#white male show creator syndrome

[aries-rising-on-an-aquarius-tide]

again If you're against Rollins, can you please add "anti amanda rollins" so her fans can avoid seeing your posts, same goes for carisi

I'm not against Rollins at all. I have written nearly a hundred fics with Rollins in them. One of these anons is definitely against Rollins though ...

What I am against is lazy writing, bad exec decisions, billionaire show creators, idiotic TV politics, and ignoring canon for the sake of convenience when it comes to ratings/money.

[yourfavebooklrsfavebooklr]

(Image IDs at the bottom)

Here are some!

-The Reckless Kind: A YA historical fiction book where the main character runs away from her awful betrothed to live with her two best friends in a cabin. The plot revolves around them winning enough money to continue their life. Disability rep includes an mc with Waardenburg syndrome (with single-sided deafness), an mc with Brown-Séquard syndrome and a prosthetic arm, an mc with an anxiety disorder, and a side character with post-concussion syndrome. Also has aspec and m/m rep (might be gay rep but I don’t want to assume & it’s been a while since I read it.)

-Iron Widow: YA dystopia. Takes place in a world where humans pilot giant mechs in pairs, which often kills girls. Mc becomes a pilot with the goal of avenging her sister’s death and ends up surviving, which kicks off a long chain of events. Disability/Neurodivergent rep is a mc with chronic pain who is also a wheelchair user. Also has Chinese rep, bi mcs, and a polyamorous relationship.

-A Lady For A Duke: Regency romance. Main character faked her death in order to transition and ends up visiting her old best friend. The two end up forming a new friendship which leads to romance. Disability/Neurodivergent rep is a love interest with PTSD. Also has trans woman rep.

-The Stand-In: Romance. Main character gets mistaken for a Chinese celebrity and ends up hired to appear as her for a few public appearances, and she ends up taking the job to be able to afford help for her mother. Disability/Neirodivergent rep: MC with depression & anxiety. Also has Chinese rep.

-Stake Sauce: Arc 1: The secret ingredient is love. No, really: Paranormal. Main character became a vampire hunter after his friend was killed by one during an accident. He ends up teaming up with a punk vampire to hunt other vampires. Disability/Neurodivergent rep is a mc with ptsd and a prosthetic leg. Other rep is various queer characters and relationships.

-Nimona: Fantasy. the graphic novel that got adapted into that movie that got rlly popular around here. It’s about a ‘supervillain’ trying to take down an evil society and getting a shapeshifter as a sidekick, who is much more evil than him. Disability/Neurodivergent rep is a character with a prosthetic arm. Other rep is two queer male characters.

-Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute: Contemporary romance. I haven’t read this one yet but I’m excited about it! It’s about a star football player and a conspiracy-theory-loving content creator who are ex-best friends. They join the same survival course and end up stuck in the woods together and grow closer. Disability/Neurodivergent rep is OCD, other rep is black mcs, fat mc, and I’m pretty sure one of the MCs is bi.

[Image IDs:

The cover of “The Reckless Kind” by Carly Heath, with the title in the middle and the author’s name at the bottom. There is a black background and art emphasizing teal swirls, dark green leaves and stems, and red flowers. Some of those flowers are pointsettas. There is also a horseshoe in the middle.

The cover of “Iron Widow” The text of the title is in a font invoking a neon sign. by Xiran Jay Zhao. It features a woman in a skintight black suit with golden geometric accents, most of which are among her spine. There is what appears to be the orange and yellow wings of a giant metal bird which is mostly offscreen, some of which covers the bottom half of the woman.

The cover of “A Lady For A Duke” by Alexis Hall. A small blurb at the top from entertainment weekly reads, “Alexis Hall is a dizzyingly talent writer.” It has a blue background and shows a woman in a float yellow dress and white elbow-length gloves. Her waist is held in a romantic fashion by a taller man in a regency-style blue jacket and light brown pants. Their foreheads are leaned in together.

The cover of “The Stand-In” by Lily Chu. A white line vertically separates two halves of this cover, one with a teal background and one with a pink one. The pink side shows a woman with long hair, a sparkly blueish-green dress, and a marching dangling earring. The teal side shows the same woman with a bob and a t-shirt. On both sides, she’s wearing makeup including red lipstick.

The cover of “Stake Sauce: Arc 1: The secret ingredient is love. No, Really” by RoAnna Sylver. This text is in a red color. The image shows a grey hand with black fingernails and a spiked black bracelet in resting on a black surface. It also shows a red pin with the anarchy symbol in black, a pride flag pin, a skull and crossbones pin, and a patch that says “This Machine Kills Fascists” in punk-like lettering. Many of these are not fully visible.

The cover of “Nimona” by ND Stevenson. The background is dark green and is covered with faint sketches of various creatures, both real and mythical. It shows a person with dragon wings, red hair that’s shaved everywhere except the bangs, and what appears to be a long-sleeves green dress with a sleeveless purple dress on top of it. Next to her are a long-haired blond knight in golden armour raising his fist and black-haired goateed man in silver armour with a prosthetic arm holding a sword. A silver sticker with a book labels the book as “National Book Award Finalist” while a pink sticker says “Available Now: the fire never goes out: a memoir in pictures.” A blurb at the top reads that Rainbow Rowell says this book is “full of humor and heart.”

The cover of “Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute” by Talia Hibbert. The title is in a white font except for “unfairly cute” which is in a pink font and has a heart over the “i.” The cover shows a long-haired person in a cropped alien t shirt, an backpack and a puffy jacket. Behind her is a taller character with shorter hair who is wearing a hoodie and a backpack. He is smiling at the person in front of him. In the left corner is three pine trees and three birds which are in a simplistic art style.

End ID]

yo besties - do any of y’all have book recs that have disabled / neurodivergent rep?

[antiloreolympus]

10 Anti LO Asks

1. You know the header image placed at the beginning of every episode (portrait of P on the left, black and white sketch of HxP in the middle, portrait if H on the right)? The full image of the sketchier version of the black and white drawing (the version used in older episodes) is actually smut (you can see it on 4chan)… You’d think RS would at least make a minimal effort to hide her agenda to sexualise everything but nOoOoO

From OP, not Anon: Ngl, that shocked me when I first found that out

2. the same-face syndrome in this series is something else, I swear. legitimately couldn't tell Apollo and Eros apart for the longest time. all male and female characters are drawn with the exact same faces. it gets really annoying honestly

3. I don't know if this bothers anyone else (maybe it's just me) but it seems like the characters' facial expressions can be really... off at times? Like, characters will be drawn smiling in situations where it'd make no sense for them to be smiling? And be drawn with vacant expressions in inappropriate times?

Like how (spoiler) Daphne is drawn with a smile when Apollo turns her into a tree (?) when she should have looked terrified???

As an artist who specializes in facial expressions, the ones in LO legitimately throw me off at times.

4. Something that kind of weirds me out about LO is that both Hades and Persephone are kind of awful people (like literally. Slavery, murder, greed, etc.) but it's not portrayed as a bad thing?? at all, really??? Other than a "That's terrible!" here and there, the full weight of what these two characters do doesn't get addressed and is even excused?

And we as the readers are still supposed to believe these two are the good guys? Hades is the king of the underworld, he can do horrible stuff and get away with it. And we already know Persephone won't have to face the consequences of her actions -_-

Imo, this whole story would make more sense if these two were villains/descending into villainy, but that's obviously not what RS is planning.

5. This isn’t a critique I just wanna know if something went over my head, but when Zeus tells Hades to go be king and take Kronos with him Demeter shows up and Zeus and Demeter walk away. Was that suppose to be about Hera getting torn in half or just something we don’t know yet

From OP, not Anon: Maybe something we don’t know about since Demeter and Zeus don’t have a good relationship.

6. After reading the latest chapter where Hades drones on and on to a crying Persephone about how he'll take care of her and get her everything she needs and she'll have a footman waited on her, a apartment with a great view, etc etc.

It really puts into perspective how spoiled she actually is. Like, that chapter was almost hard to read. 

7. Why does RA draw so much porn? It’s so uncomfortable how most of her fans are underage yet she doesn’t even bother to hide the fact that she makes NSFW content 

From OP, Not Anon: Tbf, RS did have her nsfw behind a paywall. I don’t expect creators to hide that they make nsfw, especially since they don’t have much control over their audience. Nsfw is how a lot of webtoon creators make money after all. RS already stopped using patreon though so I haven’t seen her post nsfw or anything that couldn’t be considered artistic nudity in a while.

8. Anybody else notice how Persephone is always portrayed almost as a poor, lower class god who's worked in the fields instead of lived in luxury? "Oh, poor her!"? BUT we have, if my memory serves me, NO actual lower class characters at all?

I don't know if I'm making much sense, but basically the only reason Persephone seems like such an underdog is because RS hasn't introduced a character who has it worse than her. Despite that there are people living in literal slavery while she's living it up?

From OP, not Anon: Nymphs, satyrs, and other mythical beings are lower class in LO. The gods would be considered middle/upper class so yeah.

9. wasnt the original hymn about the power of women and a mother defending her daughter from a cruel marriage by standing up to men and bringing the world to its knees until they finally took her seriously? like thats feminist to me, not claiming persephone loved her kidnapper and demeter is a big bitch for trying to stop it. im not saying making hxp not full of sexual assault is bad, i'd much rather read that, but demonizing demeter for the sake of a man and a heterosexual romance aint it, chief.

10. I love how lo fanart always depicts hades as some young male model as if rachel isnt very open that she designed him off mads and his depiction of hannibal? like maybe they know if they drew him like a 55+ year old man like rachel intended they might realize hes a creep for wanting to bang a baby faced 19 year old.

[justasmallbloginabigklainefandom]

Final paper

Representation of queer women in the television show Glee

For Naya Rivera

Introduction

Representation of queer people has gotten better in the last few years, in both quantitative and qualitative ways. Yet, there is often still a discrepancy between the representation of queer women and the experiences actual queer women. It still happens that queer women are overly sexualised, lack depth or that they are marketed towards men as fanservice through the usage of the male gaze (Smith, 2018). The main reason for all of this is that queer women in mainstream media are often created by men.

According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary (n.d.), queer is defined as “of, relating to, or being a person whose sexual orientation is not heterosexual and/or whose gender identity is not cisgender”, but in this paper, we will only focus on portrayal of female sexuality of queer women. For this paper, I will look at the agency of queer female characters in the television show Glee. With agency I am referring to the subject being able to act in a certain narrative (McAdams & McLean, 2013). I will try to figure out how the audience reacts towards the portrayal of queer women in Glee.

There are two reasons why I chose the television show Glee. First, despite its many flaws, it is my favourite show. Second, Glee has always been a frontrunner when it comes with queer representation. Glee has a total of 23 canon queer characters (Glee Wiki, n.d.). Three of them are women in the main cast: Santana Lopez (lesbian), Brittany Pierce (bisexual) and Unique Adams (transgender). As stated above, we’re only looking at the sexuality aspect, so Unique will be left out of the analysis. Through a close reading of the series’ portrayal of its characters, I ask this question: “How does Glee allow an enjoyable queer viewing experience?”

Theoretical background

The representation of sexuality has become more prominent in television in the last few years (Kidd, 2014; GLAAD 2005/2020), but it is still portrayed in a heteronormative way to show that heterosexuality is the norm (Avila-Saavedra, 2009). Since women are also still underrepresented and often badly represented, it is interesting to look at queer women in general (DeCeuninck & Dhoest, 2016).

Queer women are often represented in function of male fantasies and they are often sexualized and can normally be described as conventionally attractive (DeCeuninck & Dhoest, 2016). This is due to the male gaze. Mulvey (1989) describes the male gaze as an act of depicting women and the world heterosexual view that presents and represents women as sexual objects for the pleasure of the male viewer. Mulvey writes that the women displayed have two roles: one as an erotic object within the story and one as an erotic object for the audience. There’s a third component that places women as an erotic object for the men behind the camera.

But Mulvey writes from a heterosexual perspective and that does not always capture the experiences of queer viewers (Gokcem, 2012). It is argued that the “gay gaze” (man to man or woman to woman) is more about understanding that there’s a homosexual act on screen and acknowledging that act (Snider, 2008; Gokcem, 2012). It’s less about the sex appeal or objectification of the characters. Evans & Gamman (1995) even claim that there’s no such thing as a “lesbian gaze” when it comes to good lesbian representation, but that it’s more about lesbian imagery that is created by lesbian filmmakers for lesbian consumption. To them, subcultural codes are the reason that even objectifying imagery of women is still different than the ones in the male gaze.

