Warning: This article includes spoilers for "Jane the Virgin," "The 100," "The Magicians," and "The Walking Dead."
On February 22, on The CW’s "Jane the Virgin," antagonist Rose was murdered.
Earlier this month, fan favorite Lexa on The CW’s "The 100" was killed by a stray bullet.
Kira from SyFy’s "The Magicians" was also killed off.
Last week’s season five finale of AMC’s "The Walking Dead" saw Denise meet her fate.
So, what’s the problem? The problem is that all of these deaths occurred within the past 30 days (as of March 22) and that all the characters killed off were lesbian and bisexual women. This number is double if we look at the amount of deaths since the beginning of 2016.
This recent surge of lesbian and bisexual deaths follows a common trend known as the “Bury Your Gays” trope or, in the past, the “Dead Lesbian Syndrome,” which can be seen throughout television and cinematic history in the form of a disproportionate number of queer characters being killed off in comparison to their heterosexual counterparts. Often, their deaths are meant to prop up or continue the progression of a heterosexual character’s plotline. This trope began when "Executive Suite’s" (1976) Julie was hit by a car after chasing her love interest into the street.
Now, is this to say that lesbian and bisexual women should never die onscreen? No, of course not. But this isn’t about realism or the characters’ plotlines. This is about equal and positive representation. It seems that too many of these characters are ending their storylines tragically rather than happily. This doesn’t exactly feel like encouragement from writers and directors to queer women to live out their lives worry free. How did this happen?
According to an analysis conducted by GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation), only 17.5 percent of major movie releases in 2014 featured lesbian, gay or bisexual characters. None featured transgender characters.
In addition, in 2014 and 2015 only 2 percent of 11,194 speaking characters in movies, broadcast, cable and digital series were either lesbian, gay or bisexual.
Right off the bat, the LGBT+ community deals with a heavy amount of underrepresentation in the media and this can be dangerous. The media we consume usually reflects the world we live in, if not the same themes and issues that are present in today’s society. Representation of certain groups of people, especially when they are included in season regulars and main characters, normalizes this minority trait. Normalization of minorities in various settings in media affects the way we perceive them in our day to day lives. Characters such as "Glee’s" Kurt and Blaine and "Modern Family’s" Cam and Mitchell normalized gay relationships and brought those into our homes. Attitudes and perceptions are changed by the representation we see in the media.
That being said, the representation that the LGBT+ community does get in the media is also disproportionately negative. Between 2007 and 2014, many queer characters were either minor characters or cameos or were depicted in comedies, some of which featured humor aimed at these characters.
In addition, a study performed by the University of South California showed that it was rare for LGB characters to be shown in healthy relationships in movies, or in any. Out of 19 characters, only 2 were in a relationship. And, again, transgender representation feels the butt of it with no relationships in films.
And if this wasn’t worse enough, as of today, there are 148 lesbian and bisexual deaths on television. Only 29 women got their happy endings. Think of it this way: so many lesbian and bisexual women die on film that they have their own popular culture trope.
Fans of "The 100" were especially upset by Lexa’s death, one half of the show’s successful lesbian power couple. This character was not only queer and in a loving, genuine relationship with the show’s female lead; she was also a tough-as-nails commander of an army, a leader of her people and a real human being who made mistakes. Her death has catalyzed a riot within "The 100’s" fanbase, many of whom are queer women.
In response to yet another example of unfair representation, fans have aimed their frustration and anger at causes that advocate for the LGBT+ community. They got the hashtag #LGBTFansDeserveBetter to trend on Twitter for hours and created two websites to express and garner support for their thoughts and ideas. In addition, fans have raised over $57,000 for the Trevor Project, an organization that works to raise awareness and support for LGBT+ youth suicide prevention.
Needless to say, this unfair treatment has sparked a movement within the community that is turning all these negatives into something positive. But are we still pissed off? Hell yeah we are. Now we’re finally doing something about it.
