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Bait and Switch Lesbians: Difference between revisions
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{{quote|"''[[Girl On Girl Is Hot|We like our ladies to go les]]... but not [[But Not Too Gay|full]] les.''"|'''Brian Safi''', ''[http://current.com/items/90732681_thats-gay-lady-kisses.htm That's Gay]''}}
In the eyes of fandom, a show's major selling point is that its principals are [[Schoolgirl Lesbians]]... but oops, it was just a [[Romantic Two
The is pretty common in [[Moe|Bishoujo fandom]], where the [[Romantic Two
Tends to raise the hackles of a show's [[Yuri Fan|Yuri Fandom]], who tend to crop up more infrequently, but also makes them paranoid in the long run. Any male friend of one of the girls becomes the [[Sword of Damocles]]; a possible route of escape for the writers via [[Last Minute Hookup]]. So [[Die for Our Ship|expect malevolence.]] It takes frustratingly little for a male character to become a love interest. A single scene, a [[Where Are They Now? Epilogue]], can instantly make [[Canon]] to overturn entire seasons of interaction.
An ironic result of this is making a relationship explicit can result in enough fuel for viewers who oppose the [[Shipping]] to simply scoff that any evidence of the pairing is "just [[Fan Service]]." The fact that a great many shows avoid [[Unfortunate Implications|portraying relationships in significant detail muddies it further: so many other shows cop out at the last minute, so why should this one be different?]] The writers won't ever [[Hide Your Lesbians|admit anything anyways]].
Outside of canon this trope is invoked a lot especially in H-doujins due to a rather persistent tendency for [[Most Writers Are Male|male writers]] to be intimidated by the idea of girls who don't find them sexually attractive (though generally only mildly). This is the reason why a disturbingly large number of popular lesbian characters and characters who are popular in part because of their [[Romantic Two
Compare [[Faux Yay]]. Related to the [[Sweeps Week Lesbian Kiss]].
{{examples
== Anime and Manga ==
* While the original ''[[Maria-sama ga Miteru]]'' novels are a bit more lenient in [[Subtext]], the anime only has one canonical pairing, derailed when one member ''went off to become a nun,'' and when two girls are about to kiss, the camera cuts away as if it were [[Sexy Discretion Shot|something much more]] [[Harmful to Minors]]. This is especially unusual, as ''[[Portmanteau Series Nickname|Marimite]]'' is pretty much defined by its [[Girls Love]] fandom.
* ''[[Bubblegum Crisis]]: Tokyo 2040'' spent its first half building the [[Sempai
** Ironically, it was the original ''[[Bubblegum Crisis]]'' [[OAV]] that gave rise to the mantra among many early anime fans that "All women in anime are lesbians. Unless they're bisexual."
* ''[[Nana]]'' has, at its core, the interesting relationship between the two titular Nanas: [[Tomboy and Girly Girl|one a tough punk-rocker, the other a girly girl who likes frilly fashion]]. Disappointingly, most of the manga depicts the two girls' relationships with comparatively bland or annoying guys, to the point where the carefully set up romantic tension between them is all but thrown overboard--which isn't helped by the fact that one of them {{spoiler|gets knocked up.}}
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* A lot of relationships between the girls in ''[[Oniisama E]]'' (which ''is'' a manga of [[The Seventies]]) get blown up prematurely by various degrees of human failings. In the end {{spoiler|all female main characters - with the exception of Rei, [[Bury Your Gays|who is dead by this point]] - enter relationships with men}}.
** Actually, {{spoiler|Nanako refers to the "university student" she fancies in the end... with gender-neutral pronouns. She could perfectly be about to date an university ''girl'', as far as we know.}}
* ''[[Hidamari Sketch]]'' has a mild example, in that Miyako sometimes flirts heavily with Yuno, just to let things fizzle out because of her unfocused nature. And then of course there is the relationship between Hiro and Sae, although that is more a clear case of [[Romantic Two
* The relationship between Mikan and Hotaru in ''[[Gakuen Alice]]'' has something of this. Despite both girls becoming ever closer in the course of the series, leading to [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|numerous heartwarming moments]], it is becoming very clear that the writer intends to hook Mikan up with Natsume, a boy. Sure, all of the characters are [[Puppy Love|relatively young]], but still...
