Why is Kevin Williamson never implicated for how Kat Graham & her character, Bonnie Bennett, were treated on TVD?
This is not to say that Julie Plec and Caroline Dries don't deserve the heat they get for how Bonnie was treated nor am I ignoring what happened with Kat's character on season 4 and plus with Julie and Caroline at the helm, but Kevin Williamson was there for season 1 - 2 and even helped develop storylines for season 3. He was there when Bonnie would just have unexplained absences and her, at times, forgotten storyline (I thought she had arguably the most intriguing one), lack of proper love interest, and used/regulated to the "magical negro" trope, but he never gets slack for it? I imagine one day Kat Graham will feel comfortable opening up about her experiences on TVD and the racism and ugliness she had deal with on set, but people always single out Plec and Dries. I know Kevin W was basically what made those first seasons so iconic and I do believe he is the better writer out of the three but I do feel like he is just as responsible since he was also the show runner for season 1 & 2?
Any thoughts?
Posted Jul 25, 2021, 11:53 AM UTC
A couple of factors:
when Kevin was on the show, the show was written much better
he’s a guy
he hasn’t said really problematic shit that I know of. If he had someone enlighten me.
he didn’t make his disdain for Kat easily discernible like CD and JP
With that said, I always criticize him with the treatment of Bonnie. He’s just as culpable and knew it was a problem and only doubled down on it. He knew that Kat and Ian had amazing chemistry from the first. He listened to the folks above him and they began separating Bonnie and Damon starting in season two. Kevin has gotten a pass and he should have never gotten one.
I agree with every point you made completely and I think we discussed once that racism was very much present in the early seasons as well and people of colour were treated badly from the get-go.
But I never understood how the TV shows work, do you think he had a choice to deny network's requests when they suggested to keep Kat and Ian apart? I always thought they need to follow network's orders.
Hey thanks luv.
He most definitely didn’t have a choice to go against the network but that goes to the point of systemic racism. It’s not just name calling, it’s systems put in place.
And even with not bucking against the network, the writing of Bonnie was horrendous from the middle of season one on out. It began when they gave Caroline a bigger role within the narrative. But if folks are being honest, Caroline really didn’t have a plot line that was shoe horned in. A lot of what was given to Caroline as a character should’ve been given to Bonnie because it was Bonnie that was Elena’s ace number one.
Even with keeping Kat and Ian apart, they still could’ve given Bonnie better storylines. Kat and Ian had too much chemistry from the jump and it would get in the way of the love triangle. That’s understandable. What’s not understand is Bonnie being used as an afterthought or plot device. What’s not understandable is them propping up Caroline at the expense of Bonnie as a character.
Oh, I understand now. Agreed!
I definitely agree Bonnie should have a bigger and more important role than Caroline and that was obvious from day 1. She's also one of fan faves now and she would have probably been ultimate fan favorite if given proper storylines but it seems that no one in writers room was fond of that and her overshadowinf other characters at all. It's sad because Kat said she gave her everything on that show and she's a better actress than Candice in my opinion (they're both great, but Kat just slays). So to be treated like she was with her storylines is completely disgusting.
I think the pain of what Kat experienced can never be discounted. It wounded her, so much so that she very rarely talks about it. This fandom, the cast, and the folks behind the scenes treated her with such disregard.
Anytime she’s doing her hair and crying about it, shows you how deep those wounds go. It hasn’t been until recently that the blinders have fallen off of some.
Imo, it was no accident that she and Nina reconnected. I’m sure some very heartfelt conversations were being had. When people deny what happened, dismiss it or trivialize it by saying it’s just butt hurt Bonnie stans, are purposely misconstruing the real issues at hand.
And it’s still happening. Peyton Alex Smith’s character of Rafael got the same treatment. They dismissed Bonnie’s importance this past season in Legacies, yet the Bennet blood is still necessary for even the smallest of plots to move forward. Yes there are more PoC characters on Legacies but they are all suffering from the same story telling treatment as Bonnie. Plus JP continually hires Matt Davis and is okay with it.
Like you said, truly disgusting.