Queer Fans Fight to Keep Our Flag Means Death Afloat
Max has decided to not bring back their hit queer series for a third season. But the story’s not over yet.
When news broke on 9 January that Max would not be moving forward with their hit queer series Our Flag Means Death, fans and cast alike lamented the loss of this thoughtful pirate rom-com. Creator David Jenkins shared on Instagram, “I’m very sad that I won’t set foot on the Revenge again with my friends, some of whom have become close to family. But I couldn’t be more grateful for being allowed to captain the damn thing in the first place.”
The series – which reimagines the real-life relationship between Ed Teach (“Blackbeard”) and Stede Bonnet (“The Gentleman Pirate”) and their journey to love and found family – has been praised for its positive and uplifting representation of marginalised communities. The loss of this stunning example of queer joy was devastating, particularly after Our Flag Means Death’s outstanding artistic and commercial performance. The show has been twice nominated by GLAAD, has a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, has 31.8 times the demand of the average US television series, and was deemed by Max itself as one of their flagship shows. Yet, when asked why the series was axed, Max CEO Casey Bloys said, “The numbers weren’t there.” Right…
However, when asked how much it would cost to make Max’s upcoming Harry Potter series (with an active harmer to the LGBTQ+ community as an executive producer), Bloys said it would cost “whatever it takes to make a quality show.”
Double standards like these emboldened Our Flag Means Death fans to trade in their despair for anger and don their battle jackets. Renew As A Crew, the fan movement to save the show, quickly encouraged fans to fight against Max’s decision and use collective action to fight for the show’s future. Fans have flooded Max’s social media with calls to #SaveOFMD, have written letters and emails to Max executives, raised money for a Times Square billboard and a plane banner over LA, and the petition to save the show has over 78,000 signatures at the time of writing.
Now, efforts have shifted towards the three streaming platforms David Jenkins tagged in an Instagram post of him standing in front of the hot pink, fan-funded billboard: “@netflix @amazonstudios @appletv we’re all ready and standing by to make a third season and beyond if it interests you.” Fans are asking these platforms to #AdoptOurCrew and give Jenkins and the creative team of Our Flag Means Death the chance to continue telling this powerful story.
Now you might be thinking, “Show cancellations happen every day. You don’t have to lose it.” Oh, but how much have queer fans lost over the years? How often have we hit every measure of success just to be told that it simply wasn’t good enough, while less successful and more heteronormative media get to tell their stories in full? How often have we been dealt a poorer hand and told to just shut up about it?
As many fans have pointed out, this fight is about more than a single television series. This is about queer and BIPOC stories getting their fair due, as well as queer and BIPOC audiences being equally respected for their viewership.
On a personal note, Our Flag Means Death has had enormous value to me. As someone who grew up with media that either had 1) one token queer character, who was often single-faceted and never the main focus or 2) queer characters whose stories revolved around their trauma and discrimination, it was an incredible breath of fresh air to watch a show where queerness is widely accepted, fairly common, and celebrated fully. We get to see queer characters struggle not because of their queerness, but because of their humanity. Because being a human is messy, and so is falling in love and finding your purpose. At the end of Our Flag Means Death’s second season, we see that this crew of pirates have found a family in each other.
But I don’t think it’s greedy to want more. I don’t think it’s greedy to want to get to see queer characters not only find a family, but be a family; to see them not only get together, but be together. Because we are past accepting the scraps corporations like Max try to give us. We want the whole damn, glorious meal. And we will fight until we get it.
To support this cause, please sign the petition or visit RenewAsACrew.com to see how you can help.
