An Open Letter to the Anne with an E Fandom: DO NOT GIVE UP YET
For those yet to hear, AWAE got canceled this morning. However, Hope is not yet lost. We can save it. We did it with B99, we did it with ODAAT, we can do it with AWAE.
May 2018: Fox cancelled its hit show Brooklyn Nine-Nine after its fifth season. 31 hours later, NBC picked it up.
February 2018: Netflix cancelled its hit show One Day At A Time after its third season. Four months later, it was saved by PopTV.
November 2019: Netflix cancels Anne With an E. Now we have to save it.
First, let’s take a look at Why This Happened.
Netflix has a habit of cancelling some of its bestsellers after their second or third season. It boils down to a couple things: new subscribers and the revenue they bring. Statistically, the first season of a new show will bring in more new subscribers than the third or fourth installment of another show. Plus, after 2-3 years, actors and crew tend to try and negotiate a pay raise. It doesn’t matter how popular the show is, if they think they can make more money by starting a new series, the old one dies. Of course they have their cash cows, like Stranger Things or Thirteen Reasons Why, and will continue those shows as long as they can squeeze money out of it. But that’s not important right now.
Here’s what we do. B99 was saved in 31 hours, but they were owned by Fox. Netflix is a little different. Doesn’t matter that they cut the show and don’t care anymore, it’s going to be tough to get them to release the rights. But as long as we keep fighting, we can do this. It took four months to save ODAAT, so don’t stop fighting if it takes just as long or longer.
ODAAT gained support for telling an important story (what it’s like living in America as a Latino family, the story of a single mother struggling with PTSD, anxiety, depression, and another story of struggling with addiction) and was saved via those storylines. Namely: the unfinished business regarding Schneider’s addiction.
We have an important and unfinished storyline too: Ka’kwet and that school. Netflix is going to get a lot of bad press for cancelling without at least wrapping up her story. Use that.
I’m American. I haven’t seen the third season yet. But I did see you all cling to hope via a pen, a shell, and a gossipy little girl. I felt you cry over a little Mi'kmaq girl and he pain and injustice she and her family faced. I watched your edits, your theories, your fire, your passion.
So get out there, get the tags trending, get loud, and get angry. See you on the other side of the war.
