What is going on with television, lately?

[rogueslayer452]

Can television just stop killing off and mistreating women and minority characters? Seriously, enough is enough already.

This has always been an issue in media, as it sadly happens all the time, however within the last several weeks there have been an unfortunate amount of deaths of minorities on various programs. Even more so are some reported details that the actors involved were mistreated behind the scenes that prompted them wanting/needing to leave the show. From supporting to even main characters on their own damn show, they are being killed off in pointless, senseless fashions, or hell just written off with no reasonable explanation or even respect to the actors at all, that is severely disappointing and depressing. I'm not even in some of these fandoms, but I'm still bitter on their behalf nonetheless.

When you have a character of a marginalized group (women, LGBTQ+, racial minorities) who don't have much positive mainstream media representation to begin with, there is certain responsibility to uphold. We're not asking for special treatment, just treat these characters as human beings and not expendable objects by repeatedly perpetrating reprehensible tropes and stereotypes. Remember, representation does matter. When you have a minority character present in the story that is a conscious decision made and when said character is mistreated, that is a clear message you're sending to that particular audience. So don't act oblivious or surprised (or worse, holier-than-thou) when there is an uproar or backlash from the fanbase.

Also, while character deaths are never easy and are meant to be devastating, it should only be done when it is respectful to the character and their overall arc and presence in the story. The constant overuse and abuse of this "anyone can die" trope is not ~shocking or ~unexpected, but predictable, lazy writing that shows how little thought goes into it.

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/_profiterole_/]

This! All of this! I've dropped shows in the past because of it and I've dropped shows very recently because of it, though I can't drop them all because almost ALL the writers had the super original idea of killing their minority characters these last 6 weeks. TV is supposed to be entertaining, but right now it's mostly a source of distress.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

TV is supposed to be entertaining, but right now it's mostly a source of distress.

It's really sad when you think a particular show would know better, but then they disappointingly fall into that same category. I don't know what it is lately, but it's like all the networks had a board meeting a while ago and decided that shows must kill off more women and minorities for the sake of ~drama. :/

[ragnarok-08.livejournal.com]

Yes to all of this!!!

This is seriously becoming a disturbing trend on TV and it's really distressing to see.

[rheasilvia.livejournal.com]

This has been an issue for so long now, and still TPTB seem to have no awareness of the problem at all. When there is only a single notable character representing a minority on a show, or a single "speaking" female character with agency, killing them off cannot be handwaved away with a breezy "but everyone can die! lots of people die on this show!"

When non-minority characters die, that is not an end to all worthwhile representation of male, heterosexual, cis, Causasian, able-bodied (and so forth) characters on that show. So itr's disingenious at best to use that argument, because the situations are simply nothing alike.

That said, this most recent wave of killing off and mistreating female and minority characters has passed me by so far... which shows are the latest offenders?

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

So itr's disingenious at best to use that argument, because the situations are simply nothing alike.

Exactly, it's only said whenever they kill off someone who isn't a straight white male, as if it's their defense and justification for their actions. We aren't dumb, we know exactly what you're doing.

That said, this most recent wave of killing off and mistreating female and minority characters has passed me by so far... which shows are the latest offenders?

I commented below with a list here (http://rogueslayer452.livejournal.com/705392.html?thread=8500336#t8500336), which are only the ones I currently know of. I also forgot to add that Kat Graham, who plays Bonnie on TVD, has said she will be leaving the show after seasons of also being sidelined and mistreated.

[potentiality-26.livejournal.com]

I totally agree with all of this. I'd stopped watching pretty much all the shows in question, but I'm still pissed off right now. No one is expecting minority characters to be bullet proof all the time, but there's a difference between killing off a character because it's the logical next step in the story and it's meant to have a major impact, and killing off a character because they're the one you feel is expendable- and I get the sense that most of these shows are doing the latter.

Also, I don't understand why killing a character off for shock value is a thing. Sometimes the actor has to leave or it makes sense for the plot and that's fine, but whenever the writers go around saying "We wanted viewers to know that no one is safe" I get so confused. Like who was thinking to themselves, "Gosh, I really wish I was watching this show with no expectation that the characters I love would survive."

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

It's most definitely the latter.

