Television

Dorian Gray: Here’s why queer fans are upset with Netflix’s upcoming TV adaptation

By Jordan Robledo

25th August 2024

Netflix has greenlit a new Dorian Gray adaptation, and fans are not very happy about it.

On 20 August, Deadline announced that a TV series based on Oscar Wilde’s beloved novel – The Picture of Dorian Gray – was officially in development.

Katie Rose Rogers and Robbie Rogers – who worked on the critically acclaimed drama Fellow Travelers – lead the project as writer and executive producer, respectively, alongside showrunner Lee Toland Krieger.

The series – which is tentatively titled The Grays – is set to be a new take on the beloved book and is set within the modern-day beauty industry.

The series will also reportedly portray Dorian and Basil as siblings – which is a step away from the source material.

In the original book, Basil is an artist and friend of Dorian who is infatuated with the latter’s staggering beauty. While the two don’t become romantically involved, their relationship is full of queer undertones.

Since the news was announced, fans have flocked to social media to share their reactions to the new series – with many expressing their disappointment over Basil and Dorian’s new dynamic.

One fan on X, formerly known as Twitter, wrote: “I GOT SO EXCITED ABOUT A DORIAN GRAY ADAPTATION AND NOW I’M ANGRY. WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEYRE GONNA MAKE BASIL AND DORIAN BROTHERS???????? THE DISRESPECT. HOMOPHOBIC, ACTUALLY.”

Another user echoed similar sentiments, tweeting: “The Picture of Dorian Gray IS explicitly queer, it was SO explicitly queer that it was used as key evidence in Oscar Wilde’s conviction. To deny or downplay its queerness is the absolute height of erasure.”

A third fan added: “When you have a story like dorian gray written by a man who was criminally convicted for being gay, do u not see how fucking wrong it is to make the two main characters, who were clearly written as a hidden romantic interest, brothers.. you actually cannot get MORE disrespectful.”

The upcoming series joins a long list of Dorian Gray adaptations that have graced the stage, film, and TV sphere.

In 2009, Shadow and Bone star Ben Barnes starred as the titular character in the 2009 film Dorian Gray alongside Colin Firth.

The character was also featured in the 2003 movie League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Showtime’s Penny Dreadful series and Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.

As of this writing, neither a production start date nor a release date for The Grays has yet to be announced.