Dear Toks Olagundoye

In defense of Castle fans who are asking for ABC to cancel their beloved show after season 8...

Dear Toks Olagundoye,

I recently saw a tweet of yours about the “devastating” notion that you might become an out of work actor and be forced to go on auditions if Castle were to get canceled. Trust me, I realize that looking after your own ass is super important in this world, especially for women (especially WOC) in the industry. Please take note why most people find your comment a little effed up. You have been on Castle for just shy of 1 season. Stana Katic and Tamala Jones were on it for 8 seasons. They both lost their jobs, while you are presumably keeping yours. The devastated state that you predict you would be in, is actually what those two are in right now. Perhaps a little more so since Castle was a project they dedicated over 7 years of their lives to. So, yeah, the point you are trying to make is sounding quite flat and a wee bit hypocritical.

When news came out about the firings of Stana and Tamala, the network claimed it was for budgetary reasons. Now if you ask any longtime Castle fan who the stars of the show are, they will tell you: Castle and Beckett. It’s the way the show has been written since day one. If you were to phone up the show creator Andrew Marlowe and ask him who the protagonists of his story are, he would tell you Castle and Beckett. So why was the female lead protagonist suddenly the dispensable one cast off to “save money?” Especially when it’s safe to assume that Nathan Fillion was bringing home a bigger paycheck than Katic all along for the same amount of work.

The longtime fans who are asking that the show be canceled are asking not specifically for you to lose your job, they are asking for their almost 8 year investment in something actually have a pay off. Fans have invested a lot of Monday nights in a story, only to have it potentially continue on as something completely different. Fans feel betrayed. Not by you personally, but by the network who thought that firing the lead female was the answer to their “budget” problems.

And sure, there are parts of the fandom and even your colleague Molly Quinn who will and have argued that the show is called Castle, so therefore it’s Nathan Fillion’s kingdom to reign over. But the majority of fans disagree. And I guarantee you that if you put a call into Andrew Marlowe, he would tell you the show belonged to Fillion and Katic both, equally. Which is probably why when news broke of Katic’s dismissal, Marlowe tweeted that he was “heartbroken,” that he was a creator in exile. That heartbreak isn’t just because Stana was a dear colleague of his, it’s because the story that he took all the time to envision and bring to fruition is officially dead. (If there’s a season 9).

And sure we can all read the rumors about behind the scenes drama and actor demands, but the bottom line is, the women were canned, not a single male. The number 2 on the call sheet was deemed more dispensable than number 1 simply because she’s a she. And by no means is anyone arguing that Fillion should’ve been fired over Katic. It’s a both or nothing situation here. Fans didn’t dedicate themselves to 8 seasons of a love story between those two characters to have the rug pulled out from under them. And then to have actors who make thousands and thousands of dollars cry foul when we want to let Andrew Marlowe’s vision end happily, the way it’s been intended. Fans kept this show on the air. Not the network. It’s the viewers who sit through stupid ads that get you paid your six figures.

So ultimately, my question for you Toks is about where you stand on feminism in your industry and the world. Do you believe in the equality of men and women? And please don’t tell me that it’s a tough industry and that’s just how it is. Because that, is accepting business as usual. And that is not what women (and many men) are trying to fix. It's a huge part of this whole firing issue that you and many of your colleagues seem to be glossing over with your "the show must go on" attitudes. Two long time women cast members got axed. One being the star. Yet somehow the other, more "below the line" cast members got to re-up their contracts. There is no sense in that, only sexism.

Kate Beckett is someone that fans look up to. She busted through that glass ceiling that so many of us women only get a chance to peer up at. So try to understand how gutting it is to have Stana become a victim of sexism by ABC, when the character we’ve come to most associate her with was someone who climbed her way to the top regardless of her gender.

Try a little tenderness.

**https://www.change.org/p/abc-network-cancel-castle-no-season-9

Via Twitter: @ToksOlagundoye

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Hopefully you have a better grasp of sexism than your friends at Fox News?