Subcultural styles can be seen as coded transposed into the specific context of youth (Murdock & McCron, 1976). Murdock & McCron speak about class differences, but this view of subculture can also be applied to the queer community. Huq (2006) says that the term subculture carries implications of the oppositional and unofficial. Both writings speak about youth, and not all queer people are young, but when it comes to media, youth can find solace in specific subcultural media.

Within media, agency is important. Agency can be defined as the capacity of individuals to act independently and to make their own free choices (Barker, 2012). In narrative theory, this means the degree in which a protagonist is able to affect change in their own lives or influence others in their environment (McAdams & McLean, 2013).

Glee’s background

When it comes to the quantity of representation, Glee has always been a frontrunner (Marwick, Gray, & Ananny, 2014). It has shown a wide variety of serious topics in the show. Glee has characters of different ethnicities, gender identities, sexualities and economic classes. Glee also has characters in a wheelchair, it has characters with down syndrome, and it has characters with mental health problems.

Unfortunately, the quality aspect of representation in Glee is less than ideal. There is racism, sexism, transphobia, homophobia, and a strive to be well-abled and neurotypical. I am not talking about what happens within the show (as in, characters facing hatred from other characters), but by the way the show is written by its creators. Artie, the character in a wheelchair, constantly wishes that he could walk and he���s seen dancing in several dream sequences[1]. Queer characters could only kiss in “special episodes”, while their straight friends could make out anytime and everywhere[2]. A male character speaking out for himself is portrayed as heroic, strong and inspirational, while a female character speaking out for herself is portrayed as annoying, complaining and bossy[3]. Glee also portrayed heteronormativity by presenting its queer characters mostly as suffering while aspiring to fit in a heteronormative worldview, but also as happy and self-confident (Dhaenens, 2013).

An explanation for these underlying microaggressions can be ascribed to the fact that most people on the creative team of Glee were straight white men and when a woman did write a script, produce or direct, they were always working together with straight white men. Same goes for people of colour working in the Glee crew. They also had less episodes to work on (IMDb, n.d.). As a result, Glee often reflects a male heteronormative worldview.

Methodology

For this paper, I will take a closer look at Glee and its queer female characters. I will describe the three queer female characters and I will give some background. While describing the stories, I will look at how much the characters were allowed to exist with agency. Apart from that, I will also talk about certain fan reception towards storylines about the sexuality of these women and how they were allowed to express their sexualities.

I do have to point out that a lot of discussion is from archival material, since these storylines all happened in 2012 and 2013. I have spent time tracking down old blog posts and articles written by fans, but many have been lost due to domain changes or due to the deactivation/changes of blogs. I am aware that it is a huge methodological fault to purely rely on my memories, but Glee has ended years ago and people who once actively participated in discussions surrounding these characters have moved on. The posts that I have found were either difficult to find or they’re recent and written after the show. Not all posts are in-depth analyses. Sometimes they’re memes, but they still express the opinions of fans.

Analysis of Glee

I will split this section in 3 parts. Each part is about a certain character.

Santana Lopez

Santana Lopez got introduced in season 1 episode 1 “Pilot” as a background character. During the first season, she was portrayed as a girl who had sex with every guy in school and she actively sought out this sexual attention. In season 2, things started to change for Santana when it comes to her sexuality. In season 2 episode 4 “Duets”, Brittany and Santana are seen making out for the first time. At first, it wasn’t supposed to be a real storyline, but Naya Rivera, who played Santana, advocated for this relationship to become real and not a throw-away thing (NayaMitchell, 2011).

This changed Santana’s character from a heterosexual man-hunter to a deeply closeted lesbian. Her relationships with men became a way for her to hide her sexuality and Santana had to deal with a lot of internalised homophobia. This followed her all throughout season 2. This change was seen as abrupt by certain people and as a result, some people felt like they couldn’t get emotionally invested in the relationship. Others were happy to see female sexuality become a topic, since beforehand, Glee mostly focused on male sexuality (Marwick, Gray, & Ananny, 2014).

           Season 3 showed Santana’s sexuality developing. In season 3 episode 4 “Pot O’ Gold”, Brittany and Santana decided to date, but Santana wanted to hide the relationship. Unfortunately for her, she got outed by Finn Hudson in season 3 episode 6 “Mash-Off”. The episode afterwards, “I Kissed A Girl”, dealt with the repercussions of the outing, but this episode was heavily scrutinised by fans and critics and even after the show ended, fans discussed how badly it was done (see Appendix for screenshots).

The episode tried to make Finn look like a hero by outing her and Santana even thanked him for it. Santana also sung the Katy Perry song I Kissed A Girl, which is a song that treats women kissing other women as a joke and a party activity for drunk straight women. Santana sung that song with a straight character named Rachel Berry, who appropriately sings the lyrics “I hope my boyfriend won’t mind it!”. Brittany barely spoke in this episode and Santana’s coming out to her parents got brushed off easily as something irrelevant that happened off-screen. A scene of Santana standing up for herself towards the other cheerleaders got cut and was only released after the end of the season (MrRPMurphyExclusive, 2012). Overall, Santana became a background character in her own coming out story, so that the narrative could focus on the straight boy who outed her (lesbianstana, 2018).

There is only one scene in the entire episode that focused on Santana, which is the heart wrenching scene where she comes out to her Abuelita. This scene is the only one where Santana gets to express her emotions to what has happened to her and this part is often regarded by fans as the only good part of the episode. There is a big reason why this scene stands out: it is written by a queer woman named Ali Adler, whereas the rest of the episode was written by a man named Michael Hodgson. Ali has written more media about queer women and she puts the narrative on them and their story. This scene focuses on Santana expressing and overcoming her struggles and not on Finn being the hero.

After this episode, Santana completely embraced her identity. For the remainder of the show, Santana was open about being a lesbian and she had relations with four other women and she ends up with Brittany. Santana’s confidence has helped a lot of young women feel comfortable with themselves, since it showed them that there is nothing wrong with liking other women. Her relationship with Brittany gave people hope (Marwick, Gray, & Ananny, 2014). This is especially true for women of colour, since not only did Glee show a confident lesbian, but also a confident lesbian of colour. Naya Rivera was aware of how Santana’s journey has impacted people and she said that she’s very proud of it (NayaMitchell, 2011).

Brittany S. Pierce

Brittany got introduced in season 1 episode 2 “Showmance” as a background character. She is also the dumb blonde with a lot of funny one-liners. Brittany is bisexual, but as a viewer, you never see or hear anything about her discovering her sexuality and coming out. She is the only of the 4 main queer character who does not have a storyline about sexuality and the struggles of coming out. Just like Santana, Brittany’s portrayed was very sexual in season 1, but she also mentions attraction towards women easily. This can be interpreted as a portrayal of a woman who’s very accepting of her own bisexuality, but it can also be interpreted as a thrown-away joke. It looks like Brittany’s comments about women are there to spark laughter.

In season 2, her attractions towards Artie, a boy, and Santana, a girl, becomes more fleshed out. In season 2 episode 18 “Born This Way”, she says that she thinks that she might be “bi-curious”. The word “bisexual” was barely used in the show and when it did, it was done in a very negative way[4]. Brittany referred to herself as “bi-curious” “a bicorn” (instead of a unicorn) and “bilingual” (not knowing what it actually meant)[5]. There is never a big revelation. The other characters in the show just know at one point that Brittany is bisexual.

           After Brittany and Santana break up in season 4 episode 4 “The Break-Up”, Brittany falls in love with a boy named Sam. This relationship was not very well-received by Brittana (Brittany and Santana) fans and it felt like they were made fun of in season 4 episode 9 “Swan Song”, when Brittany talks to Sam that she does not want to date him to prevent a group of angry lesbian bloggers to hate Sam and turn violent. This felt very invalidating towards the feelings of queer women who found strength in the Brittana relationship (see Appendix for screenshots).

This relationship led to some debate within the fan community about Glee’s representation of bisexuality. Another problem of the Bram (Brittany and Sam) vs. Brittana debate was the fact that Brittany was suddenly allowed to express her attraction towards Sam way more than to Santana. The Glee Equality Project (2012) made a chart of how Brittany was allowed to kiss boys within the first episode of dating them, or even before dating them, but Brittany and Santana only kissed after 9 episodes of dating and after a fan campaign advocated for a kiss. Glee showed a big double standard in Brittany’s bisexuality and this led to anger (see Appendix for screenshots).

As written above, Brittany and Santana end up together in the end. Even though Brittany was not seen struggling, it was meaningful to have a happy ending for her. Heather Morris, who played Brittany, talked about the impact after the show’s end and how the Brittana relationship eventually helped people (FlyingHippopotamiSpy, 2015). Just like with Santana, watching Brittany be confident and comfortable helped young women realise that there’s nothing wrong with liking girls, or liking girls and boys. Brittany’s happiness showed that her sexuality did not prevent her from having a happy ending, which impacted viewers.

Bonus: Quinn Fabray

Quinn Fabray was introduced in season 1 episode 1 “Pilot” as a main character. Quinn is straight. Fans disagreed. Many people noticed that there was chemistry between Quinn and Rachel and people started liking them as a couple. Faberry (Quinn and Rachel) was one of the most popular couples in the show even though the characters were straight in the text of the show. That is due to the fan reception and fan work surrounding Faberry. As of July 2020, Faberry is still the 3rd most popular couple on the fansite AO3 (Shipping, n.d.). Fans often advocated for the characters to at least not be straight and Dianna Agron famously said: “Quinn could always go gay” (breakmelove, 2011).

           During the show, there were little scenes[6] and pieces of dialogue[7] that indicated to Quinn not being straight, so that is why people latched more onto Quinn and not onto Rachel. That is why I’m only writing about Quinn in this paper. People believed that Quinn was heavily queer-coded. Queer-coding is “to be implicated as having or displaying stereotypes and behaviours that are associated (even if inaccurate) with homosexuality or queerness” (Kim, 2007, p. 157). It is often seen in a negative light, but more recently, queer-coding is also used to find positive subcultural codes in a text. That is what happened with Quinn.

In season 4 episode 14 “I Do”, Quinn gets drunk with Santana and the two of them have sex. When this got announced, fans were interested, since it seemed like they were finally going to acknowledge fans’ interpretation of Quinn. Yet, in the episode, it became clear that Quinn sleeping with Santana wasn’t out of attraction towards women, but more for experimentation. This led to disappointment and it also happens a lot that relationships between women are portrayed as not serious. This “heteroflexible” depiction makes women loving other women seem ‘bad’ and ‘guilty’ and ‘naughty’, basically like it’s a sneaky party trick to put more focus on the hot lesbian outcome (Jackson, & Gilbertson, 2009).

People also felt betrayed by the show. They felt like they’d been queerbaited, since the support for Quinn not being straight was already very apparent by this time. Queerbaiting is “a tactic whereby media producers suggest homoerotic subtext between characters in popular television that is never intended to be actualised on screen” (Brennan, 2018, p. 189). This has a negative connotation, since it feels like people are being lured in by false promises. Despite the negativity, there was also some positive news from women who liked to see it and found it enticing (Hogan, 2013) and still saw it as a sign that Quinn is not straight, despite her saying that this was just a one-time experiment. To this day, people still don’t believe that Quinn is straight (see Appendix for screenshots).

Discussion and conclusion

To answer the question “How does Glee allow an enjoyable queer viewing experience?”, I looked at the show and fan reception. The answer is that Glee allowed an enjoyable queer viewing experience when the characters had agency and happiness. The happiness led to a feeling of acceptance and belongingness for the viewers.

The stories surrounding the queer women in Glee have ups and downs. The flaws in the representation can be attributed to the fact that queer women weren’t a prominent part of the Glee crew. Yet, both Brittany and Santana have a happy ending: they’re alive, in love, and married. Fans seemed to enjoy the storylines when the characters have agency. When that agency gets removed (Santana’s outing not being about her, Brittany not being able to express her bisexuality without double standards), the storylines are not as well-received, since fans want to see the characters succeeding within the context and narrative of the show. Fans actively root for their happiness.

           An interesting finding is that not many fans reacted towards the fact that Brittana consists of two hot femme cheerleaders. This wasn’t expected, since a lot of writing on bad representation revolves around the focus on the male gaze. This unexpected finding can be due to the fact that the relationship was treated fairly and not as a joke. Brittana did start out as two hot girls making out for fun, but it grew into a developed relationship. Another explanation might be in the faulty methodology: maybe I just never saw existing criticism and I didn’t have the time to ask people about it.

