After a clip from Big Mouth featuring Ali Wong’s new character attracted criticism for its explanation of pansexuality, the show’s co-creator has apologized for “missing the mark.”
The clip, which Netflix posted to one of its many Twitter accounts, depicts Wong’s character explaining to her new classmates that she’s pansexual. She defines it using some bizarre food metaphors. “Some of you borings like tacos, and some of you like burritos, and if you’re bisexual some of you like tacos and burritos,” she says. “But I’m saying I like tacos and burritos and I could be into a taco that was born a burrito… or a burrito that is transitioning into a taco.” She also calls bisexuality “so binary.”
Obviously, this depicts bisexuality as not being inclusive of a wide gender spectrum and also implies that trans people aren’t identified as just men and women. The show’s co-creator Andrew Goldberg posted a statement on Twitter to address the monologue’s issues, writing that the show “could have done better” when it came to addressing a subject this complex. “We are listening and we look forward to delving into all of this in future seasons,” he wrote.