In defence of #StandWithWard
To Clark Gregg, Jeph Loeb, The Powers That Be, our #StandWithWard supporters and those who are against us, an explanation - a defence, if you will, as apparently we need to justify our upset at the recently made comments and explain exactly what it is this campaign is about. Again.
“It’s all these people who are like Charles Manson marriers. As Ward has killed more and more people, the SkyeWard fans got a little smaller but a little more zealous,” Gregg quips. (UPDATE: He also tweeted: “.@WardsWarriors forgive me.  No one thinks Ward is dreamier than I do.”)
First things first, please let me clear up this misunderstanding: #StandWithWard fans are not all SkyeWard shippers. Our fanbase has not grown smaller; it has grown considerably larger as the events of season two have progressed.Â
Why, you might ask? Well, it’s certainly not because we’re the Agents of SHIELD equivalent of “Manson marriers” and still, days on, that comparison however much in jest it was said insults and disgusts me - not as someone involved with #StandWithWard but as a person, and a fan of the show in general. If that is truly what TPTB and members of the cast think of us, you have to ask yourself what their intentions were in creating such a character in the first place.
Our passion for Grant Ward is driven - not by his “dreamy” looks, and believe me, that term being used in an “apology” is almost as offensive as the initial insult itself - but by the storytelling.
#StandWithWard began after the events of 1x15 (“Yes Men”), when we witnessed Grant Ward’s sexual assault at the hands of Lorelei. There was no acknowledgement that his actions were as a direct result of her influence, which in basic terms equates with being drugged. Ward was blamed for his actions, which were beyond his control. Fans and cast members rejoiced when he was punched following being released from Lorelei’s influence, which didn’t sit right with a lot of us, some of whom could relate to what he’d been put through on a personal level.
Grant Ward had no free-will in that episode. His choice was taken away from his. Grant Ward was raped, and that is a fact that has still gone unacknowledged.
Our movement grew in numbers after the reveal that Ward was Hydra - though, as admitted by the character himself on multiple occasions, Ward’s loyalty was never to SHIELD’s rival organisation: it was always to John Garrett.
Loeb notes with a laugh, “Look, no one – no one – thought that Ward was HYDRA except us. There are still a very loud and vocal group of people who are absolutely sure that he’s not. I wish them luck.”
This is where I respectfully correct you, Mr Loeb. We do not argue that Ward worked for Hydra; he worked for Hydra - he was Hydra - but his loyalty, as stated by your esteemed colleagues, was never to Hydra.
Our sympathies and our support for Grant Ward grew over the course of season one and the reasons for this are not as shallow as to be based on looks or, as our detractors consistently argue, because Ward is a white male.
We were repeatedly shown how badly Ward was treated by John Garrett in the latter episodes of season one. In 1x21 (“Ragtag”), we were allowed our first real insight into the background of this character we are in support of: an abusive victim, who was taken advantage of and manipulated by John Garrett.
In the season one finale, “Beginning of the End”, there was an unnecessary fight scene in which Ward was robbed as his voice by Agent May. To those of us who have paid attention to Ward’s back story, this was uncomfortable viewing: finally, Ward had a chance to be free of Garrett’s influence… and yet the final act of the season was to rob him, an abuse victim, of his voice in a fight that is still celebrated by some.
(And don’t get me wrong - the choreography for the fight itself was amazing; the subsequent “nail Hydra” comments and remarks, again by cast and crew as well as fans, are not.)
Before season two began, we hoped for the best. Perhaps foolishly. We thought, given the comments of the show runners, that it would be acknowledged that a person can be shaped by their environment and influenced by those around them.
We believed Coulson when he said that everyone deserved a second chance.
The Coulson of season two is not the Coulson we knew and loved, the Coulson some of us fought so hard to bring back as part of of #CoulsonLives. But I digress. This isn’t the #StandWithCoulson blog.
In season two, Grant Ward was depicted as “the monster in the basement.“Â
What monster, I have to ask you, tries to kill himself three times and gets no sympathy for it?
Yes, Grant Ward has killed people for Hydra and for John Garrett. He has also killed just as many, if not more, in service of SHIELD, yet no one seems to think that’s a problem because “SHIELD are the good guys.”
There are no good guys in this universe, not even in SHIELD, just people who work in the shadows and exist in a world where nothing is truly black or white.Â
The #StandWithWard campaign has always been about our wish for Grant Ward to be given a chance to find out who he is, to be given the help he needs to overcome both the abuse of his childhood and the trauma of his time with SHIELD.
Since day one, he has been John Garrett’s puppet, following orders without question. For SHIELD, he has killed countless of individuals as a Specialist - and was lauded for it. He was cited as one of the best SHIELD agents because he did the things that needed to be done without hesitation.
There is a lot of blood on Ward’s hands, none of us will disagree, but a lot of that blood was put there by SHIELD.
There is still a lot to be learned about all of these characters, a lot to be discovered as they answer the question that has been used as the tagline for this season:
“Who will they become?”
Grant Ward is, or should, be included in that.
#StandWithWard are not a vocal minority nor are we in any way blind to the crimes he has committed. The difference, it seems to me, is that we are in no way blind to the crimes and the faults of the other characters on this show, either.Â
We do not see Grant Ward as a serial killer to be worshipped or exalted; we see him as a person who has never been given the chance to be more than those around him want him to be.
Is he perfect? No. Is he a healthy character, mentally and emotionally? Hell, no.
Show me one character on this show who is any more.
Trip was, by far, the most grounded, healthiest mentally and emotionally stable character Agents of SHIELD had to offer. And he was killed off.(#TripLives)
To Mr Gregg, you may not have intended your words to have the reaction that they have, but I wonder if you realise you are now being hailed as a hero by those who have spent the last few months attacking not only Grant Ward and his fans but any cast or crew member who dares to speak out in his defence. There is already a divide in this fandom, an unhealthy, hateful one, that has driven some fans away. That divide, I fear, has been fuelled by what I’m sure you intended to be nothing more than a harmless, throw-away comment.
Here, on this blog, we have never shown hate towards a fellow fan or towards anyone connected with the show, nor will we start now. We urge our followers and supporters to rise above the negativity being levelled at us: responding to hate with hate is not our way nor will it ever be.
It doesn’t seem fair that our attempt at respectfully showing support for a character that you could argue we have been manipulated by the storytelling to feel sympathy for should result in this but that’s the way the dice have fallen. I’d also like to take this opportunity to point out that fans of a show are what keep it going. It doesn’t seem like a smart move to me to insult what is evidently a very passionate group, but then what do I know?
This is our explanation for #StandWithWard in response to the furore of the last few days. It will be the last we make.
Perhaps now those who clearly failed to understand us and our motives before will do so now. If not, may I please respectfully ask that if you don’t understand us, you just let us be.
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