The whole "anyone can die, nobody is safe" thing irritates the fuck out of me, because it's such a stupid tagline and it's only used as an excuse to kill off a character whenever they feel like it, not when it makes sense to the narrative of the story or even pays respects to the character. It's like, "well, your time is up because we decide to, bye!" and that's just so...lazy and disrespectful. Most shows now are going for the Game of Thrones logic, which even that doesn't make sense since GOT is killing off characters that are still alive in the goddamn books, just because they want it to be more entertaining or some bullshit like that.

[dhampyresa.livejournal.com]

The constant overuse and abuse of this "anyone can die" trope is not ~shocking or ~unexpected, but predictable, lazy writing that shows how little thought goes into it.

THANK YOU.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

It's so baffling to me that there is a constant lack of understanding that overusing this particular trope, killing off a character just for the sake of shock value, isn't really shocking anyone. If anything, it only enrages people because it's so overdone to the point where it has desensitized the audience and that is not a good thing. Character deaths are to be treated with respect, not tossing someone aside simply because you have no idea what to do with said character.

[afastmachine.livejournal.com]

A-fucking-men. What shows have you noticed lately? I'm only seeing Arrow and AOS so I'm curious what else is doing it?

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

The 100 has had a number of racism issues, having recently killed off a black male regular execution-style in the dirt, but they also killed a lesbian character with a stray bullet minutes after finally having sex with our main bisexual leading lady, fueling the Bury Your Gays/Dead Lesbian Trope. This caused much outrage from the fandom because the showrunner and other people BTS were basically baiting the fans of the pairing and the protection of this quickly rising fan favorite character for months, and people were livid beyond belief when they pulled the shit they did, and some other shady shit too.

The Walking Dead killed a lesbian character with a random arrow through the eye. Empire and The Vampire Diaries both killed off lesbian couples. Pretty Little Liars introduced their first transgender character, only to kill her off immediately in the next episode.

Sleepy Hollow just killed off their main character and co-lead of the show, Abbie Mills, a black woman, in the third season finale. The actress herself wanted out due to the mistreatment of her character and herself having been sidelined for nearly two seasons, but that still didn't give them the right to basically kill off her character. It's sad really since the first season of the show was beautifully diverse and possibly the only good season the show will ever have, but by S2 and onward it was essentially erasing all diversity altogether in favor of pointlessly adding in more white characters.

And just a few days ago, Arden Cho has announced that she has been written out of Teen Wolf, which she had only just found out. Never mind that she was a regular, but she was also slowly being pushed to the sidelines, according to those that have watched the show.

These are just at the top of my head, and I'm pretty sure there are more. But these are the only ones that I'm aware of at this moment in time.

[carlyinrome.livejournal.com]

Dammmmmmmmmn that's many instances. Boo. :(

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

Yeah, and this was in a span of the last several weeks, and clearly these are the only known ones that I'm aware of. There are probably more from lesser known shows. :/

The thing is, this happens constantly, but when it occurs so close together it gains a lot of negative attention and I'm actually kind of glad that there is at least discussion about it. And hopefully this helps others be more aware and understand that this is a problem in media, and so it causes the conversation on what to do about it in the future.

[sarren.livejournal.com]

Damn, I didn't know about Arden Cho.

i recently started the latest season of Murdoch Mysteries and they killed off a lesbian character as well. FFS!

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

It's so sad when you learn just how she had been sidelined and starting to be phased out. Like, about a month ago she expressed disappointment after discovering that all her scenes were cut out entirely of an episode. Just the whole thing about the actress not knowing until after the fact makes it even worse, imo.

And oh man, that really sucks. I'm so sorry. :/

[rheasilvia.livejournal.com]

Oh good god. I honestly can't believe the blindness of showrunners to how problematic this kind of plot decision is, even today, when such tendencies have been pointed out again and again. Is it actually possible nobody notices? Or do they just not care?

I especially cannot believe Sleepy Hollows. That's the dumbest thing I have ever heard - what are they thinking? I stopped watching early on in S2 because I lost interest in the plot, but when I did watch, I watched it for the joint leads: Abbie and Ichabod. Abbie was such a great character; why on earth would they sideline her? Without Abbie, this show is dead in the water.

I can only hope the actress finds a show that better appreciates her amazing talent, like Taraji P. Henson did when she moved to Empire after her character was enragingly killed off in Person of Interest.

Arrow also recently killed off a prominent female character, I have heard; ironically, I stopped watching Arrow after Season 1 because my favorite character was stupidly killed off - and it was a straight white male. It was a bad plot decision too, but certainly not because his departure from the show resulted in a lack of straight white men. Still a huge difference.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

Is it actually possible nobody notices? Or do they just not care?

