Representation in media is extremely important, especially for minorities. If you’re a part of a minority, it makes sense to want to consume media that represents you. The term “sapphic” is used as an umbrella term for lesbians and bisexuals, essentially someone who is non-male that is attracted to non-males. Because I am sapphic myself, I tend to consume a lot of media with sapphics in it.
“Yellowjackets” is a show about a girls soccer team that has recently won a state championship match that made them national-bound. On the flight to nationals, tragedy strikes as the plane crashes into the Canadian wilderness. They were stranded in the woods for 19 months. They were out there for over a year and a half and survived through two winters. The show is a cut between two timelines, the girls in the wilderness as teenagers, and 25 years later, showcasing how they’ve dealt with the trauma.
Two players on the team, Taissa Turner, portrayed by Jasmin Savoy Brown, and Van Palmer, portrayed by Liv Hewson, had a connection before the crash that they couldn’t act upon. Now that they were away from the prying eyes of their 90s New Jersey hometown, they were free to openly express their relationship.
“XO Kitty” is a spinoff of Netflix’s adaptation of the “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” trilogy. Katherine Song-Covey, nicknamed “Kitty” and played by Anna Cathcart, attends a Korean boarding school in the hopes that she can find out more about her deceased mother. She has quite a large roster of love interests, but only one sticks out to me. When Kitty reunites Yuri, played by Gia Kim, with her girlfriend that was sent away due to their homophobic parents, she comes to the realization that she might swing both ways.
In Season Two of the show, Kitty starts distancing herself from Yuri because she doesn’t want to homewreck. Wanting to explore her sexuality, she decides to try dating girls. Kitty is canonically bisexual, but it’s likely that she will end up with the male love interest. Kitty and Yuri aren’t a very popular ship in the fandom, either. It’s great that we’re getting bisexual representation, but it would be nice if she actually ended up with a female love interest.
“Bottoms” was released in theatres in 2023, and is a satire comedy film about two friends, Josie, played by Ayo Edebiri, and PJ, played by Rachel Sennott, starting a fight club at their school in an attempt to get their crushes to notice them. The weeks leading up to a football game with a rival high school have caused tension amongst the student body. The other team has a history of violence, so it’s natural that many female students want to learn self-defense. Josie and PJ, having lied about being in juvy over the summer and having no idea how to fight, have to lock in and teach their club how to handle themselves in a fight while trying not to get caught up in their lie.
Josie is head over heels for Isabel, played by Havana Rose Liu, and her intentions for starting the club actually work. PJ, on the other hand, completely fumbles Brittany, who is played by Kaia Gerber. The film has a 91% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is on the higher end of the spectrum when it comes to movie ratings. Viewers were pleasantly surprised when PJ ends up with Hazel, played by Ruby Cruz, by the end of the movie. The plot of the film is ridiculous. It doesn’t take itself seriously, but that’s kind of the point of it being satire. It’s a breath of fresh air to watch a sapphic story that isn’t tragic or angsty.
On the topic of Ruby Cruz, this isn’t the first sapphic piece of content that she’s acted in. “Willow” is a fantasy show that serves as a sequel to a film with the same name from 1988. It premiered on Disney+ in Nov. 2022 and got canceled the following March. A second season had already been written, and everyone who worked on the show was hopeful that they would have gotten to produce it. It’s such a shame to see the passion and effort put into making season one put to waste by Disney.
In 2021, I wrote an article discussing a trend of cancellations among shows containing sapphic relationships. It’s unfortunate that “Willow” was a victim of this trend. Following its cancellation, in May 2023, it was pulled from Disney+ to “cut down on costs.” My question is: How does removing an already-made show save them any money? As of March 2025, there is no possible way to legally stream the show. It’s true that there are more shows that aren’t afraid to have sapphic characters, but you also have to acknowledge that there is still a prevalent bias against them in the film industry. The most important thing you can do as a viewer is to continue to support these shows and make them worth renewing, even if they may not be your cup of tea.
