Arts & Entertainment
LGBTQ Twitter Hates Ruby Rose As Batwoman
A queer woman was actually cast as a queer woman. But are we happy?
August 07 2018 5:57 PM EST
May 31 2023 8:20 PM EST
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
A queer woman was actually cast as a queer woman. But are we happy?
It was announced Tuesday that Ruby Rose will play Batwoman in the upcoming standalone CW series, according to Entertainment Weekly. After years of LGBTQ audiences advocating for queer actors to play queer characters it's finally happening - plus, television is getting its first leading lesbian superhero.
But are we happy we got what we wanted?
\u201cUs: GIVE US AN OUT QUEER ACTRESS TO PLAY AN OUT QUEER CHARACTER\nThem: Here\u2019s Ruby Rose!!\nUs: Wait, no not that one.\u201d— Nic (@Nic) 1533668827
Some people are.
\u201c@RubyRose is going to be batwoman!! OMG! This is huge and outstanding! Ruby breaks the walls, allows you to know that you don't have to be a certain way, that its okay to be who you are and be yourself. So excited to see how this plays out! Yay!\nThanks Ruby, can't wait!!\u201d— CourtNic (@CourtNic) 1533675228
But others are angry and criticizing the casting of Rose (who costarred in Orange Is the New Black, The Meg, and John Wick: Chapter 2) as too easy a choice. For an LGBTQ actress, she's one of the most well-known. While she identifies as gender-fluid and a lesbian, she's not Jewish like the character she's playing, which is another point of contention for some balking at the casting. In fact, physically, she's the opposite of the image of a latke-lover! Meanwhile, others were disappointed because Rose isn't known for having Meryl Streep-esque acting chops.
\u201cRuby Rose being cast as Batwoman feels like The CW didn\u2019t even try to look for actual talent.\n\nThey grabbed the ONLY lesbian Hollywood knows of and called it a day like \u00af\_(\u30c4)_/\u00af\u201d— dened rey moreno \ud83c\udf08 (@dened rey moreno \ud83c\udf08) 1533666183
\u201cNot only does ruby rose not identify as a lesbian but she\u2019s not Jewish either. So...they basically lied about it wanting an actor that represented the diversity to stay true to who batwoman is and instead just picked a \u201chot\u201d white person that isn\u2019t too gay to offend the straights\u201d— Kristin Sparkle \ud83e\udddc\ud83c\udffd\u200d\u2640\ufe0f (@Kristin Sparkle \ud83e\udddc\ud83c\udffd\u200d\u2640\ufe0f) 1533666248
\u201cfinding out #Batwoman isn\u2019t going to be played by a jewish woman like she should be like:\u201d— NCT WEEK \u2728\u2728\u2728 (@NCT WEEK \u2728\u2728\u2728) 1533664131
\u201cokay but casting ruby rose as batwoman truly is a big fuck you to all the lesbian fans like they don't care about the rep they just wanted to cast a lesbian to have good press so they just gave it to her cause she's well known and liked by straight girls\u201d— justine (@justine) 1533664306
\u201cQueer women: Please cast out queer actors in queer roles!!!\nCW: *casts Ruby Rose*\nQueer women: This is an attack\u201d— Brittani Nichols (@Brittani Nichols) 1533668207
\u201cthey casted ruby rose because she\u2019s the only lgbt person that straight people like\u201d— chloe MEETING CIX (@chloe MEETING CIX) 1533663938
\u201cCw: batwoman tv show\nUs: \ud83d\udc40\nCw: and the actress is gonna be a lesbian\nUs: \ud83d\udc40\ud83d\udc99\nCw: but Ruby Rose is gonna play her \nUs:\u201d— steff (@steff) 1533665714
\u201cokay but casting ruby rose as batwoman truly is a big fuck you to all the lesbian fans like they don't care about the rep they just wanted to cast a lesbian to have good press so they just gave it to her cause she's well known and liked by straight girls\u201d— justine (@justine) 1533664306
\u201cThis is not about Ruby Rose, it is about a network (and an industry) systematically ignoring the voices of the LGBTTIQ + community, particularly the L, creating new forms of queerbating in the process. #RecastBatwoman\u201d— La mesita (@La mesita) 1533677242
The Batwoman series will be executive produced by the prolific Greg Berlanti, who is gay, while Caroline Dries, who is out, will write and executive produce the series. A queer woman will be the lead and play the first live-action superhero series to feature an openly gay lead. That actor is gender fluid, which literally has no representation on screen as a lead.
Jewish representation is important; there was also recently an uproar that Felicity Jones is playing Ruth Bader Ginsberg. But Jewish people have tons of visibility in Hollywood. Just speaking in terms of actresses, we have Scarlett Johansson, Rachel Weisz, Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, and Gal Gadot always in the public eye. Queer women? Not so much.
So what if Ruby Rose hasn't won an Oscar? This is for a superhero TV show on the CW. It's not a dramatic epic about finding yourself in the 2nd Crusade.
\u201c@MVGGIESDANVERS @ArlingtonDiva \u201cShe can\u2019t act.\u201d I always love that. Many famous, famous, successful actors \u201ccan\u2019t act\u201d. Honestly can\u2019t believe no Emmy or Oscar winners, bonafide can-actors, took the role.\u201d— justine (@justine) 1533664306
\u201c@MVGGIESDANVERS Have you seen a good actor in any of the CW shows? Really? It\u2019s all about being good looking, at least they will have a gay main character.\u201d— justine (@justine) 1533664306
Adam Best put it best.
\u201cWhether you like Ruby Rose\u2019s acting or not, we can all agree that it\u2019s fun to watch pathetic men\u2019s rights fanboys get so triggered over an out lesbian Batwoman.\u201d— Adam Best (@Adam Best) 1533673586