The Vampire Diaries "True Lies" 5x2 Reaction

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Mo

I think bc they're not an indigenous group of people but people who occupy other people's bodies it would be quite offensive.

thisismaria27

True! I completely forgot about that, but yes she explained that back then.

thisismaria27

I 100% agree. Steven's rant was entirely justified. I don't know the specifics of why POC are that expendable on vampire diaries, but it is a noticable pattern and it is really not a good look for the show. The Originals handles this way better, so it really doesn't make any sense to me.

thisismaria27

These comment sections are beginning to get frustrating. If people of colour, especially black people, think something is off somewhere in the writing then that’s that. I think we know well enough off our own experiences what does and doesn’t constitute racial tropes or suspect writing. You’re all allowed opinions but constantly debating against us with lengthy passionate arguments in defense of these writers, almost praising them for their ‘efforts’ and ‘diversity’ is not the move you think it is. It comes across as if you’re grasping for any reason to disprove what we already know. This is not some new age woke brigade agenda. This has been discussed since the beginning of this show with articles, open letters, blog posts, interviews and so on. The universe involving the writers and Kat are aware. Kindly, topics like race will always be in the back of our minds because it’s representation in media is historically and currently often very problematic. This is just something many of you who are not us will ever understand. It’s that simple. I don’t want Steven to feel like he can’t discuss or rant on storylines like this in the future because it is his honest reaction. He has every right to feel this way!

S

Right? lol. This is the last week I am participating in the drama. I am resolved not to get sucked in for future episodes.

Terri

Yeah that's pretty much how the reddit post trended as well. It was pretty clear from the results that POC didn't die more than white characters. In fact...doesn't nearly everyone on this show die at one point or another. I don't think this is a spoiler since I said "nearly" and I do mean that. Even Matt has technically died even though he came back to life, which Steven saw.

Terri

I knew that word was bad but never understood why so thanks for some clarification onthat

john segun doe

Entertainment you say! Haha Fuck it, it got me thinking so I just did it, anyway, just the ones off the top of my head: Sheila Bennet = Lexie, Logan Fell and Vickie Donavon (3 for 1) Anna and Pearl = the two white vampires that died helping Anna also cousin Mason the warlocks (dad, son and sister) = the werewolves (a whole pack, Jules and Green Arrow) Witch that betrays Damon = Klaus's male witch and Rose and Andie (3 for 1) Aimee Bradley = Sarah the drunk tumbling down the stairs and Esther Witches killed for the triangle = hybrids killed for the triangle and Kol killed for the map Connor the Hunter = Galen the hunter also the older one that dated Bex Bonnie's dad = Elena's biological mom and dad as well as her aunt (a 3 for 1) -Also, Care's dad and Tyler's mom, Carol for two more on that one Roommate = dude who found Stefan and Atticus Shane and Pastor Young (3 for 1) -Also, quite a few if not most of the 12 he killed for the triangle was white I think There was two more witches, one in New Orleans = several deputies at the Young farm Just off the top of my head, but most I could name two or three to balance it. I could be missing a few, obviously, but I'm sure it balances out with my excess here. Everyone has their own opinions so I'm just try to comment on the storyline reactions after this ep.

Fly on the Wall

lmaoo tvd comment sections are really starting to be entertaining. Almost as excited for the comment section as i am for the reaction

john segun doe

Also, shout-out to anyone that watches Glee on this channel, because I know you have seen me in the comments over the seasons raising Hell about similar issues. It's just how I watch and respond to television. Call it critical thinking, cultural competency, or whatever.

I Am Not Chamari

I can write all of my thoughts until the cows come home, but as someone who has consumed a lot of television at the hand of white writers, these kinds of conversations are not abnormal or superfluous. They're very normal and I actually have them frequently or see these conversations being had with other fellow POC and white allies. I don't want Steven to feel like he's mentioning this kind of thing too much or that it detracts from his reaction, because it only enriches it to me. I love this show, but it is frustrating in many of the ways Steven has talked about. You can love a show and be heavily critical of it when it comes to issues of race, class, disability, gender, sexuality, all of the above. Hell, I haven't even got to mention the utter lack of LGBT characters on this show yet lol So, I hope Steven feels like he can still do that, without people in the comments getting annoyed for him speaking up.

