I’m a mixed, queer, 22 yrs old girl (black dad, white mum) from France, I have been a fan of the show since I was sixteen and the show then introduced me to the comics. In this post, I want to explain why killing off Jesus was a grave mistake and address how Tom Payne being happy about his exit does not make it any less okay. I also want to talk about comments being made towards heartbroken fans like “it’s only fiction”, “he’s still alive in the comics, just drop the show” etc that are completely understandable but totally missing the point.
I grew up confused about my sexuality for a long time and most of lgbt media I was accustomed to were all presented the same way : The protagonist, with whom you identify with as the audience, almost ALWAYS dies a horrible death after being treated like shit BECAUSE she/he was GAY. I would pick just any lgbt film during my teenage years and it would almost always ends like that.
Then one day I discovered a new tv show called the walking dead.
This show became one of the most successful tv show in the world. And in it, we have Tara. A lesbian girl which story isn’t centered around the fact that she is a lesbian and is a true refreshing addition to the group. Then… she has a girlfriend. She dies. Okay, a lot of the main characters lost their partner…
Then Denise appears. Boum. Love. Happy couple. Denise dies. Ouch. Okay… she dies in the comics, right ? (But Carol dies too so why is she… never mind)
JESUS. Yes. JESUS. Perfect introduction. I pick up the comics and find out he’s a real badass and an emotionally complex character that happens to be gay. Cool. Except he dies, too on the show. After being treated like shit by the writers and queerbaiting the fans with his relationship with Aaron. But anyone dies, right ? Any character is expandable… right ?
Except it isn’t true. Would AMC/Kang fire Norman and kill off Daryl unless the actor wanted out ? No. Would they kill off Carol ? No. Because most fans are rooting for her and Daryl to get together. Would they get rid off Michonne ? No, of course not. Would they have kept Maggie around and developp her storyline if the actress had not left the show ? Hell yeah, they’re trying to get her back for s10. Even Rick didn’t die. He was taken hostage by people we know nothing about.
My point is, years have passed. And we’re still here asking for the lgbt characters to be more relevant and not kill off whenever because [insert bullshit reason].
Tom Payne is happy with leaving the show. And I’m happy for him. But I am not happy with how they treated such an awesome character in the comics like this, make him irrelevant, useless at times, giving some of his scenes to other characters even, just to kill him off. His exit was cool ? Yeah, well… he still got killed. Is him being sent off in a cool and badass way suppose to satisfy me ? Glad it satisfied Tom (he deserved some sort of compensation for all his hard work after all) but it just proved me once again the potential this character had and how a shame it was to see him go.
So no, it’s not just fiction to some people. It’s more complicated than that. To me it is more than some gay character that died on tv. There is just too much homophobia in the real world to appreciate “cool” and “badass” death scenes of yet another lgbt character.
Sorry for the long post. And if you took the time to read it, thank you.
“I only met [Stan Lee] a few times; I never really got a full one-on-one with him, but he was always, like: ‘Remember, Bucky’s one of the good ones. Bucky’s a good guy.’” – Sebastian Stan
So you Carol x Daryl shippers are actually going there with Henry, huh? You’re involving a child in your adultery fantasies. You think a kid (who is happy and well-adjusted thanks to the wonderful parents who raise him) is going to encourage his mother to leave or cheat on his father with another man? Do you guys understand how AWFUL that is?? Of course you don’t, you don’t care how bad, toxic, or ooc something is so long as it means your ship happens. Smdh.
I know a lot of people haven’t been able to see the preview special so these are all the times a certain ship was mentioned and Tom’s reaction to it. As well as the Season 9 sneak peak! Enjoy y’all!
Also, my internet was being shit so the video does lag at some points so, sorry about that