Saving Hope Writers sign LGBTQ Pledge
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One of the hottest issues in television today is LGBTQ representation and the current lack thereof on many series. Not only is there an overall lack of queer representation, but several prominent lesbian characters have been killed off of series in recent weeks, causing viewers to become angry that so many shows have fallen victim to a longstanding trope known as Bury Your Gays. The writers of the Canadian medical drama Saving Hope, which just began production on Season 5, decided that instead of just talking about tropes and representation, they were going to do something about it.
With the backing of Saving Hope showrunner Adam Pettle, writer and co-executive producer Noelle Carbone, drafted a pledge outlining how the writers in their room will/won’t treat LGBTQ characters on any show they work on, currently or in the future. Carbone recently discussed with The TV Junkies the pledge (which can be seen in full below), its origins and why her team felt it was so important to take a stand in this way.
The TV Junkies: How did the idea for the pledge come about?
Noelle Carbone: Some friends and I got together to discuss the controversy surrounding Lexa’s death on The 100, and the pile up of queer female TV character deaths that followed close after. Michelle Mama who’s a writer, producer, director, as well as a queer activist, introduced me and Sonia Hosko (Saving Hope producer) to Gina Tass who’s a behavioural therapist who works a lot with youth. Gina was paying very close attention to what young fans were saying online, and was aware that some of them were upset and self-harming. So she started an online fundraiser where fans could channel their anger, disappointment and hurt into a positive endeavour: raising money for The Trevor Project.
So the four of us started emailing back and forth and meeting up to discuss what we could do to effect some positive change. And the idea for the pledge was borne out of those discussions.
For me and Sonia and Michelle who’re industry insiders, it was our way of saying “We hear you. We acknowledge that we’re not doing right by you. We promise to do better.” And it gave Gina the ability to go back and tell the kids she’d been reaching out to, “Hang in there. Change is coming.”
TTVJ: What was Adam’s reaction and the reaction of your fellow writers when you presented the idea to them?
NC: Adam and the SH room had the same reaction I did when I first started reading about The 100 controversy. “There but for the grace of God go I.” At the time the controversy started, we had already started breaking a story about a recurring lesbian character who was being treated at Hope Zion. And it seemed like the most dramatic way to tell that story was for that woman to die. We debated whether or not, as a hospital show where patients often die, we were beholden to the same rules as other shows. Is it playing into the Bury Your Gays trope if you kill a lesbian character who was already quite ill when she first showed up? We went back and forth a lot and had many days of spirited debate. And while we were debating we kept reading all of the incredible, detailed coverage in the press about the issue. Ultimately, we came to understand that the underlying issue is actually pretty simple: queer characters are so underrepresented on television that killing off even one makes a tremendous negative impact.
We’re not trying to be self righteous about this. We’re trying to do our little part to make things better on our show, and in any future story room we might find ourselves in.
And we’d like to encourage other writers and producers to do the same, by singing along with us, or by drafting pledges of their own.
TTVJ: How did you go about drafting the pledge and the main points of the pledge? Did you consult with any sources within the LGBTQ community?
NC: As more and more articles kept surfacing in the press about the Bury Your Gays controversy, we began to understand just how multi-faceted the issue actually is. It’s not just about killing queer characters. It’s also about engaging with your fans openly and honestly. (Which I’ll admit, I haven’t always done the best job of.) It’s about acknowledging that the trope itself is harmful on a psychological level because it perpetuates a message of despair when what we really should be saying is, “Hang in there. It gets better!”
We had a lot of support from a lot of different groups and individuals. Trevor Project and It Gets Better were the most supportive.
TTVJ: Why was it important to include the social media aspect into the pledge as well?
NC: Social media is a relatively new frontier for showrunners and writers to engage with their fan base on a regular basis. That is a blessing but it can also be a curse because a lot of us have no idea what the hell we’re doing. By including a social media clause in the pledge it will force us to be hyper vigilant about our fan engagement and ensure we’re doing it responsibly.
What do you think of the Saving Hope writers’ pledge? Sound off in the comments below! To learn more please visit It Gets Better, The Trevor Project, LGBT Fans Deserve Better and We Deserved Better.
Saving Hope will return to CTV in Fall 2016.
Thank you so much to the Saving Hope writers for signing this pledge . It’s amazing and hopefully many more will follow.
What an amazing act. Thank you Saving Hope and THANK YOU Gina for being this amazing person who always fight for this movement and for the people in it.
This is a great first step in changing the way TV portray us, how GA see us. This is a huge change and by ‘Saving Hope’s writers initiative i hope more writers can see the importance of this change.
I’m speachless and greatful. Life is better today! Thank you!
After the money raised for the Trevor Project, I think this is the ne t best thing to come out of the “LGBTQ Fans Deserve Better” movement. Well done! I hope other industry players do the same.
Thank you so so much. This kind of reaction is the exact reason a lot of us are even doing this. We all just want to see ourselves on tv, to feel normal because when we were figuring everything out there was nothing on tv to look to. Nothing that said that its okay.
I really hope that this encourages other writers and producers to do the same. To acknowledge the pain that has been caused, and try their best to change that.
