User blog:Sparkstoaflame/The Blog Post

I don't even know what to call it by this point, but clearly, this needed to be written.

First and foremost
Allow me to direct you to this thread here. I'm going to be kind and say that this season was kind of a train wreck. The only pleasure I personally got out of watching it (and I know there are many others who didn't even like those) were the Polis scenes. Which also started to decline in quality after "Watch the Thrones". Which, coincidentally, ranks with my least favorite episode of the season after "Hakeldama". (The only reason I'm not including The Episode That Shall Not Be Named is because it was actually a pretty decent episode up until, like...the 32 minute mark...R.I.P. ._.)

i wrote out a list for you
1. IF YOU CAN'T UNDERSTAND WHY WE ARE ANGRY ABOUT LEXA'S DEATH, THEN DON'T TALK ABOUT IT.

2. IF YOU CAN'T UNDERSTAND THAT THIS HAS SPIRALED FAR OUT OF THE CONTEXT OF LEXA'S DEATH, THEN DON'T TALK ABOUT IT.

3. IF YOU CAN'T UNDERSTAND THAT THE WAY LEXA DIED WAS ABOUT THE TROPIEST, LAZIEST, STUPIDEST WAY THEY COULD WRITE HER OFF, THEN DON'T TALK ABOUT IT.

4. IF YOU CAN'T UNDERSTAND LEXA'S DEATH, THEN DON'T TALK ABOUT IT.

In case those headings didn't drive my point home: How about...don't be an ignorant jerk and before commenting on the matter, do your research first.

and another thing before i get into the meat of the discussion
If you are actively harassing people who are trying to get the show canceled (because apparently, that's a thing in certain places...) and who refuse to watch the show after 3x07:

'You. Are. Being. Very. Insensitive.'

You can dislike it. You can disagree with it. You can think it's petty and stupid and dumb. Heck, I disagree with it to a certain extent. But you have absolutely zero right to be telling these people who have seen themselves get brutally murdered and shot and stabbed on television, year after year after freaking year that they can't launch a boycott because Lexa was the straw that broke the half-dead camel's back and they can't be stirring up trouble in social media spheres.

You have no right. You have no idea what it feels like. And you will never know what this particular vein of discrimination feels like if you are comfortably heterosexual.

In no way am I lambasting heterosexuals. But you have no right to tell someone who identifies as LGBTQ* what they can and cannot do in regards to their well-being in this day and age.

the good (there is literally no good) and the bad

 * First of all, the part of the fandom that is up in arms and is pissed off about Lexa's death does NOT think that she was killed BECAUSE SHE WAS A LESBIAN. Just stop assuming that this is the case, because it could NOT be further from the truth.
 * Second of all, we're not stupid. Okay? A lot of us at least had a niggling suspicion that Lexa would get killed off this season.
 * I'm not saying that everyone believed she'd be killed, but there was a general undertone of worry running throughout the Lexa (and Clexa) fandom during the hiatus.
 * For instance, I was adamantly convinced until about a week before the premiere of Season Three that Lexa was going to die this season. (Obviously, I should've clung onto that conviction...) But! A lot of us, me included, began to grow less and less convinced of this possibility as the season ground on. Why? Because JRoth basically promised us that this time would be different. And every episode until "Thirteen" only added to that idea. I'll talk about that further on, because that's just another can of worms that needs to be opened: the terrible institution that is queerbaiting.
 * What should you get out of this? Don't try to justify her death in a way that's like "Oh, well, it had to happen and it was inevitable." Yes, we understand that. Some of us were even waiting for it, in a way. What we don't get and we don't like is the WAY she was killed/written off.
 * (And in all honesty...she really, really didn't have to be killed off.)
 * Third of all, have fun reading a list of over 100 instances wherein the gay character dies because!!! Um!!! Reasons!!! ...Or if you don't want to wade through that absolutely depressing article, well, I read it so you don't have to! I've even provided running commentary. Y'all should love me:
 * "Often, ... gay characters just aren't allowed happy endings. Even if they do end up having some kind of relationship, at least one half of the couple ... has to die at the end."
 * Oh, my stars. Sounds familiar, don't you think?
 * "Also known as Dead Lesbian Syndrome."
 * Goodness, they even have a specific trope for lesbians! They wouldn't have that if it wasn't so prevalent in popular media...
 * This trope can also be seen as ... Sex Is Evil."
 * Who died after having sex with another person of their same gender? Oh, that's right, this chick. Approximately only seventy seconds had passed discounting commercial breaks and Octavia/Indra scenes.
 * See also: Tara Maclay, a.k.a. the character death that basically started off the Dead Lesbian Trope.
 * I hope you can understand why this was VERY upsetting to people who have seen Buffy in particular.
 * "Additionally, the problem isn't merely that gay characters are killed off: the problem is the tendency that gay characters are killed off far more often than straight characters ..."
 * AND THE MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL: "This trope therefore has been argued to not apply to a series where Anyone Can Die (and does). However. Regardless of the overall death toll of a show, the death of a gay character nevertheless has different cultural context & emotional weight, as there are unlikely to be many other gay characters in the piece of media. Killing one, two, or even a handful of straight characters to show Anyone Can Die does not remove the entirety of the representation of straight people in a piece of media, but often there is genuinely only one gay couple or character in a piece of media, or very few of any real prominence in the narrative such as main or supporting character & not just a bit part. So when they die, gay audience members are generally left with no one else to relate to, or only the grieving partner of the dead gay. Additionally, when one can count on one hand the number of gay main characters in ALL of the media they consume, the loss of any one of those is generally more keenly felt."
 * I don't think I need to say any more.