* The ''[[Aoi Hana]]'' anime combines this with [[Bait and Switch Credits]], what with all the romantic imagery involving Fumi and Akira. Sure, Fumi is openly lesbian and seen in an unambiguous relationship with a girl, but that girl is ''not'' Akira.
** The manga also seems to moving into this territory. Of all the (potential) yuri pairings, only the one between Orie and Hinako seems to have survived the author's penchant for [[Kudzu Plot|odd plot twists]]. Even the relationship between {{spoiler|Fumi and Akira}} is uncertain.
* ''[[Amanchu (Manga)|Amanchu!]]'' could be considered a mild version, in that [[Genki Girl|Hikari]]'s cheerful flirting with [[Tall, Dark and Bishoujo|Futaba]] gets toned down considerably as soon as more characters are introduced.
* This could be seen as a continuation of ''[[Aria (Manga)|Aria]]'', made by the same author. Emotions between the girls regularly reach romantic levels, only to be cut off before they become ''too'' obvious.
** Fans noticed quite a few scenes in which Alicia and Akari seem to be ''very'' close to kissing. Maybe this is the reason why Amano introduced some rather forced male romantic interests later on.
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== Film ==
* A common complaint about ''[[Kissing Jessica Stein (Film)|Kissing Jessica Stein]]'', in that the two women don't end up together (and it's implied that the Jessica ends up with her ex-boyfriend shortly after the two come out). The problem with this, though, is that people don't seem to note that it's outright stated that neither woman is explicitly gay--in fact, outside of the relationship, Jessica is only seen dating guys while Helen dates both. Also, the film shows the entire course of the relationship, over the space of nine months.
* In ''[[Twilight (Literature)|Twilight]]'' (the movie) Alice says that she and Bella will be "really good friends" in a suggestive manner, and Edward responds with a sneering, "Can you keep your thoughts to yourself!" It turns out that Alice is [[Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?|SO TOTALLY NOT GAY]], and she REALLY REALLY MEANT THEY WOULD JUST BE GOOD FRIENDS.
** The book has a good bit of this at well. That line is in the actual book, as is Alice pointing out that Bella" ''does'' smell good!" As is the bit about Alice loving Bella deeply. Then throw in how often Alice hangs on Bella, carries her around, etc. and you've got a ripe lesyay shipping bed--except Meyer, as a devout Mormon, would not write lesbians into her story.
* On the DVD commentary for ''[[Bring It On]]'', the director notes that a scene showing Kirsten Dunst and [[Eliza Dushku]] (who has a strong lesbian fanbase) in bed together wasn't intended to hint at girl-on-girl action. Really!
* The Israeli movie ''Walk on Water'' is about a Mossad agent who is sent to assassinate an aging former Nazi, then meets the man's grandson, who gives him a new outlook on life. They get really close. I mean, ''[[Ho Yay|really]]'' close, and then it is revealed that said grandson is gay. Then, in the end, the Mossad agent gets together with the grandson's sister, an until-then-minor character. The [[Ho Yay]] between the agent and the grandson, however, was so blatant that I couldn't help but wonder if the grandson was originally intended to be the agent's [[Love Interest]].
** Considering that the film is all about people of different categories looking past their differences, I think it's actually thematically necessary the Mossad agent to be straight. But I would agree that the homoeroticism between the two leads is thick, and it's easy to see him marrying the sister as a thin substitution for his real goal.
* In the ''[[Joshuu Sasori (Film)|Female Prisoner Scorpion]]'' series, protagonist Matsu's relationship with Yuki is pretty ambiguous. In the first film, they clearly care about each other a lot, but it's not clear if this has a sexual dimension. The third film features the same actress playing someone with the same name, but who is clearly a different character, although Matsu apparently recognises her (it's [[What Do You Mean It Wasn't Made On Drugs?|a tad complicated]]). ''This'' Yuki is either enfatuated or fascinated with Matsu, but is fairly [[Brother
* A rather old example, from a 1930s play-gone-movie. Karen and Martha from ''[[The Childrens Hour]]'' share a close intimate friendship, though Karen is engaged to a man. Their friendship is full of subtext on both sides {{spoiler|but only Martha is revealed to be gay}}.
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