Shhhh – Don't Think Too Hard About 'The Hunting Wives'
It might hurt your brain
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If you’ve been online at all in the last few weeks, you’ve probably heard people talking about a new Netflix show called The Hunting Wives. Based on the novel by May Cobb, the show follows a liberal woman who moves to a small Texas town and meets a group of gun-toting Republican women and has sex with one of them. Oh, and there’s a murder.
It’s one of the most perplexing shows I’ve watched in a long time. It reads like a pulpy murder show filled with lesbian erotica written for straight women, except two of its episodes were directed by revered lesbian filmmaker Cheryl Dunye. Sapphics are making fancams about the show’s unhinged lesbian relationship on TikTok. Straight women are experiencing unfamiliar feelings. And who put that terrible wig on Malin Akerman?
Some folks have attempted to put their thinking caps on while talking about the show, which is a fool’s errand. One lesbian creator thinks the show is not for lesbians, while others debate the show’s queer cred in the comments. Slate published an article titled The Hunting Wives Is Drawing Praise for Its Lesbian Representation. Excuse Me? I thought the piece was being dramatic until I saw a New York Times article that reads: “The show fits with a broader surge in sapphic pop culture over the last couple of years, with the growing popularity of queer artists, like Chappell Roan [...].”
This is extremely challenging for me, but I think we all need to take our thinking caps off, actually. Debate me if you’d like, but I don’t think The Hunting Wives has anything to do with Chappell Roan. In fact, one of the few things I found interesting about the show is how it doesn’t align with contemporary ideas about representation or queer visibility.
Though the book was based on the author’s experiences in her hometown, and there’s certainly a pointed attempt to call out the hypocrisy of Christian Republicans, Netflix’s telling of this story exists in a sort of soapy alternative universe. I don’t think this show “represents” anyone! And that’s okay – perhaps we’ve reached the end of the road when it comes to the representational discourse, anyway.
Malin Ackerman plays a sociopathic Republican who strips in front of strangers, steals other women’s husbands by riding a jet ski onto the beach, manipulates her friends and loved ones, and does coke with teenage boys. Brittany Snow plays a woman from Boston with no personality, politics, or interests, has a fuck-ass husband who drives a Tesla, and is so horny for her scary Republican friend that she loses all semblance of morality and is willing to start shooting things so the crazy lady will take all of her clothes off. Or, as RHONY star Bethenny Frankel put it, “she was like a liberal, and 24 hours later, she’s gonna stick a gun up her wazoo.”
Are these women queer? Maybe, but their actions and desires feel so divorced from reality that it hardly makes sense to define them in these terms. Deputy Salazar (Karen Rodriguez), the only competent cop in the town, is by far the most likable character on the show and also the gayest in demeanor, though whatever sexual exploits she may or may not be up to aren’t shown on screen. Malin Ackerman’s scorned “ex” (Jaime Ray Newman) definitely has the vibe of a vindictive lesbian or bisexual character from a ‘90s erotic thriller, though the pegging is new.
The show doesn’t have much to say about women or sex or queerness, which is just fine. Riese put it perfectly in her review of the show for Autostraddle: “The Hunting Wives is a remarkable feat of heterosexual media — how can something be so gay and yet so straight?” And Peyton Dix of the Lemme Say This podcast was right on the money when she said, “It’s basically a show about gunslinging republicans who also scissor, okay?”
It’s taking a lot of effort for me not to analyze this show using queer theory, which is probably why The Hunting Wives isn’t for me. But if you like your women crazy, horny, and ready to shoot a bitch, it could be a pleasurable way to empty your head of rational thought for eight hours.
Exactly – it's so absurd and trashy that it's approaching 'camp'. It reminds me of Riverdale in that way. We really don't need to be having conversations about representation in shows like this!