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ferine"When Mr. Ellis writes (in response to the death of Willow's lover, Tara) "Someone needs to grow a thicker skin if the death of a TV character causes 'outrage' and 'betrayal,'" he provides an example of just how much we who are members of the country's heterosexual majority take seeing ourselves on TV for granted. It's something that happens so routinely that many of us don't even feel like it's important. That's not the way things are for the people who are marginalized in our society, though.
I wonder if Mr. Ellis could imagine a world where the situation was reversed—where being gay was considered normal and straight people were marginalized. How would he feel if almost all the characters he saw on TV were gay, and the only straight people he ever saw either were killed quickly, turned out to be evil or were constantly alone? How would he feel if a TV show finally put a man and a woman together in a long-lasting heterosexual relationship, and just when he finally thought he could have someone on TV to relate to, one of the people in that relationship was killed and the other was turned evil. Would Mr. Ellis' reply still be "Tough. Deal"? How would he react if someone said that to him?
TV is more than "just entertainment." The images and stories we see shape and reinforce our society's common perception of what is "normal." If any group in our society is constantly denigrated or rendered invisible on our TV screens, you can bet that the people who belong to that group will be denigrated or rendered invisible in the real world as well.
There's a famous story from the days of the original Star Trek series, when Nichelle Nichols was thinking of leaving her role as Lt. Uhura because she wasn't being given enough to do. She was persuaded to stay on the show by none other than Martin Luther King Jr., who told her that even if she did absolutely nothing but sit there on the bridge, the simple fact that Star Trek was showing a black person working side-by-side as an equal with people of other races was an important message all by itself. The African-American community needed characters like Uhura back then. Today, the gay community needs a relationship like the one Willow and Tara had. Joss Whedon had the chance to be a visionary on the same level as Gene Roddenberry, but he snatched it away at the last minute, like Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown.
That's why there are so many people feeling outrage and betrayal over Tara's death. If Mr. Ellis doesn't like it, I can only say this—Tough. Deal.
Robert A. Black
bbovenguy@yahoo.com"
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"I am disheartened [warning: spoilers ahead] by the recent letters about Tara's death in Buffy the Vampire Slayer ("Buffy Deaths Are Inevitable" and "Buffy Criticism Is Baffling"). Of course, Joss Whedon can write out any character at any time—it doesn't mean the fans have to like it or keep watching. Over the years, Willow and Tara's relationship has gotten a tremendous reaction. Hundreds of gay high-school and college-aged youth have written in to the actors and producers to tell them how this television couple has helped them to accept themselves and come out to their friends and family. Are these the people you are telling to deal with it? The straight population has thousands of working examples of straight relationships in the media to relate to, the gay community does not. Having examples of your type of relationship in the media may not seem important to you, but it is not your place to say whether or not it is important to others. People were affected by Willow and Tara, and they were hurt when it was ended violently.
Aside from this, however, there are extenuating circumstances which have caused people to be even more upset about the ending than they would have been otherwise. Joss Whedon and the writers, in online interviews and magazine articles, went out of their way to lead people to believe that this was a safe relationship to invest in, even when they knew how it was going to end. Joss Whedon may not have had an obligation to keep the relationship going, but he didn't have to lie about it. The writer may not have had an obligation to avoid the cliche, but he didn't have to poke fun at the lesbian community for being upset. Much of this has been handled badly, and people have a right to be angry. It is Joss Whedon's right to do whatever he wants with the show and say whatever he wants to the fans, just as it is my right to stop watching.
Hilary Clay
hclay@u.washington.edu"
I wonder if Mr. Ellis could imagine a world where the situation was reversed—where being gay was considered normal and straight people were marginalized. How would he feel if almost all the characters he saw on TV were gay, and the only straight people he ever saw either were killed quickly, turned out to be evil or were constantly alone? How would he feel if a TV show finally put a man and a woman together in a long-lasting heterosexual relationship, and just when he finally thought he could have someone on TV to relate to, one of the people in that relationship was killed and the other was turned evil. Would Mr. Ellis' reply still be "Tough. Deal"? How would he react if someone said that to him?
TV is more than "just entertainment." The images and stories we see shape and reinforce our society's common perception of what is "normal." If any group in our society is constantly denigrated or rendered invisible on our TV screens, you can bet that the people who belong to that group will be denigrated or rendered invisible in the real world as well.
There's a famous story from the days of the original Star Trek series, when Nichelle Nichols was thinking of leaving her role as Lt. Uhura because she wasn't being given enough to do. She was persuaded to stay on the show by none other than Martin Luther King Jr., who told her that even if she did absolutely nothing but sit there on the bridge, the simple fact that Star Trek was showing a black person working side-by-side as an equal with people of other races was an important message all by itself. The African-American community needed characters like Uhura back then. Today, the gay community needs a relationship like the one Willow and Tara had. Joss Whedon had the chance to be a visionary on the same level as Gene Roddenberry, but he snatched it away at the last minute, like Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown.
That's why there are so many people feeling outrage and betrayal over Tara's death. If Mr. Ellis doesn't like it, I can only say this—Tough. Deal.
Robert A. Black
bbovenguy@yahoo.com"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I am disheartened [warning: spoilers ahead] by the recent letters about Tara's death in Buffy the Vampire Slayer ("Buffy Deaths Are Inevitable" and "Buffy Criticism Is Baffling"). Of course, Joss Whedon can write out any character at any time—it doesn't mean the fans have to like it or keep watching. Over the years, Willow and Tara's relationship has gotten a tremendous reaction. Hundreds of gay high-school and college-aged youth have written in to the actors and producers to tell them how this television couple has helped them to accept themselves and come out to their friends and family. Are these the people you are telling to deal with it? The straight population has thousands of working examples of straight relationships in the media to relate to, the gay community does not. Having examples of your type of relationship in the media may not seem important to you, but it is not your place to say whether or not it is important to others. People were affected by Willow and Tara, and they were hurt when it was ended violently.
Aside from this, however, there are extenuating circumstances which have caused people to be even more upset about the ending than they would have been otherwise. Joss Whedon and the writers, in online interviews and magazine articles, went out of their way to lead people to believe that this was a safe relationship to invest in, even when they knew how it was going to end. Joss Whedon may not have had an obligation to keep the relationship going, but he didn't have to lie about it. The writer may not have had an obligation to avoid the cliche, but he didn't have to poke fun at the lesbian community for being upset. Much of this has been handled badly, and people have a right to be angry. It is Joss Whedon's right to do whatever he wants with the show and say whatever he wants to the fans, just as it is my right to stop watching.
Hilary Clay
hclay@u.washington.edu"