Humanizing Fiction

December 10, 2014

They just won't let the bitch die. As we covered in a previous article, the reaction to the death of Beth Greene, a popular Walking Dead character, was both effusively sympathetic and culturally informative. Greene (played by Emily Kinney), was shot in the face by another character: Police Officer Dawn Lerner (played by Christine Woods).

This episode aired on November 30, 2014, just six days after a St. Louis County grand jury decided to not indict Police Officer Darren Wilson for the August 9th shooting of unarmed teen Michael Brown. The sense of shock and outrage on the Talking Dead follow up show was comical in its exaggeration, and infuriating in its lack of sensitivity. The audience, guests, and Talking Dead host (Chris Hardwick) just couldn't accept that such a brutal death could befall someone they cared about. They couldn't believe that death comes that senselessly, or that ruthlessly, certainly not to a white person, and certainly not at the hands of the police. The police are protectors, not aggressors, and they never ever murder on a whim.

(Except, of course, they do. All the time.)

This spirit of audience incredulity has now become a petition at change.org, a popular website, with the subtle title: Bring Beth Back! (As of this writing, the petition has over 47,000 signatures.)

Amanda T, the petition's author, can't even see past her own white viewpoint; she just spews the vitriol and disgust that should be reserved for real-life, human violence:

“Her death was far too soon and the writers threw away the potential of a perfectly good character. Her story wasn't over. Emily Kinney and her character don't deserve this.”

Now, that sounds familiar! With a little bit of tweaking, this could apply to a number of real life victims, including Michael Brown, and Eric Garner. Ms. T continues:

“There was so much more to be done with her character and they chose to kill her in a disgusting, unsatisfying death that caused more anger and disappointment than shock and mourning.”

Anger and disappointment? With everything that's going on? Ms. T and I lead very different lives. She continues:

“We realize that the circumstances she dies in are irreversible, but this is television. Anything is possible.”

Sorry Hon; if her name ain't Rick Grimes or Daryl Dixon, then she's a Red Shirt: grist for the story's mill.

“Let's show Emily Kinney how much we love her and want her back.”

What? You love her? You want her back? That thug stabbed a uniformed police officer with a pair of scissors! She deserved what she got. Yes, it is a great tragedy, even an outrage, but Beth left Officer Lerner no choice … right? Right?

Is this article unfair? No. Racial, state-enforced, legal killing is unfair. And indifferent white hypocrisy keeps the cycle going.

Oh—to have an all-white, all-fictional society: a place where every human is human, and all lives matter.