Hello listeners. To start things off, I’ve been asked to read this brief notice:
The City Council announces the opening of a new Dog Park.... They would like to remind everyone that dogs are not allowed in the Dog Park. People are not allowed in the Dog Park. It is possible you will see Hooded Figures in the Dog Park. Do not approach them. Do not approach the Dog Park. Episode One: Pilot
These are the introductory words to a town that is so strange and befuddling, and yet is so beautiful that it has captivated the hearts and minds of people worldwide. The podcast is titled Welcome to Night Vale and is written by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor. It takes place in the mysterious small desert town of Night Vale in the form of a radio broadcast voiced by Cecil Palmer, and it is consumed by a large and quite diverse fanbase.
Things that are bizarre and horrible for us in the normal world to think about are widely accepted in Night Vale. There is a cat named Khoshekh who hovers four feet off the ground in the restroom and cannot move from his spot. There is a Faceless Old Woman who secretly lives in your home. There are hooded figures that watch you from the forbidden Dog Park. It is an odd city, and it is a caricature of what “real life” is like. It is so utterly ridiculous that it can’t be taken seriously, but it tackles themes such as oppression, manipulation, and love and sacrifice, all in an almost poetic form of media.
The underhanded exploration of such serious themes also allows for openly queer characters and themes to be explored without it being the main focus of the podcast. My favorite character, for example, is a man named Carlos. He’s a scientist. Cecil Palmer, the radio host, does not hesitate to say that Carlos is beautiful, with his perfect hair and perfect teeth. Upon laying his eyes on Carlos, Cecil “fell in love instantly.” Their exact sexuality has never been mentioned because it doesn’t matter to the story―what matters is that they fall in love as the series progresses, and listening to the romance develop between the two of them melted my heart.
It is more than that, though. Once, Cecil spent time with his niece, Janice, and he asked her if there were any boys or girls in her class she was interested in with no hesitation or assumption in his voice. There is a character named Alicia who identifies as neither male nor female, and they are very helpful and kind. Their gender is not made a big deal or the central identification of their character. There are more references such as these throughout the series, and while they are important to the character’s development, it is only as important as any other aspect of the personality.
The representation is shown, but the characters are so much more than their gender or sexuality, and it leads to richer characters and more diverse plotlines. Carlos is not known for being a queer man, but rather for being a great scientist. As Cecil Baldwin, voice of Cecil Palmer, stated in an interview, “I think that we as a culture are ready to have queer characters that are not only the main characters, but also where their queerness is not the 100% solely defining character trait of that person.” This explains the large and diverse fanbase that surrounds and supports the podcast, which is run entirely on donations and profits from merchandise.
Night Vale is a beautiful queer world, with beautiful queer characters. It is a world in which mountains do not exist, and neither do angels, as mandated by the City Council. Writing utensils are illegal, trees speak lovely things to convince hikers to stay rooted to the soil forever while turning into trees themselves, and librarians are monsters with a craving for blood. Time doesn’t work, and there is a Strange Desert Otherworld where friends and family can become trapped―but don’t fear, the WiFi there is actually really great, and cell phone batteries never run down! Enter this world that is so strange, bizarre, and terrifying that gender and sexuality do not matter because it is only a matter of time until we all die anyway.
Welcome to Night Vale. Episode 41: WALK
