Our Flag Means Death took the world by storm with its release in 2022 and continued to dominate with its second season. However, once again fans are given bad news as another fan favorite is given the ultimate death – cancellation.
Our Flag Means Death is a comedy show where the story of the historical pirates Stede Bonnet meets Edward Teach aka Blackbeard and hilarious and heartfelt hijinks ensue. Much to the absolute delight of fans, there is plenty of queer representation that is some of the best-written to be seen in media. It certainly made me a very happy queer to see it. However, it looks like that has come to an end.
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Our Flag Means Death Cancellation
Max has announced that they will no longer be moving forward with the streaming series hit Our Flag Means Death. It seems the overall feeling about the decision is a bittersweet one with praise for the show coming from everyone who has worked on it. However, no reason has been stated as to why the show was canceled.
Fans are devastated by the news and are immediately flooding the internet with memes showing just how upset they are. I’ve seen multiple people already canceling their Max accounts, not finding the reason to continue giving the company any more of their gay dollars – and I certainly don’t blame them. This isn’t the first time a queer show loved by many was canceled despite it being successful.
LGBTQA Shows & Video Games Continue To Struggle Despite Clear Engagement
If I had a nickel for every time a queer show that had a huge fan base was canceled then I would be able to buy a house in this economy with cash. There seems to be a pattern being formed with big production companies creating queer content to attract more open-minded audiences. However, despite the success of the shows, they cancel the queer content, trying to have the best of both worlds. This has also seemingly happened with The Owl House, the Disney animated series, and Julie and The Phantoms, the Netflix original, two beloved shows that were canceled to the surprise of many.
In recent times, video games have also been branching out with queer content – with Baldur’s Gate 3 leading the charge in 2023. However, most games with queer content are indie made, while bigger video game production companies are following along at a snail’s pace. It has been great seeing at least a little bit of improvement but no one should exclaim in surprise “It’s queer!?” every time a hint of queerness is sprinkled into an AAA game or TV show. I look forward to the day where having a pronoun choice in a game isn’t a controversy, like with the release of Starfield in September 2023.
I am sorry to see Our Flag Means Death lowering its colors. I hope that companies will take note of the disappointment in the dedicated fans who have been let down by this choice. I hope that maybe Taika Waititi will take up the mantel to finish the story but that might just stay a hopeful dream.
