Law & Order Storylines That Fans Are Sick And Tired Of – Looper

“Law & Order” writers do their best to tackle complex topics such as racism, homophobia, transphobia, and sexism. However, some members of marginalized communities are sick and tired of seeing storylines that perpetuate harmful stereotypes on the show.

Reddit member monotint shared, “Why is it the majority of the time, when the victim is East Asian that a human trafficking ring is somehow involved? If that’s not perpetuating a racist trope, I don’t know what is.”

Members of the trans community have complaints about harmful representation, too. They’re sick and tired of storylines about trans sex workers, victims, and villains. Fans cite “Transgender Bridge” (“Law & Order: SVU” Season 17, Episode 3) most often when discussing episodes that are hardest to watch. A Reddit user specified which parts of “Transgender Bridge” didn’t sit well with them, listing “the transphobic content, the apology artwork, the forgiveness of the parents towards the boy [who killed their teenage trans daughter], the judge’s ruling, the boy’s mom” as main offenders, adding, “god the whole episode is so so painful to watch.”

The disconnect with marginalized communities correlates to a lack of diversity in “Law & Order” writers. According to a study by the Color of Change, crime TV shows distort understanding of race and the criminal justice system. “Law & Order: SVU” ranked as one of the top five problematic crime dramas in the 2018-19 season; the show employed 93-100% white writers, and 57% of those writers were male. For a show specifically about issues faced by marginalized communities in a system heavily biased against them, it’s troubling to see those who are the least affected by those issues are in the majority of people who write about and profit off it.

Fans of “Law & Order” find attempts to depict minorities without lived experience severely cringey and would prefer diverse writers and plotlines moving forward.