The 100

Breaking Ground: Clexa’s Progressive LGBT Representation on The 100

The story of Clarke and Lexa (their relationship also known as Clexa) in The 100 is one of the most infamous and controversial queer relationships ever to make it onto mainstream television. The 100 is a television show on the CW that takes place in a post-apocalyptic future where the earth is uninhabitable due to a nuclear explosion forcing people to leave earth and live in space. The premise of the show is that these “sky people” are now trying to inhabit earth once again but they are confronted by savage and barbaric “grounders” who are currently living on the ground.

Clarke is the main character of the show and the leader of the sky people while Lexa is leader of the grounders. Having two young women in the highest positions of power is a very progressive aspect of the show and breaks many gender norms that other shows conform to. Although Lexa first appears in episode 2x06 and there is quick kiss in 2x14, the relationship between Clarke and Lexa doesn’t truly develop until season 3. The reason that this story is so advanced in terms of LGBT representations is because it presents both Clarke and Lexa as well rounded, three-dimensional characters. Both Clarke and Lexa both have to balance their own personal desires with what is best for their people which leads to some extremely strenuous moral choices for each character.  

Also, unlike in most shows, Lexa is not just introduced to be Clarke’s love interest. In actuality, Clarke and Lexa are really enemies when they first meet. Lexa knows that her grounders want a war against the sky people while Clarke is trying to advocate for peace. Even though Lexa is peaceful in nature, she adheres to her grounders’ demand for war in order to please her bloodthirsty clan and protect her life. Overtime as Clarke and Lexa work together, Clarke helps Lexa to advance her, “blood must not have blood” initiative to institute peace between the grounders and the sky people. Their relationship is much different from many others because Clarke and Lexa do not fall in love in an obvious, flirtatious way but form such a close bond while working together that they become inseparable and emotionally attached in a dark, emotionless world.

Additionally, Clexa is also progressive in terms of LGBT representation because their relationship does not dwell on the fact that they are queer. While Lexa is openly lesbian and Clarke is openly bisexual, neither character goes through a coming out process. Since the show takes place in the future, it proposes that nobody has to traditionally come out of the closet because nobody is assumed to be heterosexual. This representation is so innovative because the problem in the relationship is not that Clarke and Lexa are both female, the problem is that they are the leaders of enemy clans.
By: Sara Scopellito

“Victory Stands on the Back of Sacrifice”: Impact of Clarke and Lexa in The 100

Although the LGBT representation from Clexa is extremely progressive in many ways, it quickly became controversial due to the death of Lexa. In season 3, Lexa and Clarke overcome their differences and work as a team in the grounder capital Polis. While working closely together, Clarke realizes that Lexa is not the bloodthirsty warrior she once believed, but she is actually a peaceful leader trying to manage her own wants with the needs of her people. In this way, Clarke begins to see herself and her own struggles in Lexa which fosters the caring and loving emotional bond between them. In 3x07 Clarke is forced to leave Polis and, in turn, Lexa as well. In this episode Clarke and Lexa kiss for the first time since the quick, unanswered peck in 2x14. Also in this episode, Clarke and Lexa have sex for the first time which is significant because mainstream TV usually glosses over intimate queer scenes but The 100 refused to do so.

In the scene after they sleep together, both Clarke and Lexa appear to be genuinely happy and untroubled which is a look that—in this dark, dramatic, dystopian drama—has never been seen on those characters before.

As queer viewers jumped for joy at the sight of this amazing LGBT representation on mainstream television and praised the show for its inspiring portrayal of complex queer characters, it all ended in a bang. As Lexa walked out of the bedroom, she was shot and bled to death.

All of the progress the show made for advanced LGBT representation was immediately erased as the show conformed to the harmful Bury Your Gays trope. This trope, as described by TVTropes, is the motif that “often…gay characters just aren't allowed happy endings. Even if they do end up having some kind of relationship, at least one half of the couple…has to die at the end”. Lexa’s death was meaningless, poorly timed and did not advance the plot. Killing Lexa right after the consummation of her relationship further promotes the idea that gays are not allowed to be happy and that people will be punished, or killed, for being queer.

With a severe lack of three-dimensional queer characters on tv, the death of these complex characters serves a blow to the community. As stated on Autostraddle, more than 190 lesbian and bisexual women have been killed off on TV shows and as this list keeps growing, the mainstream begins to unify the idea of gays and death together.

Outraged by the death of such a beloved and ground breaking character, Clexa fans raised more than $40,000 for the Trevor Project and started the LGBT Fans Deserve Better organization that advocates for better, positive LGBT representation.  Their campaign to support positive LGBT representation has gained the attention of other show runners writing LGBT+ characters as well as actresses portraying queer characters. By bringing more attention to harmful tropes, show runners will be less likely to display negative representations and give into destructive tropes. Moreover, the LGBT Fans Deserve Better organization also created ClexaCon which is a convention held in Las Vegas for the female LGBTQ community and its allies that promotes positive LGBT representation. This queer Comic-Con features show runners and actresses from hit lesbian/bisexual inclusive shows such as Wynonna Earp, One Day at a Time, Carmilla, The L Word and Legends of Tomorrow. By turning a negative trope into a positive lesson in mainstream awareness, Lexa’s death in The 100 served as a learning experience for all show runners and gave an additional meaning to the infamous Lexa quote, “victory stands on the back of sacrifice”.
By: Sara Scopellito

Non Academic Resources

http://variety.com/2016/tv/opinion/the-100-lexa-jason-rothenberg-1201729110/

http://variety.com/2016/tv/columns/the-100-lexa-dead-clarke-relationship-13-1201722916/

https://www.polygon.com/2016/3/8/11179844/the-100-cw-lexa-trevor-project