Photo source: Shadowhunters Facebook Page

Magnus Bane and Alec Lightwood are otherwise affectionately known to fans of the television show Shadowhunters, as Malec. If you don’t know (what rock have you been living under?), Shadowhunters was a Sci-Fi, Urban Fantasy series about demons, werewolves, vampires, warlocks, and seelies that used these magical creatures to push the boundaries of diversity, inclusivity, LGBTQ representation, and just about every other marginalized issue lacking on mainstream television. And fans went absolutely crazy for it. The show was devastatingly and prematurely cancelled due to industry nonsense and it sent the fandom into a frenzy. If you’re interested in learning more about the shenanigans that lead to the cancellation, click here. Film Daily does a sensational job of explaining it in lay terms to us non-industry folk.

The collective outcry of pain exhibited by the ShadowFam on June 4, 2018 when the announcement dropped that the show was being cancelled shows no signs of letting up. In fact, the anguish over losing the show mobilized the already obsessed fandom to take some impressively drastic measures. The fans raised money and flew a plane in front of the Netflix headquarters protesting the cancellation, they have erected billboards in extremely busy places all around the world – including Times Square – they have advertised on the sides of buses, raised money for charities like the Trevor Project, among many more stunts with the intention of hoping to #SaveShadowhunters. These were all fandom organized and completely fan funded.

When you say the word ‘Shadowhunters’, regardless of who you’re talking to, the immediate response is “Malec”, followed by intense and dramatic swooning. Male, female, gay, straight, bi, old, young – no matter the sexual identity, orientation or age, the reaction is always the same: complete adoration and respect. Practically everyone is shipping this couple. Magnus Bane, played by actor Harry Shum Jr is an openly bisexual warlock that has centuries of life experience behind him. Alec Lightwood, played by Matthew Daddario, is a young and very inexperienced half angel, half human gay Shadowhunter who is barely finding his place in the world. Sounds like your average boy-meets-boy story, right? Well, not according to the fandom. The writers and the actors did something different with this relationship that was sadly, very lacking on television and in the media. The end result changed a lot of people’s lives for the better. So, rather than just give you my personal feelings and interpretations on the issue, I reached out to the ShadowFam on twitter (where we are a force to be reckoned with) and asked others why Malec was, and still is, so important to them. The ShadowFam did not disappoint.

I got many varied and deeply heartfelt, personal responses. People offered things like, Malec made them believe in love in a world where they saw none, that they were incredibly impressed with the actors depiction of the characters, and they felt like they could really look up to them. However, there was one resounding comment that was common among all responses: people viewed Malec as a rarely portrayed healthy and stable, loving relationship that was not shrouded in stereotypes particularly common among LQBTQ+ representations on our screens. It was astonishing how many people shared these sentiments and it was impossible to ignore.

When asked what separates Magnus and Alec from other representations on television, acclaimed YouTube sensation and die-hard ShadowFam member, Abnormally Adam @abnormallyadam, said, “Malec is not only important to me, but the entire LGBTQ+ community. It breaks stereotypes and shows a healthy relationship develop between two people…”

So what exactly is it that sets them apart and makes them such a positive representation of a healthy LGBTQ+ relationship? According to Adam, “During one scene, Alec and Magnus are going through a tough time and Alec goes to a bar and meets a gay Shadowhunter, Underhill. Typically, [as commonly portrayed on television] Alec would cheat on Magnus [in this situation]. However, they break stereotypes and Malec actually work their issues out in a healthy and natural way. Plus, Alec gains a really good friend out of Underhill. It’s a good thing because the LGBTQ+ community needs healthy representation in the media”. There are many more examples throughout the three seasons of the show that demonstrate the same maturity and respect as this example.

Adam goes on to say “Ten years ago there was hardly any representation for our community and when there was a character who happened to be gay, it would end up being not a good representation”.

Malec completely thwarted this construct. Magnus had opportunities to cheat, and so did Alec. Neither of them did – a revelation for a show depicting gay and bisexual men. They preached communication and apologized when they made mistakes. They supported each other, they stood up for each other, and the love and affection they shared was genuine, and not deviant or over-sexualized, like so many other LGBTQ+ relationships in film and television. They were just two people in love, that existed and just “were”. They weren’t marginalized, and they weren’t the subject of hate crimes or societal pressure to be something else.

Photo Source: Shadowhunters Facebook Page

Fans all reiterated the same sentiments as Adam – Malec was a rare breath of fresh air. While it’s true that Malec were not the only LGBTQ+ characters depicting aspects of positivity on screen, they were one of the very, very few, and they did something unique that the fandom believes has yet to be achieved by any other. Ultimately, the biggest accomplishment that this show achieved with this relationship was a complete breakdown in the separation of the LGBTQ+ and heterosexual communities. In Shadowhunters they existed in the same space, with complete and total sameness. One was not more normal than the other. One was not featured more than the other, and one was not given better treatment than the other. The ShadowWorld existed as one community with a common goal: love is love, period. The only person that had any issue with Alec being gay was Alec himself, and the show dealt with him processing his own feelings on this issue with commendable tact (and speed). The relationship between Alec and Magnus wasn’t sidelined, like similar relationships in other shows are, they were situated front and center. The writers explored their intimacy with depth, honesty, and realism, and this, folks, is why Magnus and Alec remain incredibly important to people all around the world. The idea that characters and people of the LGBTQ+ community could be treated with the same dignity and respect as the straight community, with all aspects of “other” and “different” removed from the conversation was quite literally groundbreaking. And we’re here for it.

Thus, the fight to save Shadowhunters and get these two characters back on screens has been nothing short of jaw dropping. I’ll be writing a follow up article detailing the insane lengths the fandom has gone to in order to attract industry attention, hoping that another network will pick up the show. However, in the meantime Film Daily has covered the campaign in detail through a variety of different articles here. Yet, our 24-thousand-dollar question remains unanswered. To the powers that be of TV Land, what more does this fandom have to do to prove to you that these characters, this show, is one of the most important cultural movements in media right now? Don’t think we’re worth investing in? We’ll prove you wrong, just try us.

Disclaimer: All photos were sourced from the Shadowhunters Facebook Page.