Another dead wlw
The Catch just killed off a bisexual WOC after she slept with a woman. She was killed by her male love interest (he shot her, not a surprise).
The writer and co-executive producer of The Catch, Sherry White, signed the Lexa pledge less than a week ago. What does that tell you? @lgbtfans wanna help us out?
Go ask her what that is about on twitter @streelymaid. Why is the “bury your gays” trope still here and why do wlw keep dying this year? How did she have the audacity to sign the Lexa pledge?
I absolutely do think the show should be called out but I’m not sure why we’d focus on this person? She didn’t write the episode and she’s not the showrunner (who is allanheinberg on Twitter, and the writers account is thecatchwriters). Is it because she signed the pledge? But we all know that the show was written and shot before all this started, and certainly before last week so I don’t understand why that makes her the biggest target? Best case scenario, she saw the aftermath of…this spring and meant exactly what she implied, that she was going to do better. If she had waited to sign, would we have taken it as any less of a PR move?
And worse case scenario is that she saw it as a PR move to…what? Shift focus away from the show? Like I said, I don’t think we should go easy on it at all. But otherwise, if it’s a PR move for herself, how would that work? In all the deaths recently, Empire, The Vampire Diaries, The Walking Dead, The Magicians, etc, there has been no focus on the executive co-producers. If this was a PR move, it was to draw attention to herself, much of which would be negative once the ep aired. And…she’s done what we’ve been asking all these people to do, to pledge to do better? Send her tweets about the pledge if you want, but I don’t think the rest of the people involved should be ignored.
I am plenty angry about this, and discouraged and sad. You can see in my brief history of posting about the show how I slowly became more interested and invested precisely because of Felicity/Shivani Ghai, her involvement even making me like Margot. And the way it played out was awful, because the whole episode Felicity was being passed around as a pawn, not entirely willing but having to play the game, and you felt for her position. The whole point of her arc should have been her regaining her agency. At the end, she looked so vulnerable and frightened after being caught out (is Shivani at least a lead in something after having to leave? She was excellent throughout) and…so people thought the best decision was for a campy show like this–in which the last ep included the male white lead, also a con man and horrible person, fought a bunch of master thieves and killers and survived being shot–was for her to be shot in some cruel deadpan moment for comedy?
I was furious after it happened. And so tired and achey inside. I wanted to rail at Sherry White, why did you sign it if you knew this was going to happen? But…why not sign it? If she believed in the pledge, why not sign it? Because it would look better for her if she waited?? The change from everything that people are doing, including this pledge, is not going to come immediately. It never has, there are other movements that decades and centuries later are still being fought very hard. But until content creators actually try to do better, we won’t get better. There are no good reasons for these deaths, there is no reward in higher ratings, no critical praise, and yet it’s the easy go-to. Writers keep explaining away why the trope didn’t apply in their case or why they thought they were above it. For things to change, they have to not want to do it it the first place. That’s what we have to encourage, diversity in the people making media and for them to understand and want to do better by us.
I’ll probably put the show on the backburner after this (although, Samira Wiley was the client of the week in last night’s ep, so y’know) but…I don’t want to make one person the only scapegoat.
Another dead wlw
The Catch just killed off a bisexual WOC after she slept with a woman. She was killed by her male love interest (he shot her, not a surprise).
The writer and co-executive producer of The Catch, Sherry White, signed the Lexa pledge less than a week ago. What does that tell you? @lgbtfans wanna help us out?
Go ask her what that is about on twitter @streelymaid. Why is the “bury your gays” trope still here and why do wlw keep dying this year? How did she have the audacity to sign the Lexa pledge?
I absolutely do think the show should be called out but I’m not sure why we’d focus on this person? She didn’t write the episode and she’s not the showrunner (who is allanheinberg on Twitter, and the writers account is thecatchwriters). Is it because she signed the pledge? But we all know that the show was written and shot before all this started, and certainly before last week so I don’t understand why that makes her the biggest target? Best case scenario, she saw the aftermath of…this spring and meant exactly what she implied, that she was going to do better. If she had waited to sign, would we have taken it as any less of a PR move?