I Am Not Chamari

I was getting to the point I was gonna try to count because just doing a simple one in my head I knew I could name a white guest starring character that died for every minority fairly 1 to 1. And I was thinking about that casting issue since he said that because I feel Julie's biggest mistake at this point, and only at this point as it never crossed my mind before, is she was incredibly diverse with her extras casting. I'd dare someone to find any other supernatural long standing drama that hired more POC on their shows. So again, at this point I think to myself what if Julie did just cast white extras to die in those exact same ways, would there be any outrage whatsoever? I don't believe so. Which is a shame because this show gave so many opportunities to actors of color, but because their roles were written to die before most of them ever saw a casting agent, it's problematic. And would be too if they just didn't hire POC on the show at all, but I do think Steven wouldn't be as vocal about it as he implied. I'm just hoping at this point, even if he thinks the show is unfair to minorities, and he has that right, he just accepts the show is gonna do what it's gonna do and can enjoy the show. I'm really hoping every reaction and comment section isn't this as I've never seen this on any other reaction channel and I've watched like 6 reactors for this show as it's one of my favorite shows.

Fly on the Wall

Ugh, I'll probably regret posting this, but I'm tired enough to throw caution to the wind and make some bad decisions. We can either believe the whole cast, crew, writing staff etc are horrible racists or we can look at context. 1. No matter the race (white, black Asian...whatever) any person not a main character is probably going to die. Just expect it. A lot of white side characters have died in the show too. A lot. They did this to keep the tension high in the show and also just because they wanted that violent horror element. It is a vampire show. 2. This show is set in small town Virginia. Guess what small town VA has... a lot of white people. A lot. I grew up in West Virginia, so I was in Virginia A LOT. The show cast the main character according to that pretty well. Teen Wolf isn't comparable because it is set in California, which is a lot more diverse usually. That's important context. So do we start only filming in locations that allow for more diversity? So we'd better never set a TV show in Vermont I guess. Or do we cast inaccurately and have 100% of Vermont residents pissed because they just made Vermont NYC? 3. More context.... they actually filmed just outside (and even in) Atlanta. Guess what the racial split is there. Obviously A LOT of minorities. So when they put out callings for extras, they would get a lot of minorities applying. So they cast some of them. In fact, there were reports when they were shooting of some of those extras even getting extended parts. So...idk...maybe like Steven said they should have avoided casting minorities altogether. If you notice they allowed more minorities in starting at the 5th season because they went to college in a bigger city (ergo, more diversity). This shows they were paying attention to that quite a bit. If they listened to Steven's idea and didn't cast minorities they'd be called racists for that. Either way...they were not going to win in this situation. Someone on reddit actually counted the number of minority characters vs white characters to die on TVD and it was a fairly even split. I tried to find the post, but I couldn't. So...we can all call them racists without actually knowing any of them personally. We can get our pitchforks out and burn them at the stake or we can give them the benefit of the doubt since they also wrote TO and Legacies. We can look at context or we can make assumptions. But I don't know if any of them are racists. Why? I don't personally know them!!!

Terri

If he's gonna spend three straight episodes talking about it in videos for our paid consumption with a comment section enabled, people are allowed to comment on it. You have an opinion, others have theirs.

Fly on the Wall

🥱

G*psy is considered a slur. Some people don't mind the usage, but a lot of people do, because of the history of the word and how it was used specifically against Romani women. But, it's also so pervasive of a word that people have a hard time understanding that they should stop using it.

I Am Not Chamari

1. Silas knows that Katherine is with Jeremy because he knows that Jeremy was driving Katherine back to him last episode. As Jeremy mentioned, he was the last person to be seen with Katherine, so the assumption is that they're still together.

