So it's has become pretty obvious recently that lesbian characters in TV show often get the Tara treatment, meaning they get killed off, often to either further the plot of another character, or simply because the writers were queer baiting and they no longer needed the character. Now spoilers for the TV show the 100, but tonight they killed off the lesbian character. Not only that, they killed her off after a reconciliation sex scene (cough like Tara/Willow cough), and wait for it, she was killed by a stray bullet.
Now there's a bit of an uproar about this, with reason. It goes deeper than just losing a fan favourite, but for teenagers and young people growing up with very few lesbian models on TV, and seeing literally all of them die, the consequences to seeing all the gay characters being dispensed for shock value and to serve the storyline of other characters (often straight) are important. It's not just about being sad over the death of a character (being part of the 100 fandom, I've experience first hand people that have gone as far as having suicidal thoughts over this, because of the lack of representation, and the shitty representation gay characters gets). Some people rely on those characters because it is not safe at home, or in the real world, to be gay, or openly gay. Having queer representation is often the only way people have to feel somewhat normal, or to look up to something. Now first question for discussion, should writers be more careful who they kill off when were talking real life consequences for killing the character? Does the way in which the character is killed matter (let's be honest, Tara's death was purely to further Willow's storyline, and for shock value).
Now the term getting "Tara Macklayed" has come up quite often on other site I visit. So what do you think are the implication of Joss "starting" this trend? Should he be to blame? Should he have thought twice before killing one of the first openly gay character on TV? Are people drawing inspiration from Joss when it comes to killing characters for shock value? I mean, the resemblance here is uncanny, but even concerning other shows, it seems Joss has started a trend of killing the gay characters. Discuss.
Now there's a bit of an uproar about this, with reason. It goes deeper than just losing a fan favourite, but for teenagers and young people growing up with very few lesbian models on TV, and seeing literally all of them die, the consequences to seeing all the gay characters being dispensed for shock value and to serve the storyline of other characters (often straight) are important. It's not just about being sad over the death of a character (being part of the 100 fandom, I've experience first hand people that have gone as far as having suicidal thoughts over this, because of the lack of representation, and the shitty representation gay characters gets). Some people rely on those characters because it is not safe at home, or in the real world, to be gay, or openly gay. Having queer representation is often the only way people have to feel somewhat normal, or to look up to something. Now first question for discussion, should writers be more careful who they kill off when were talking real life consequences for killing the character? Does the way in which the character is killed matter (let's be honest, Tara's death was purely to further Willow's storyline, and for shock value).
Now the term getting "Tara Macklayed" has come up quite often on other site I visit. So what do you think are the implication of Joss "starting" this trend? Should he be to blame? Should he have thought twice before killing one of the first openly gay character on TV? Are people drawing inspiration from Joss when it comes to killing characters for shock value? I mean, the resemblance here is uncanny, but even concerning other shows, it seems Joss has started a trend of killing the gay characters. Discuss.