           The representation of these characters have helped people and they also found a community, so the idea that subcultural media is correct. After all, fan’s interpretation of Quinn can show that subcultural codes are seen in media. Finding those codes also impact queer viewing of Glee. Even though it wasn’t always perfect, the characters have had a positive impact on representation for queer women. Especially for young people, Brittany and Santana were some of the first representation of teen female characters on mainstream television.

Afterword: in memory of Naya Rivera

This is not part of the paper, so you do not have to grade this and I don’t see it as part of the word count. This is just information that I think is important to share. Naya Rivera, the actress who played Santana, died on July 8th 2020 in Lake Piru in California. She was 33 years old. She drowned while saving her son’s life and her body was found on July 13th 2020. I am very sad about this news and I found it kind of hard to write this paper afterwards. I don’t believe in the afterlife or the whole “this person is looking down on you” stuff, but this was written in her memory and I hope I made her proud with this paper about her influence.

Even though it has been five years since Glee ended, many fans are very shocked and upset by this news. People, including celebrities who grew up with Glee, have shared stories of how much Santana meant to them and how Naya’s portrayal made them feel okay with themselves. Loads of (former) fans have expressed how much Santana’s portrayal has helped them with acceptance. Santana was not a perfect character, but she was a milestone for representation. Naya was not a perfect person, but she will forever be remembered for how much her sheer determination to handle Santana’s storyline respectfully has helped young women everywhere.

Naya Marie Rivera

* January 12th 1987 - † July 8th 2020

Cause I feel that when I'm with you It's all right I know it's right

~ Songbird Glee version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJUgLEtA-74

Bibliography

Avila-Saavedra, G. (2009). Nothing queer about queer television: televised construction of gaymasculinities. Media, Culture & Society, 31 (1), 5-21. doi:10.1177/0163443708098243

Barker, C. (2012). Cultural studies: Theory and practice (4th ed.). London: SAGE

breakmelove (2011, October 9). Dianna Agron Always Go Gay Same as Quinn Fabrey [video]. YouTube, Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bTmdLfpjvo

Brennan, J. (2018). Queerbaiting: The ‘playful’ possibilities of homoeroticism. International journal of cultural studies, 21(2), 189-206. doi:10.1177/1367877916631050

DeCeuninck, A., & Dhoest, A. (2016). I’m feeling some sapphic vibes comin’ off of you. Tijdschrift voor Genderstudies, 19(1), 7-27. doi:10.5117/TVGN2017.1.CE         

Dhaenens, F. (2013). Teenage queerness: Negotiating heteronormativity in the representation of gay teenagers in Glee. Journal of Youth Studies, 16(3), 304-317. doi:10.1080/13676261.2012.718435

Evans, C., & Gamman, L. (1995). The gaze revisited, or reviewing queer viewing. In P. Burston & C. Richardson (Eds.), A queer romance: Lesbians, gay men and popular culture, (p. 13-56). London and New York: Routledge

FlyingHippopotamiSpy (2015, March 25). PaleyFest2015 Glee Panel--The Glee cast discusses Klaine and Brittana [video]. YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3ZxY2RT_YY

GLAAD (2005/2020). Where we are on TV. Retrieved from https://www.glaad.org/whereweareontv19

Glee Wiki (n.d.). LGBT characters. Retrieved from https://glee.fandom.com/wiki/Category:LGBT_Characters

Gokcem, S. (2012). Transperance me I want to be visible: Gay gaze in Tom Ford’s film A single man. Cinej Cinema Journal, 1(2), 86-91. doi:10.5195/cinej.2012.46

Hogan, H. (2013). Is “Glee” going there with Quinn and Santana? Retrieved from https://www.afterellen.com/tv/105301-is-glee-going-there-with-quinn-and-santana

Huq, R. (2006) Beyond subcutlure: Pop, youth and identity in a postcolonial world. New York: Routledge

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Kidd, D. (2014). Not that there’s anything wrong with that: Sexuality perspectives. In D. Kidd, (Eds.), Pop culture freaks: Identity, mass media, and society (pp. 142 – 177). New York: Routledge

Kim, K. (2007). Queer-coded villains (And why you should care). In T. Budd & L. Dexheimer, (Eds.), Dialogues@RU, (p. 156-165). USA.

lesbiansantana (2018, May 23). Anonymous asked: Can you break down all the problems with I Kissed a Girl? I'm genuinely curious. [Tumblr post]. Retrieved from https://lesbiansantana.tumblr.com/post/174189446619/can-you-break-down-all-the-problems-with-i-kissed

Marwick, A., Gray, M. L., & Ananny, M. (2014). “Dolphins are just gay sharks”: Glee and the queer case of transmedia as text and object. Television & New Media, 15(7), 627–647. doi:10.1177/1527476413478493

McAdams, D. P., & McLean, K. C. (2013). Narrative Identity. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 22(3), 233–238. doi:10.1177/0963721413475622

MrRPMurphyExclusive (2012, August 12). The Santana “Coming Out Scene” [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpjZZx5F8JI

Mulvey, L. (1989). Visual pleasure and narrative cinema. In L. Muvley (Eds.), Visual and other pleasures (pp. 14-26). London: Palgrave Macmillan

Murdock, G. & McCron, R. (1976) 'Consciousness of class and consciousness of generation'. In S. Hall & T. Jefferson (Eds.), Resistance through rituals: Youth subcultures in post-war Britain. London: HarperCollins.

NayaMitchell (2011). Naya Rivera Talks Lesbian Storyline, Fans, Guest Stars, Graduation on Glee [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGRPTMKZa90

Queer (n.d.). In Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary. Retrieved from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/queer

Shipping Wiki (n.d.). Glee. Retrieved from https://shipping.fandom.com/wiki/Glee

Smith, A. (2018, August 10). 'Oral sex – and no scissoring!' How the lesbian gaze changed cinema. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/aug/10/oral-sex-and-no-scissoring-how-the-lesbian-gaze-changed-cinema

Snider, C. (2008). Queer persona and the gay gaze in Brokeback Mountain: Story and film. Psychological Perspectives, 51(1), 54-69. doi:10.1080/00332920802031888

The Glee Equality Project (2012, December 6). Reaction post 409 “Swan Song” [Tumblr post]. Retrieved from https://glee-equality-project.tumblr.com/post/37381267319/reaction-post-409-swan-song-in-this-episode

Appendix

Santana’s outing

keepholdingontoachele (2011). Just noticed the “Here’s what you missed on Glee” voiceover saying that. [Tumblr post]. Retrieved from https://keepholdingontoachele.tumblr.com/post/13547911507/just-noticed-the-heres-what-you-missed-on-glee

justanarchiveinabigklainefandom (2011). Santana coming out. [Tumblr post]. Retrieved from https://justanarchiveinabigklainefandom.tumblr.com/post/13783395882/nayasexual-tenacitysuperbrains-it-wasnt-a

thelesbianladydi (2017, May 28). It has been 2008 days since…. [Tumblr post]. Retrieved from https://thelesbianladydi.tumblr.com/post/161161858089/it-has-been-2008-days-since-santana-lopez-was

lesbiansantana (2018, May 23). Anonymous asked: Can you break down all the problems with I Kissed a Girl? I'm genuinely curious. [Tumblr post]. Retrieved from https://lesbiansantana.tumblr.com/post/174189446619/can-you-break-down-all-the-problems-with-i-kissed

(see link for the full 9 reasons that led to this summary)

 Brittany’s bisexuality

proudlyunicorn (2012, December 6). Brittany and Bisexual Representation: A Gleenalysis. [Tumblr post]. Retrieved from https://proudlyunicorn.tumblr.com/post/37353682285/brittany-and-bisexual-representation-a

glowinthedarkparades (2012, December 6). Can someone please explain…. [Tumblr post]. Retrieved from https://glowinthedarkparades.tumblr.com/post/37318713323/hummelsmytheanderson-can-someone-please

glowinthedarkparades (2012, December 5). Why is the Brittana fandom going apeshit? What’s happened? [Tumblr post]. Retrieved from https://glowinthedarkparades.tumblr.com/post/37292738950/why-is-the-brittana-fandom-going-apeshit-whats

iheartbrittana (2012). “… All the dreams …. [Tumblr post]. Retrieved from https://iheartbrittana.tumblr.com/post/37241910228/all-the-dreams-we-had-for-brittana-as-a-couple

The Glee Equality Project (2012, December 6). Reaction post 409 “Swan Song” [Tumblr post]. Retrieved from https://glee-equality-project.tumblr.com/post/37381267319/reaction-post-409-swan-song-in-this-episode

gleerant (2012). Bram, Brittana, and issues of visibility. [Tumblr post]. Retrieved from https://gleerant.tumblr.com/post/36943266496/bram-brittana-and-issues-of-visibility

(full post is too long to screenshot)

 Quinn’s queercoding/queerbaiting

diannaaagron (2020, July 5). The world if glee writers made quinn fabray a lesbian. [meme]. Retrieved from https://diannaaagron.tumblr.com/post/622846421520023552

blaineanderdumbass (2020, June 9). Can you believe quinn…. [Tumblr post]. Retrieved from https://blaineanderdumbass.tumblr.com/post/620457887277498368/can-u-believe-quinn-was-meant-to-be-str-i

justasmallbloginabigklainefandom (2020). Me, in 2020: …. [Tumblr post]. Retrieved from https://justasmallbloginabigklainefandom.tumblr.com/post/617643961118507008/me-in-2020-anyway-lucy-quinn-fabray-was-not

justasmallbloginabigklainefandom (2020). Quinn fabray: *exists* …. [Tumblr post]. Retrieved from https://justasmallbloginabigklainefandom.tumblr.com/post/617643867261550592/quinn-fabray-exists-me-there-is-no

inimitabler (2018, Feb 3). You know what bothers me the most about faberry?. [Tumblr post]. Retrieved from https://inimitabler.tumblr.com/post/170475507292/you-know-what-bothers-me-the-most-about-faberry

diannaagrn (2020). #it’s her she’s gay. [Tumblr photoset]. Retrieved from https://diannaagrn.tumblr.com/post/614675450454736896/its-her-shes-gay

Footnotes

[1] 1x19 “Dream On”; 2x10 “A Very Glee Christmas”; 3x11 “Michael”, 4x10 “Glee, Actually”; 6x06 “What The World Needs Now”. Kevin McHale, the actor who plays Artie, is abled and a trained dancer. The role for Artie was not written as a wheelchair using character.

[2] 2x16 “Original Song”; 3x05 “The First Time”; 3x13 “Heart”

[3] Too many episodes to source.

[4] 2x14 “Blame It On The Alcohol”; 5x02 “Tina In The Sky With Diamonds”

[5] 2x18 “Born This Way”; 3x02 “I Am Unicorn”; 3x12 “The Spanish Teacher”

[6] 1x15 “The Power of Madonna”, 3x14 “On My Way”, 3x15 “Big Brother”

[7] 3x13 “Heart”, 3x14 “On My Way”

[overthinkingkdrama]

Jona’s Top 10 Dramas of 2019

A couple words about how I do these lists. Firstly, I only count as “2019 dramas” shows that finished airing in 2019, therefore dramas that started airing in 2018 but finished in the early months of 2019 have been included in my process, but dramas that are currently airing and will finish in 2020 have not been included. Secondly, this list is more based on my subjective experience with each of these dramas than my objective assessment on things like acting, writing and production values, though naturally I take the latter into account when forming my opinions.

Also: Yay! This year I managed to write a full review on every drama that wound up in my top ten, so feel free to click the link on each title and check those out if you want to read my detailed thoughts.

10. Hotel Del Luna

I have a somewhat Stockholm Syndrome-y relationship with Hong Sisters dramas. Though a lot of them are not excellent, or stumble a bit in the execution, I can’t seem to stop watching them. And yes, I’ve seen them all. Something about their particular blend of fantasy, romance and camp just works for me. I do think Hotel Del Luna plays to their strengths. Somewhat like if they got to take a second run at Master’s Sun but with their dream budget, and it’s just fun. This drama is gorgeous to look at. However, it is Lee Ji Eun, aka IU, who carries the entire drama on her lovely shoulders with her mesmerizing presence as Jang Man Wol.

Bottom Line: It shouldn’t be this way, but it’s so rare to get a mainstream drama where the female lead is allowed to be truly dark and flawed, or for a drama to fully focus on its heroine’s journey through the whole run.