And worse case scenario is that she saw it as a PR move to…what? Shift focus away from the show? Like I said, I don’t think we should go easy on it at all. But otherwise, if it’s a PR move for herself, how would that work? In all the deaths recently, Empire, The Vampire Diaries, The Walking Dead, The Magicians, etc, there has been no focus on the executive co-producers. If this was a PR move, it was to draw attention to herself, much of which would be negative once the ep aired. And…she’s done what we’ve been asking all these people to do, to pledge to do better? Send her tweets about the pledge if you want, but I don’t think the rest of the people involved should be ignored.
I am plenty angry about this, and discouraged and sad. You can see in my brief history of posting about the show how I slowly became more interested and invested precisely because of Felicity/Shivani Ghai, her involvement even making me like Margot. And the way it played out was awful, because the whole episode Felicity was being passed around as a pawn, not entirely willing but having to play the game, and you felt for her position. The whole point of her arc should have been her regaining her agency. At the end, she looked so vulnerable and frightened after being caught out (is Shivani at least a lead in something after having to leave? She was excellent throughout) and…so people thought the best decision was for a campy show like this–in which the last ep included the male white lead, also a con man and horrible person, fought a bunch of master thieves and killers and survived being shot–was for her to be shot in some cruel deadpan moment for comedy?
I was furious after it happened. And so tired and achey inside. I wanted to rail at Sherry White, why did you sign it if you knew this was going to happen? But…why not sign it? If she believed in the pledge, why not sign it? Because it would look better for her if she waited?? The change from everything that people are doing, including this pledge, is not going to come immediately. It never has, there are other movements that decades and centuries later are still being fought very hard. But until content creators actually try to do better, we won’t get better. There are no good reasons for these deaths, there is no reward in higher ratings, no critical praise, and yet it’s the easy go-to. Writers keep explaining away why the trope didn’t apply in their case or why they thought they were above it. For things to change, they have to not want to do it it the first place. That’s what we have to encourage, diversity in the people making media and for them to understand and want to do better by us.
I’ll probably put the show on the backburner after this (although, Samira Wiley was the client of the week in last night’s ep, so y’know) but…I don’t want to make one person the only scapegoat.
How many is that? 13? Looking at autostraddle’s list, Felicity makes the 14th dead queer woman on TV this year? Technically, the 15th, Ooku’s special in January killed one too.
Well done. I don’t know why I even get a little bit invested or excited. I literally said right there, she’s a guest star. Why do I always hope and expect for them to disappear and then be brought back as a regular when they could so easily shoot them? Because they always do the latter. I guess…every single time, I think, they couldn’t POSSIBLY do it this time, that would be too silly and cruel.
How many is that? 13? Looking at autostraddle’s list, Felicity makes the 14th dead queer woman on TV this year? Technically, the 15th, Ooku’s special in January killed one too.
Well done. I don’t know why I even get a little bit invested or excited. I literally said right there, she’s a guest star. Why do I always hope and expect for them to disappear and then be brought back as a regular when they could so easily shoot them? Because they always do the latter. I guess…every single time, I think, they couldn’t POSSIBLY do it this time, that would be too silly and cruel.
So I guess all the shows I was excited for with f/f arcs have men right
in the middle of them. I don’t need no men to be involved ever, that’s
neither fair nor realistic. But. Surely it’s not entirely fair to center
these stories on men to this extent either? (And I exclude You Me Her
which is a different type of show from this list.)
Of ongoing shows with men involved:
– The Family – Lol at my tags for last week’s gifset :/
– Home Fires – Today’s ep was really tough to watch. Teresa trying to convince herself she can be with a man and then making out with him even after visibly recoiling. Not having a great time with dealing with the closet myself right now, so it hit really close to home.
– The Catch – Well, lol, didn’t expect too much from this, although I was hoping it’d be longer and more interesting than what we’ve gotten so far, but who knows, always a chance. Except Shivani Ghai (Felicity) is a guest star…
– General Hospital – This is more about upcoming spoilers that aren’t yet confirmed, but it seems like Kristina will be working out her sexual confusion by going out with a guy. This isn’t exactly rare in real life, but it’s even less rare in fiction, and is used so, so often (just look at this list). Given that there are sections of the viewing audience that are so homophobic and so ready to pair Kristina with a dude, not loving the idea of giving them an option. There are also girls out there who know they’re gay and that’s it. But they don’t get the coming out story, they’re the love interest or the corrupter or the predator.
– Faking It – I mean, has Faking It ever not had boys in the middle of everything?
