This Is Why Desiree Akhavan's 'The Bisexual' Has Been A Needed Breath Of Fresh Air

If you haven't watched it already, drop whatever you are doing and get online and watch The Bisexual. The hilarious dramedy is everything you need, and in easy-to-digest 30 minute instalments. Delicious with a capital D. Once you have watched like five minutes of one episode, I know you will be thinking "OMG this is so lit! So will The Bisexual return for Season 2?"

Well, nothing has been announced as of yet, but Bustle reached out to Channel 4 and Sister Productions for comment to see if any further information is available. The show received mixed reviews and premiered with what could be described as a slightly lack lustre start, with Broadcast reporting less than 500,000 viewers tuned in for the first episode. However the show's creator, the indomitable Desiree Akhavan, pointed out when she spoke on a Mipcom panel alongside Sky Vision’s Jane Millichip that "diversity requires a monetary risk," and never has a truer word been said. This is especially true in the UK comedy TV world, which is typically dominated by white, male, heteronormative subjects, characters, and stories. Now, don't get me wrong, these are stories that deserve to be told, but there is definitely room for other stories and true diversity. It's time to cater for the hungry, disaffected masses who often don't even bother watching new shows because they know their voice will not be heard.

The Bisexual is a perfect example of the complexity and diversity of queerness and what it is to be a queer woman in 2018, and a woman of colour at that. With queer POC being so underrepresented in British TV, this show has been an absolute bloody breath of fresh air.

Speaking to The Independent, Akhavan shared that in her opinion, rules are low key there to be broken.

"There is no rule that you can only have one queer show and one female-driven show, but they made up that rule for themselves that year, those executives, and maybe they’re gone now, but you find another door. When it comes to making work in this industry, some people feel you have to follow the rules, and I don’t. I don’t care about the rules."

Akhavan starred, wrote, and directed the show which tells the story of a young woman who has previously largely had same-sex relationships, coming out to the world as bisexual. Akhavan, who herself identifies as bisexual, was keen to show a fairly untold story — that of a lesbian woman coming out as bisexual. Perhaps a far less sexy and less threatening to the patriarchy version of exploring female sexual identity. Not, "I kissed a girl and I liked it," more "hey I think I fancy you but I am also very comfortable in my same sex attraction."

The show isn't Akhavan's first foray into the creative world. She sauntered onto screens as one of Lena Dunham's Girls character Hannah Horvath's peers in her fancy new writing course. Since then she has made her own name as an actor/writer/director, in films like Appropriate Adult and The Miseducation Of Cameron Post. The latter won the 2018 U.S. Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. In her acceptance speech for the award, Akhavan shared her creative mission, as Indie Wire reports:

"I was raised on film and television, it was a third parent to me. But I grew up always wishing that that parent resembled me a little bit more, and I’m hoping that with this film we made something that speaks to the people you don’t usually hear about onscreen."

Although a second season of The Bisexual is yet to be confirmed, one thing I'm sure of is that Akhavan is going to continue to be a voice for the less represented. So here's hoping second season or not, we will be hearing a lot more from her in the future.