Hello, hope all is well.
Firstly, I wish to congratulate you on a letter without any death threats to anyone. I mean that.
But it's time for me to tell my story.
Like most people who read your letter, I had a good laugh, shook my head, rolled my eyes then moved on with my life because frankly, I've heard this all before. But then I found out that Marc read your letter and I realized I had to write this.
Arrow also took over my screen and quickly became my favorite show because Mericle, Guggenheim and everyone involved have managed to make me fall in love with these characters.
Now it's absolutely ok to have your likes and dislikes, Lord knows I do. We all do. It just means we're human. It also means that we're biased. If you love a character, you will love them even if they just keep murdering people. This case is true for me when it comes to Rumple from OUAT. I just love the guy. I'm not even sure why cause he's an awful human being. That also goes for hatred. If you hate a character (like you do Felicity), you will hate them even if you saw them save a baby from a burning building. Now the real reason for this letter, to address your claims because, like many other people, I am tired. I am beat. I am EXHAUSTED. I can't take it anymore. Nine out of ten times, the 'Arrow' fandom makes me want to quit the show simply so I could avoid the negativity that I see surrounding it. I can’t do that because as I mentioned before, it’s my favorite show.
We do agree on one thing: In season 3, something changed after Oliver was kicked off a cliff. The show just didn't feel right anymore. Everything took a dark turn and it was just unbelievably depressing till the season ended. For me, the 3 episodes that Oliver was dead were the worst episodes of the series so far. I'm sure you feel different and that's fine. Even when I re-watch the show, I skip those 3 episodes because they feel like a nightmare that I keep telling myself never happened. Oh and that Brickwell guy was the worst. But I digress.
Now when you say "The show has been nothing but the struggles and pain and plights of Felicity and her relationships with other characters.", do you mean the 10 minutes that were dedicated to her storyline with her father or the half an episode she had to come to terms with her paralysis? OOOh, I know! It was the 4 episodes that were dedicated to her actually being in a wheelchair. Dedicated' might be a stretch here. It was more like: "Stuff is happening while Felicity is in a wheelchair. Moving on." For crying out loud, we didn't even get to see her react to the news that she might never walk again!!
This is where I say: Are you freaking kidding me?
As a proud Felicity fan, we have waited FOUR YEARS for her to FINALLY have her own storyline that would tell us more about her, her family, her background. After so many episodes, so many seasons, we finally got a Felicity who wasn't just the comic relief. Someone strong, passionate, intelligent, heroic witty, beautiful. Someone who took no crap from anyone. Someone who stands up for herself. Someone who doesn't let people use her as a doormat but still manages to be there for everyone. Someone who has chosen to be bait countless times for the sake of others. Someone who knows her worth. Someone who values herself. Someone who shows emotion like every person on the planet and every other character on the show.
We have watched and waited intently until she would finally be in the spotlight. Until people would finally be there for her because she's always there for everyone else. Even in her hospital bed, after learning that she may never walk again, she was still trying to cheer everyone else up and reassuring them that she would be ok. I thought it should be the other way around. Season 4 has given us that and I am very grateful for it. In all 4 seasons, every (main) character have gotten their own storylines. Diggle with his brother, Lyla, Sara. Laurel with her sister, her job, her addiction, her friends, her family, relationship with Tommy and becoming BC. Quentin with his job and family. Tommy, Thea, Malcolm and their family. Thea and her drug problems. My question to you is: Why is it ok for every other character to get several storylines but it's a problem when Felicity finally gets some attention. Why doesn’t she deserve to be treated the same way? I genuinely want to know. Oh and please, don't give me the “it takes away from the story" line because really? When? How? Where?
Felicity Smoak deserves to be praised because she IS a strong and powerful female role model. Little girls could learn a lot from her. She has earned her 'hero' title. She isn't a hero because she's 'destined' to be one. She isn’t a hero because she survived some tragedy. She chooses to help fight every night so others could live. She is genuinely trying to make the world a better place because that’s the type of person she is. She has proven it time and time and time again. Felicity Smoak deserves her own storyline because she sure as hell has earned it.
Now onto your next section.
"How insulting. As a woman, I cannot bare to have Felicity as my role model. If she doesn’t have her way she cries, if Oliver does something wrong she gives immature ultimatums, she became head of Palmer Tech by emotionally toying with a man who had lost everything (Ray Palmer). She puts down Oliver, makes snide remarks about him and his abilities. She is a cold, manipulative bitch of a woman. (I could go on about how you are letting an abusive woman emotionally attack a man with PTSD and are presenting it as a ‘healthy relationship’, but that’s a discussion for another day)”
[INSERT GIF OF CONFUSED RYAN REYNOLDS HERE]
This one…wow. I mean, WOW. I’m gonna need to break it down because…WOW.