9. Encounter

I was somewhat disappointed by the ending of this drama, and I think that might have made me unduly harsh when I looked back at it earlier in the year. However, I got the chance to rewatch episodes with a friend and was reminded of the soft, romantic escapism of this drama. Ultimately that’s the reason this ended up in the list. I like that it plays the rich woman/poor man, noona-romance tropes entirely straight and I liked the quixotic fairy tale it was unapologetically trying to sell me. Park Bo Gum and Song Hye Gyo are a noona-romance dream team up that I’m glad I got to see at least once in my lifetime.

Bottom Line: If you don’t like your dramas slow-paced and highly sentimental then this might not be the show for you, but I can appreciate a drama that knows exactly what kind of show it is and tries to do one thing well.

8. The Light in Your Eyes

If there’s any common theme to these favorites lists in previous years, it’s that they usually include dramas that took me by surprise and did something I haven’t seen before. The Light In Your Eyes fits that description so well, not just because of oddly dark tone or the quirky premise it presents in the first episodes, but because it’s a drama dedicated to showcasing the talents of the veteran actress, Kim Hye Ja, with whom the lead character shares a name. Of the dramas on the list this one made me cry the hardest.

Bottom Line: The Light In Your Eyes is a drama that has a greater emotional coherence than it does logical sense. In fact, if you think about the plot too hard it falls apart entirely. But it feels true, and that’s why it hit me so hard.

7. Search WWW

In my review I called Search a “female power fantasy” and I still think that’s a good description. It’s also sexy romantic fantasy, twice a noona romance, and a corporate drama focused on the very contemporary issues of powerful search engine companies and how they affect the information we see and the way we view the world. I think any of those is an interesting enough angle to make a drama about, maybe several dramas. If this show has one major flaw, it might be trying to wear too many hats at once. But I salute the creators for trying to make us something different than the typical pretty boy chaebol story, and giving us not one but three female characters filling those typically male roles.

Bottom Line: I do believe this drama deserves more love and respect than it got from a fandom that at least in theory cares about women’s stories. But I also understand why a lot of people didn’t connect with the lead character or the business stuff. But for me there was something about the lead couple that rang true and resonated with me.

6. WATCHER

Every time I watch a thriller, I’m hoping for something like WATCHER. Something with deep, complex, gray characters and a story full of twists and turns that keeps me engaged and guessing from episode one until the finale. Add on top of that a powerful cast who can really do justice to these substantial characters, you’ve got a winning recipe. OCN produces a lot of dramas in this genre, and they seem to be more prone to produce sequels than most other networks. Unfortunately, that also means a lot of the dramas they make feel paint-by-numbers and empty on the inside. WATCHER is one of those shows that reminds me why I keep coming back to this network and this kind of story time and again.

Bottom Line: This is one of those dramas that has you second guessing yourself even when they come right out and give you the answer, keeping you in a perpetual state of distrust along with the characters. But it’s built on the strong backbone of complicated and dynamic character relationships, which is why it is one of this year’s best.

5. Be Melodramatic

The higher I get up this list the harder time I have boiling down my thoughts on these dramas to one pithy paragraph. Often even I don’t know what kind of dramas are going to steal my heart. I have a particular weakness for dramas that can make me both laugh and cry, and then laugh through the tears. Dramas like Go Back Couple and Matrimonial Chaos that have deep heartache folded into the shenanigans. I love a funny drama. I like to laugh, but that doesn’t count for much unless I really care about the characters and their lives at the end of the day. That’s what makes me go from liking a drama to loving it, and that’s ultimately what I’m going to remember about a drama when it’s over. Be Melodramatic is special for the way it deals with heavy subjects in a gentle and lighthearted way, and somehow without losing the emotional impact.

Bottom Line: Be Melodramatic is a drama with tongue firmly planted in cheek, lots of laughs, lots of clever dialogue as well as a meta look at the drama industry from the inside, but the reason it works so well is the vein of heart, love and loss that runs all through the story.

4. One Spring Night

It’s so gratifying when a drama delivers exactly the experience you hoped it would. One Spring Night was a drama that ended up on my radar on the strength of the previews and posters, which promised me understated, romantic slice-of-life. I’d really enjoyed Han Ji Min in The Light in Your Eyes and have been fond of Jung Hae In since While You Were Sleeping. The pairing immediately seemed to have potential, but because the drama was picked up by Netflix, in the US I had to wait until it finished airing before I could give it a shot. A lot of the time when that happens, I see enough of the drama through gifs and screencaps that my interest fades. In this case I was only more intrigued. I’ve still never watched Something In The Rain but watching this drama has made me consider that might have been an oversight on my part. And yet I worry that if I watched it now I wouldn’t be able to help unfavorably comparing it to One Spring Night. This drama is truly something special.

Bottom Line: Because of the restrained, faithful realism of this drama and the two leads who seamlessly embody their characters, this drama has the almost voyeuristic quality of peeking into something intimate and private. It’s a palpable and thoroughly involving love story.

3. Nokdu Flower

I can hardly recommend this underrated gem of a show enough. I know nearly every historical gets compared either favorably or otherwise to Six Flying Dragons, which is kind of the recent high-water mark of sageuks, and I’m going to do that again here because Nokdu Flower is really the first historical drama I’ve watched since SFD that is at the same level of quality. One thing that sticks out about my experience watching both dramas is getting actual shivers watching these charismatic leaders rally their followers around them, and understanding at least in some small part why someone would leave behind everything they knew, pick up arms, and risk their lives for an ideal. Nokdu Flower captures the fearful power of revolutionary ideas in the hands of common people, but doesn’t descend into mere jingoism or sand off the rough edges or try to white wash the dark parts of human nature while it’s at it.

Bottom Line: At its most basic level Nokdu Flower is a story of revolution, and one of flawed characters either finding their humanity or having it burned out of them in the crucible of war. As that description would suggest it’s not an easy watch, but it’s a good and worthwhile one and definitely one any sageuk fan should check out.

2. My Country: The New Age

Compared to the far more traditional and grounded Nokdu Flower, My Country is almost fantastical in tone and at times eschews logic and realism for set pieces, sword fights and close range shotgun blasts of pathos. That’s probably why I love it. The larger-than-life sensationalism of this drama is what pushes it higher on this list than the carefully crafted Nokdu Flower, because this drama appealed to me on a more primal way. It’s so unrestrained and epic in everything from the set design, the soundtrack, the cinematography to the characters themselves and the performances of the actors playing them. Lurid, melodramatic, passionate, intense, suspenseful, romantic, raw, angsty, dark...I’ve basically run out of new adjectives to use while describing this drama elsewhere on this site. Basically, My Country is my id on a plate. Bon appetit.

Bottom Line: While there are definitely misguided and flawed elements to the writing and execution in this drama, somehow all of that is swept away in the sheer pleasure of watching it. If it had been specifically designed to appeal to every narrative kink I have, they couldn’t have made a more perfect drama for my tastes.

1. Children of Nobody

I finished my favorite drama of 2019 back in January, and then got to wait around 11 and a half months to see if anything else I watched last year would knock Children of Nobody from the top spot. It’s a mixed blessing to peak that early in the year. On the one hand, there was nowhere to go but down from here. On the other, I’ve had a lot of time to digest this very heavy show, which is something I definitely needed. I mentioned in my original review of this drama that each of the characters is an iceberg, so much more going on beneath the surface than what we can see. And what I’ve realized over the course of the past year is that the whole drama is like that, in a way. It’s an iceberg of a story, and I was able to pour a lot of myself into it, to try to understand it, and that’s part of the reason it was such an emotional watch for me. I don’t know when or if I’m going to be able to rewatch Children of Nobody, but I hope I can do it some day because I feel certain I would appreciate it even more upon a second viewing.  The fact that this is a murder mystery and a thriller is almost incidental to the emotional core of the story, which is deeper and more lingering than that. The secrets, once revealed, do not diminish the story but only turn it slightly so that you can see it from a different angle.

Bottom Line: This drama is certainly not going to be for everyone. I don’t know if I would say it was underrated so much as it’s niche. The difficult subject matter is naturally going to narrow its appeal. But I do think that dramas that require the most from me, mentally and emotionally, are often the ones that stick with me the longest and make me bend and grow as a person.

I sure hope you’ve enjoyed my top 10 list this year and I wish you joy, success and profound wellbeing in 2020. Thank you again--and thank you always--for following me. I’ve got great things planned for us this year.

Jona

[astudyinfreewill]

tbh i get queer fans being mad/sad about kavinsky being killed off in that yeah, bury your guys can always be upsetting no matter the character. but it's weird to me when people go the 'he didn't DESERVE it blah blah' route because like, that has nothing to do with the trope. like i agree with queer characters always getting killed off being exhausting, but i don't get people going hard for this particular character lmao

hmm i… sort of agree. i guess i can understand fans being sad about kavinsky being killed off if they empathise with him, even though personally i just… can’t imagine relating to a character like that. but i honestly, genuinely don’t believe he’s an example of Bury Your Gays. it would be BYG if kavinsky was the only queer rep in the books, or even he killed himself specifically for being gay… which, no matter what people argue, he didn’t. but rather than give my opinion on it, i’m gonna take this chance to go through the trope systematically and explain why the shoe doesn’t fit. it’s meta time!

Why Kavinsky Dying is Not “Bury Your Gays”

[All quotes are taken directly from TvTropes, though the emphasis is mine.]

The Bury Your Gays trope in media, including all its variants, is a homophobic cliché. It is the presentation of deaths of LGBT characters where these characters are nominally able to be viewed as more expendable than their heteronormative counterparts. In this way, the death is treated as exceptional in its circumstances. In aggregate, queer characters are more likely to die than straight characters. Indeed, it may be because they seem to have less purpose compared to straight characters, or that the supposed natural conclusion of their story is an early death.

Kavinsky is never viewed as “more expendable than his heteronormative counterparts”. If you see Kavinsky as simply Ronan’s foil, then the reasoning doesn’t apply, because Ronan is gay himself, so he can’t be a “heteronormative counterpart”. However, Kavinsky apologists like to latch on to Gansey’s “We matter” quote to prove Kavinsky is treated as unimportant – but that’s a fallacy for several reasons. First, you’re taking Gansey to speak for the author, or for objective truth, when Gansey is one of the most unreliable narrators in the book, and his world view is extremely biased. Secondly, Gansey isn’t Kavinsky’s counterpart. Kavinsky is an antagonist, so you have to look at what happens to the other antagonists – his actual heteronormative counterparts. And, well: they pretty much ALL get killed off. Not just that, but they often get killed off in a way that does not have the emotional/narrative impact implied in Kavinsky’s death. By that reckoning, he gets the better shake. Additionally, we get 4 heteronormative villains killed off - Whelk, Neeve, Colin, and Piper. So in the series, queer characters are not more likely to die than straight characters (even among the protagonists, Gansey and Noah are the ones who “die”, where Ronan and Adam do not).

The reasons for this trope have evolved somewhat over the years. For a good while, it was because the Depraved Homosexual trope and its ilk pretty much limited portrayals of explicitly gay characters to villainous characters, or at least characters who weren’t given much respect by the narrative. This, conversely, meant that most of them would either die or be punished by the end. 

This is not applicable to TRC, as portrayals of explicitly queer characters are not limited to villainous characters; Adam and Ronan are both explicitly queer and they are treated with huge amounts of respect by the narrative. So Kavinsky isn’t being killed for being the odd one out/the Token Evil Queer; plus, there are other reasons why he doesn’t fit the Depraved Homosexual trope (while sexual molestation is a part of this trope, TVTropes encourages you to “think of whether he’d be any different if he wasn’t gay” – and Kavinsky wouldn’t. Not only because DHs are usually extremely camp while Kavinsky’s mannerisms aren’t particularly queer-coded, but also because he is not shown to have any more respect for women than he does for men, and his abuse would look the same if he was straight).

However, as sensitivity to gay people became more mainstream, this evolved into a sort of Rule-Abiding Rebel “love the sinner, hate the sin” attitude. You could have sympathetic queer characters, but they would still usually be “punished” for their queerness in some way so as to not anger more homophobic audiences, similar to how one might write a sympathetic drug addict but still show their addiction in a poor light. 

Again: Neither Ronan nor Adam – the two sympathetic queer characters – are punished for being queer, hence subverting this form of the trope.

This then transitioned into the Too Good for This Sinful Earth narrative, where stories would tackle the subject of homophobia and then depict LGBT characters as suffering victims who die tragic deaths from an uncaring world. The AIDS crisis also contributed to this narrative, as the Tragic AIDS Story became its own archetype, popularized by films like Philadelphia. 