I can see you shaking your head in denial, but I haven't even gotten into how lesbian representation on TV has an excellent track record of being mindnumbingly terrible.


 * ...But of course, I'm gonna do that now: let's talk about how a number of WLW HAVE BEEN DISPROPORTIONALLY KILLED OFF.
 * Read: 119 dead lesbians/bisexuals and f*cking counting. It was 65 when the list first got posted. Then 71. Then 84. Then 96. Then 103. And now? 119.
 * (And counting.)

the UGLY
According to Wikipedia, this is the definition of "queerbaiting":

"'What happens when people in the media (usually television/movies) add homoerotic tension between two characters to attract more liberal and queer viewers with the indication of them not ever getting together for real in the show/book/movie.'"

Clexa happened, sure. Subtext became text.

But the queerbaiting began when Jason Rothenberg actively began saying that Lexa/Clexa was safe, stick it out with me til Season Three, you'll get what you deserve: this time will be different.

Jason Rothenberg lied.

Jason Rothenberg lied and queerbaited.

Jason Rothenberg ran what was probably one of the most vile, disgusting queerbaiting campaigns in television history.

Take from that what you will.

if you read anything in this section, READ THIS.
Listen. Say what you want about Lexa. I liked her a lot, but I can't magically change your mind if you hate her (and I know you guys are out there, heh). And I wouldn't want to: characters exist in a vacuum and are open for everyone to lampoon or obsess over. Besides, it's no secret that she was a particularly polarizing figure who inspired both love and hate.

But you need to understand how the fallout of Lexa's death...everything I just listed above has affected the psychology and mental health of LGBTQ* people everywhere. There is one article in particular that explains it very eloquently, and I urge you all to read it. If you get ANYTHING out of this, please read that. However, I have taken out of the article a few paragraphs (it's the large blockquote below the next paragraph) that perhaps epitomizes the struggle of the LGBTQ* community for the past couple of decades.

In short, '''this is real. This is an issue.' This is an issue that is happening in our world TODAY, as we breathe, as we speak, as we live. This is not'' a fictional story. This is not a dystopian, post-apocalyptic society where sexuality is not labeled and sexuality does not matter. Sexuality matters VERY MUCH in our day and age. There are people — young people, old people; white people, black people; short people, tall people — who are murdered and shot and stabbed because there are other people out there who believe that homosexuality is unnatural and should therefore be eradicated from the face of the planet.

Listen to me:

''Say what you want about the shooting schedule, or contractual obligations, or “it’s just a case of sloppy writing,” or the fact that Lexa would eventually have to be written off the show regardless. Say what you want about her being “just a character.” Say what you want about it being “just a show.”''

But if you say or think that, it’s because you’ve never walked a mile in my shoes.

''You’ve never been bullied or called names like “dyke” or “lezzie.” You’ve never been stared at. You’ve never gone into a shop wondering if you’d be waited on when they see who you’re with. You’ve never walked down the street and wondered if it’s safe to hold your girlfriend’s hand. No parent has said you’ll never achieve anything in life because you’re gay. You’ve never had the love of your life dishonored by being referred to as a “roommate” or “very good friend.” You haven’t been cut off from most of your relatives because you’re considered a shame to the family. You’ve never wondered if you lost your job because you’re gay and not for the stated reasons. You’ve never had a parent angrily read Bible verses to you after you came out to them. You’ve never seen your own father condemn “those homosexuals” to hell from the pulpit. You’ve never had someone condescendingly say, “Oh, I didn’t know you were that way” when they find out. You’ve never had to question whether or not to mention your spouse in casual conversation. You’ve never worried that if your loved one got hurt in a car accident, the hospital might not let you in to see her.''

''I’d venture to guess you’ve never considered suicide because you live in a world that hates you, or you’ve never been barred from coming home to your family at Christmas. Your parents probably didn’t boycott your wedding. And I bet you don’t know what it’s like to be so afraid to be who you are that you spent every day of your adolescence feeling doomed to a life of utter loneliness and despair. As a kid I never pictured my dream wedding or a family. I imagined myself as a grownup living alone in a cabin in the woods.''

