Bi-te Size Bits are short(ish) explainers on film theory or history, written in a (hopefully) fun and accessible way so that you can take the film bro in your life down a peg.
This is the big one. The omnipresent and omnipotent God of bisexual stereotypes in media. It’s the heart that beats in the chest of the manipulative lover. The hand that wields the knife of the cold-blooded murderer. The deceiving tongue of the twisted double agent. It’s Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct. It’s Freakshow in Harold and & Kumar Go to White Castle. Lock up your sons and lock up your daughters, because the depraved bisexual is out on the prowl.
What / who is a ‘depraved bisexual’?
‘‘When gays became real, they became threatening.”
The ‘depraved bisexual’ is a manipulative, untrustworthy, emotionally unstable, immoral character, telegraphed by their willingness to seduce any person of any gender for the purpose of getting what they want or just for evil kicks1. What they want is often something nefarious as well, such as breaking up a relationship or murder, and they usually have an ambivalent attitude towards consent and the truth.
No stereotype has a single origin, but there can be little doubt that the depraved bisexual is at least made up in part of the complex interweaving of social prejudice and film regulation. For the majority of the history of cinema, depictions of queerness have been tightly controlled. Outright bans on queer content, while never entirely successful thanks to the tools of innuendo and subtext, nevertheless reflected the ideology that queerness was wrong. This ideology still prevailed as bans were lifted on mainstream Hollywood cinema, with films still often obligated to associate being gay with being miserable or tragic or a threat. Add to that a dash of biphobia (from straight and queer communities) and a cinematic craving for morally reprehensible villains, and you’ve got a great paint to apply to a whole category of people (the broadest brush possible recommended).
The depraved bisexual comes in many forms. They may be:
Hypersexual and non-monogamous (in a cheating, heartless way. Not in a consensual, poly way), as seen in Basic Instinct (Paul Verhoeven, 1992).
Detached and asexual (another sexuality often associated with villainy2), like Tom Ripley in The Talented Mr. Ripley (Anthony Minghella, 1999).
Genuinely attracted to multiple genders but lack self-control or desire to remain faithful or uses bisexuality as a means to an end, like Jennifer in Jennifer’s Body (Karyn Kusama, 2009).
Not be particularly attracted to anyone, or could even be straight, but willing and able to just sleep with who they need to in order to get what they want. Writer Justin Kuritzkes has suggested this could be characteristic of Patrick in Challengers (Luca Guadagnino, 2024)3.
Perverted and predatory, wanting to sleep with anyone. This can be played for comedic effect or as part of something more sinister and threatening, such as Frank Booth in Blue Velvet (David Lynch, 1986).
What’s the problem with it?
These depictions in isolation are not necessarily problematic (I love you, Jennifer’s Body, and I always will). As with all stereotypes, the issue is more their prolific appearance across media. Along with general bi erasure, the depraved bisexual trope is one of the most prevalent bisexual stereotypes. Seeing this character again and again, particularly in crime or thriller genres, can become exhausting.
Depending on the wider politics of a film, the use of the stereotype could mean something deeper too. Vito Russo suggested that queerness was sometimes depicted as depraved and evil for the purpose of preserving the sanctity of heterosexuality, showing it was the ‘right’ way to live4. Julia Shaw observes that this meaning can be hard to tease out, and whether a bisexual character is a representation of sexual freedoms or a condemnation of sexual promiscuity isn’t always so clear5.
As always, part of the problem is that these stereotypes don’t just stay on screen. These depictions feed into real-world stereotypes, which feed into other media, which feeds back into the real world, and so on.
Take this quote from Stonewall’s 2020 Bi report:
“My girlfriend was heavily advised to get a HIV test because I’m bisexual, even though (and the doctor knew this) I had already been tested the year before and hadn’t slept with anyone since. The assumption was that I was promiscuous, with the doctor speaking to my girlfriend as if she couldn’t trust me, and treating me notably differently once she knew my sexuality.”
This goes alongside the stat that 22% of bi respondents to Stonewall’s survey reported experiencing ‘inappropriate curiosity’ from healthcare professionals that knew they were bi6.
Remember, these are problems with the stereotype as a whole and with its very prevalent nature. Sometimes these problems can be reflected in an individual film too, but it’s not the case that every morally duplicitous bisexual character is a ‘depraved bisexual’. There is a line (though quite disconnected and jagged at best) that we can draw.
