A few days ago, Rolling Stone published an op-ed piece about how Olivia Benson of Law and Order: SVU should be “cancelled”. Safe to say, the piece blew up on Twitter and garnered mixed reactions.
The George Floyd protests against police brutality have continued throughout the past few weeks, both in a physical and online form. One element of this online activism has seen the cancellation or the removal of many problematic tv shows. In terms of reality shows, we’ve seen the cancellation of Cops, a Paramount reality series that showcased a positive depiction of police officers on tv. In terms of fictional shows, we’ve seen the removal of many series’ off of streaming platforms for their use of blackface and yellowface.
We spoke about these shows on this episode of It’s Been A Big Day For…
As a result, the conversation is evolving and people are wondering where this leaves Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, a fictional show that positively depicts law enforcement officers.
If you’re not that familiar with the show, Olivia Benson is awesome. She is the epitome of what law-enforcement should look like. She fights as has as she can for victims, she doesn’t hold back against abusers and she’s been consistently tough but fair for the past two decades. She is what every policeperson should be. However, according to a report from Color of Change, crime series which feature the aforementioned trope, “make heroes out of people who violate our rights” and “do not depict the reality.”
So where does this leave us? In one way, you could say that Law and Order: SVU is similar to that of Cops, because they both positively depict law-enforcement officers, but ultimately Law and Order is fiction and we need to remember that. Audiences know that Law and Order make heroes of these people, but ultimately the characters are displaying hero-like qualities, unlike the protagonists of Cops. Plus, the people behind Law and Order are doing their best to make real-world change, as a result.
In real life, Mariska Hargitay (the actress who plays Olivia Benson) has used her platform to advocate for eliminating rape kit backlog. Plus, Warren Leight, the showrunner for Law and Order: Special Victims Unit told the Hollywood Reporter, “We will find our way to tell the story” in regards to George Floyd’s murder. Leight also detailed that he is making a “conscious effort” to bring in “new voices, fresh voices, different voices” to up the diversity of the show. What do you think? Does the show need to be cancelled?
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