A few days ago, season 3 of How To Get Away With Murder came to an end, leaving fans with a major cliff-hanger. We discovered who killed Wes, but we know very minimal information about the killer. My friends and I were outraged that the season ended on this note, because we just want answers. We'll have to patiently wait, I guess. But that doesn't mean that we can't be outraged about certain aspects of the show, specifically from this season. And boy, do I have some beef with the creators. HTGAWM needs to stop throwing around the phrase "kill yourself" to vulnerable characters.
In today's society, tons of people joke about killing themselves when referring to stressful and dreaded situations (usually work, school, or social outings). These are harmless, although they probably shouldn't be said. It should be noted that it's always referring to ourselves. We don't light-heartedly tell others to kill themselves.
It is not a joking matter to tell someone else to kill him or herself, especially when they are suffering mentally, emotionally broken, and/or vulnerable. In season 3 of HTGAWM, multiple characters tell others to kill themselves up to the season finale. At one point, it seemed possible that Frank would follow through with the request and shoot himself in the head. This is not okay, and this is not something to encourage or show-off on a television program that millions watch.
What if this phrase hit a depressed viewer and brought dark thoughts to their mind? What does this teach the show's audience? That it's okay to say these words, and wish terrible things, towards others? Well it's not.
It's not like this only happened once on the show; Annalise had encouraged Frank to kill himself and recently Laurel had encouraged Connor to kill himself. Thankfully neither follow through, but this is not something to put out there into the universe. Yes Annalise and Laurel are both hurting when they say these words, however it doesn't make this right. It's not okay to say that. And if the show is going to have characters say these phrases, have them at least understand why it's wrong.
Hopefully in future HTGAWM seasons, this phrase will never come back. Especially not towards mentally ill characters such as Frank and Connor.
