More Anti-BDSM Stuff on Bones

I’ve been continuing to watch the series Bones, and have come across more annoying anti-BDSM sentiment. The eighteenth episode of the first season, “The Man with the Bone”, is an entertaining take on an old Canadian folk legend about pirate treasure. Unfortunately, the episode also features a creepy and perverted coroner, Harry Tepper, who, it progressively becomes obvious, is a masochist and bisexual. This is problematic because it is implied that his sexual preferences are a part of what makes him perverted.

The character is first introduced as a rather incompetent FBI coroner, who Booth implies is a pervert. As Booth and Brennan approach the morgue, Brennan rants about how everyone thinks people who work with the dead are freaks who get titillated from corpses, and Booth implies “titillated” is an apt description of this coroner. Harry is withdrawn and socially awkward, and he seems pleased to meet Brennan, noting that he found her heroine “aggressive”. Brennan soon shows that despite Harry’s eighteen years of experience, he made a rookie mistake that almost destroyed evidence. After Brennan chews him out about that and runs off to care to the evidence, Harry grinningly tells Booth he finds her “intense”.

In another scene, Brennan escorts Harry into the Jeffersonian, gripping him tightly on the arm to make sure he doesn’t ruin any more evidence. Harry complains about the grip and then smiles and says it’s okay. Brennan is all business and she has Hodgins perform an analysis and then tells Harry to do an X-ray, prompting him to smilingly remark on her bossiness. Booth tells him “do not go there”, holding up a finger of warning. The conversation turns to diving, and Brennan describes how she dives as a hobby. “You wear a rubber suit then,” Harry says, looking elated. Booth again holds up a finger of warning.

Brennan and Harry have a continued conflict about how a victim was killed, which culminates in a confrontation about Harry being a pervert. Brennan argues about the cause of death, and then Harry seems excited about them having a fight. Brennan moves toward him aggressively, but Booth steps in front of her to take charge, and he confronts Harry about his little comments and indicates that if Harry continues to antagonize Brennan then Booth will smack him around. Harry then implies that he (Harry) is bisexual and will get off on that, which makes Booth dart back to let Brennan take care of the situation. Brennan gets back to showing Harry that he’s wrong about the cause of death, using Harry’s head as a model for how the killer acted, and Harry seems to like the manhandling.

Harry: “It’s not always about being right or wrong. It’s about the dialogue. An intense conversation can be the most wonderful kind of intercourse.”
Booth: “You know what? This guy is a pervert.”

Yes, Harry is a pervert. He is a masochist and bisexual, and these traits are used to make him a pervert. That’s not really what makes for perversion, though. Harry doesn’t care about Brennan – or Booth, for that matter – and he uses her to satisfy his sexual desires. He explicitly makes comments to antagonize and further draw her into his sexual fantasies. That is what makes him a pervert. Booth should nail him for sexual harassment. Masochism and bisexuality are just sexual preferences/orientation and, despite their minority status, are not elements of perversion in and of themselves. It is Harry’s behavior, his lack of respect that makes him a creepy guy. Conflating that with bisexuality and masochism is just disrespectful to the bisexual masochists in the audience. A person can easily be bisexual and/or a masochist without being a creepy pervert like Harry Tepper!