What it Would Mean if "The Walking Dead" Writers were to Kill Glenn (...for good this time)

Since it has been slightly over a month since that gut-wrenching, heart-racing Season 6 finale of The Walking Dead, I have had a proper amount of time to process the cliffhanger that the writers so cruelly placed on fans, thereby causing us all to wait until October before we learn the answer to the question, "Who met Lucille?"

"Lucille" is the nickname of a barbed wire-covered bat wielded by the worst villain in The Walking Dead universe.

For those of you who are not acquainted with the zombie television show set in the southeastern United States, The Walking Dead recently introduced the most menacing villain featured in the comic books the show is based on, a bat-wielding baddie by the name of Negan who totes a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire that he lovingly calls, "Lucille." In the comics, Negan introduces himself by bludgeoning and killing beloved fan-favorite Glenn, a Korean-American who was a main character since the first issue. The television show makes several key diversions from their comic book counterparts, so there is no guarantee that television Glenn will meet the same fate as he did on the page, especially because earlier on in the season, the television writers added an unexpected twist on Glenn's storyline, making audiences believe he was dead for weeks in a Jon Snow-like tease. However, the finale did not reveal who Negan killed, leaving fans with several more months of wild speculation. I intend to use this blog post to postulate about the cultural effects killing Glenn would have on the show were the writers to stay true to the source material.

Recently, I was listening to a podcast from The Nerdist, where Steven Yeun, the actor who plays Glenn, spoke about the cultural impact that he has seen with the inclusion of Glenn's character on the show:

"I'm very fortunate to play a character like this as an Asian American actor. I'm very fortunate to play this character period, as an actor, but also to be able to show a character that exists, is an American, can speak English, has a love interest, and can see growth. What I noticed [is that in the] first season if you went on Twitter and searched hashtags like, 'Asian Walking Dead,' there were tons of racist shit about Glenn. Season 2, drastically lower, still there some racism, but more people are calling the character, 'Glenn.' Third season? It's barely there now. That is what's cool about what you can gauge from Twitter: the direct influence of Asian America, or even any sort of social change." 

It's important to note that Glenn has been the only featured Asian American character on the show since its inception. While there have been numerous white, African American, and Hispanic characters, Glenn stands alone in representing the Asian American community. While this is a prime example of Shohat and Stam's theory of the "burden of representation," in which one source is responsible for accurately representing the characteristics of a body of people, Yeun praises the representation of Asian Americans via Glenn's character, saying that it, "doesn't appeal to stereotypes."

Also in the podcast, Yeun mentions the idea of the exoticism of "the East," calling to mind Edward Said's theory of Orientalism:

"There's racism all across the board with all different races. In particular with Asian Americans comes from the fact that they still think we're foreign. It comes from the fact that we're exotic. So like, 'they have weird foods,' or like, 'your forks are sticks!' Or if you have a non-accent, they think 'wow, you speak well for an Asian guy.' I was basically born here. I will admit I'm an immigrant, but there are tons of my friends that were born here. And that's just what's going to happen until the world goes a little further."

So what will the consequences be if Season 7 of The Walking Dead opens with the reveal that Negan has killed Glenn? Beyond losing a fan-favorite, the only representation of Asian America in the Walking Dead universe will exit the narrative, leaving the story less diverse and representative of the American population.

Here's hoping that the writers take diversity into consideration before giving us that big reveal. Until then, Walking Dead fans shall be waiting with bated breath until October...