Okay, this is DEFINITELY not Kavinsky’s case. Kavinsky’s death isn’t specifically connected to being gay (e.g.: a hate crime or an STD), and he’s never depicted as some innocent suffering victim. As for the “uncaring world”… eh. Kavinsky may not have a valid support system, but that’s just as much by choice as by chance - and when Ronan extends a helping hand and tries to save him, Kavinsky rejects it. Too Good For This Sinful Earth is definitely not in play. 

The only trope that kind of fits the bill is Gayngst-Induced Suicide… but only on the surface. As TVTrope puts it, Gayngst-Induced Suicide is “when LGBT characters are Driven to Suicide because of their sexuality, either because of internalized homophobia (hating themselves) or experiencing a miserable life because of their “deviant” gender or sexuality: having to hide who they are, not finding a stable relationship, homophobia from other parties, etc.”. Kavinsky certainly has quite a bit of internalized homophobia, but he is absolutely not experiencing a miserable life because of his sexuality – i.e. he’s not being bullied or taunted or subejcted to hate crimes. He doesn’t have to hide who he is: his parents are effectively out of the picture, his cronies worship him, and he constantly makes gay jokes to Ronan and Gansey. As for “not finding a stable relationship”… well that’s not exactly the problem, is it. He’s not looking for a stable relationship – he’s pursuing Ronan specifically, obsessively, through stalking and abuse. So even this trope is not applicable. 

And then there are the cases of But Not Too Gay or the Bait-and-Switch Lesbians, where creators manage to get the romance going but quickly avoid showing it in detail by killing off one of the relevant characters. 

Once again this is not the case with Kavinsky, as 1) there was no romance going between him and Ronan, and 2) he is not killed off before the nature of his obsession with Ronan is revealed – he gets the chance to both admit (sort of) he wants Ronan, and to confront Ronan about his sexuality, to which Ronan admits that yes, he is gay, but he is not interested in Kavinsky. So, there is no But Not Too Gay nor any Bait-and-Switch here. 

Also known as Dead Lesbian Syndrome, though that name has largely fallen out of use post-2015 and the media riots about overuse of the trope. And, as this public outcry restated, the problem isn’t merely that gay characters are killed off: the problem is the tendency that gay characters are killed off in a story full of mostly straight characters, or when the characters are killed off because they are gay.

This is a very good definition of the trope and why it doesn’t apply to Kavinsky: he’s not killed off because he’s gay, and he’s not killed off in a story full of mostly straight characters; TRC is definitely not overwhelmingly diverse, but 2 of the 4 protagonists are queer, giving us a solid 50% ratio (I’m not counting Noah because his “character” status is vague, and I’m not counting Henry because he came in so late, and also because his sexuality is the matter of much speculation).

For a comparison that will make it even clearer: take a show like Supernatural. Supernatural’s range of characters is almost entirely presented as straight white cis men (as of canon – despite much of the fandom’s hopes and speculation). They’ve had problems with diversity in general, with a lot of black characters dying immediately, and a lot of women getting fridged for plot advancement or male angst (a different problematic trope altogether). Now, apart from minor inconsequential cameos, Supernatural had ONE recurring gay character: Charlie Bradbury. And they killed her off for no discernible reason other than plot advancement and male angst, in a context that had elements of Too Good For This Sinful Earth (Charlie being a fan-favourite, ~pure cinnamon roll~, being killed by actual nazis, who historically targeted gay people). See, THAT was Bury Your Gays, AND Dead Lesbian Syndrome, AND Fridging…

However, sometimes gay characters die in fiction because, well, sometimes people die. There are many Anyone Can Die stories: barring explicit differences in the treatments of the gay and straight deaths in these, it’s not odd that the gay characters are dying. The occasional death of one in a Cast Full of Gay is unlikely to be notable, either.

…But that is not the case with TRC. As I’ve said above, there are no explicit differences in the treatments of the gay and straight villain deaths. Kavinsky’s death is not Bury Your Gays; it’s Anyone Can Die – even a protagonist’s foil who has magic powers and is present for most of the book.

Believe me, I would not be cavalier about this. As you rightly said, queer characters always getting killed off is exhausting, and as a bi woman myself, I am deeply affected by instances of Bury Your Gays. When Supernatural killed off Charlie, I wrote a novel-length fix-it fic and basically stopped watching the show – a show I had been following, flaws and all, for 10 years. I don’t take it lightly. But Kavinsky’s death isn’t Bury Your Gays, nor is it homophobia. Sometimes, a character death is just a character death.

[sometimesrosy]

Do you think if we take a step back we can view what happened w/the recent SW movie thru the lens of creative growing pains for Hollywood as they attempt to have better rep & inclusion? I haven’t been tracking this issue & don’t know if I have the life experience/perspective to say it’s true. But I am a member of the queer community, so I have seen that in attempt to have more rep on screen (which is progress), it seems normal that not everyone will do a good job & there’ll be a learning curve.

Obviously that doesn’t mean we don’t call creators out when they do something wrong! But for me even w/the SW movie ending bad I still see progress there. They’re changing the picture of who we see on screen. Who is important & explored in depth & fleshed out. They’re just bumbling the narratives & stories. Which makes sense if they’re not used to telling those stories. I think the right people being on screen is the 1st step. And/Or getting the right rep in storytellers behind the scenes.

Actually maybe getting the right storytellers bts is actually the key to what will take this move toward better rep and inclusion to the next level. Don’t get me wrong, like you I believe creators can tell thoughtful, nuanced stories about issues they haven’t experienced or communities they’re not a part of. But if they don’t have any of those people on their teams on in their ears, I think they’re taking a big risk and doing a disservice to themselves and the stories they want to tell.

+++

This is, I think, a very insightful question and something to look at. To be honest, it’s such a big question with so much IN it that I’m having trouble answering.

I think you’re right. That the current wave of “diverse” content, created mostly by white men, lets be honest, is problematic. And there are reasons for it being problematic... mainly telling a story that represents diversity when your life is... not diverse, is, well, really hard. And to get to that point where you can tell that story without falling to stereotypes and harmful tropes or cardboard characters is a process.

You can’t tell that story without doing a lot of work and really examining your view point. And ok, it’s not that ALL white men can’t tell these stories. Or that “diverse” creators (lgbt, poc, jewish, disabled or otherwise minority) are telling stories that AREN’T problematic. The truth is we live in a racist, homophobic, heteronormative, christian, ablist society. And it takes a lot of active work to rub off those layers of inherent bias. 

I HAVE been watching this happen for a long time. And there has definitely been improvement in both representation of minorities in the media and people BEHIND the scenes. 

I do think the key to improving representation in the media is to allow us to tell our own stories. Like for instance, while it’s not perfect, if we look at Witcher in comparison to Game of Thrones, you can TELL this is a story told by a woman. The writer of the book is male, but this version has a feminine voice. The way women are perceived. The way men are presented. Things that are valued. 

Or like Ava DuVernay. A black director of A Wrinkle in Time, written by a white woman. You can tell that the voice in this story, is a WOC, and it’s NOT just because Meg Murray is portrayed by a black girl. It’s because the story sees black people as part of the human experience, rather than just an addition for flava and ratings. 

Diversity makes the diverse people the subject of the story, rather than characters who are objectified as exotic poc of the day, or tragic lgbt movie of the week, or a terrible thing that must be magically cured because disabled people can’t be heroic. :/

I honestly don’t have the answer to this, except to keep telling our own stories, and to value the voices of traditionally underrepresented people.

I think that having white men, first, start writing us into their stories is a first step. It’s like we didn’t exist before?  At first we get to be cautionary tales, like the old fashioned “tragic mulatto” where the beautiful passing part black girl is doomed by the stain of her heritage and ends up dying. We don’t really do that anymore. But we do see Bury Your Gays and the Dead Lesbian Syndrome, don’t we? Like maybe before we get to exist as “real” people, we have to show up as tragic, sad tales of how hard it is to be us. :/ 

Sometimes we get sick of all the stories about minorities being about how hard it is to be minority, and the terrible suffering we go through yadda yadda yadda. Ghettos and immigration and poverty and harassment. But you know what? 

When we tell our stories, we find out they aren’t just about tragedy but about the full spectrum of human experience. Love AND heartbreak. Joy AND suffering. Struggle AND success. 

I think also we’re entering a time when there’s some backlash from people getting to tell our own stories, and speaking up about how we are excluded. But maybe people who don’t really believe that our stories are worthy are still into, you know, killing us off in chains, or at the hands of our abusers or reducing our characters to grinning cartoons, or magically making our disabilities go away? And we start to complain? 

Have you seen what’s happening with the Romance Writers of America? A writer’s organization that banned a half Chinese woman for complaining about racism in a woman’s novel? Yeah. THEY IMPLODED in the last two weeks. I watched it go down, because I follow the woman who was banned on twitter National news. They wanted her silenced. They said she was bullying when she questioned racism. Wow. It was. Wow. 

They were working within the organization to make it more equitable and some people within the organization resisted. Because, you see, if we allow POC and LGBT folk and other minorities to tell their stories, we’re questioning the default humanity of straight white christian men. The closer you are to that center, the more social and political power you get, and having people ACTIVELY start telling non-white stories is threatening to the white men and Nice White Ladies because it takes away their dominance of what it means to be human. 

There is bound to be backlash. And in a way, I think we’re deep into that backlash now. They’re starting to fight dirty. And what they’re doing is also obvious to a whole lot of us, because we see it now, where we didn’t before. When there was one Wonder Woman and we were glad to get her and we didn’t complain about her wearing high heels and a swimsuit. 

Did I answer any questions? I don’t have answers. But this is very important to consider. Keep asking the questions. 

[calzona-ga]

Timely stories, inspiring legions of medical students and empowering women (and its cast): showrunner Krista Vernoff and star Ellen Pompeo and the rest of the cast talk with The Hollywood Reporter about breaking 'ER's' record as TV's longest-running medical drama.

Two weeks before Grey's Anatomy's March 2005 series debut, series star Ellen Pompeo thought her ABC medical drama was, in her words, "dead in the water."

"The day the network changed our title to Complications it was like someone died in here," leading lady Pompeo tells The Hollywood Reporter from the show's L.A. set during an early January visit.

The title change would not stick. Two days later, ABC would revert back to Grey's Anatomy and, now, 14 years and 332 episodes later, Grey's Anatomy, with Thursday's installment, will break ER's status as TV's longest-running primetime medical drama.

It's a feat that creator Shonda Rhimes and showrunner Krista Vernoff, who spent the first seven seasons working under the former, never expected during the show's early days.

"After we produced 10 of our 12 episodes that first year, I went away to make a pilot and my assistant stayed behind in L.A. and she called me and said, 'They're making us pack up our offices.' They made us move out. They didn't think we were getting a season two," says Vernoff, who worked with former ER showrunner John Wells on Showtime's Shameless before being hand-picked by Rhimes to take over Grey's in season 14. "We owe a huge debt of gratitude to ER — without it, Grey's wouldn't exist. … We have surprised everybody — and ourselves. The staying power is amazing."

And the Seattle-set drama really does have some staying power. Seriously. It ranks as ABC's No. 1 series for the 2018-19 broadcast season with an impressive average of a 3.1 rating among the advertiser-coveted adults 18-49 demographic. Grey's is also, sources say, one of Netflix's top performing acquired series. The streamer has helped bring in a new legion of viewers that further propels first-run originals on ABC. What's more, Grey's has global reach: It is the key asset among all the Shondaland shows that have been licensed in more than 235 territories worldwide and dubbed in more than 67 languages. Grey's remains a top performer for foreign broadcasters and has been adapted into localized versions in Mexico, Colombia and Turkey. The series remains a top-performing U.S. drama abroad.

"It's a $4 billion business and it's everywhere in the world," says Pompeo, who ranks as TV's highest-paid leading lady on a primetime drama series with $20 million per season (plus points of the show's lucrative back end and producing fees). Adds Vernoff: "Shonda says I'm leading a multibillion-dollar worldwide corporation but if I think about that for too long, I won't be able to get out of bed!"

Global Reach Every single one of the current 11 Grey's series regulars has a story about the impact of their show. Most of them include anecdotes from viewers — and their children — about entering the medical field and becoming surgeons and nurses because of Grey's. "Graduating female surgeons have gone through the roof since Grey's Anatomy started," says Caterina Scorsone, who is the only (primetime, live-action) actor to start on a spinoff as series regular and wind up holding the same status on the original series.

