a second season but i am also hoping for justice.

(Also can we talk about how the cast is once again majorly white with few exceptions and the BPoC get less screentime and story? Gordie and Bean disappear for episodes after Cassandra dies and they are interesting!)

(And Will has two white love interests. Could've made at least one of them non white.)

The only people i care about at this point are Sam, Grizz, Bean, Gordie, Will, Helena, Becca, Elle and Kelly.

And except for Helena, Elle and Kelly i know almost nothing about the rest.

Wait no, Elles story is mostly focused on her getting abused by asshole mcfuckface so we learn like two things about her and Kelly is a bland love interest for boys until she gets some developement by becoming part of the doctor duo.

So if the society is a symbolical mirror of the real world i guess it's still about white cis straight people.

The end.

White cis able bodied people i mean.

Now really, the end.