I’ll never forget being 11 and asking my friend what happened on the latest Wizards of Waverly Place episode because my parents canceled the Disney channel on our T.V. They thought the character of Alex Russo, played by Selena Gomez, was causing me to have “too much attitude.”
While my bedroom was Hannah Montana themed, I loved Selena Gomez. Every picture of her in J-14 was messily taped onto my white walls, along with her best roles and a list of facts about her. (Would you believe it if I told you I didn’t realize that I liked girls until my junior year of high school?) I thought my obsession with Selena was just normal fangirl behavior! Little did I know, if I were in the Wizards cinematic universe, I would’ve had a chance with Ms. Alex Russo herself
Peter Murrieta, the showrunner of the hit series, has sent us into a spiral since confirming their interest in having Alex and Stevie, played by lesbian mother, Haley Kioko, explore their relationship with more romantic leanings. On March 27, Murrieta revealed this on the Wizards of Waverly Pod run by Jennifer Stone, who plays Harper, and David DeLuise, who plays the Russo’s dad, Jerry.
Clearly, I am not the only quaking gay, as Twitter is eating the news up. Everyone had a strong inkling about Stevie being queer-coded, and lately, it’s been common to see a writer say they wanted to make a character gay after the fact. But this particular news hits close to home, validating those who knowingly had a crush on her, or others like me who grew up thinking we only wanted to be Alex Russo, maybe not having the vocabulary to know whether we wanted to be with her.
The bisexual representation of women has a complicated history. Until recently, bisexuality in women was either invisible (think Samantha in Sex And The City only using the term lesbian when she dates Maria) or these women were portrayed as overtly sexual or villainous. To have had a character like Alex, funny, smart, but rebellious and sarcastic, openly bisexual, would have been a great way to make kids feel visible in their sexuality.
However, while it wasn’t confirmed until now, most of us already figured that Alex was a bi-con. Still, I feel robbed.
NGL, this prompts a re-watch.
Here’s hoping we get a reunion episode in which Alex, Mason, and Stevie have a date night. And invite me.