Board Thread:Spoilers/@comment-96.228.137.74-20160311185338/@comment-26247132-20160414201138

Sparkstoaflame wrote: Again, my question is, are we indeed that special, or we just happened to be at the right place at the right time, perhaps both!?putting aside the entire controversy it sprung from, it's really a very interesting social phenomenon in and on itself. and i'd say it's a mixture of both. there were certain elements in place, such as the sheer pervasiveness of the lesbian death trope/bury your gays and the fact that the 100 is a show that is very much driven by its social media presence. but that alone wouldn't have been enough if the fandom didn't take initiative. I think it was just the perfect storm. A show absolutely betraying the fans it used for ratings happens much more often than most people realize. Usually, the show will slowly die off in viewership before finally being put out of its misery a couple of seasons later. This time, however, the fans are sick of it and are finally making a stand.

This situation with The 100 was unique for a number of reasons, making it the perfect symbol for the viewer revolution.
 * They used social media to build their fan base for free marketing
 * They lied to the fans about good representation when they have actively done the reverse this entire season (diminishing female empowerment, embracing homophobic and racist tropes, etc...). I still don't think it was a deliberate lie; I truly think they really are that incompetent.
 * They did not respond appropriately to the problem fast enough and their initial responses were further insulting and instigating to the fans.
 * They still have done nothing to rectify any of the issues that have been brought up by the fans or the media (like putting up general advisory or content warnings like almost all other TV shows already do). Instead, they continue to exacerbate the problem each week by showing more and more offensive things to add fuel to the fire (from Lincoln's death to Raven's wrist-slitting to Murphy's rape played off as a joke).
 * Other shows are doing the SAME EXACT THINGS, too. I don't know what it is about this season or if all the show-runners got together last year and plotted some sort of industry-wide conspiracy, but it has been a terrible, horrible, no good, rotten season of TV. I can't think of a season this bad for viewers and fans in a long time, if ever.