Laverne Cox is Here for Faking It Season 2 and You Should Be Too

According to Entertainment Weekly Laverne Cox, best known for her Emmy-nominated performance on Netflix’s Orange is the New Black, will guest star in an episode of MTV’s Faking It in the upcoming Season 2. As a recent convert to this show and a fan of Laverne Cox this is pretty exciting news. I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to entice Geekiary readers to give this show a chance, and I can’t think of anything more enticing than Laverne Cox as a Sue Sylvester-esque high school drama club director. Laverne Cox – even if it’s only for one episode – is a pretty big draw but don’t worry that’s not the only reason to watch MTV’s Faking It.

This show is actually a real life TV version of my all time favourite fan fiction trope: Fake Dating. You know, when one or two characters are in desperate need of a significant other for some reason so they pretend to be in a relationship until it’s not pretend anymore. In the case of MTV’s Faking It Karma Ashcroft (Katie Stevens) desperately wants to be popular and she finally gets her chance when she’s mistakenly assumed to be in a relationship with her best friend Amy Raudeneld (Rita Volk). The sudden visibility of being Hester High’s first out and proud lesbian couple is too good to let go of, so Karma begs Amy to go along with the lie. Except poor Amy might not actually be lying.

Faking It has everything a good fake dating fic should have. A public kiss that causes a love epiphany followed by lots and lots of pining. Many many coded conversations dripping with metaphors that go right over the head of the person that desperately needs to hear them. There’s even a choreographed dance number at a wedding. It sounds awesome right? Admit it, you’re intrigued.

Lest you think this show is a paradigm of representation you should know it still has a lot of issues. There’s an underlying thread of biphobia (although at least they actually mention bisexuality so that’s something). They do kind of present homosexuality is a carnival act and while it’s heightened to the point that they are clearly being self reflective in their fetishisation, it might make some people uncomfortable. The main cast is overwhelmingly white, and for some reason the queer ladies keep sleeping with a straight white boy, Liam Booker (Gregg Sulkin). Problems aside, there is still a lot about Faking It that makes it worth watching.

Beyond the fake dating there is a surprisingly heartfelt coming out story. When Amy realises she’s into Karma is also means she might be into girls in general – this is a pretty big deal especially considering her fairly conservative Christian mother, step-father, and of course her evil (but not really) step-sister, Lauren Cooper (Bailey Buntain). This series is worth it just to watch Amy come to terms with her feelings for Karma and what that means about her sexuality. (Seriously though, if this show is not heading towards a Karma/Amy (known as Karmy) endgame we can march on MTV together).

Similar to Awkward, Faking It is a hyper coloured teen soap opera that, despite it’s exaggerations, is a surprisingly accurate depiction of what it’s like to be a teenager (well, a wealthy white one anyway). Come on, there are only eight 22 minute episodes (with 10 more coming in Season 2), it won’t take you long to burn through. Who doesn’t love fake dating, anyway?

Faking It returns to MTV on September 23 at 10:30pm.

Author: Undie Girl

Undie Girl (aka Von) has a BA (Hons) Major in Cultural Studies. The title of her honours thesis was “It’s just gay and porn”: Power, Identity and the Fangirl’s Gaze. She’s currently pursuing a Masters of Media Practice at University of Sydney. Von’s a former contributor The Backlot’s column The Shipping News and a current co-host of The Geekiary’s monthly webcast FEELINGS… with The Geekiary.

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