Why "She Kills Monsters" Matters
University of British Columbia
by Casey Long, Guest Editorial
Many high schools shy away from the intricacies and occasional controversies of representing various sexual identities, but She Kills Monsters by Qui Nguyen faces the realities of being a part of the LGBTQ community head-on.
When Agnes Evans loses her entire family in a car accident, she is forced to confront an uncomfortable truth about her family: she never really knew her geeky youngest sister, Tilly. Though not a player herself, Agnes enlists the help of neighborhood uber-nerd, Chuck, to help her play the Dungeons and Dragons campaign that Tilly had written. Through the action of the game, Agnes discovers more about Tilly’s strength, wit, and sexuality than she would have ever imagined.
What’s refreshing about Nguyen’s She Kills Monsters is that not only does it shine a spotlight on LGBTQ characters, but that it does not use their sexuality as a placeholder for personality. It’s incredibly easy, and in some circles almost obligatory, for high school plays and musicals to represent sexually diverse characters in the name of intersectionality without truly giving them a voice.
“In this show, there’s not just one token gay character that dies off at the first possible moment, or that fits perfectly into the stereotype that has become prevalent in the media these days,” says Ella Danyluk, who portrayed the role of Kaliope. “Each of the LGBT characters in the show has characteristics that are more dominant than their sexuality, and each of those characteristics are different. This isn’t a show with a bunch of gay characters. This is a show with a bunch of characters that happen to be gay.”
Staging a story with such emotionally rich and action-packed, LGBTQ roles has an empowering and uplifting impact on student artists in the LGBTQ community. She Kills Monsters allows students to truthfully represent the LGBTQ community in a show that goes beyond the ‘tragic Oscar-bait tale of characters discovering their sexuality’, but into a genre that for so long has been dominated by heteronormative Hollywood.