The Legacy of Media Comes from Fans

I’m sure whenever I get on my soapbox about television, fandom, and things like the audience contract that someone out there cringes. However, after seeing a few more controversial endings of series (such as Supernatural recently) I have come to consider something very important. There is a part of this conversation that I think writers and executives may not be considering in terms of history.

Now, more than ever, media makes its mark on us. We watch things to escape. We watch things to dive into stories and adventures beyond ourselves. You may not think you engage in fandom or particularly care about the outcome of a story, but I would wager that you’d be wrong. When you watch a show and you root for an on-screen couple or consider that perhaps two characters may have chemistry beyond what is written so far, you join a conversation with dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of fans.

Let’s take Grey’s Anatomy as an example. How many relationships have been celebrated by fans over the years? How many fans still root for ill-fated relationships that broke apart because a character left the show? How many people want to cash in on that nostalgia for a particular “ship” because they know people will watch? Let’s take Patrick Dempsey’s character Derek for example. Many people believe that he is Meredith’s true love. So, when he appeared at the start of this most recent season (in a dream-ish sequence of sorts) people freaked out on social media.

On the same token, when a long-awaited relationship comes to fruition on-screen or even the tiniest ray of hope of one, such as the long-debated and long-sought-after Dean and Castiel relationship from Supernatural, can we really be surprised when people are excited? However, these occurrences and what becomes of them, matter in terms of a series’ legacy. Many people believe that the Supernatural finale disrespected multiple characters and concluded a 15 year series in a largely disappointing way. Notably, people believe that the “I Love You” spoken by Castiel to Dean was largely used to queerbait fans, rather than ever being intended to lead to a satisfying conclusion.

This is a song and dance that many of us have seen before when it comes to LGBT representation. At times, it feels like the characters and relationships that resonate with queer viewers are ignored or outright disrespected in exchange for serving to “satisfy” the other viewers of the series. The issue with this is that fans are the legacy of your series.

Some people think that when a series ends, that is where their involvement ends. Some people on the other hand attend conventions to meet the actors that portrayed their favorite characters or cosplay as the characters they resonate with. People create fanworks, such as fan art, fanfiction, and all manner of other things to celebrate their love for a piece of media.

This has been going on for decades too, this isn’t a new thing. Star Trek had conventions and fans attending beginning with the very first Trek convention called Star Trek Lives! in 1972. Think about that for a moment. A lot of us like to think that fandom is new, started by people who watched things like Buffy, or Charmed, or Macgyver back in the day. We’re infants in the fandom sphere y’all. Trekkies are the real original superfans, and let’s not even get into the concept of groupies that rallied behind their favorite bands across modern history.

Beloved series are often immortalized in the minds and hearts of those who viewed them and grew attached to them. This has never been more relevant than it is now when people rally behind better representation for marginalized groups on television. Shadowhunters still lives fondly in the hearts of many people because they respected their fans. The ending was satisfying and no characters were treated as disposable or used as shock value fodder.

When was the last time you heard someone speak positively about Game of Thrones in a way that wasn’t framed by “The last season was crap but…” or “I really liked this character but…” rather than talking specifically about how terrible the end was? The good moments of Game of Thrones (for me anyway) were drowned out by the horrible ending that didn’t serve the arc of any of its characters.

Some have even said that Game of Thrones was considered a cultural icon and quickly became irrelevant as the ending aired. People were angry for a lot of valid reasons, and fans that rallied behind the show turned their backs on it, thereby sealing its fate. It becomes even worse when writers are outright hostile to fans who are upset, such as the showrunners of The Magicians who refused to acknowledge the harm their Season 4 finale did. Moreover, they doubled down on their choices and chose to write an ending that disregarded some of the things that made the series so great in the first place.

We are coming to a point where people want satisfying endings and experiences that serve the narrative they are given. They want the audience contract to be upheld, to know that the rules set at the beginning of a series and throughout its run, will dictate how their experience persists moving forward. Disregarding this, providing shock value for the sake of it, and thinly veiled hostility in the name of realism (in escapist fiction no less) only diminishes the work that actors and writers do to present a story that resonates with viewers.

The more executives and showrunners push things that disregard the feelings and desires of those that watch, the more media will start to decline in long-term value. I’m not saying that everyone should weigh the feelings of fans completely, but pushing toxic narratives or going against your own storylines only leaves fans confused. Also, yes I am aware that no writer or show will please everyone. However, if you resort to lazy writing tactics such as going back on (or retconning) things you established previously, you’re not just “displeasing” a few fans, you’re diminishing your own hard work.

It would be like if I wrote a review for something and then a month later the developer paid me and I said, “Oh, this is the best game ever. I didn’t give it a 2/10, you didn’t see that.” That would be insulting the intelligence of people who read my work, played the game themselves, and support what I do. Fans buy merchandise, they drive viewership, they rally behind a canceled show to attempt to get it picked up by a network or streaming service.

Disregarding their role in the symbiotic relationship between media and fans is just disrespectful and short-sighted. Yet it happens more and more in our current age. Escapist fiction becomes riddled with “realistic endings” that don’t serve the rules you set in place for a fantasy show. Talking about a show where a character never gave up on his brother, only to have that brother die at the end to leave the brother alone to live out his days is insulting.

For executives, they should consider the long-term impact of a satisfying viewing experience. If a show is successful and it has great storylines and a great ending, it will pay well in syndication and merchandise. Additionally, you may find that the actors may want to return for a revival after the series has been gone a little while. Fans might even campaign for it if you let them.

Taking a depressed character who fought past his depression and never stopped fighting, only to have him basically kill himself at the end of a season to kill that character off for no justifiable reason is toxic. It is taking fan expectations and loyal viewer expectations and expecting them to just sit back and be okay with a choice that spits on the message they’ve been shown all along. I have hope that eventually we’ll get past this “everything must be realistic, grim, sad” media spiral we find ourselves in. After the hellscape that is 2020, I think we could all use a bit of happy, fun, adventurous fiction.

In short, fans are not the enemy of writers and their creativity, but how your show is remembered by fans does matter. Fans weave the tales that people tell after your show is off the air and your show may inspire other writers to make their own stories. Don’t betray their trust by ignoring a satisfying ending in lieu of a shocking or tragic one.