Pretty sure most of it is the latter. While I'm sure there are some who honestly are genuinely oblivious to these particular tropes and how problematic they actually are, it still doesn't give them a pass or keep them out of the conversation because of it.

I watched it for the joint leads: Abbie and Ichabod. Abbie was such a great character; why on earth would they sideline her? Without Abbie, this show is dead in the water.

Exactly. It's just so ridiculously stupid and insulting on their part. I mean, the reason the show gained popularity and an audience in the first season was for how diverse it was, especially with having a black woman as the leading role of a paranormal show, something that is so rare with genre television. And then after that success, they took it all away. It's as though they intentionally wanted to piss people off, like they kept baiting people after the failure of S2 with "oh it's gonna be better" or "it's going back to its S1 roots" when in reality it did the exact opposite, particular with a lack of regard for the special bond and relationship between Ichabod and Abbie.

I didn't watch the show at this point because S2 was a disappointment and I wasn't holding my breath for the third season, but I never ever, not in a million years, thought that they would kill Abbie off. Not even if the actress wanted to leave, there is no justification to kill off the main character, never mind having her death be so OOC and so not what the show was initially about. Ugh.

They turned a show that had amazing potential into absolute garbage. I never saw something fall further from grace since Heroes, personally speaking.

Nicole deserves better than this. I'm just sad that we'll never see Ichabod and Abbie getting together. I was hoping that, even with the show turning to shit, at least in the final moments of its existence they would at least share a long awaited kiss. But nope. :( Maybe Nicole and Tom can be in something else together where they will make out a lot? /wishful thinking

Arrow also recently killed off a prominent female character, I have heard

Yeah, Arrow has a huge issue with killing off women over the course of its run. Also their inconsistent writing of them as well. Laurel Lance was killed off recently for reasons I don't fully understand, but even before they weren't great with writing her either. And a beloved character, Felicity, who was adored from the fandom early on has basically been character assassinated. And Arrow did kill Sara Lance (who is bisexual) in the beginning of S3, enraging the entire fanbase, and they only resurrected her in the fourth season so she can be on Legends of Tomorrow. Just, ugh.

[afastmachine.livejournal.com]

FUUUU the 100 is such a shitbag of a show with how they treat minorities(women, POC, LGBTQ), I'm not even surprised. I quit watching because of that crap, and I've seen some nasty stuff that has been said to the actors and stuff and it makes me amazed that this is still happening, especially on a show that claims they're doing such a good job of representation.

All that other stuff is such crap, I'm SO glad I dropped Sleepy Hollow and TW before they got to this point :(

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

That's something that just really astounds me, because the showrunner and producers, at least from the moment that it was made official that Clarke was bisexual, kept patting themselves on the back for being progressive. Like, they were riding so hard on the self-congratulatory train for being inclusive that it's kind of laughable when you think how so far up their egos they are now after everything that has happened. I mean, recently the showrunner tried to do damage control from the backlash by saying, "but in this world sexuality doesn't matter! it doesn't exist!" as it that was an excuse to kill off their only lesbian character, and thereby missing the entire point of why people are so angry.

[silverusagi]

It's sad really since the first season of the show was beautifully diverse and possibly the only good season the show will ever have

Man, I remember in the first season of Sleepy Hollow, when things were going strong with all sorts of diversity, some writer, or producer said something to the effect of 'well, we've got a pretty diverse cast, so we can kill as many white people as we want!' It really showed that the writers were aware of problematic tropes, and were making fun of them. It started out amazing on SO MANY LEVELS, which just makes everything doubly sad.

ETA: found it

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

I remember that! And people were so happy about it too, with finally having a show where POC were present and a constant in a paranormal series without threat of being killed off. Especially with Abbie as a lead. And now look what happened.

They basically took a show filled with so much amazing potential and turned it into garbage over the course of two seasons. I have never seen a show self-destruct so fast.

At least we'll have S1, right?

[silverusagi]

At least we'll have S1, right?

Rest of canon does not exist, etc.

[allodole.livejournal.com]

wow i had no idea about sleepy hollow. i'm beyond disgusted.

also i jumped ship with the 100. I loved the first two seasons but third season seemed to have no idea what it wanted to do anymore- and then they offed both Lexa and Lincoln. Lexa I never particularly cared about as a character but holyshit why and Lincoln is just too much- esp when the actor was practically bullied off the show.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

It's truly sad because the first season was so great, it had so much potential to be something better than what it turned out to be. :/ At least the actress has been cast in something else now, where hopefully she'll be treated much better, which is what she deserves after this bullshit.