– Vis a Vis – Ongoing love triangle of sorts. The man is an utter douche but it seems like the show likes him. The f/f pair were more popular than expected, so there might be more hope for them, but it’s a women in prison show, and a dark one at that.
– Wynonna Earp – Not much to say about this one, the male leg of the triangle is a total loser, and it was clear going in what it we were going to get but it’s still a m-f-f triangle and it’s still in this part of the list. Given the stats, it’s not a very original way to go about things.
– Saints & Sinners – Lady Ella’s cheating on her husband and he’s a big figure in the show even after his death.
The f/f arcs that don’t have men involved:
– Orphan Black – Delphine’s dead, Shay seems to be out of the picture
– The lOO – Lexa’s dead
– Janet King – Ash’s dead. There are some potential romance options unfolding, but her wife/mother of her children is dead. That part of it is sad af to watch.
– Jane the Virgin – Rose is dead and aside from that, Luisa’s barely in the show nowadays?
– Seis Hermanes – Both dealt with men over long arcs but at least not currently?
– Grandfathered – I like this show and I like everyone in it and I like Annelise and I like Regina Hall. But of the five main/regular characters, four are in endgame-type will they-won’t they het pairs, and Annelise remains the odd woman out. She’s had one ep really about her and dating and that ended with her going to the other woman’s house and yelling at her and her new lover. It really needs to do better with her, she’s a fabulous character and it’s just bad storytelling to waste her like that, aside from being monumentally unfair.
– Rosewood – Is like the one show that does not have any of these issues.
So I guess all the shows I was excited for with f/f arcs have men right
in the middle of them. I don’t need no men to be involved ever, that’s
neither fair nor realistic. But. Surely it’s not entirely fair to center
these stories on men to this extent either? (And I exclude You Me Her
which is a different type of show from this list.)
Of ongoing shows with men involved:
– The Family – Lol at my tags for last week’s gifset :/
– Home Fires – Today’s ep was really tough to watch. Teresa trying to convince herself she can be with a man and then making out with him even after visibly recoiling. Not having a great time with dealing with the closet myself right now, so it hit really close to home.
– The Catch – Well, lol, didn’t expect too much from this, although I was hoping it’d be longer and more interesting than what we’ve gotten so far, but who knows, always a chance. Except Shivani Ghai (Felicity) is a guest star…
– General Hospital – This is more about upcoming spoilers that aren’t yet confirmed, but it seems like Kristina will be working out her sexual confusion by going out with a guy. This isn’t exactly rare in real life, but it’s even less rare in fiction, and is used so, so often (just look at this list). Given that there are sections of the viewing audience that are so homophobic and so ready to pair Kristina with a dude, not loving the idea of giving them an option. There are also girls out there who know they’re gay and that’s it. But they don’t get the coming out story, they’re the love interest or the corrupter or the predator.
– Faking It – I mean, has Faking It ever not had boys in the middle of everything?
– Vis a Vis – Ongoing love triangle of sorts. The man is an utter douche but it seems like the show likes him. The f/f pair were more popular than expected, so there might be more hope for them, but it’s a women in prison show, and a dark one at that.
– Wynonna Earp – Not much to say about this one, the male leg of the triangle is a total loser, and it was clear going in what it we were going to get but it’s still a m-f-f triangle and it’s still in this part of the list. Given the stats, it’s not a very original way to go about things.
– Saints & Sinners – Lady Ella’s cheating on her husband and he’s a big figure in the show even after his death.
The f/f arcs that don’t have men involved:
– Orphan Black – Delphine’s dead, Shay seems to be out of the picture
– The lOO – Lexa’s dead
– Janet King – Ash’s dead. There are some potential romance options unfolding, but her wife/mother of her children is dead. That part of it is sad af to watch.
– Jane the Virgin – Rose is dead and aside from that, Luisa’s barely in the show nowadays?
– Seis Hermanes – Both dealt with men over long arcs but at least not currently?
– Grandfathered – I like this show and I like everyone in it and I like Annelise and I like Regina Hall. But of the five main/regular characters, four are in endgame-type will they-won’t they het pairs, and Annelise remains the odd woman out. She’s had one ep really about her and dating and that ended with her going to the other woman’s house and yelling at her and her new lover. It really needs to do better with her, she’s a fabulous character and it’s just bad storytelling to waste her like that, aside from being monumentally unfair.
– Rosewood – Is like the one show that does not have any of these issues.