Finding the line
Not every bi character that has ‘depraved’ characteristics is a ‘depraved bisexual’ stereotype. This is where context comes into play.
Significantly, their bisexuality should be a function of their evil or morally ambiguous deeds for them to fit the ‘depraved bisexual’ stereotype. I.e., the suggestion should be that they are evil because they are bisexual or have their bisexuality be a key instrument of their duplicity. There are characters who can be morally grey and bisexual in a way that is not interrelated.
For example, Basic Instinct versus Atomic Blonde. In Basic Instinct, Catherine Tramell’s (Sharon Stone) sexuality is depicted as a core part of her untrustworthy and unhinged nature, associating it with murder, stalking, and assault. Whereas in Atomic Blonde, Lorraine Broughton (Charlize Theron) is a duplicitous spy, but her romantic interests are distinctly separate from her espionage. She doesn’t use her sexuality as a tool, and it is instead a way of showing the humanity beneath her cold exterior.
A less clear-cut distinction we can try to make is by observing what the film is trying to tell us about someone’s sexuality and whether it is suggesting bisexuality is an extension of another behaviour or something genuine. Often films that are using the depraved bisexual stereotype have little interest in exploring the depths of someone’s romantic or sexual attractions. They can be very surface-level, treating bisexuality mostly as a means to an end rather than it being clear who a character is actually attracted to. These films may be more about obsession or revenge, with bisexuality being used as a tool to carry out those core desires.
For example, Tom Ripley (Matt Damon) in The Talented Mr. Ripley has only very surface-level dalliances with men and women, with his relationships all being a means to either get closer to Dickie (Jude Law) or as a way to take over his life. Romantic and sexual orientation takes a backseat to obsession7. This is opposed to Frank-N-Furter (Tim Curry) in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Jim Sharman, 1975), who, despite being an obsessive, controlling and murderous bi character, sits within a wider queer context amongst other bi characters that mocks rigid compulsory heterosexuality.
This isn’t to say that the only films you can like are the ones with good representation. What we like isn’t always ‘good’, and what is ‘good’ we don’t always like, and half the time what we say is ‘good’ is a matter of context and opinion. It’s fine to be in the mood for a bit of a depraved bisexual every now and then, and all films have multiple readings that can recontextualise what we are seeing. As always, Trial Bi Media isn’t here to shame your viewing habits. It’s here to make you more informed about them and the wider puzzle they fit into. The consortium of evil sluts, while over-represented, can still be part of who we are.
Further reading
Want more than a bi-te size bit of knowledge? Some recommended learning:
Something long: The Celluloid Closet by Vito Russo is a very comprehensive analysis of queer cinema up until the 1980s. It’s not about the depraved bisexual specifically, but it gives excellent context to the various queer stereotypes that evolved in Hollywood cinema. It was the basis for a documentary of the same name released in 1995.
Something short: There is a short and sweet article on the Trope of the Depraved Bisexual on Medium if you want some more examples of what representations might fit the bill.
Let’s do this together
I would love to get your comments and insights on my work so we can grow this place together. Please like and share and comment and all that other stuff. It’s much appreciated.
Emphasis on ‘evil’ kicks. Other kinds of kicks may not necessarily be depraved in nature
Brown, Sherronda J. Refusing Compulsory Sexuality: A Black Asexual Lens on Our Sex-Obsessed Culture. North Atlantic Books, 2022.
Ang, Raymond. “All Your ‘Challengers’ Questions, Answered by ‘Challengers’ Screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes.” GQ, 3 May 2024
Russo, Vito. The Celluloid Closet: Homosexuality in the Movies. Harper & Row, 1981.
Shaw, Julia. Bi: The Hidden Culture, History and Science of Bisexuality. Canongate, 2022.
Melville, Sophie, et al. LGBT in Britain- Bi Report. Stonewall, 2020,
In the novel the film is based on, the characters have just as many discriminatory musing on Tom Ripley being asexual and aromantic: “He may not be queer. He’s just a nothing, which is worse. He isn’t normal enough to have any kind of sex life” (The Talented Mr Ripley, Patricia Highsmith, 1955).