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"Big Mouth" Co-Creator Apologizes for "Missing the Mark" With Bi vs. Pan Explanation

Andrew Goldberg admitted the show "missed the mark" and pledged to do better in future seasons.

Netflix's Big Mouth, which recently released its third season, has been roundly praised for its handling of difficult subject matter in humorous ways, but a scene describing pansexuality was quickly criticized for getting it wrong.

The scene sees new classmate Ali, played by Ali Wong, introducing herself by revealing she plays soccer, is a Ravenclaw, and is pansexual. When pressed for more details on that last one, she explains she is "into boys, girls, and everyone in between." When Nick, voiced by series co-creator Nick Kroll, speaks up to say he thought that was the definition of bisexuality, Ali refutes that interpretation, and doesn't stick the landing.

"No, bisexuality is so binary," she responds. "Being pansexual means my sexual preference isn't limited by gender identity."

Bisexuality does not require adherence to a strict binary, instead typically meaning an attraction to more than one gender. Pansexuality typically means attraction to all genders, or attraction to individuals regardless of gender. Not everyone shares the same definitions, and some who use the term bisexual do so because it is more familiar to them, or out of a desire not to have to explain what the less well-known term pansexual means. But one thing is certain: Ali's definition got it wrong, and a lot of people were hurt by that.

The character then offers a limited understanding of gender identity, with a food analogy involving tacos and burritos.

While some read the exchange as a knowing illustration of how people often do not have a proper understanding of pansexuality versus bisexuality, let alone a comprehensive understanding of gender—especially considering the characters are still kids—others saw it as an unfortunate blind spot from a show that had been consistently getting it right up until that point.

The backlash was swift, and show co-creator Andrew Goldberg has now apologized, giving credence to those who felt the scene was an example of the writers not understanding the concepts upon which the scene was built.

"We missed the mark," he admitted, and offered an apology on behalf of himself and his "fellow creators."

"Any time we try to define something as complex as human sexuality, it's super challenging, and this time we could have done better. Thank you to the trans, pan, and bi communities for further opening our eyes to these important and complicated issues of representation," he added.

"We are listening and we look forward to delving into all of this in future seasons."

Kroll was recently asked about the idea that "woke culture" is killing comedy, which has been espoused by more than one comedian in recent years, in an interview with io9 at New York Comic Con.

"I think we approach all of our characters—as flawed as they might be or what they do—where we try to treat them all with a lot of love and respect,” he said of Big Mouth. “I think you can still make big crazy hard jokes of all sorts. And I think you have to be maybe more thoughtful in how you make them and who the targets of those jokes are."

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