The Walking Thread

image of Glenn sitting in an alley behind a dumpster with a shotgun looking pensive and scared
Glenn takes a moment for himself to contemplate the incomprehensible fuckery
of AMC having shit-canned Frank Darabont.

(Spoilers lurch undeadly herein.)

It's official, Shakers: I now watch The Walking Dead just to hate it. And I can tell you the exact moment at which the switch from love-hate to hate-hate happened—it was when Lori, at the end of the episode, referred to herself and Carl as things that Rick "owns." Yiiiiiiiiiiiikes nope. This is where I get off the bus!

The show's biggest issue, for me, is its chronic disrespect of agency. The main (male) characters are continually making decisions for everyone else, without ever asking them what they want or providing them with good information which they can use to make decisions for themselves. Like, during the whole endless argument over what to do with the guy harpooned on the fence, no one ever stops for five seconds to ask him: "What do YOU want?" Or like, Shane tells Lori that Rick's back at the farm to get her to return with him, instead of just giving her honest info and letting her make an informed choice for herself. Etc.

It's INFURIATING to watch—and, at a time when, for example, a bunch of dudes are making decisions about women's et. al. reproductive rights, this show isn't making any sort of critical commentary on how inherently grody making decisions for other adult human beings is, especially when their lives are on the line.

And I suspect that's because this show doesn't actually see the problem with it.

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