It appears that the more I hear about the show it has something to do with the BTS drama more than the actual show itself. From Ricky Whittle talking about how the showrunner bullied him, to the queerbaiting the showrunner/producers did for the Clarke/Lexa side of fandom. I haven't even seen the show yet but now I'm rethinking that decision of doing so, at least until the show is cancelled.

[wretched.livejournal.com]

If the writers can't see what they're doing, not only to their characters and to their shows, but the way that they're alienating their fanbase, someone should seriously take all of their shows away. This is getting ridiculous.

Arden Cho lost her scenes to newer characters and didn't even know about it until fans asked her why she wasn't in episodes....and then Teen Wolf just tosses her aside. Kira was one of my faves, and I'm sad to see her go. The same with Lincoln, Lexa, and Laurel :(

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

I heard about what happened with that episode, and it made me so upset for her. And apparently where they left off they had an interesting storyline setup for her character, but now it's just going to be abandoned. Because idk, they seem to think that her story is "finished" or something, when clearly it didn't seem like it and she didn't feel like Kira's journey ended at all. I feel bad for her, since it was obvious she loved the character and wanted more to do with her, but the show just kept sidelining her it seems. :/ It reminded me a lot about what happened with Crystal Reed since she wanted a break from the show, but apparently in their minds that meant they needed to kill off Allison and she was so visibly upset about that. :(

It makes me so angry when TPTB just don't understand the fanbase and continue to disrespect not just the audience but also the characters and the actors. And the sad thing is the actors have little to no say in what is happening and just have to do the best what they can with the material they're given.

[mulder200.livejournal.com]

Can television just stop killing off and mistreating women and minority characters?

THIS! It's not innovative or creative, it just shows that you are lazy and lock skills.

When you start killing off WHITE MALE characters, then we can talk.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

And that's the thing, isn't it? Very rarely do the straight white male characters end up the same deal. It's almost always women and minority characters who suffer. And TPTB have the audacity to use the tired excuses of "it ups the stakes" or "anyone can die" or "it's unpredictable and unexpected" as if that justifies their decision.

[awakenyourfaith.livejournal.com]

Yes to all of this.

[nemophilist.livejournal.com]

There are like three TV shows which haven't let me down this year. I've dropped The 100. I'm excited about American Gods, though!

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

It's really disappointing when shows you used to like continually pull this kind of shit. :/

I'm happy that Ricky Whittle managed to get the role on American Gods, though, and I'm hoping he is treated better than on the The 100.

[saturnsdaughter.livejournal.com]

Amen to all of this. Going over the shows I'm currently watching, the ones that haven't killed off a minority character lately is a much shorter list than the ones that have. Sleepy Hollow is the one that pissed me off the most and I hope it gets canceled, I'm beyond done. Arrow's death was respectful, but they'd been sidelining the character for a while. The Blacklist just did it last night and it completely changes the basic premise of the show. I'm not sure how much more I can take.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

I know that it's nothing new, and it's sad to even say that as a painful fact, but just seeing all of these events all together as unfortunate timing is beyond ridiculous. Though it has opened the door for discussion for others to be aware, and thankfully with social media people can, and should, bring attention to this particular issue. Not that the higher ups will listen (considering how Hollywood continues whitewashing things time and time again even after much outrage and public protest), but if there is no audience after what some of these shows have done, they really need to rethink what they're doing.

What Sleepy Hollow did was so unbelievable, like to a level I didn't even expect it would. It was already going down the crapshoot as it was, but what they did in that finale was basically self-sabotage. And they have the audacity to think the show will continue to live on after that, as if there still is an audience after the bullshit they pulled. No way. I also hope it gets cancelled, put it out of its misery so the actors can be free from this atrocity.

[vapor.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this post! I have been so enraged lately.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

Seriously. It's just so outrageous to me that this keeps happening. It's 2016, dammit. Television is supposed to be a better medium for women and other minorities to be featured in better stories and given more opportunities, and yet somehow every time we move several feet ahead we always end up taking a few steps backwards and I'm sick of it.

