The Butchering, Murdering, and Fridging of Laurel Lance
The definition of “fridging” in terms of comic book characters is explained as female characters who have been butchered, murdered, and in one instance, stuffed in a refrigerator to propel a male superhero’s plot point forward creating conflict and man pain at the expense of a woman’s life. For further detail and a full extended list of women in refrigerators, click here. This idea of women being murdered to propel a man’s story forward is pervasive in all sorts of media – ranging from novels to movies to t.v. shows. The irony, or I guess, the not so irony of this whole situation is that it is happening on a tv show based on comic book lore about a character who has been loved for so long by countless fans. We talk about progress in our TV shows, but the death of Katie Cassidy’s Laurel Lance/Black Canary signifies a deep and prevalent problem - that the death of women, in 2016, is still being utilized as a trope to create not only shock value, but to excuse writing creativity (bad writing).
I want to address the beginning of Arrow. In the first season, Laurel Lance is someone who was a respected lawyer. There were also instances where she showed how tough she could physically be as well - claiming that her father has given her self-defense lessons, but the problem arose was in her given name. She was already connected to Black Canary; she was given the namesake and big shoes to fill. Katie Cassidy had no problem filling in such shoes (remember how loved she was as Ruby 1 on Supernatural?; she has also been a phenomenal actress in the Arrowverse as well). The problem was in the writing; they reduced her to a gross love triangle between Oliver and his best friend - Tommy - leaving her to become divisive in the community while other female characters could shine. Laurel Lance became a person whom you either hated or loved and continued to do so throughout the later seasons.
With the introduction of Sara Lance, a shock factor and plot twist that the writers thought was ingenious, the plot and storyline of Laurel Lance was sidelined. Not only was Laurel Lance involved in yet another gross, torrid love triangle, the story line that should have been Laurel’s was given to her sister. While Sara Lance was born in fire, trials, and tribulations, Laurel’s character turned to drinking, substance abuse, and ultimately recovery.
Now, Laurel’s character development (and some may say lack thereof) from substance abuse to Black Canary can oftentimes be viewed as a sort of a strong female character development. We cannot minimize how Laurel went from struggling with the death of Tommy, to the arrival of her sister, to paving her own road to recovery and Black Canary, but she was sidelined by the writing. Sara and the White Canary was born from strife, fire, brimstone, hell, and guilt while Laurel’s development was shown majorly off screen (training with Wildcat, training with Nyssa - don’t even get me started on how Nyssa and Laurel’s relationship could have been amazing if it was developed more, also don’t even get me started how Nyssa - a lesbian - was forced to marry a man! I mean, what even!).
Laurel Lance/Black Canary was simply butchered. The character assassination started even before Felicity (although Olicity did not help), but it ended with having her center her heroic feats around Arrow. Sara Lance grew and became complex because of Arrow, but she grew without him, Laurel Lance never had that time to develop on her own (most of her acquiring her fighting skills were off screen). Her storylines reduced to revolving around a man (yes, I clearly know this is the Arrow show, but look at Thea Queen).
First comes butcher, then comes murder. The murdering of Laurel Lance is indeed incredibly shocking. I am also pretty sure that any press is good press - the outpour of shock and disgust that Guggenheim is facing is amazing (which gives me hope about other viewers of the show), which makes me even writing this think piece as his good press.
Needless to say, if the writers wanted to create storylines for Laurel, they would have killed Quentin Lance. Laurel Lance proved that she was capable of loving people: she loved Felicity, encouraged her to be her own person; she loved Thea Queen and took her in; she loved and forgave her father. If the writers loved Laurel Lance, they would have allowed a man’s death to fuel a woman’s fire and rage. If Quentin Lance had died, Laurel would be faced with a kind of darkness that she has known in the past, but of course, this is The Arrow show. They chose to murder Laurel Lance. They would rather show a woman being murdered than a woman (Laurel) standing next to a man (Oliver) without being his sister, without being his love interest, without being murdered for his man pain.
Lastly comes the fridging. Guggenheim mentions how Laurel Lance’s death allows other characters to feel different emotions, to express different opinions, to explore different paths, but the show already demonstrated that they could do this without fridging a woman. They did this with Roy Harper (a man and a character who is arguably less loved than Black Canary) - allowing him to come back, but also giving Thea the ability to pick up the mantle. Laurel Lance can pull a Roy Harper - leaving because it was not deemed safe for her, becoming a great character on her own (having her own spin off show), and not being fridged.
When Allison Argent died in Teen Wolf, I quit. When Lexa died in The 100, there was outrage. As Laurel Lance dies, there is an outpour of disgust. Even if Earth 2 Laurel Lance comes to the Arrowverse, it is a huge cop out. The Laurel Lance we knew and loved has been butchered, murdered, and fridged. Since Guggenheim says this death is more or less permanent, I quit this show. I quit this show because it once gave me great women characters such as Sara, Thea, Felicity, and Laurel, but now it has become reductive. It has fallen into the same reductive patterns as other shows; it has murdered and fridged a character I love, and so with my opinion, I bow out of the series.
