[Caption: screencap of [a tweet] by @AlannaBennett: “ Arden Cho is leaving Teen Wolf, which marks the third PoC in the same number of weeks leaving a show bc of neglectful storytelling”
#1 is Ricky Whittle, who [was abused by his boss until he finally was written out of the show] and whose character [was executed and left to very graphically bleed out on the mud].
#2 is Nicole Beharie, who [was sidelined from her own show until she finally felt like she had to leave], and her character was killed off with a disgusting and racist “I was only meant to carry you forward” to her white co-lead.
Arden Cho makes #3. She basically put all of her other projects on hold for three years because she never knew when the show was gonna call her for an episode –and they never bothered to wrap the writing around her schedule like they did for white cast-member Dylan O’Brien, who was able to film two movies while Arden had to bend over backwards for the show.
[Caption: screencap of an Intagram comment left by @arden_cho: “@shermandanielles: also less than 1% of my time went into side projects (only filmed during breaks of Teenwolf) and had to turn down numerous other projects and films, I dedicated 3 years to Teenwolf and made it my first priority. I have barely even posted on my YouTube channel (which I did before Teenwolf) because I’ve been so busy. Just know that i have no choice or power. The writers and producers make all the decisions. All I can do is show up and act. If I had a choice it might be different.”]
She was introduced in the show [just so the white sidekick could have a storyline where he was possessed by a Japanese demon] and, the moment Asian mythology became unnecessary, Arden began to be further and further pushed to the sidelines.
Even though it’s said that head writer Jeff Davis fought to keep her on the show, as soon as he stepped off of his position, MTV confirmed that Kira would not be in Season 6 because “her story was all wrapped up”, even though Jeff left her at he beginning of a very powerful arc about her powers and sense of self. Arden [loved this character], and the Yukimuras were the only regular Asian characters on the show.
Also, this week Kat Graham announced that [she’s leaving The Vampire Diaries], and though I’m not a TVD fan, I’ve seen talks that she was also mistreated. So that technically makes four.
@booasaur commented in another reblog: By the way, if people have twitter, THANK YOU ARDEN is trending worldwide right now 32.6K tweets. It’d be great to add to that support. She was always very outspoken about diversity and the difficulties of being a PoC actor. And remember, there’s a [trend for Abbie tomorrow] as well.
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