Web Series Wednesday – Middlemarch: The Series

By: Krista Ann Freego

WHAT?         Middlemarch: The Series

BY: Something Cool Productions

WHO?

This series is created/directed/written by Rebecca Shoptaw, a film and media studies major at Yale who wanted to see more LGBTQ+ representation on the screen.

WHY SHOULD I WATCH?

Ever wonder what George Eliot’s novel Middlemarch would look like if the protagonists were gay or played by members of the opposite gender? Then you are in luck because that is exactly what Rebecca Shoptaw has done.  The main reason I watched this web series is because of the backstory. You have a strong female who noticed a lack of representation on the screen and she did something about it. Rebecca Shoptaw became the change that she and I want to see in the world. What kept me watching was the genuine chemistry between the cast and the love quadrilateral. Usually, I am a sucker for a love triangle. This web series has a love quadrilateral. Who doesn’t love the combination of drama and geometry? The main character is Dot (Mia Fowler) who clearly has feelings for her roommate Celia (Sofia Campoamor). Celia may or may not have feelings for Dot. You also have Jamie (Lola Hourihane), a nonbinary character who Dot thinks has a crush on Celia, but who actually has a crush on Dot. Then there is Edward (Zak Rosen), who much to both my and Celia’s dismay, Dot has a crush on.

Why do I think Dot has a crush on Celia? In the first few episodes Dot makes the following confessions to the camera: “Like last year there were so many people that I thought maybe liked me – and especially girls, who I cannot read – and then it ended up just not being that.” Another hint is when she is talking about how being with Edward would take her above the normal college experience of “falling in unrequited love with your best friend.”

So, will Dot end up with the insufferable Edward who only allows her to speak when she is complimenting him? Will she realize a connection with Jamie? Or, will she find out that her feelings for Celia are requited? To find out you will have to watch Middlemarch: The Series.

WHERE CAN I WATCH?  Middlemarch: The Series can currently be found on YouTube!

Twitter: @MiddlemarchShow

Facebook: www.facebook.com/middlemarchseries

Tumblr: http://middlemarchseries.tumblr.com/