''Maybe you’ve never even given these things a second thought. But everything I mention here has happened to me, and more. And I’m lucky because I came out as an early 20something, already away from home and self-supporting. There are kids kicked out of their homes every day. There are kids sent to brutal, futile “conversion therapy” programs. There are kids who engage in self-harm just to feel in control of one thing in their lives. You’ve seen it on the news. Kids commit suicide due to bullying and rejection by their families and friends.''

''There are reports, some still in the process of being confirmed, of young people having been hospitalized, having engaged in self-harm, and there has been at least one reported suicide triggered by this episode of The 100. I’m an adult, and I have diagnosed depression, and I have an arsenal of tools to manage it, but this stab at the heart of our community, this blatant manipulation of us for TV ratings, and the depiction of our love – once again, for the thousandth time – portrayed as punishable by death? It triggered what I hope will turn out to be a relatively short relapse, the first one I’ve had in several years. Since Thursday’s episode I’ve been bombarded relentlessly by unbidden memories of every hurt that has ever stung me for being gay, every death or loss I’ve ever felt in my life. I have been plagued by feelings of hopelessness, and yes even suicidal thoughts. I know them for what they are and it’s unlikely I’d ever act on them of course, but imagine a young, depressed, rejected, hurt queer person witnessing this broadcast as part of a family that rejects them for who they are. How could they not feel hopeless about living in this world? What other response could you possibly expect?''

When your actors and crew have to start tweeting links to suicide hotlines, YOU FUCKED UP.

''Shame on Jason Rothenberg and everyone else who made the decisions that led to this story and this episode. Shame on all of them for willfully manipulating a vulnerable audience into'' believing this time it’s different. It’s not.

in conclusion
So, what should you have gotten from all of this?

Don't you dare tell me that we can just "turn to any other TV show for representation." Don't you dare tell me, "it doesn't matter that Lexa was killed by a magic bullet and GET OVER IT." Don't you dare tell me that you should've expected it!

Don't you dare tell me Lexa's death didn't matter in a very, very real context.

Why Lincoln's (assumed) death matters:
PoC ("People of Color," a.k.a. everyone besides Caucasians) representation on this show is basically as bad, if not worse, than LGBTQ* representation, for the sole reason that it's been going on for a hell of a lot longer.

I'll probably add to this more later, but here's what it boils down to:

When I first got into the show, and this was even before Season Two, I was disturbed by the following: the Skaikru's attitude toward the ground. They had this...manifest destiny, white man's burden, exceptionalist ideology that rankled at me, and basically cemented my general dislike of Skaikru. (Yet I have literally seen people try to defend the Skaikru's actions in Season One by saying the Grounders are xenophobic. Are you joking? I'm not even going to dignify that with a response.) Anyway, what drove this point home even further was when they essentially tortured Lincoln in the dropship (?) for information or whatever.

Torturing a black man? What a bold concept.

You can say that the show didn't intentionally do this, and no, they didn't: they didn't whip Lincoln because he was black, just like they didn't kill Lexa because she was gay. However, the showrunner/producers have a responsibility to know what crosses that line and what doesn't. They have a responsibility to know about harmful tropes (and this applies to the Dead Lesbian trope as well), and they definitely should not have subjugated Lincoln to a flogging, especially when the show is being broadcast in a country that has a) a nasty history regarding slavery and the brutal, physically abusive dominance over blacks and b) still has quite a large vein of racist ideology. (I assume everyone in the U.S. heard about that entire debacle with the Confederate flag being flown in South Carolina.)

Another stereotype can kind of be found in Monty, the only major full-blooded East Asian on the show. He's great at hacking into computer systems, apparently (even though he was from Farm Station and an engineer? Um, what?) and he's basically desexualized. And he's probably got the least screentime out of all the main characters. Obviously, this isn't as bad or glaring as other instances of covert racism in the show, but it's still something worth noting. (Don't even get me into S3!Bellamy. That's another burning train wreck entirely.)

So, yeah. Fast forward to Season Three and really, nothing's better. Skyzy has talked about covert racism in this season in particular extensively so go and read that. It's quite comprehensive.

Also, Jason Rothenberg had Nathan Miller's actor, Jarod Joseph, wear a beanie/hat/whatever in the first season to "differentiate him from Lincoln."

I'll leave you with that.

Why JRoth's absolutely SHITTY handling of the fallout matters:

 * ...Because it was shitty handling. Look, it's right there in the title. Need I say more? Don't do shitty things. There's a reason why they're called shitty and why they're generally unacceptable.
 * Also, it basically shows he doesn't care. Basic rules of civility invite you to be corteous to those you've slighted.
 * He's. Said. Nothing. About. This. Besides. The. Podcast. Which. I. Won't. Even. Rip. Into.

Take what you want from it. But I really hope that you understand how The 100 has done an abysmal job at treating its minority groups.

And that's all I have to say.