‘Our Flag Means Death’s Being Canceled Feels Like Another Slap in the Face

To build a space for queer people like myself, every Saturday (or when I feel like it) I’ll be posting interviews, opinion pieces (like this Our Flag Means Death post), listicles, reviews, and more focused on the LGBT community from a Latina perspective. Welcome to Queerly Not Straight!

Enjoy and leave a comment below if you have a suggestion for what I should cover next. P.S. I, Lyra Hale, do not give any site permission to copy or repost my work in any form. If you are reading this on any site besides Fangirlish, it has been stolen.

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At this point, I shouldn’t be surprised that networks and streaming services don’t think LGBTQ+ stories are worth keeping around for more than a season or two. We saw it happen with Warrior Nun, First Kill, I Am Not Okay with This, Teenage Bounty Hunters, Vagrant Queen, Gentleman Jack, and Glamorous. But the promise of queer content and hope that one of these shows will make it past season 1 or 2, keep me around. Because I want to see myself in the content I consume. But at this point, I feel like networks and streaming services are playing with me and that I’m taking any scraps they give me. And then there’s the cancellation of Our Flag Means Death. 

I foolishly thought that having a big name like Taika Waititi on the cast list would save this show. I thought it would give it more than two seasons and that we would see Edward and Stede be happy for a little bit at that inn by the beach before hitting the seas again. Because their story felt incomplete. And I had faith in this show, the writers, and the showrunner that they weren’t going to take the easy way out and end a story just when the couple got their shit together and ended up together. But I was wrong. And it feels like such a slap in the face and a reminder of this continuous cycle in Hollywood that thinks queer people don’t need or maybe don’t deserve to see people like them happy on our screens.

This is coming from someone who was annoyed all of season 2 of Our Flag Means Death. I felt like Stede was selfish when it came to understanding what Edward wanted to do with his life. And I also felt like Stede put the idea of being a pirate above the love he felt for Edward. By the end of season 2, you saw them find their way back to each other. And even though I was annoyed during season 2, I wasn’t annoyed enough where I wouldn’t come back for season 3 of the show, where they would develop both characters and give us the payout that we deserve. Because that’s what the bond between TV and viewers is all about. We invest in your shows. We fangirl. We create art and make costumes that we can meet up with others at conventions. It’s a social contract. But I feel like networks and streaming services have forgotten that.

HBO Max, Netflix, Prime Video, Syfy, and a whole slew of other platforms have forgotten that they need us more than we need them. They need us to watch their shows. They need us to give them the engagement that they need to make money. So if networks and streaming services are continuously in a loop of “omg representation is so important so here’s this cute/cool LGBTQ+ show that you should totally watch because representation is important to us,” we watch, and then they just cancel after one season…why are we here? Why are we continuously falling for it? Oh wait, it’s because these are our lives. This is who we are. And it pains me that I know we will continue to watch these LGBTQ+ shows and mourn their eventual cancellation.

The only solution that I see at this point for networks and streaming services, it’s for them to tell concise stories. Stop pussy footing around and making me invest in characters and storylines that we both know won’t get more than one season or two. Create closed loops that give us quality storytelling that doesn’t solely focus on angst and then cuts off when the couple is happy. Because queer people deserve to see themselves in the content they consume. They deserve to see themselves when it’s all about angst or a funny comedy or just two people running a cute inn by the seaside. We deserve it. But again, you need us more than we need you and you’re pushing it. We’ll watch what you put out next when it comes to LGBTQ+ content, but we’re teetering on the edge of something. I feel it in the way that people in the community are canceling subscriptions and not promoting the things they love anymore on a public forum. 

So fix your shit HBO Max and any other platform making TV content out there. We aren’t staying quiet. If anything, we’re getting louder because it isn’t just about our favorite ship not being on screen anymore. It’s about our experiences and stories not feeling worthy of more. It’s about Stede and Edward as a couple but as people. It’s about Wee John Feeney and Izzy Hands fabulous drag looks. It’s about Jim just existing in a non-binary space. It’s about us existing and being acknowledged by a world that consistently tries to erase us. No more.

What do you think of the cancelation of Our Flag Means Death? Let us know in the comments below!

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Queerly Not Straight posts Saturdays with opinion pieces, listicals, reviews, and more focused on the LGBT community (and occasionally about the Latine community since I am Latine.)