Fans Fed Up With Blue Bloods Fueling One Particularly Annoying Stereotype
It's time to re-think their ways, before viewers start turning their backs.
Blue Bloods is a police procedural drama that has been airing on CBS for the past 13 years. It tells the story of a family where everyone is involved in law enforcement.
This unique blend of family drama and criminal cases is what makes Blue Bloods so popular with viewers, taking the best of both genres.
Blue Bloods has had a strong run, but was recently rocked by the news of the season 14 renewal, which cost the entire cast a pay cut.
Unfortunately, that's not the only thing that makes the show's future seem less than bright: fans are growing tired of the way the show deals with social issues.
It was once acceptable to see a stereotypical social justice warrior enter the plot.
Sure, the stereotypes did not come out of nowhere, and there are probably some people who are similar to Nicky's friend and her colleague: quick to judge and unwilling to listen to anyone.
However, when it comes up more than once, one begins to wonder if it is somehow related to the writers' personal position.
While discussing the character of Rev. Potter, portrayed by Ato Essandoh, who was part of the cast from 2011 to 2016, fans agreed that he was unfairly presented as a villain.
Given that the character touched on some very serious issues like racism and corruption within the police system, you would think that the showrunners would be careful in how they portrayed him.
However, the Blue Bloods production team went out of their way to portray the character as a villain.
Viewers seem to have a few reasons for this. One of them is the clear need of the writers to distinguish the Reagan family from everyone else by dividing the characters into "black" and "white" boxes.
It just simplifies the show and makes no sense considering how much more complicated real people are, but it easily manipulates viewers to like some characters and dislike others.
Another reason that people don't want to believe (but can't help agreeing with) is the overall pro-police message that the show tries to send.
All cops are good, all people fighting against corruption and prejudice are social justice warriors, and there's nothing in between.
There is still time for Blue Bloods to tackle these issues in a more thoughtful way and make its audience proud of its stance, fans believe.
If you're interested in seeing if they'll listen, tune in to the upcoming episodes on CBS.