This should be filed in the are you fucking stupid category.
CBS has decided to make the bone headed decision to completely fire one female cast member AJ Cook. who played JJ the agent who handled the press, and cut back the episodes of Paget Brewster who already was the only female agent in the field dealing with the cases.
The reporting is that the cut is for financial reasons. So I guess when you are having money problems on a hit series the first thing you do is cut the women. Nice.
I know that this is a male centric show, but being a very dark and violent show it was nice to have some women as part of the ensemble.
God forbid they should think about cutting back one of the guys which even before the cut outnumbered women 4 to 3.
Can it really be that one of the top shows on TV will only have a single female as a cast member? I know that Kristen Vangsness is awesome, but please.
I think this is really troublesome.
CBS’ ‘Criminal Minds’ Cutting Female Cast (Deadline)
Update: Here is the petition to sign to keep the women on the show.
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I’ve been a die-hard fan of this show since season 2 and they’ve just lost me a s a viewer. To Hell with them.
There’s a petition to protest the decision here: http://www.petitiononline.com/cmwomen/petition.html
I really like CM. I was a bit leery of a show that focused so much on murdering women, but the (relatively) high proportion of lead female characters and the fact that all three were portrayed as being so very competent won me over. If they get down to just one and a half female leads and continue to kill off woman after woman after woman… I don’t think I’ll be able to watch.
Crime procedurals are my favorite kind of tv show, but I LOVE CM in particular, and one of the big reasons is for the female characters, and the way they are written to be both feminine *and* competent, with no “dumb bimbo” or “ball-busting bitch” stereotypes, and with an *almost* 50-50 gender ratio. If they’re completely getting rid of JJ and cutting down on Prentiss, that leaves them with a 90% male field team, with just Garcia behind the scenes to provide a token female presence. And just like that, CM goes from being ahead of the pack and winning my love for it, to being just another like all the rest, with men doing the field work and a token woman or two back in the lab/office/courtroom/w’ev. I’m not going to bother watching if they do that.
I’ve been watching the show since it’s started and I have to agree with Jadelyn: the writers have done awesome work with the female characters. It would really be a shame if they were cut from the show. As a fan, I would hate it…As a woman viewer, they would lose me!
I have to say, if women only exist in their world as a single exception and an occasional guest, then perhaps women don’t exist in their audience, either. This woman won’t be in their audience, unless they reverse this decision.
Bechdel test, anyone?
This isn’t surprising. No offense, but the dudes have had way more interesting storylines and back stories compared to the women since day one. The ONLY female character who compares is Penelope.
While the ratio may have been almost 50-50 casting wise, the reality is, the writers have always leaned more 80-w0 when it comes to the stories.
What’s interesting is that they could have used one of the current characters, including the women, to launch the CM spin off, but got Forrest Whitaker–who I love, so I ain’t mad on that level. Unfortunately, that’s because, even after 5 seasons, they’ve never developed any of the women–except Penelope again–to the point that building a show around them would be a no brainer.
These women fall into the same Competent-But Bland trap that has plagued many a female and minority character since at least the mid 1980s. Women (and minorities in general) characters have to be created not only to more than 2D. Being 3D isn’t enough. They need to be written so stories can be written for and around them.
As I told a friend years ago, show me a positive enough times it can become a negative. Don’t settle for non-stereotypical characters, push for women characters, if pulled out of a show, they can stand on their own.
Taken as a whole, Penelope is probably the only female CM character who could carry a show–I could easily see her running her own special hacker unit or a show about her starting her own company–while each of the men could have a show built around them easily*. Which after five seasons, is a shame.
*As an example, last season’s arc for Derek could have led to him having his own show AND still could if they ever want a second spin-off.
I am very disappointed to hear this. It looks a lot of people are not happy about it and hopefully if enough people make noise they will reconsider. I too liked the fact that the female characters were not put in stereotypical bimbo/bitch roles and if they claim that the reason for making this move is financial, then they must not be considering many female fans will lose interest in the show if they make this move.
I enjoyed watching Criminal Minds in part for their strong, competent, capable female characters. Even though the show often focused on the male characters’ stories and development, at least the female characters were there, kicking ass. By eliminating or cutting two of three female characters, but leaving the four male characters, CBS is sending a pretty clear message that women’s stories are less valuable and that female characters are more disposable.
Seriously, is there any reason other than sexism that can explain why aren’t they cutting one of the guys as well? The show has three men who are experienced profilers, leaders, alpha-males, &c. J.J.’s role is unique on the show.
I think if CBS needs to cut costs they should cut their famous guest unsubs.
Without J.J. we are losing a competent female character who, as the show has demonstrated, as an incredibly difficult job, and who is also the normal character the audience can relate to; with less Prentiss we are losing a female character who is strong and who helps to balance the female victims often featured. The show desperately needs these two characters.
Is it not too big a jump of logic to assume that they cut the female character *because* she is a woman?
u guys most hate women and u r relly dum to take emliy and jj off there will not be as many people watching it as there is now i know i wont be watching it if u do that
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