Recently there was a huge outcry from LGBTQ
fans all over the Internet when Lexa (Alycia Debnam-Carey), a white lesbian
character was killed on Jason Rothenberg’s CW show, The 100. This outrage was
definitely not unfounded, due to the lack of representation of LGBTQ characters.
Although it does call into the question that such uproar has never followed the
shock kills and sidelining of people of colour on this particular show.
In season 1, Wells Jaha (Eli Goree) was one
of two significant black male characters on The 100, the other being his
father. His character had a lot to offer to the story: he was the best friend
of the main character, son of the Chancellor, and he took the fall for the
death of his best friend’s father, even though it wasn’t his fault. Regardless
of all this, he was killed in the third episode for shock factor, something that
the writers of the show have openly admitted. The creator of The 100, Jason
Rothenberg can be seen in this video, (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMonVBXE1Sw),
admitting that Wells died because the writers wanted to show that “nobody is
safe” in the “biggest way”. Furthermore, Rothenberg admits that it was Jasper
(a white character) who was meant to die early in the first season, but his
death was replaced by Wells’ because he was “too good”.
Well’s death in season 1 was last-minute,
and it took away a significant piece of representation from a marginalised
community, all because the writers wanted to keep a white actor. Yet after
this, there was no huge outrage, the likes of raising nearly $50,000 for an LGBT
charity in the actor’s name, as there was after Lexa’s death in season 3.
In season 2, Anya, a leader of the
“grounders” (the “savages” that live on the earth), played by Dichen Lachman, a
Nepalese woman, was killed after only appearing in seven episodes. Her entire
characterisation on the show was shown through the point of view of the white
protagonist. Just like Lexa, Anya was shot by mistake – an avoidable and
unpredictable death, for shock value. Just like Lexa, she was killed off
immediately following a storyline where her relationship with the white
protagonist humanised her.
After Anya’s death in season 2, countless
open letters were not written to Jason Rothenberg and the other writers of The
100 about the misrepresentation of people of colour, as there were after Lexa’s
death in season 3.
There are many other characters portrayed
by people of colour who have been mistreated on The 100. For example, Lincoln (Ricky
Whittle), a black man, has been countlessly tortured – and his torture has been
shown on-screen, whereas when white characters such as Murphy are tortured, it
is off-screen. Or the fact that Monty (Christopher Larkin), a Korean man, constantly has his
story lines sidelined or is used to prop up the story lines of his white best
friend.
In this post I have only mentioned a few instances of poor
representation of people of colour on The 100.
Yet after all these instances, there was never such uproar as when a
white lesbian character was killed. Which begs the question, do we care more
about issues of social justice and oppression, misrepresentation and lack of
representation, when these issues are affecting white people?
I am in no way trying to belittle or
undermine the feelings of a community who feel robbed of their representation. This
is just one example, represented through reactions to a piece of popular media,
of how the plight for social justice issues that affect white people can overshadow
or ignore the plight of those who are not white, as well as where those issues
intersect.
I watch The 100 too! I think The 100's treatment of LGBTQ characters and people of colour is an example of intersectionality, where we can't measure how one group is 'oppressed' more than the other, but they are both mistreated and misrepresented in different ways. The death of Lexa was an uproar not only because of the death itself, but because of the trope it played into, where there has been a historical representation of gay characters being shot. I definitely agree with your point about how the writers always seem to use POCs as devices for white characters' pains! I was really disappointed with the way the writers justified Welles' death, because yes, it does show how ~nobody's~ safe but when POCs are being constantly used as plot devices rather than characters, the writers have a responsibility to portray them in an accurate light. It's so cool to see someone analyse a television show you're watching, good job.
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