There’s nothing like sweet justice. The CW is getting its just desserts for destroying our favorite superheroes, in favor of diversity, inclusion, and representation. The CW has emasculated the men on these shows, gender and race swapped characters, and promoted political ideologies, that frankly, the audience could give a damn. The show runners on any one of these given shows, are unabashedly politically outspoken, and have admitted to using them as platforms for their ideals. The CW has forgot how to entertain its audience, or who their audience is. Their ratings have precipitously tanked year after year, and episode after episode, as convoluted storytelling, and a distancing from the source material, has garnered a swift decline in viewership. The CW is being sold, and the rumors are, that The CW will be sold to Nextstar Media Group. If those rumors are true, it’s possible that we could see a move from Nextstar, who would have majority control in programming, steer away from The CW’s radical left storytelling. Nextstar Media is run by a right of center CEO, who would probably consider expanding The CW’s programming beyond its traditional 18-34 year old demographic. All we can hope for is that all these woke shows on The CW are cancelled, and that The CW dies a swift death into obscurity.
The CW is the Lowest Rated Network on TV…Something to be Proud of.
Credit – tvseriesfinale.com
The CW has had almost all of its programming see its ratings drop, by as much as 30% year after year. Walker, The CW’s best rated show, has seen a decline of 30% every year since it debuted. The Flash, once the shining star of the CW, has dropped from its debut of 4.8 million viewers in 2014, to now, a paltry 754,000 viewers. ‘The Flash’, ‘Batwoman’, ‘Legends of Tomorrow’, ‘Supergirl’, etc, are all run by show runners, who care more about representation, and current day politics in these shows, rather than focusing on why the fans loved these characters to begin with. Eric Wallace, the show runner for ‘The Flash’, and writer for the series early on, has expressed how important representation is in an article from Insider last year.
“There are people watching this show of all ages, all races, all religions, all creeds. They need to know that Black women, people of color in general, there’s more to us than just the one side you see all the time. We are fully realized, fleshed out, three-dimensional people. And the only way to really express that is to give them time to shine in the spotlight,”
Caroline Dries, who is the show runner for the pathetically dismal ‘Batwoman’, is another example of how representation is more important than the story…and the ratings prove it. Batwoman has an average of 345,000 viewers per week. Wow. In a tweet from November of last year, Dries was excited that there were 14 queer characters on ‘Batwoman’.
“Growing up there were maybe two queer content movies at the local video store. Today we have this awesome list of what’s on TV PRESENTLY. Also had no idea were were up to 14 queer characters on BW. Cool ;)”
Growing up there were maybe two queer content movies at the local video store. Today we have this awesome list of what’s on TV PRESENTLY. Also had no idea were were up to 14 queer characters on BW. Cool 😉 https://t.co/PRIt9TnuY8
— Caroline Dries (@carolinedries) November 23, 2021
We Read Comic Books Based on Story and Not the Color of Ones Skin
Do these people at the CW realize they are writing shows based on comic book characters? Comic books that never focused on representation, and solely focused on the content of the story. If there was a black superhero in like say Luke Cage, Black Lightning, or Vixen…great. I never read an issue of Luke Cage thinking to myself…oh man, I’m glad there was some black representation here. I read Luke Cage because he kicked ass and his stories were cool. I read Master of Kung Fu for the same reason, not because I was thankful for the Asian representation…it’s so ridiculous. All of these superhero shows have become worse than soap opera dramas. The storylines have become more about the relationships and how we have to do better, rather than fighting really cool villains, and the fans are booooored.
Nextstar Media Could be Problematic for CW’s Programming
The show runners at The CW are merely using characters, that fans grew up with, and were inspired by, as backdrops to promote their woke ideology. It’s insidious, and The CW deserves being sold because of these poor ratings. But, The CW is not all to blame here. Where was Warner media. in the last five years, as all of these characters got co-opted and demoralized? Warner owns all of these characters, and are willfully mocking them. If The CW is sold to Nextstar Media, it could spell a change in programing that would skew more towards an older demographic, as opposed to the CW’s 18-34 demographic. Nextstar Media tends to lean a little more right in its politics and has an older demographic. According to an article from Variety, if The CW is sold exclusively to Nextstar, Nextstar would have a much bigger influence in the CW’s programming strategy.
“Taking a majority stake in the CW would also mean having an increased sway over the network’s programming strategy, as well as how it’s positioned in the marketplace, what gets preempted and when, and the amount of local programming and local news the network airs.”
“The CW is not profitable for ViacomCBS and WarnerMedia (which is set to be acquired by Discovery, Inc. from AT&T this year), but a new majority owner like Nexstar could change that by shifting the CW programming target away from the 18-34 demographic. Focusing on an older demo or taking the CW’s content in a more homey-heartland direction as the way to boost ratings and viewership, and thus ad sales.”
This might be huge win for fans who have been hoping for some sanity infused into their superhero shows. If that did happen, however, fans probably wouldn’t see an immediate change for at least a couple of years.
The CW Knows its Dying but Won’t Take the Hint
The CW, apparently, is not taking the hint though, and is continuing with its radical programming. Their latest entry into the DC superhero universe, is ‘Naomi’. ‘Naomi’s’ executive producer, Ava Duvernay, is another show runner who believes, in my opinion, that representation is more important than the story. In an article from Deadline, Duvernay insisted that ‘Naomi’ wasn’t about diversity or representation, but about normalizing that representation.
“It’s not about representation, it’s about normalization. We’re doing really muscular things that relates to race and gender and class but we’re doing it by playing it normal like it’s just a part of the everyday. I say it kiddingly but it’s real. The more you can portray images without underlining or highlighting them and putting a star next to them. By showing a different type of hero that centers a girl, a Black girl, that centers different kinds of folks. We start to make that normal and that’s a radical and revolutionary thing.”
Diversity has Always Been in Comics, it Was Just Never the Focus
Ummm…no. Again, the problem with these people producing, show running, or creating these shows, is there is no way that they are fans of the genre. It’s either that, or they have selective memories. I can recall a few black female superheroes that have been around for decades, that we all thought were normal, and didn’t think it was a “radical or revolutionary thing”. Storm, Vixen, Monica Rambeau, Bumblebee, etc. Duvernay is being dishonest with her intentions for ‘Naomi’, but what else can we expect from a show runner at The CW. We can’t expect much, and this is why The CW is being sold. If Nextstar Media does happen to own The CW, we can expect eventual changes. Nextstar Media has a profitable business model, that I’m sure they don’t want to mar with radical programming, the likes that The CW has to offer. I’m hoping for a deep cleanse at The CW that will bring sound and faithful entertainment back to a network that I used to enjoy watching.
