Pop Culture Fix: “Charmed” Rebooting With Lead Lesbian Witch, Okay Fine I’ll Watch It

By

Welcome to your weekly pop culture fix, bringing you all the news straight from the center of this firey planet.

… The “fierce, funny, feminist reboot” of Charmed, written by Jane the Virgin‘s Jessica O’Toole and Amy Rardin, is gonna have a lesbian lead this time! Here’s the breakdown, from TV Line:

MEL PRUITT | A strong-willed feminist, she feels deeply and is a bit controlling. Mel — who is in her mid 20s and a lesbian —  is the sister of Madison. In the wake of a tragic accident, the grieving Mel becomes angry, defiantly unkempt, even violent, pushing away those who might help her, including her girlfriend, Detective Soo Jin. Mel’s power is time-freezing.

That’s right — she’s gonna have a girlfriend (presumably a woman of color) too AND she’s gonna do the Zach Morris Time freeze. Honestly it should be a rule now that when you reboot a show you have to add a queer/lesbian/bisexual woman, or else why even bother. (Looking at you, Fuller House.)

… Jessica Jones Season Two promises a little bit of lesbianing (at 1:48), despite having killed a lot of lesbians already:

https://youtu.be/hSvnepZS26s

… Katy Perry would write “I Kissed a Girl” a little differently if she was writing it today:

“That was in 2008 when it came out, and I think we’ve really changed, conversationally, in the past 10 years. We’ve come a long way. Bisexuality wasn’t as talked about back then, or any type of fluidity. If I had to write that song again, I probably would make an edit on it. Lyrically, it has a couple of stereotypes in it. Your mind changes so much in 10 years, and you grow so much. What’s true for you can evolve.

… ‘The Good Fight,’ Set In A Black-Owned Law Firm, Unleashes Season 2 Trailer

… Can a Queer Eye Reboot Work in Our Woke New World?

… ‘2 Dope Queens’ Is Podcast TV at Its Best

… The new ‘Queer Eye’ will make you very emotional

… Your New Favorite Music By Queer and Trans Artists To Check Out This Month

… 25 LGBT Characters Who Made A Difference To People’s Lives

… Gay Characters Have Been Spotted in the ‘Star Wars’ Universe. You’ll Need Binoculars to See Them

… This Model Was “Put on the World to Break Stereotypes”—Here’s Why | Who What Wear … “as a plus fashion model, a queer woman, and a devout Christian, challenging the status quo is what she’s here for.”

… Best Queer Female Films and Web Series 2018

… Virginia Gardner is the Laser Beam-Shooting Lesbian Superhero We Need

… Boob(s On Your) Tube: “9-1-1” Reveals Its Lesbian Character JUST AS WE PREDICTED WITH OUR SUPREME TV GAYDAR

Before you go! Autostraddle runs on the reader support of our A+ Members. If this article meant something to you today — if it informed you or made you smile or feel seen, will you consider joining A+ and supporting the people who make this indie queer media site possible?

Join A+!
Related:

Riese

Riese is the 41-year-old Co-Founder of Autostraddle.com as well as an award-winning writer, video-maker, LGBTQ+ Marketing consultant and aspiring cyber-performance artist who grew up in Michigan, lost her mind in New York and now lives in California. Her work has appeared in nine books including "The Bigger the Better The Tighter The Sweater: 21 Funny Women on Beauty, Body Image & Other Hazards Of Being Female," magazines including Marie Claire and Curve, and all over the web including Nylon, Queerty, Nerve, Bitch, Emily Books and Jezebel. She had a very popular personal blog once upon a time, and then she recapped The L Word, and then she had the idea to make this place, and now here we all are! In 2016, she was nominated for a GLAAD Award for Outstanding Digital Journalism. Follow her on twitter and instagram.

Riese has written 3074 articles for us.

31 Comments

  3. Did I just wake up in a parallel universe where someone rewrote charmed with a witch lesbian and gave her a detective girlfriend?
    Can “the detective girlfriend” be like a new gay trope on TV that I won’t complain about, like ever?
    And while we’re at it: Can rebooted 90s Shows with queer leads become a trend pretty please?

    Reply to This Comment

  6. I am less excited for gay porgs than I would be for canonically queer humans, but hey, that’s cute.

    As an aside, “Admiral Holdo gay” is currently the third most popular google search for Admiral Holdo, so… AHEM.

    Reply to This Comment

  9. I read ‘who is in her mind 205 and a lesbian’ and I thought ‘That’s cool’ then I thought ‘No, maybe that’s not cool?’ then I thought ‘Wait, what does that even mean?’ then I thought ‘I’m going to re-read that part.’

    Reply to This Comment

  10. As a black woman with poofy natural hair who has wanted to making out with Carrie Anne Moss since I first saw the Matrix at 22 (I was late to the party), that lusty scene at 1:48 is a fever dream (the best of) and is also now my Shroud of Turin. This is my testimony. Amen.

    Reply to This Comment

  11. Anyone interested in canon, well written actual gay characters in Star Wars should check out the Doctor Aphra series that’s currently running. She’s an Asian anti-hero badass and she loves the ladies. She’s currently having a flirtatious will-they/won’t-they thing with a cute, easily flustered imperial officer.

    Reply to This Comment

  13. I have for the past week seen the billboard for the new Queer Eye on my way to work and a bit disappointed there isn’t a dapper Butch gal in the show. Or better yet, just make the hosts Cameron and Rhea, it be an instant watch and super funny.

    Reply to This Comment

    • Is Queer Eye that show where gay men dress someone?

      Because I’d definitely watch Cameron Esposito and Rhea Butcher dress strangers!

      I’m semi-confident they’d all end up looking kind of the same, chill but stylishly butch, and I’m totally okay with that.

      Reply to This Comment

  15. I know I kinda promised myself that I wouldnt watch the new Charmed reboot… but a mid-twenties feminist witch, her detective girlfriend, time-freezing powers? I feel like they are trying to bait me. If that character turns out to be anything like Holly M. Comb’s Piper in seasons 1-5 there’s virtually nothing that’s going to keep me away from this potential tv gem.

    Reply to This Comment

Contribute to the conversation...

Yay! You've decided to leave a comment. That's fantastic. Please keep in mind that comments are moderated by the guidelines laid out in our comment policy. Let's have a personal and meaningful conversation and thanks for stopping by!