Kevin McKidd — who was originally cast as a love interest for Sandra Oh's Cristina Yang and has now appeared in more Grey's episodes than the Killing Eve star did during her tenure — was recognized a few years ago on a dirt road in the "middle of nowhere in Mozambique," where he was helping a doctor friend improve conditions at a local hospital. "To see that in the farthest reaches of a very poor and struggling country there was this show that inspires people was pretty emotional," he says.

TV legend Debbie Allen, who exec produces, directs and has a recurring role, says she's now approached more about her time on Grey's than her iconic part on Fame. "I was in Cuba and accosted by these young girls who were screaming, 'Katherine Avery!'" she says with a laugh.

Giacomo Gianniotti, who has been a regular since season 12, is now repeatedly spotted in his home of Italy. "Because I'm Italian, there's this pride — like one of us made it to America and made it on our show that we watch," he says. "I traveled to Kenya doing some volunteer work this summer and a lot of people approached me to say they love Grey's. The reach is just huge."

Sums up Pompeo, who had an impact off-screen when she fought for her record-breaking salary: "Everywhere I go I get, 'My daughter is a surgeon because of you.'"

Empowering From the Start Grey's was the first TV series creator Rhimes got on the air. (ABC previously passed on a Rhimes drama about female war correspondents). Grey's broke out in season two and became a cultural phenomenon, contributing terms like "vajayjay" and "McDreamy" to pop culture. Grey's has also birthed two spinoffs — Private Practice, which ran for six seasons and 111 episodes — and Station 19, which is currently in its second season on ABC. The success of Grey's has led to other opportunities for Rhimes, who really broke out with ABC's political soap Scandal. That series built on Rhimes' penchant for color blind casting on Grey's. (Former star Isaiah Washington nearly played the McDreamy part that went to Patrick Dempsey, while network execs expected Oh's role of Cristina to be played by a white actress.)

"When they had me come in to read for the role of chief of surgery, I hadn't seen an African-American in that kind of role before," says James Pickens Jr., who remembers sitting next to Rhimes at the 2005 upfronts when she hoped to get five or seven episodes on the air. "Grey's is more than just entertainment. Shonda always wanted to make sure that the show impacted the landscape in a way that we hadn't seen before on TV. I like to think that Grey's had a big part in how the industry casts shows."

In addition to Rhimes' breakout success — she left her longtime home at ABC Studios last year for a $300 million Netflix overall deal — the cast has also been able to add to their skillsets. Grey's has launched directing careers for stars including showrunner Vernoff, Pompeo (who made her debut in season 14), Jesse Williams, McKidd and Wilson, the latter of whom helmed Thursday's record-breaking hour. (Former star Sarah Drew also earned an Emmy nomination last year for directing a Grey's digital short.)

"The atmosphere here is if you want to try something, you're encouraged," says Wilson, who along with Pompeo, Justin Chambers and Pickens is one of the four remaining original stars.

For Williams, that outlook has also afforded him the opportunity to build up his own businesses. "Grey's has made a home for me so that I can launch three tech companies and can go on speaking tours and live a life. A lot of that has to do with being on a show that's run by women and people who can actually multitask," says Williams, who will direct again this season.

Grey's has also created a safe space for its (many!) pregnant stars, who have always been afforded job security. Wilson, for her part, thought she'd be written out of the series when she told Rhimes of her pregnancy early on in the show's run. Instead, it was written into Bailey's season two storyline (and the character's son is now old enough to have been featured in a season 14 episode exploring unconscious bias).

"Instead of shunning it and hoping you don't get pregnant, I watch producers actively encourage all of our actors to have a family," Williams says. "That is the formula and secret for longevity: feeding into a healthy life and happiness instead of running from it or trying to press you out of it."

Opening Hearts, Changing Minds Beyond creating a new legion of directors and producers (Pompeo has an overall deal with ABC Studios and produces both Grey's and Station 19), the long-running medical drama has made an impact on-screen with empowering storylines. More recently, Grey's has explored domestic violence with Camilla Luddington's Jo, unconscious bias and new stories for transgender characters. Grey's this season features a same-sex relationship with its first openly gay male surgeon (Alex Landi, whose Nico is romancing Jake Borelli's intern, Schmitt) as part of its "Season of Love." The latter is especially true for Pompeo's Meredith, who is now exploring serious relationships after losing her "person" when Dempsey's Derek was shockingly killed off back in season 11.

"The most empowering storyline for me has been to portray a woman who has lost the love of their life and what does life look like having to continue on after losing the right side of your body? Did his departure mean I no longer mattered or my magic and chemistry was somehow gone? We saw that I could stand on my own and that women who do lose their partners or children, there is a way for people to go on. To be able to portray someone who could go through the hardest thing you could go through — the death of a loved one — and to be able to portray the survival of that is the most meaningful," a tearful Pompeo says, comparing Meredith's loss to the passing of her own mother at a young age. "After that, you think you can't go on. … So it's all come full circle."

Other cast members point to medical storylines that have helped viewers diagnose loved ones. Wilson is especially proud of the cyclic vomiting syndrome episode, while Chambers singles out exploring mental illness with Alex's mother in a storyline first planted in the show's early days. But all involved can point to several subjects the series has explored that have helped open minds and let viewers see versions of themselves on TV.

"Callie and Arizona's wedding was a really big deal and you think of the different countries that the episode was broadcast in and they may not have thought they were ready for big things like that," Williams says. "Whether it was the transgender young woman I just met who felt like she was included because she saw a trans patient whose storyline wasn't focused on her trans-ness, or the police violence episode — which is close to the work that I do — the running theme is allowing people to feel seen and considered."

And sometimes the impact Grey's is making is subtler than a storyline or patient.

"I've had black women say that I'm the reason they decided to go natural with their hair," says Kelly McCreary, who has played Meredith's half-sister, Maggie, since the end of season 10. "If seeing me on screen representing our hair in its natural state freed viewers from any ideas they had about that being bad, unattractive or unprofessional or whatever else they're trying to feed us about it, that's remarkable."

Doing Something New (That Still Feels Familiar) Everyone on the Grey's call sheet will give credit for the show's creative and ratings resurgence to Vernoff, who as Chambers says, "hit a refresh button and reinvigorated the show." Kim Raver, who reprises her role as Teddy after previously serving as a series regular for seasons six through eight, feels the same old-school energy now that she did a decade ago and credits Vernoff for "infusing the quintessential Shonda Rhimes vibe of it." And while Vernoff smiles when told of the cast's kind words for her work, she is aware of the power that comes with writing for a beloved character like Pompeo's Meredith Grey.

"When Meredith Grey speaks, people listen," says Vernoff, who recently signed a big overall deal with ABC Studios. "There is so much darkness and so much to be frightened of and this show has so much impact. People have grown up with Meredith. So, my goal is to have a voice on the planet and to have an impact: to change hearts and minds."  

Vernoff is aware that she is already achieving that impact. The showrunner — who has been outspoken about timely issues surrounding Hollywood including the #MeToo movement, salary parity and more — recalled a recent conversation with Rhimes in which the Grey's creator shared a story from a makeup artist who noted that his brother is a Korean gay man and was moved to see himself represented on screen. Other highlights include hearing from a current Grey's writers PA who wrote a letter sharing a story about experiencing his father's death at the age of 16 and finding solace in a storyline with George (T.R. Knight) and Cristina talking about the "Dead Dad's Club."

"To put my painful loss on TV and help other people through that is deeply meaningful to me," Vernoff says of the origin of that storyline.

As for what comes next, Vernoff did not want to write in a wink and nod to ER — fitting given her relationship with Wells on Shameless and the fact that the former NBC medical drama was one of the series that made her want to be a TV writer in the first place. Instead, Vernoff opted to do something that Grey's had never done before.

"In the 300th episode we did a huge number of winks at the show's history and beginnings. I don't know if ERdid it or not but what I came up with was a no-medicine episode," Vernoff says of the Grey's first. Adds McCreary: "We're in this party scene and I keep waiting for somebody to need a tracheotomy! But instead it's great because it feels like a real celebration of these characters."

Meaningful Milestone As the episode doubles as a celebration of sorts of the record-breaking milestone, the stars all share the same refrain when asked about the significance of doing a whopping 332 hours of television. All involved recall their initial shock that the series few thought would work has become the powerhouse franchise it is today.

"My goal was to do the pilot, take the check and pay some bills!" Wilson recalls with a laugh. Adds Chambers: "When we were in season two, I'd say to everybody, 'Do you think we've got two more years? I just wanted to get my kids to college.' And now some of them are done with it!" Pompeo also points to the record's value in the current TV landscape where viewers have an option to pick from nearly 500 scripted series and 700-plus unscripted offerings on an array of platforms as competition for eyeballs expands to other forms of entertainment like video games and podcasts.

"The fact that we're still the network's No. 1 drama and can stay afloat in this landscape after 15 years is incredible," Pompeo says. "It's also incredible in a larger sense because it's something that I resisted [and] that I said I would never do."

For his part, Williams has now appeared in more than two-thirds of Grey's Anatomy's total episodes after first joining the cast as recurring player Jackson Avery in season six. It's a jarring fact for the actor who initially thought the show would only be around for only a few more seasons when he first signed on. He now scoffs at those who use Grey's Anatomy as a punchline.

"That response — 'Oh, Grey's is still on' — at first, I took offense to it but now I don't because it's not really about our show; it's about the business because shows don't last that long," says Williams, whose tech companies are all inspired by the message of visibility he sees every day on Grey's. "I'm really proud of what we do here — I wouldn't be here this long if I wasn't."

The Future While Grey's has not officially been renewed for its 16th season, it's considered a lock as Pompeo's deal covers the 2019-2020 broadcast season. ABC Entertainment president Karey Burke and ABC Studios topper Patrick Moran both bow before what Pompeo and Grey's have been able to accomplish. "We are awed by this rare and incredible achievement," Moran says. "To make 15 seasons of television that are creatively fresh and compelling — and now record breaking — is almost unheard of, but Shonda, Betsy Beers, Krista, Ellen and the incredible cast and crew have managed to do that. We're very proud of this show and this team." Adds Burke: "How fitting and well deserved it is for Grey's Anatomy — a show that never ceases to inspire, surprise and move us — to achieve something no other primetime medical drama can lay claim to. The creative bar set by Shonda, Betsy, Krista, Ellen and the entire cast and crew will keep this iconic show in rarefied air for generations, and as one of their millions of fans, I congratulate them on this historic milestone."

Pompeo, too, knows she has experienced something special in her decade and a half on Grey's, where she has been afforded a rare ability to evolve Meredith as a character while growing as an actor and producer. "I've come full circle on this show from being an actor with no voice, no say and terrified to speak up or advocate for myself in any way," Pompeo says. "I'm now someone who is heard here and who has a say here. I'm one of my bosses and that's an unusual situation for an actress in Hollywood — to get to say what I want and what I don't. If I left the show, I don't think I'd have that same situation anywhere."

That's not to say Pompeo hasn't toyed with the idea of leaving Grey's over the years. The actress has been candid many times about experiencing the nagging pull many stars on veteran series experience as they consider leaving and taking on new and different roles. But at the end of the day, the idea of stepping away from something as big as what Grey's Anatomy has become has proven impossible.

"You can't ignore the worldwide phenomenon that this show is. How do you walk away or ignore that?" Pompeo says. "Being the face and voice of something that can generate that much money, there's only a very small number of people who can say that they have achieved that. If you're lucky enough to be the face and voice of something that's generated billions of dollars for a network, that's something to be proud of."

Meanwhile, Pickens is in talks for a new deal that would see him continue on as Grey's Anatomy's elder statesman Richard Webber. ("Nothing is solid yet but more than likely, I'll be here," he says.) Pickens adds the thought of going after Gunsmoke or Law & Order: SVU — the latter of which will break the former's record as TV's longest-running primetime drama series when it is renewed for its 21st season — remains "intriguing." Wilson, for her part, has one goal in mind now that Grey's has snapped ER's streak. "I would love to be a starter and a finisher of a thing," says the original star, whose contract is also up this season. "When the show is ready for that last shot, I want to be in that."

Seeing Ghosts Of the many notable cast departures, Vernoff, Pompeo and the cast all have quick answers at the ready when asked about which former Grey's co-stars they'd like to bring back to Prospect Studios:

Pompeo (Meredith): "I would love for Sandra Oh to be on the show but not more than I love seeing Sandra Oh out there in the world doing her thing. Not more than I love seeing her shine on her own at the Golden Globes and on Killing Eve. So I would say no [to that]. I love everybody who has been on this show, regardless of their time here and whether it was tumultuous or not."

