TV has a problem with the disproportionate number of lesbian and bisexual characters killed off on screen…
This article originally appeared onDen of Geek UK.
The phenomenon of lesbian and bisexual women characters being killed off disproportionately on screen is not new.
Happy endings for us are just as scarce in TV.
These arent even close to being the only examples.
These deaths arent even shocking any more.
For those of us whove been watching this unfold for decades, its just exhausting.
Lexa and Clarke feels like Willow and Tara all over again.
In some ways, the TV landscape is very different now than it was whenBuffywas on the air.
As recently as December 2015, Jason Rothenberg tweeted that there would always be hope for Clexa shippers.
Anyone on their show might be killed off.
It just so happens that this time its the lesbian or bisexual character.
And if it were happening in isolation each time, then that might be a satisfactory explanation.
These numbers seem like more than mere chance.
And thats without even looking at TV elsewhere in the world, which has many of the same problems.
This phenomenon isnt harmless its notjustTV.
All of this has a knock-on effect on how people perceive us, and how we perceive ourselves.
Were not the only community suffering this way.
I dont know what proportion of straight white male regular and recurring characters on TV are killed off.
But even if it were 31%, or even 50%, it wouldnt necessarily matter.
Straight white male characters come from an endless grab bag that refills itself every time.
Thats a message you might only hear for so long before you switch off entirely.
