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Disposable Black Girlfriend
| Tropes and genres | |
|---|---|
| Related tropes/genres | Disposable Black Love Interest, Disposable Love Interest of Color |
| See also | |
| Related articles on Fanlore. | |
This article or section needs expansion. |
The Disposable Black Girlfriend refers to a common trope in which a Black female characters disproportionately often serve as temporary love interests, only to be passed over in favor of the one true love: a white love interest, or sometimes a love interest who is a non-Black person of color. The trope is commonly found in canon media as well as fan-made transformative works.
The focus of the trope can be expanded to Disposable Black Love Interest or Disposable Love Interest of Color, though many in the discussion caution not to lose sight of the impact of misgynoir, at the intersection of misogyny and anti-Black racism.
Overview
The Disposable Black Girlfriend trope has been said to be the romance genre's equivalent of the "Black Guy Dies First" trope.
Criticism of this trope has been strawmanned as a refusal to allow Black female characters and other characters of color to undergo break-ups and heartbreaks in the natural course of romantic relationships and dramas. Rather, criticism of this trope actually focuses on the way that Black female characters and others are disproportionately targeted as undesirable, unlovable, and unsuitable as endgame love interests. In this way, Black female characters are marginalized as stepping stone, tools, or plot devices rather than important, humanized characters.
In some cases, the Disposable Love Interest trope applies to non-white characters being favored above other non-white characters, especially above darker and more exoticized characters.
- People have spotted serial usage of Disposable Black Love Interests in the works (and screen adaptations) of Asian-American author Jenny Han, who has been otherwise praised for pushing for Asian-American protagonists.[1]
- There is some debate over whether Selina Kyle would be considered a character of color based on a version of the character with Cuban heritage on her mother's side, and whether Selina's Cuban heritage would categorize her as "non-white". Regardless, many fans agree that Selina is at least white to the extent that on its basis she's portrayed as a more suitable match to Bruce Wayne in contrast to Talia al Ghul's exoticized looks and behavior.
One common fandom discourse battleground pits a male/female ship involving a character of color against an invariably more popular white slash ship; both sides in these ship wars claim that the other side is bigoted.
Canon examples
- DC Comics
- Batman media — Shondra Kinsolving and Jezebel Jet, two of Bruce Wayne's love interests in the comics
- Within the era of the Kirk/Uhura kiss, Eartha Kitt's Selina Kyle was disqualified as a love interest following white actresses' portrayals of Catwoman, and many would say in favor of white Barbara Gordon
- Fans have identified Tom King's characterization of Talia al Ghul orientalist, used to contrast Selina as the superior love interest
- Nightwing — Bea Bennett
- Supergirl (2015 television series) — James Olsen (portrayed by actor Mehcad Brooks)
- Batman media — Shondra Kinsolving and Jezebel Jet, two of Bruce Wayne's love interests in the comics
- RPF
- Robert Pattinson — When Pattinson broke up with Twilight co-star Kristen Stewart, his subsequent partner FKA Twigs was subjected to harassment.
- Sleepy Hollow (2013 television series) — Abbie Mills (portrayed by actress Nicole Beharie)
- Star Trek: The Original Series — The interracial kiss between white man Captain Kirk and Black woman Uhura has been noted for being groundbreaking in a time of stricter racial segregation in the USA. On the other hand, there is also criticism that modern retrospectives aggrandize the kiss as a realized interracial relationship, more than the restricted moment that it was.
- Star vs. the Forces of Evil — Kelly, temporary love interest of Marco Diaz
- Star Wars — Some fans felt that Finn (portrayed by actor John Boyega) and Rey's bond in the first movie planted the seeds of a possible romance, while others saw a compelling friendship. Finn/Rey shippers and Finn & Rey friendship supporters have both criticized the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy for sidelining Finn and his bond with Rey (whether romantic or not), especially in light of the Reylo romance that some criticize as contrived.
Fandom and shipping
- Arcane — Mel Medarda, one half of the canon JayMel ship, up against the slasher-popular juggernaut ship JayVik
- Avatar: The Last Airbender — Zukka against Katara, in response to Zutara
- The Flash — Fandom has often complained of the canon Barry Allen/Iris West being bashed in favor of pairing Barry with another white character
- iZombie — Some fans have complained that protagonist Liv Moore suffers through at least three pasty white guys, while writers ignore her friend Ravi Chakrabarti as a potential love interest.
- Thor movieverse — Valkyrie (portrayed by actress Tessa Thompson), frequent subject of the "Can't they just be friends?" argument
Meta and further reading
| Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples. |
Essays and articles
- https://medium.com/@yomiadegoke/the-rise-and-rise-of-the-disposable-black-girlfriend-48e1414e995c
- https://www.salon.com/2023/09/25/disposible-black-girlfriend-tv-movie-trope/