Doctor Who
killed off a gay character in 25 seconds, and I’m fine with it.
*Warning spoilers to Doctor Who, Supernatural, and ffs who else knows*
In a recent
episode of Doctor Who a gay security guard was introduced—we barely know
anything about this person, other than the brief mentioning of his boyfriend,
confirming his sexuality to be on the gayer side of the spectrum. However, this
character didn’t last long, being swiftly killed off as most security guards
who serve no purpose do on TV, and people aren’t happy about it.
I, however,
do not care. Why? Because this character was a classic redshirt. It was a “bit” part to add a little drama, and regardless
of whether the writers’ had taken that quip about him having a boyfriend out or
not, the end result would’ve been the same.
This man was
not killed because he was a gay character. He was a man who was killed—who also
happened to be gay.
#BuryYourGays
was something that surfaced a few years ago when every TV show from The Walking
Dead to The Vampire Diaries decided to massacre fan favorite LGBT characters.
Understandably,
people were pissed, especially with the CW shows like Supernatural (killing off
fan-favorite “Charlie” in the shoddiest of plot twists), and Arrow (giving Sara
Lance a swift arrow to the stomach during the season 3 premiere, despite
spending half of season 2 building her character)
The reason
these deaths hit so hard is because they
were taking characters whose stories were just getting started—characters who
fans loved, and who were on their way to becoming series regulars—and snuffing
them out in poorly executed ways. These deaths were used so that the straight
characters, regardless of how unlikeable they were, could grieve and get
another season’s worth of angst. There was no reason these characters had to die,
which led a lot of people to believe that they were selected as being the expendable
plot-device simply because they were LGBT.
And I agree
with that.
However,
what I don’t agree with is that a random security guard, or an extra walking down an ally, or the last person to
close up shop are off limits because they’re LGBT. How many times have we
opened up a TV show with someone getting murdered in a backstreet? How many
times have we seen a random cashier, or banker, or the sole cleaner working the
night shift get taken by the ax-wielding maniac?
Thousands. And we’ve never once questioned who they were, or why they had to
die. They were little more than a set-up for the characters we actually care
about to do their thing.
And that’s
exactly what this security guard was. The key difference is that he happened to have dialogue that mentioned
a same-sex relationship. But he wasn’t a “character.” He wasn’t someone we were
supposed to get attached to. His sole purpose, regardless of his sexuality, was
to die, and as I’ve mentioned, there are thousands of shows and movies that
drop nameless bodies without anyone batting an eye.
Or do you
believe that the only extras that can get killed have to be straight?
While we’re
here, I’d also like to note that Doctor Who has had extremely positive LGBT representation
in the form of Captain Jack Harkness, who led his own series “Torchwood” for 4
seasons. And the aforementioned shows “Arrow” and “Supernatural” have both
since course corrected, listening to their fanbases and reversing the deaths of
their LGBT characters in one way or another (Sara Lance is now the openly
bi-sexual leader of her own show: Legends of Tomorrow, where she time travels
along with a male bi-sexual demon hunter, John Constantine… it’s a lot of fun)
So, while I do
think #BuryYourGays is valid, and that it IS something these showrunners should
be thinking about more when they decide to kill off a character for shock value,
I do not think it applies to this particular scenario. I also don’t think we
should kick up a fuss every time an LGBT character dies, after all, straight
characters are killed off on shows for stupid reasons all the time, and
sometimes equality means being subjected to the same shoddy writing that
straight characters have suffered for generations.
