"First Kill" Getting Cancelled is Not an Isolated Event
Film and television has a rocky past with queer relationships shown on the big screen. In the past few years, it’s become more noticable and targeted towards shows with WLW (woman-loving-woman) relationships. The industry is known for the “bury your gays” trope (also known as “dead lesbian syndrome”), in which the media portrays a queer character, and kills them off or gives them a tragic storyline because of their identity. This trope gives a false sense of inclusivity, as having true queer representation was never the intention.
In the past few years, LGBTQ+ characters have gotten more genuine representation in the industry, but in TV, most of these shows with WLW relationships have been canceled by their networks. To name a few, “Derry Girls,” “Killing Eve” and “The Wilds” have all been canceled, but the one that has caused much uproar recently is “First Kill”.
“First Kill” is a cheaply-made vampire show with laughable CGI and a generic plotline— it may be the best queer supernatural show to date. Most of the time, cheesy vampire media is a guilty pleasure for many. Is it too much to ask to have people that aren’t straight and white starring in everything vampire related?
The first movie to make the subgenre of drama/horror popular was “Dracula” (1931), which had no representation for people of color in the English version (While creating the English version, A Spanish version of the movie was created alongside it. This version did have people of color, but the English version was popularized in the United States.) There were no queer characters either. Stephenie Meyer, a famous author in the vampire subculture of media, was openly racist and homophobic. While casting for the original “Twilight” movie, she said that people of color did not fit in “Twilight,” and it was “not really written that way.” There were also no queer characters in “Twilight.” Most movies and shows historically have been lacking in representation, but in recent times, the industry has gotten more diversity. The vampire sub genre has barely changed in matters of diversity since 1931. These movies have been the backbone of the subgenre and made it “taboo” to include diversity.
While the heteronormative standard had vampire shows in a chokehold during the early 2000’s, representation has been slowly attempting to trickle in. “First Kill” did something that is almost unheard of- included a black lesbian main character. Viewers loved the show, and it was immediately in Netflix’s global Top Ten and stayed there for three weeks. This would generally mean it would get renewed for at least another season, but “First Kill” got canceled because it didn’t have the “staying power” of most popular shows on Netflix, as one representative stated.
A few weeks before this, however, another Netflix show rose to the top ten—. “Heartstopper.” “Heartstopper” is another queer Netflix show that shows two teenage boys falling in love- great story, right?. While “Heartstopper” got less views than “First Kill,” it was renewed for two more seasons, and “First Kill” was canceled. “Heartstopper” is more of a coming-of-age story and “First Kill” is more in the drama genre, but the similarities are that they are both queer shows that came out on Netflix this summer. “First Kill” got canceled with double the views of “Heartstopper,” which blatantly shows the prejudice against WLW and POC lead shows. Fans have been outraged, linking this occurence to other shows that have WLW main characters and quickly got canceled, too.
Netflix is under fire, but we can’t just point a finger at one network when this issue is much bigger. While they are a big perpetrator, every single network does this. It is a result of film and TV being historically racist and homophobic. The vampire subgenre is not the only part of Hollywood that this happens in. This will keep happening to diverse shows and movies unless we actively try to change it.
By Caroline Lackey