Sorry u conformed to social scum. Glad to b a real American. They do not listen to social shit. Happy to b a Texan Now that u killed Joel. Nothing to watch. The Banting between the five main stars were the best. I pledge alliegence to flag of the United States. Let freedom ring in voice out loud. U r stupid the compromise for lesbians , gays and trams gender. Cast persons. Bernadine Cusimano.
As a member of the LGBT Fans Deserve Better movement I’d just like to say THANK YOU to the writers of Saving Hope. I hope that other writers will follow in your footsteps in the future.
Too bad these writers don’t know how toxic this movement is. Lexa fans harassing and bullying the cast/crew of The 100
How?
You probably know this already but decided to ignore it in favour of making that blanket statement – Lexa fans are not a single entity, and the ones behind this pledge (LGBTfans) are obviously not the ones doing or condoning any harassment. In fact, LGBTfans have repeatedly stated that they are all for positivity, and that view is shared by those who support them. They cannot control people who do not share this view and behave irresponsibly. While I won’t go as far as to say those people are not part of the movement because that is not up to me, you should not let that taint your view of the parts of the movement who only wish to genuinely change LGBT representation for the better. Or am I wrong in giving you the benefit of the doubt, and instead you are implying that the creation of this pledge is considered bullying?
Otherwise, thank you so much to Gina and all those behind LGBTfans for their hard work in making this happen, and also the Saving Hope writers for speaking up for us. This is truly the beginning of a brighter future for LGBT representation.
If you actually follow the movement closely, the fans who are what most of us consider the leaders of this movemen have been constantly reminding everyone not to harass any of the cast or crew. Our only target is the showrunner JRot because he is a bully (to Ricky) and a slut shamer (to Raven’s character)
Thank you for this, this means so much to a lot of people and hopefully more people in the industry will follow your great example! This shows the LGBT+ community you’re willing to hear us and we will not forget this 🙂
This is amazing i wasnt goana jump into any medical shows anytime soon but now i can promise u one thing yours is the one i will watch and promote to my frienda. Thank you so much a comment can’t express how much your promise has moved me.
“We refuse to kill off a queer character solely to further the plot of a straight one.”
Yeah, I guess that’s what David Simon was doing with Snoop and Omar, huh.
Well, surely Saving Hope – a hacky regurgitation of every other medical show pandering to the lowest common denominator – cannot get any worse by now pandering to the whims of teenage Youtube “stars” and bloggers who have no sense of classical storytelling – or knowledge of true Queer art outside of schlocky space operas – but think they’re entitled to dictate the fates of characters, right?
And you do realize they campaigned viciously to get The 100 showrunner canned? And that the actress was already booked on another show and there was no choice but to write her out? And that the character died a noble death protecting her cohorts? But no, why let that get in the way social justice warrior self-congratulation. And no, why not just write a press release instead of actually going out into the LBGT community and doing true work.
I’ll salute you from my couch when you rip off episode 138 of Chicago Hope but change a possibly Queer character to straight before offing him/her. Bravo!
“And you do realize they campaigned viciously to get The 100 showrunner canned? And that the actress was already booked on another show and there was no choice but to write her out? And that the character died a noble death protecting her cohorts?”
Yes, we did realize it and we’re fully aware. Now we ask the rest of you to read a little more about why this movement is taking place. There is more to this than what you just mentioned.
Who’s this ubiquitous “we” for which you claim speak? Said Youtubers/bloggers? All in the LGBT community? That’s awfully lofty and presumptuous of you.
“But, but, but… you built the character up so we’d care! You toyed with us and our emotions and expectations before killing her off!” Yeah, that’s whole who goddamned point of drama. It’s as if these whiners have never taken an introductory English Lit class (and if you look at the YouTube channels and blogs of those who were launching these crusades against The 100, they were seemingly, largely, barely teenagers, so perhaps they in fact haven’t. At least THEY have the excuse of naive youth; presuming you’re not in that age bracket, what’s yours?).
Relating to that, let’s do a body count on cisgender deaths vs. LGBT deaths on television in the past few years. I’m not saying “let’s kill them all equally” – I’m saying TV deaths are not any more prevalent with LGBT characters.
Here’s a novel concept: instead of lobbying for the heads of writers and trying to guilt trip them into doing it YOUR WAY, use that effort to champion LGBT artists who are doing truly great work but are not receiving the attention deserved. Hint: They are out there in abundance. Hint: It is not Saving Hope or The 100.
But where’s the ra-ra glamor in that, I suppose?
Since you seem to believe to be the only qualified adult person to comment on the issue, let me just point out that I do fulfill all the requirements you deemed necessary to be allowed to have an opinion on the matter: I majored summa cum laude in Literature, Culture and Media Studies with a special focus on English Lit., am over 18 years old and have never participated in a so called “shipping war”.
I am German though, so please excuse any typos or grammar mistakes.
The problem has hardly anything to do with genre conventions even though they are often used as an excuse. Sure, the misery or even death of major characters is vital to dramatic narratives, and when dealing with dystopian settings these aspects are often even brought to the extreme.