Chambers (Alex): "Richard Herrmann. He played my intern for a while and was such a joy to work with. He passed on but I felt very lucky to work with him."

Wilson (Bailey): "Bailey was crazy about George O'Malley. But the thing about our show is we always keep our past characters alive; there is nobody we don't ever not talk about because every one of those characters has been the foundation for why we're here."

Pickens (Richard): "I've been in this business almost 40 years and Sandra Oh brought something very special to every scene."

McKidd (Owen): "Sandra Oh's Cristina, especially the way things are right now with Amelia, Teddy and Owen. To throw her into the mix at the same time? Owen would literally keel over and never get up again."

Raver (Teddy): "Sandra Oh. I started off having crazy, intense scenes with her — like when Henry (Scott Foley) was dying and I love her as a friend and admire her as an actress."

Williams (Jackson): "Frances Conroy. She was here in season seven and I didn't get to work with her. She is tremendous and was on one of my favorite shows ever: Six Feet Under."

Luddington (Jo): "Kyle Chandler. I love Friday Night Lights."

Scorsone (Amelia): "Chyler Leigh (Lexie). She is so much fun and is great with drama and comedy. I'm sad that I didn't get to work with her more."

McCreary (Maggie): "Kate Burton. I'd love for Maggie and Ellis to interact. Kate and I did a play together in 2014. She's one of my favorite people."

Gianniotti (DeLuca): "Jessica Capshaw. We would laugh until snot was coming out of our noses. I miss having her around."

Allen (Katherine): "I had so much fun directing Patrick Dempsey when he was here. I nicknamed him Dash because he would come on the set, look at his watch and want to keep it moving. He never liked to do a lot of takes but was always great. I didn't get to act with him but I did some of his best scenes while I was here. We think of him fondly."

Vernoff (showrunner): "Sandra Oh. I miss writing for Sandra and Cristina."

[autistic-bee-blog]

I just started watching “The Good Doctor,” and like many autistic people, I was very skeptical. I saw the trailer, and thought “Wow...another straight/white/male on the spectrum with savant abilities...another group of people lamenting over ‘how hard it is’ to communicate with him. Another group of powerful people talking about how they cannot possibly employ someone with limitations like his...” I was sighing very hard internally, because I’ve seen this same trope over and over since I was about 6, and frankly, I’m just a little bit tired of it.

And then there was the fact that I could not find anything on how much input the creators of the show had received from autistic people in real life, which is important, at least in my eyes...I think if you make a show about a character from a background that is different than your own (especially if that group has a continued history of being marginalized, both inside and outside of fiction), then you should tread carefully and have A LOT of input and collaboration with people who are part of that group in real life.

However. However, I was VERY pleasantly surprised. 

This is the first show that I’ve seen about an autistic character that is not only realistic in how neurotypical characters treat autistic people, but actually portrays this treatment as wrong. This is the first show about an autistic character I’ve seen that explicitly uses the word “prejudice” in reference to the bigoted, exclusionary rhetoric and actions committed by non-autistic people towards an autistic person. 

This doesn’t seem like it should be a huge deal, but for me it was. Because like a lot of people on the spectrum, I grew up thinking that being hurt, or bullied, or abused was okay. Or even that it was intended to help me. When I was in third grade and my teacher screamed at me and told me to go sit outside because she couldn’t ‘deal with me,’ I didn’t once think that she was being abusive. I thought I had done something wrong. I thought that I WAS something wrong and bad. And I didn’t know until years later that it wasn’t my fault. This was exactly what she wanted me to think: that she was just being ‘strict’ and using ‘tough love’ to help me learn.

 So now, “The Good Doctor,” comes along, and I start watching it. And I cannot believe it, because yes, finally, the word “prejudice.” The acknowledgement that it is not Shaun’s fault that his parents were abusive, it was not Shaun’s fault that his colleague stole his idea while Shaun’s superior ordered Shaun to do “scout work” instead of work with the other surgeons. It was not due to Shaun’s “communication deficit,” that his colleagues and the people in charge treated him with doubt, suspicion, and prejudice. It was the fault of THEIR biases. This is the first show I’ve seen that doesn’t give merit to the discrimination thrown so often at autistic people, but calls it out as the prejudice it is.

And it also states that Shaun is autistic, and has savant syndrome, which is an odd break, given that a lot of the autistic characters I’ve seen who have savant-type abilities are just called ‘gifted’ (and are rarely labeled as both autistic, and as savants). 

I also love how Shaun’s mannerisms aren’t glazed over, and he isn’t made to ‘pass’ as neurotypical: he bounces and rocks, and avoids eye contact, and even has an unusual gait/run (which I hardly ever see discussed outside of actually-autistic circles! I didn’t even notice I walk differently until other people pointed it out to me, and then I read more about it from other autistic people who experience the same thing.). He has episodes of sensory overload, and it even shows him going non-verbal, which is another thing that struck me as unusual in a television show featuring an openly autistic character.

Of course, I would like to see more diversity in regards to autistic characters, and I would like there to be more input from autistic voices  in media created about characters on the spectrum. However, this show is definitely not what I expected. It has its obvious issues, but overall, I’ve been very happily surprised. I’m only on episode 4 so far, so I hope that the show keeps up the good work and continues to get even better!

[aries-rising-on-an-aquarius-tide]

I think Rollins is going to blame Sonny for her boredom and her career ending - she’s always blamed and accused him of everything - they shouldn’t have got together, she only wanted him so he’d still be 100% attention on her as if he’s with someone else then she ain’t getting all his attention or him dropping everything all the time - they’ll divorce for sure I feel, and she’ll move away or something then a few seasons later or so, Sonny moves to be closer to his son (and her daughters) as he’s certainly the fittest parent out of the two.

Ok Anon. I have run out of patience for answering. Lol You can keep sending, and I will read 'em, but my opinions aren't going to change.

Rollins is not a bad character. In fact, Rollins is a fantastic character who fell victim to bad management and worse writing. As for Kelli, I don't really gaf. I don't know her and never will. What I do know is that she can act better than most actresses on TV in her age range, and DW fucked up hard by trying to get rid of her. It's a shame that in her coming back, she has to suffer through more lazy, destructive writing and boring bullshit. But really, the entire vehicle of a show is headed off that cliff, so, what can ya do I guess?

As for Carisi, I honestly don't care enough about him to bash him. As either a character or an actor. He can come, he can go, whatever. He adds nothing to the show so it means nothing to me.

I draw very distinct lines between characters and their actors. There is a huge gap between the two (despite anything Mariska says). So regardless of how much I may hate how a character is written, I'm not going to bash the actor for wanting a paycheck, or for acting the way it's written. Not in this economy.

And finally, always remember, every second interview that Mariska does she reminds us "Dick has the final say." If he wants to destroy his fan base, he's gonna. If he wants to hire and fire and then hire again, ditto. White male show creator syndrome means that no matter what his show means to others, no matter the legacy it has now, Dick Wolf is the one who decides if he wants to run it right into the ground. Anyone my age (I'm 40) will remember well watching Chris Carter do it in the 90s with The X-Files. It's like Icarus flying too close to the sun. Too much success with a good thing makes you think any change you make will be received just as well and succeed.

What really ends up happening is, the fanbase schisms worse than a white Baptist church and is left to pick up the pieces. Some write Rolivia fanfic, some write Rollisi fanfic, and we all reminisce about the days before the show went to hell in a handbasket.

There's a reason, anon(s) why TV shows in the 60s, 70s, 80s ended and never stretched on for a quarter of a century. Because culture, politics, comedy, current issues, etc. change too much to sustain that kind of cohesiveness. We all think that reboots and reunions are great, but most of them end up just reminding us that time marches on and nothing remains.

[ssteezyy]

Ask the Vet: Dr. Kris Answers July’s Questions

Welcome to our regular “Ask the Vet With Dr. Kris” segment! Once a month, Dr. Kris answers as many of your questions as he can, and you can leave new questions for him in a comment.

Dr. Kristopher Chandroo is a veterinarian, scientist, photographer, animal welfare advocate, and creator of Stress to Success (STS): The Essential Guide to Medicating Your Feisty, Grumpy or Reluctant Cat.  Dr. Kris wants  your cats to be twenty years old. And counting! And he wants to provide medication and therapy to them in a way that respects the bond between cat and human.

Here are Dr. Kris’ answers to some of your questions asked in June. If your question didn’t get answered here, Dr. Kris will answer them on his own website in the future. Subscribe to his updates so you’ll be notified when the answers are published.

Cat pees on nearest wall or other object

Hi Dr Kris,

My 4 year old indoor/outdoor male cat (Hansel Von Whiskerheimer:) has developed a habit of backing up to the nearest wall or other object, looking me in the eye, and urinating with his tail up and a little butt wiggle. This behavior seems to always follow a request he has made that I have not attended to immediately. He will meow and if I don’t feed him or even just give him some attention, he walks over to me, stares right at me, and pees. There has only been one time when the urine has had the “cat marking smell”-otherwise it just smells like urine. Also, he only does this with me-not my husband, sister, or any of the cat sitters.

So far my theory is that he first developed this habit when he had a UTI in the winter and needed to go outside (he prefers to urinate outside) as soon as he felt the urge and it was his way of telling me to hurry up and let him out, but since then it has continued. He has had a urinalysis on multiple occasions and the vet can’t find anything medically wrong with him. This has been going on for over a year at this point. It’s not every day but usually just when I think he has stopped, he will do it again. I have added a couple more cats to my household, so I could see that being a trigger. I don’t want to be reinforcing the behavior by giving him food/treats/cat nip on demand, but I also don’t want my house to be covered in pee! before this particular behavior began, he would knock over as many things as he could if I did not meet his meow request immediately.

I thought that was annoying, but I would take a spilled cup of water or broken vase over a urine soaked yoga mat any day. Do you have any ideas for behavior modification? I just started giving him extra attention all the time since he now has other cats to compete with, but other than that, I really am at a loss. Thanks!

Hansel Von Whiskerheimer!

Ha! Love the name!

Take a video of the Von Whiskerheimer (with that name, you know he loves to be in front of the camera!).

Show it to your vet.

I can’t tell you how many times a video has revealed what words and urinalysis could not! Your first task is in fact to confirm if this is marking behaviour.

If so, they can provide you with some steps from there to resolve the soggy yoga mat.

Good luck

Dr. Kris

Treating hyperthyroidism with homeopathy

What are your thoughts about treating cats with homeopathy?

My rescue cat has most recently been diagnosed with hyperthyroidism. I am trying a remedy, but thinking I will do the traditional meds. Also, he has tested positive for exposure to the Corona virus, originally the vet thought he definitely had FIP, but now she doesn’t. Can you please comment on the Corona virus? It is my understanding that many are exposed, but in only a few does it mutate into FIP.

Hi!

Someone who is considering homeopathy is someone who is thinking about their cat.

Someone who is thinking about their cat is someone who will treat their cat.

Someone who will treat their cat will go through a process to see what works best for their cat.

So even though people debate homeopathy, I’m more interested in someone’s mindset. Where they are coming from, and what their cat means to them.

So, I won’t find fault in someone trying.

Putting in the effort.

That is pretty special, because many people don’t. I can guarantee you that, and their ain’t many guarantees in vet medicine.

If you want to use a non-conventional treatment for hyperthyroidism, it becomes simple. Find someone trained in homeopathy, try it, and re-test their blood in 4-6 weeks. If it’s working, you’ll know because their excessive thyroid level will start to normalize.

If you don’t see that happening in a convincing way, switch gears. Quickly. Because untreated hyperthyroidism damages many organs in the body, and some of us believe that in fact it’s a source of kidney damage.

Dr. Kris

Resident cat is upset at new kitten

We received a new 11 week old kitten. My 2 1/2 year old cat hissed at him and seems upset. What can I do to unite them?

Your 2.5 year old was living the life of a millennial. Finished school late, tonnes of debt, so he moved back home. Part-time job.

But…he’s more socially conscious, more likely to become an entrepreneur, makes purchases with his smartphone, and stays updated with brands through social networks. He would suffer more from losing a phone than losing a car.

Your kitten is a big ol’ baby boomer. He is dramatic social change on four paws. Counterculture.

He values individual identity over group think.

When you stick a baby boomer and a millennial together really quickly, and say make something great happen, what you hope for is Hathaway and Deniro in “The Intern”.

