Let me start this off by saying I love "Pretty Little Liars," probably more than I’d care to admit, and I admit I love it a lot. For those who don’t know, the shows follows four teenage girls, Aria, Hannah, Spencer, and Emily. The girls start receiving anonymous threatening texts and messages from “A” one year after their friend Ali disappears, presumably kidnapped or dead. These threats escalate for 6 seasons (so far), with countless mysteries and plot twists over the true identity of A. The show is riddled with plotholes and unnecessary characters, yet having seen every episode at least once, I can count the number of black characters on one hand. The show includes marginalized groups as a front for diversity, while actually doing very little.
I mention black characters, or lack thereof, because they perfectly exemplify the issue with the show: Maya, the first and main black character, is Emily’s first girlfriend, eventually killed by Nate (first of two black males). Nate presents himself as Maya’s cousin, but is really her stalker and is killed by Caleb. Shana, the only other black girl, is killed by Aria and may have been helping A (I’m still not sure). Clark (the only other black man) is a possible love interest for Aria in the latest season until he turns out to be an undercover agent, and ends up doing nothing. All four black characters are ultimately inconsequential to the overall plot or murdered, or both.
Of the four main girls, Emily is the token lesbian and also the token vaguely Asian character; she’s the only one who’s demographically different in any way. As opposed to the other girls who have the option to reject boys, Emily ends up with any other lesbian character who comes her way, regardless of any apparent chemistry, or lack thereof. The show uses minorities as props to try to seem more diverse, but all it does is emphasize the general and overbearing Whiteness.
Continuing in this trend, the season six finale finally revealed the identity of A to be Cece, a character from previous seasons. It turns out that Cece is transgender and was born as Ali's secret long-lost brother. Rather than a celebration of diversity, the inclusion of a trans character feels like yet another attempt by the show to fill up its Pokedex of marginalized groups. According to showrunner Marlene King, the decision to have Cece be A and transgender had been in effect for four years. While there is no reason she shouldn't be trans, the way it was done feels contrived. This then appears as a move to jump on the bandwagon of trans-rights, following on the heels of such shows as "Transparent" and "I Am Cait."
Unfortunately, the implausibility of the situation somewhat belies its importance. Hopefully in the future, PLL and other shows will include more diverse characters with substance, not a vain attempt at being PC.
