Fans of The Flash have launched a petition for Hartley Sawyer to be rehired in the role of Ralph Dibny. Sawyer joined The Flash early in season 4, portraying a private investigator with a less than stellar history at the Central City Police Department. Given his penchant for corruption, Ralph initially clashes with Barry Allen. However, as the two began to reluctantly work together, Ralph’s character evolved from an antagonist to a protagonist. Heading into season 7, Ralph’s popular storyline with Sue Dearbon was set to be explored further.
However, earlier this week, it was announced that Sawyer had been fired from The Flash in the wake of recently resurfaced racist and misogynistic tweets. The creative forces behind the series released a statement saying that Sawyer’s tweets, which ranged from tasteless humor to examples of bigotry and making light of domestic violence, stood in contrast to a productive work environment. Eric Wallace, an executive producer on The Flash who took over as showrunner in season 6, explained the decision behind Sawyer’s firing. In a thoughtful social media post, Wallace connected Sawyer’s tweets to larger societal problems surrounding the continual harassment of Black and Brown people.
Nonetheless, there have been a contingent of fans who have been objecting to Sawyer’s firing. Now, those fans have launched a Change.org petition which calls for Sawyer to be brought back to The Flash. The motivation behind the petition, which has 2000 signatures as of now, is that Sawyer’s dismissal was unfair and that the actor might have grown as a person in the years since he first posted the tweets. There are also some predictable denunciations of cancel culture.
It is unclear, at this early stage, how Sawyer’s firing will affect The Flash season 7. In the wake of Ruby Rose’s departure from Batwoman, it was announced that the title role would not be recast. Instead, a new character would be introduced. This was justified, in part, as a way to honor Rose’s contributions to the series. Given the circumstances between Sawyer’s exit, it’s conceivable that producers on The Flash may not be feel as compelled to remain faithful the portrayal that he’s established.
The fact that the petition exists is hardly surprising. Whenever a celebrity is held accountable for offensive statements and actions, there are always commentators who are quick to claim an overreaction. It misses the point. The loss of one job, for one privileged famous person, is hardly the most grievous example of an injustice and it’s rarely actually career-ending. Sawyer will almost certainly find another gig. If he actively works to atone for his racist and demeaning remarks, using his experience to lift up those he’d previously mocked, he might even find a measure of redemption down the line.
On the flipside, recent history serves as sad proof is that Sawyer doesn’t even have to do that much. Megyn Kelly, who was fired from her daytime talk show after making light of blackface, has done little to make up for her long history of racism. She still got an extremely sympathetic treatment in Bombshell, while leisurely plotting her next career moves. The same can be argued for Louis C.K., who has rebranded himself into a politically incorrect comedian in the wake of his sexual harassment scandals. It’s up to Sawyer to decide how he chooses to react to his controversy. But it’s clear that regardless of any petition, The Flash is planning to move on without him.
Source: Change.org