But sometimes instead, you get Hathaway and Streep in “The Devil Wears Prada”.

Watch those movies!

See, it can take weeks or months for relationships to form, and it’s complicated.

Separate them after the conflict.

Give them a chance to get to know each other on their terms.

Make sure they don’t compete over anything.

Take it slow. Their time. Not our time.

It’s an old formula Hollywood knows well!

Dr. Kris

Gabapentin for arthritis pain

Dr Kris, my 9 year old cat is already on prednisone twice a day for arthritis in the rear spine/hips/legs but was still limping so the vet gave me Gabapentin to give to her, in liquid form, 1.5ml twice a day. She had no side effects but I had trouble giving her the liquid form so I asked for it in pill form. She was prescribed 50mg twice a day but all anyone had was the capsule form that I could not cut in half. After speaking to the vet about it, She just increased the dose, in capsule form to 100mg every 12 hrs. Her first dose she got that drunken sailor syndrome, balance was off, she couldn’t walk straight. Is this normal until a few doses? I’m wondering if that dose is too high for her starting off. Several blogs I read only had cats on doses of no higher than 50mg a day! My vet had increased her prednisone to twice a day since she was still limping and added Gabapetin saying sometimes you have to initially hit them hard in the beginning with higher doses then wean them back. Need some advice, I think the dose is too high, but I’m not a Dr. Thanks

100mg is the sedation dose I use with specific cats in specific circumstances.

It will make some cats sleepy, wobbly, and less emotionally reactive (which is the goal in that situation).

I use it when life is really rough for a cat, whose fear, stress or anxiety needs to be managed before they come see me in a vet hospital setting.

If I’m using Gabapentin for arthritis, I’m going to start low, then increase it until the kitty feels better. If the patient gets drowsy, I might tolerate that temporarily, but I don’t want a drunken sailor 7 days a week. Since I’ve never seen your cat, I don’t know what low is relative to what your cat is dealing with. But 100mg is my sedation dose.

There are alternatives to prednisolone and gabapentin, but myself (and anyone else) would need to know a lot more about your cat (hands-on) and the specific rationale for the choices so far before recommending anything else. It really is that individualistic, and what works for some really doesn’t work at all for others.

I know I keep saying this but I will create an “arthritis masterclass” for cats. It’s just squeezing the time to make it happen. But it’s on the list. If people want this, fill the comments with what specifically you would like to see in it.

Dr. Kris

Feeling guilty about not being able to afford care for a sick cat

I have a male cat that I gave a home off the street for about 14-15 years. He has elevated liver and kidney enzymes as well as too many white blood cells. There is no money available to give him an ultrasound and whatever treatment he may need which probably won’t help. Now all I have to do is wait and he is still eating and functioning except that he no longer sleeps with and stays on my bed as he always did. I feel guilty even though I prevented him from having a life on the street where he wouldn’t have lived this long.

Don’t feel guilty.

It sounds like from your description that he is really ill.

There might not be anything you can do about that.

But let’s talk about this:

“And whatever treatment he may need which probably won’t help…”

Say no to that.

You don’t need that way of thinking.

Your cat doesn’t need that way of thinking.

Maybe it’s true, that treatment won’t help at all.

But so what.

You don’t know until you try.

It’s never the outcome, because none of us get out of this game alive.

It’s the journey. Your choices when life got rough.

And trying does not have to mean an ultrasound, expensive or complicated – you need a team of people that understands that.

That understands that when you take a cat off the street, give it a home for 15 years, they deserve something.

And you deserve the feeling that comes when you try.

We had a saying back in school. When you have a very sick cat, who is trying to survive, you can always try to give them X. You want to try and give them X before you euthanize them if people want to try. Because sometimes it works.

Your vet should know what X is.

Dr. Kris

Cat with diarrhea

I have a four year old that was sick with diarrhea a few months ago. Now still a little wet giving probiotics every day much better but not normal Like before .could this be stress?

It can be stress plus: http://ift.tt/2wvwTg4

Needy tortie is screaming all the time

Hi Dr. Kris,

I have a very sweet 8 year old Tortie. We rescued her from my Mom 4 years ago. I love her to death but she is so needy. I understand she wants to be fed a 1/2 hour to an hour beforehand but she will not drink from her water bowl unless we show her there is water in there and she is not getting it from the faucet. She does not like watching her drinking but I tell her I am not leaving till she drinks it. You would think after 6 years she knows the drill. She screams all the time and makes me feel like I am not a good pet parent. Her daddy screams at her back. I tell him she is female you cannot win an argument with her. I am afraid her screaming is going to get us kicked out of are apartment well it has not for 4 years. What to do?

“I tell him she is female you cannot win an argument with her.”

Best line of the day!

Seriously though, there is much to unpack in your question, and many questions that I would have to ask to figure it out. I would want to know the floor plan of your home, feeding times, feeding stations, number of scratching posts and other entertaining things that your cat might have.

It can get really detailed and specific, but also really solvable at the same time.

Best thing to do?

I’m serious.

Counseling.

Mikel Delago does it, check her out here: http://ift.tt/2vE85lA

Do you have a question for Dr. Kris? Leave it in a comment and he’ll answer it next month!

The post Ask the Vet: Dr. Kris Answers July’s Questions appeared first on The Conscious Cat.

[ssteezyy]

Ask the Vet With Dr. Kris: Dr. Kris Answers June’s Questions

Welcome to our regular “Ask the Vet With Dr. Kris” segment! Once a month, Dr. Kris answers as many of your questions as he can, and you can leave new questions for him in a comment.

Dr. Kristopher Chandroo is a veterinarian, scientist, photographer, animal welfare advocate, and creator of Stress to Success (STS): The Essential Guide to Medicating Your Feisty, Grumpy or Reluctant Cat.  Dr. Kris wants  your cats to be twenty years old. And counting! And he wants to provide medication and therapy to them in a way that respects the bond between cat and human.

Here are Dr. Kris’ answers to some of your questions asked in June. If your question didn’t get answered here, Dr. Kris will answer them on his own website in the future. Subscribe to his updates so you’ll be notified when the answers are published.

11-year-old cat with cancer of the spleen

Hi there. I have an 11-year-old cat named Tom, and he was diagnosed with spleen cancer early this year. I want to do a splenectomy and maybe chemo, but the procedures are expensive and I can’t afford them. I feel like if I just him “go” my heart will be broken, and I’m not sure what to do. The vet is great and we are giving him meds for his other conditions (thyroid, hepatitis and a heart issue stemming from the thyroid problem) as well as meds for blood in his stool but we aren’t really treating “the cancer” so to speak right now. I am wondering if it would be good for Tom to have the surgery and maybe chemo if needed, assuming I can find the money, or if putting him through surgery would be hard on him. My vet thinks it would be a quick procedure and might give Tom more time, but I want him to feel better too—that would be my main reason for trying this. I’ve been reading your site for awhile and thought I’d ask your opinion. Thanks so much!

There is one very important thing I want you to know.

You’ll never be that person that “will just let him go”.

And this will remain true, whether you opt for surgery or not.

I’ve seen dogs and cats do amazingly well after removing the spleen, and have years of happiness.

I’ve had a patient die within 48 hours after splenectomy. A splenectomy that got paid for with credit cards. There were two ways those folks could have responded. Anger is the first way. Instead, they printed a portrait of me and their pet they took years earlier in an exam room, gave it to me as a gift, and broke down and cried. It is hard watching grown men cry.

You will always feel conflicted about making a decision like this. One way won’t ever be right over the other.

If you do the surgery, I always tell people that we are hoping for the best, but we must be prepared to say goodbye much faster than we would like.

If you don’t do the surgery, then you need to believe that there is something called “dying well”.

That even when our bodies are passing, which all of our bodies will do, that we can still nurture and tend to our relationships. So this valuable, special time we have left is honored.

So your heart will still break. But you won’t ever be just letting him go.

Should you toilet train a cat?

How successful are these kits which tell you that you can train your cat to use a toilet? Do they actually work? Is it traumatic for the cat. I am old live alone, and am starting to have trouble bending down to clean the litter box.

Ingrid’s reply: I’m sure Dr. Kris will address this, Terry, but in the meantime, here’s my input: I don’t believe cats should be toilet trained – it goes against their natural instinct. You may want to take a look at this litter scoop, which can be used without having to bend down: http://amzn.to/2rlPI3I

Dr. Kris’ reply: I agree with Ingrid on this. Training a cat to use the toilet is a testament to how trainable and adaptable our cats can be. If done right, and you have a healthy, non-arthritic cat, I would not call it traumatic, it can be done.

But there is much to be said for proper scratching and burying behavior in the litter box. I’m sure within the population of millions of cats, there are folks out there who have cats doing well with the toilet training, or have some combination of toilet and ground choices.

Having said that, it sounds like the litter box needs to get closer to you, or the scoop needs to get closer to the litter box.

A cat can climb a short hill, find a great place to use the bathroom, then come back down. They are going to the bathroom on an incline.

So, there aren’t any rules that say you can’t put the litter box up on something sturdy, so the cat walks or jumps up to use it, and you don’t have to bend down as much. Of course you have to do it so your cat feels good about using it this way.

I’ve got 35 year old turtles (the red-ear slider types you used to see in dime stores). I’ve had them since I was a little kid. They live in my living room in a converted outdoor pond. It’s so well designed, if you didn’t look, you wouldn’t know at first they were there (they do like their privacy sometimes). But instead of on the floor, it’s on a very sturdy Ikea coffee table with a metal base. So for maintenance, I’m not wrecking my back…and I like my turtles off the floor, and they get to look out the window and see the whole world.

I’m sure in the comment section people might tell you about their experiences with hi-tech litter boxes (self-cleaning etc), and of course, that long scoop Ingrid mentioned might be just the ticket.

Good luck!

Male cat “pretends” to spray

One of our four-year-old neutered male cats (they’re brothers we adopted when they were three months old) “pretends” to spray–he backs up to something, usually a cabinet door, and does the shimmy/wiggle as if he’s marking. He’s not bothering us or anything, and obviously nothing is coming out, but what’s his deal with this? His brother does it too every once in a while, but I get the idea he’s just being a copycat (however, our copycat is also weird; he has a thing for carrots–they make him crazy. Catnip does nothing for him but a give him a piece of a carrot and he rolls around on it).

Ha ha ha. Your cats are hilarious!

This is what I want to know. Are you guys eccentric or quirky!? At least a little bid nerdy? Please tell me yes. Please tell me you have the quirkiest family with quirky cats, because that would be the best thing ever.

This sounds normal to me…normal for an awesome weirdo, full of personality quirky cat who will show you a diversity of behavior that only he or she knows the reason to.

Cat doesn’t like to be stroked

I’m looking after a friend’s cat. She likes to be stroked because she comes running and rubs herself against me. She will tolerate a brief petting on the head and neck but if I stroke her too much, she spits and hisses and lashes out. She doesn’t like the base of her tail being touched either – something that a lot of cats like. Do you think there might be a physical reason why she doesn’t like being stroked? Does this sound normal behaviour? I have had several cats in my life, all of them enjoying a stroke more than this cat.

Providing your friend’s cat is healthy (i.e. no debilitating arthritis, anxiety, cystitis etc. etc. etc.), I often call this NYSS.

New York Subway Syndrome.

Which, is, just because I come close to you, sit right beside you, and then our bodies happen to touch on a crowded subway, it doesn’t mean I give you permission to purposefully touch me. And if you do, despite the fact I’m sitting right next to you, and I’m really attractive, look out cause I’m gonna go all ninja on ya.

It’s not just a cat thing.

Cat with eosinophilic syndrome

My cat is being treated for Eosinophilic syndrome. His white cell count is very high but shows nothing definitive. He is on treatment w/ steroids, and has a feeding tube in as he lost weight and was not eating. He as put on some weight and eats some. I was wondering what else we can do? I have even tried a couple of sessions of acupuncture!

Oh no! Sorry to hear this. I am happy he has gained some weight!

The fact that his appetite has dropped means we must consider chronic eosinophilic leukemia. I’m not saying that he has that, but it is worth a discussion about that with your vet. There are other reasons as well (feline gastrointestinal eosinophilic sclerosing fibroplasia), and usually you need an ultrasound to suss them out. I would also want to know what this kitty’s vitamin B12 situation is. Those are all talking points I would take your vet.

Best wishes!

Do you have a question for Dr. Kris? Leave it in a comment!

The post Ask the Vet With Dr. Kris: Dr. Kris Answers June’s Questions appeared first on The Conscious Cat.