STARZ Cancels Blindspotting
I don’t think I’ve been this devastated since SMASH was cancelled by NBC in 2013.
STARZ has announced the shows they’ll be cancelling this year and with the announcement came my heart shattering into a million pieces. The shows are Heels, Run the World and BLINDSPOTTING!!!!
Blindspotting, much like everything else I find myself obsessing about, came into my life during a pivotal time. For those of you unaware, before it was a TV show Blindspotting was a movie starring Rafael Casal and Daveed Diggs. The film was released a few months after I lost my best friend from High School, Julian. Julian and I were something quite extraordinary in High School but then life got in the way and the space between us became monumental. We were in the middle of a fight when he passed away, so my grieving process was 500 different kinds of painful. I was so distraught by my new reality (a world without Julian in it) that I couldn’t remember the beauty that we once held between each other. Then I went to go see Blindspotting and suddenly our beauty was being displayed on the big screen. Miles and Collin reminded me of Julian and I. They were the versions of ourselves that we could never fit into each other’s lives. To say the film embedded itself in my soul after that first viewing would be an understatement.
More than just the personal connection though, the film was extraordinary in many ways. For example, it utilized spoken word verses to help amplify moments in a way that felt refreshing and impactful. The high expectations that the film set, were somehow exceeded by the TV show that had two seasons on Starz. Though on the TV show the focus shifted from Miles (Rafael Casal) and Collin (Daveed Diggs) to Miles and Ashley, (Jasmine Cephas-Jones) the essence of the story carried through. With Miles and Ashley we got to see a story about how the system of incarceration not only affects the inmate, but also the family and community that surrounds them. It brought humanity, heart and levity to a subject that is often rooted in the ache and pain of it all. Though the show had its funny moments, it didn’t shy away from the topics that are difficult to tackle and always handled the conversations with grace. Whether it’s discussing how difficult incarceration is on children or who is and isn’t allowed to say the n-word, the show created moments that altered something within everyone who stumbled upon the episodes.
There was nothing like Blindspotting on TV, the show elevated what was possible with telling a story on television. If the spoken word verses used in the film felt special, then the added use of dance on the show catapulted you into euphoria. Though both mediums were meant to elevate the emotional impact of a scene, it all felt organic in a way that had you empathizing with the characters immediately. Viewing this show has been one of my greatest pleasures and none of it would’ve worked without the talented cast that helped create it. We got to witness pure vulnerability shine on our screens on a weekly basis, consider us all very lucky.
I fear, we’ll never have a show like this again but how lucky were we to get to experience it? As a creative I’m constantly looking for things that will inspire me and Blindspotting did that with every single episode. As an audience member I look for things that move me and this show, along with the movie, feel embedded in the parts of me that needed healing.
Truly, I am absolutely devastated that we’re losing this show but i feel grateful that I got to experience it. Here’s to everyone involved with the show being able to continue creating things that heal the world and thank you for giving us two seasons of phenomenal television.
0