I Am Not Chamari

I really don't understand why people, especially white people, think they can argue with you about the treatment of POC on this show. It's not up for argument. It's not a fun topic of debate. It's real and to continuously play devil's advocate about it is rude and insulting. Minority characters are treated horribly on this show. Full stop. Paying any attention to Kat Graham in interviews would make this obvious. But bringing Bonnie's dad on mid-season 4, just to kill him in in the season 5 premiere? Come on. We MAYBE got 7 scenes with him total? Talk about the killing parents trope all you want, but Isobel and John lasted for over a season and got epic send-offs. Carol lasted for four seasons and we got a significant amount of screentime with her as mayor. Although we spent less time with Caroline's father, he at least became a crucial part of the main storyline of Season 3 and got a respectable death as well.

I Am Not Chamari

The debate on calling them Gypsies still rages on as plenty of Romani people are fine with it or even prefer to be called Gypsies, that said, they go by "Travelers" in this show. He was talking about Matt. It's why he couldn't get in his head. He was already in there.

Fly on the Wall

Esther actually explained how the ring worked in season 3 when she turned Ric into an Original. She explained every time he died and went to the other side, she was there to brainwash him into the serial killer he became at the end of the season so he could eradicate vampires and their sympathizers.

Fly on the Wall

Ric's ring was turned into the indestructible stake. Jer also can't use the ring.

Fly on the Wall

Lol Matt is the blonde haired, blue eyed guy that Silas killed that the Gypsy's had control over. I'm laughing because Silas literally killed Matt this episode, just thought it was funny because I was watching the screen like, "Go back go back! Watch the whole clip again." 😂 Silas couldn't read Matt's mind because someone (Travelers) was already occupying his head. Also, Silas said it right after he called them Gypsys. He said they like to be called "Travelers" now. Great reaction, I believe you handled the talk about minorities well. Looking forward to the next one.

CallingCollins

If remember Teen Wolf only killed 2 minority characters but I think there were a total of 4 or 5 minority characters and the other three do stay alive…..the most ironic part about this is the one minority character we hoped got killed didn’t lol…… But I am glad you’re watching The Originals because they really did try to fix the issue with more of a diverse cast even minor characters giving it more of a cultural feel

Stefan Davis

You're very right with the opening of the video and I get you taking you time with it because you want to get the wording right, but you shouldn't have to edit and no one should ever get mad. it's a fact of this show and it is noticeable and uncomfortable. I think it is problematic as hell the lack of POC in main roles and the deaths of all the Black extras is likely partially because of where they filmed (just outside Atlanta), but that doesn't excuse how no one noticed that they had this very bad and harmful pattern. producers, editors, someone should have realized. And the treatment of the one WOC, Bonnie and by extension her family is so toxic and fucked up. I think the actress has expressed her struggles on the show and it should be discussed, because as you said this is not old enough to say oh well it's old so we don't have to address it.

Molly C

I'll grant you killing Liz would've hit me majorly in the feels. My only issue with that is Silas already basically killed her in season 4 until Care saves her life so it would have been too soon to do it again, imo.

Fly on the Wall

The only thing I'm going to say is if you see a new character, chances are they're going to die. At least that's the way it's been for 5 seasons. The Vampire Diaries more or less made their selection of main cast members pretty much from season 1 outside Vickie who died early on and Tyler who became a regular after and until they start getting rid of the main characters they already have, no new character is really introduced to last. No matter what attributes the actor physically entails. Maybe that's a shame and maybe they could have gotten rid of a few main characters to let some of these POC recurring characters to join the main cast, but I definitely know I don't want Elena, Damon, Stefan, or Caroline to go anywhere. That's all I'm going to say and hopefully the show starts to pickup enough to enjoy the plot of the show a bit more and I hope Originals is better for you in this department. It is for most people I read comments from online. It's a good show, too.

Fly on the Wall