1- “If she doesn’t have her way, she cries.” Now, no one is denying that Felicity cried towards the end of season 3 but was she supposed to be your comic relief when Oliver died, when he joined the LOA, when he married another woman or when he trusted Merlyn over the 2 people who have been there for him throughout his whole mission? The people who have saved his life more times than he could count. I’m sorry but what? I am glad she is a multi-faceted character that isn’t just the comic relief or just the love interest.
2- Something about immature ultimatums. Here, I literally have no clue what you’re referring to.
3- “ She became head of Palmer Tech by emotionally toying with a man who had lost everything (Ray Palmer)”. Now, I agree that she should have never gotten into a relationship while being in love with someone else but that’s pretty much it. She got into a relationship with someone to get over someone else. That is one of the worst reasons to get into a relationship but then again, she isn’t flawless. I guess I missed the scene where Ray asked her if she wanted to be CEO because what I remember is that he tricked her into signing those papers. Then, after Ray’s death, she stepped up and didn’t let his hard work go to waste.
4- “ She puts down Oliver, makes snide remarks about him and his abilities. She is a cold, manipulative bitch of a woman. (I could go on about how you are letting an abusive woman emotionally attack a man with PTSD and are presenting it as a ‘healthy relationship’ ”. When you really think about it, she does manipulate him into not giving up. She does manipulate him to just let himself die. She abuses him so much that now, more than ever, he believes that he’s worth nothing and that he doesn’t deserve love. *cue eye rolling*
Sigh. This shouldn’t even have been addressed because this is where I became convinced that you really aren’t watching the show.
Now I agree on your point about him being defeated by Lady Cop. He was defeated by Cupid because he didn’t listen to Felicity but still, it shouldn’t have happened. That was just nonsensical. He’s getting defeated by pretty much everyone but you know why that is? Because the team is crowded. If Oliver takes down every bad guy that he encounters then the rest of the team is useless. He has to be in some kind of predicament so the other members could shine and have something to do. Simple as that.
You say that the show doesn’t have action anymore and that is simply not true. It doesn’t have as much action as earlier seasons but I do see Oliver fighting people in every episode.
It’s really unnecessary to insult the writers because even though the flashbacks have been a snooze fest, I still trust that they will make sense by the end of the season. We do have 7 episodes until it ends. One more thing: this show is made to entertain everyone. It’s not limited to Green Arrow fans. You guys act so self-righteous, like this is your show and you have rights or something. It’s as if The Arrow team sat you down and gave you a list of things that they will do on the show so you throw a tantrum because your list isn’t being checked off. At least not the correct way. Marc and everyone involved don’t owe you anything. This is their show and they have done and will undoubtedly continue to do whatever *they* think is right. Not what you *demand* that they do because…comics. Arrow is a show that hasn’t followed the comics since the pilot. For example, Oliver was a killer, he had a mom and a sister, Laurel is called Laurel, among other things. Why is it a problem now? Easy. Because it’s not giving you a GA/BC romance. This is your problem. At least own up to it. It’s ok to want them together because we all have our preferences. In the words of Laurel Lance: It’s the hypocrisy I can’t stand.
You mentioned that you’re a woman. So you’re telling me that you want a fellow woman to abandon all her values to go back to a man that 1) threw her addiction in her face 2) doesn’t take her into account for anything 3) cheated on her with everything that moved including her sister. HER SISTER. (I’m curious, do you have any sisters? I have 6 and let me tell you now, that’s a no from me) 4) caused the ‘death’ of aforementioned sister 5) promises that if he could go back and do things differently, he would (2x01) then proceeded to have an actual relationship with the sister ( knowing that she is an alcoholic) without caring about her feelings in the matter 6) all the while, he was supposedly in love with her. And for what? For the sake of “comic canon”.
I’m sorry but if God ever blesses me with a daughter, this is not what I will be teaching her.
Now compare with a relationship where there’s mutual respect, mutual love, NO CHEATING. This one is the abusive relationship? I’m guessing the former would be considered “healthy” to you? If so, then as a fellow woman, I feel really, really sorry for you.
Now this wasn’t written to change your mind on anything you said because I know that simply isn’t going to happen. It was written because I am tired. I am beyond exhausted of hearing the same things over and over and over again especially when they don’t make any sense. I’m so sorry that you’re done with the show. I’m sure the show will tank without your viewership. When it does, blame it on Olicity, blame it on Felicity. Last week, all of the CW shows hit series low but I’m sure that was Felicity’s fault too because she went to every single one of those shows, made everything about her and cried for 45 minutes. If Trump wins, I’m sure that will also be Felicity’s fault. When the death happens, blame it on Felicity too because why not? Apparently, it’s trendy now.
However, I am sorry that you’re acting like a petulant 5 year old throwing a tantrum because you didn’t get your way. Remember, this isn’t your show so please, for the love of God, grow the hell up.
P.S. Thanks for using Oliver’s words to Laurel at the end. Gave me a good laugh.