[elizalavelle.livejournal.com]

I think the problem is that so much of the media is controlled by straight white men and they see everyone who does not fall into that box as other and expendable. I think we have enough television out there now that if you're using death as a shock value thing it's starting to just not work. Fans have lots of other elsewheres to go. Lazy writing irks me a lot and if I get bored I have a huge to watch list and I'll just move on.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

I think the problem is that so much of the media is controlled by straight white men and they see everyone who does not fall into that box as other and expendable.

Oh definitely, and a lot of them just don't get it or refuse to listen even if it is constantly called out and addressed again and again. It just continues through this vicious, infuriating cycle. The industry needs more women and POC as directors, creators, producers and writers, and less of the straight white men running things.

I think we have enough television out there now that if you're using death as a shock value thing it's starting to just not work.

Yeah, and people aren't stupid. Using the threat of "anyone can die" to proclaim that your show is ~edgy and ~gritty isn't going to fly. When you overuse character deaths as a way of shock value it loses all emotional impact, not to mention it makes the audience lose interest rather quickly.

[sictransits.livejournal.com]

Totally agree with you! It's sad that this is a trend with so many shows lately. =/

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

Yeah, and while it's sadly not uncommon in media it's been far too frequent this year alone, and the list just keeps piling up. It's a problem that seriously needs to be further addressed and dealt with.

[celeste9]

Thank you for this post, it said what I have been feeling much better and more coherently than I could have! I just feel so let down by TV lately. Think about what you are putting out there, shows. Context is a thing that matters.

And character death as a stunt is NEVER GOOD. NEVER. (Yes, Arrow, that was a stunt. You didn't even know who was going to be in the grave and you did it anyway. FFS.)

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

It's just really disappointing how many shows have done this lately, and some of the more controversial BTS incidents have just left me in utter disbelief. It's so depressing.

I'm at least hoping that with all this attention more writers and showrunners and network higher ups will take the hint to reconsider how they approach things. I'm not holding my breath, but regardless it's still great seeing the public (or at least from online and social media outlets) outrage nonetheless. It has really shed light onto this particular issue that others might not have been entirely aware of just how frequent this occurs in media which hopefully can spread word on how to fix this huge problem.

[fly-meaway.livejournal.com]

Yes to this. I honestly don't even know what to add to this post, because you say it so well and I just agree. Especially the last part. I'm so angry over that this keeps happening and just so many of these instances in just a few weeks time... Unbelievable :(

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

Just having it all clumped together within these last several weeks, one unfortunate character death after another, it truly shows the painful reality that, even though we've moved forward somewhat, this shit is still happening and we need to correct it. For writers and producers to be more aware, for networks to stop interfering, for the story to be organic and not a ratings stunt, etc.

[interchanges.livejournal.com]

I really am so tired of shows killing off female and minority characters for seemingly no reason while the straight white dudes get to live. Yeah lots of TV characters are in dangerous situations and death is random, so it makes sense to have characters die, but do it respectfully, for goodness sake.

And yeah, hearing about mistreatment behind the scenes has also made me really sad. Nicole Beharie and Arden Cho (and others) deserved so much better.

At this point, I definitely think I need to make choosier selections of what TV shows I invest in.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

At this point, I definitely think I need to make choosier selections of what TV shows I invest in.

And even that is tricky in and of itself because a particular ongoing show, even if it has a lot of inclusion, can still go down that painful road. It's why so many people remain cautious and apprehensive when something has the inclusion of minorities, because while it's all nice and lovely we've been burned far too many times to fully accept it at face value. We need constant proof that writers and producers will treat these characters with the proper respect they deserve, not just when they first appear but throughout the entire run of the show.

[allodole.livejournal.com]

At this point I'm only watching light-hearted shows because I just don't feel like investing so much of my time and love on something that just destroys that trust in the end. I've dropped so many shows.

Can shows just not do this anymore??+!?1+

ps. same with books. there was this trilogy where the mentally ill dude mc had a boyfriend. said boyfriend dies in some gruesome way in the last book. said main character also kills himself. suffice to say, people are enraged.

i'm just so sick of lgbt+-people being casualties. so sick of it.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

I feel like this is why I don't mind being spoiled for television these days, because a forewarning of what I'm getting into is much appreciated and saves me a lot of trouble. I have been burned far too much in the past after being deeply invested in a particular show/fandom.

i'm just so sick of lgbt+-people being casualties. so sick of it.

Agreed. LGBTQ+, women and other minorities deserve better than being used as casualties or as mere afterthoughts of the story.

[teagues-veil.livejournal.com]

PREACH!