I also agree with you that creative freedom and a storyteller’s autonomy should be protected and “bullying” writers or producers into changing their creative visions is despicable.
(However, I do believe that with the perk of being able to create stories that reach a large audience comes a certain responsibility… but that’s not the point either).
Unfortunately all of the above is only partially relevant to the core issue. Instead it comes down to simple statistics. Statistics that you got hella wrong.
I quote:
“Relating to that, let’s do a body count on cisgender deaths vs. LGBT deaths on television in the past few years. I’m not saying “let’s kill them all equally” – I’m saying TV deaths are not any more prevalent with LGBT characters. ”
Now, Math has never been my strong suit either so I can understand how one might get confused and reach such a strange conclusion.
Because the problem is exactly that, dear ByGolly10: TV deaths ARE a lot more prevalent with LGBT characters. That’s what all the “whining” as you so empathically called it is about.
It’s a question of ratio. But instead of just comparing the number of overall deaths between heterosexual/cisgendered characters and LGBTQ characters you need to take the number of heterosexual/cisgender characters on television the past few years then look at the number of deaths within that group and at the number characters who survived/are still alive (which gives you the death:survival ratio as well as the deathrate). Afterwards do the same with all the LGBTQ characters seen on tv. Then, and only then, you can compare the numbers. They might surprise you. Same goes for the principle of the happy ending when it comes to straight vs. gay characters or couples by the way (“vs.” in this context is intended as an indicator of a contrasting juxtaposition, not as some kind of philosophical stand-off).
You could also take another approach and calculate the deathrate over the last few years in percentages. Same numbers, one more step of mathematical conversion = same result/horrible conclusion. Might be more convenient since it allows you to directly compare percentages and therefore make the results even more apparent.
To oversimplify: you can’t take 10 oranges and only 4 apples, notice that 3 of the oranges and 3 of the apples have worms in them and say that the batches of both fruits were of equal quality because there were 3 bad items in each of them, when the evidence suggests that while 75% of the apples (ratio 3:4) were bad only 33.3% (3:10) of the oranges had worms in them.
Which (without wanting to take this crappy analogy too far) still leaves you with 7 good oranges but only 1 edible apple.
…And it might give you the impression that most apples are bad or not worth your while.
Lastly…you might also find it unfair that a batch of oranges contains a whopping 10 of them, while these stupid apples only come in tiny nets with 3 or 4 (something I’d be completely fine with if 75% weren’t rotten). Alright…embarrasing fruit-analogy over. ^^
Fact is: over the last 3 decades more than 150 lesbian characters died. And I personally can’t recall more than 20 (INCLUDING minor characters and guest roles) that had a happy ending.
As Dorothy Snarker so eloquently put it in a blog post entitled ” Another Four bite the Dust”: “The stories we tell, particularly about underrepresented groups – like queer people and people of color and people with disabilities and the like – matter. They feed into a cultural narrative which then becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy – both for LGBT people and how the outside world views LGBT people. It really isn’t much to ask that the majority of stories told about queer women not be tragic. ”
Nobody wants a guarantee that every single LGBTQ character on tv stays alive and gets to happily ride into the sunset… believe me, that’s the last thing I’m hoping this pledge is going to achieve (because without stakes, plot twists and shifting dynamics regarding the characters you identify with, what’s the point of watching/reading/consuming stories? All it would do is to creatively restrict storytellers and their audiences alike, not to mention hurt the practice of storytelling itself). But is it really too much to ask to balance the scales a little bit and make some of our stories less depressing? To call for the people responsible for our current tv landscape to be less repetitive, develop more original ideas and add some positive and meaningful representation to the hordes of psycho-killer lesbians and dead lady-loving-ladies on our tv screens?
This pledge is definitely a step in the right direction and I, for one, admire the Saving Hope Writers for their honesty and their efforts. I’m also excited to see were this call to action/responsible writing takes us.
A few hours ago I read that the “The Catch” writers and producers have signed the pledge as well.
And with that, ByGolly10, I wish you a lovely day. =)
Oh and your appeal to use some of the energy currently spent on expressing outrage and anger towards something more positive like the support and promotion of LGBTQ artists is also something I could definitely get behind.
It actually seems like quite a few of those “whiny”, “naive” people had the same idea and used the momentum of the Lexa-disaster for meaningful real-life contributions to the LGBTQ community, which is why the subsequent fundraiser for the Trevor Project was such a huge success.
I suppose a few of us, as inconceivable as it may seem to some people, are able to do both at the same time: advocate for better representation in the media AND engage in real life activism, projects and support. And sometimes our busy brains even have enough capacity left to pay attention to (and care about) the worries that afflict our heterosexual brethren. o_O The resourcefullness of the human mind… isn’t it marvellous?!
But all joking aside, as I said, I do recognize your argument and I like that you honestly seem to care about the support of LGBTQ artists.
Still… why should one effort exclude the other?
And isn’t it – to use your own wording – awfully presumptous of you to assume that we don’t care about the latter?
Bravo. Golly 10. Bravo.
Thank you for making such a positive contribution to society!
You make me proud to be queer and proud to be Canadian.
U r so full of your self. Go volunteer some where.