Content warning: this article discusses sensitive issues such as HIV, racism and murder.
Why How to Get Away with Murder gave 2020 audiences the ending we all needed: holding privileged white men to account.
Something How to Get Away with Murder gets so fantastically right from start to finish is the shift of narrative focus away from the straight, white, male characters. Controversially, the narrative does not serve the straight, white, male characters whatsoever (gasp). In fact, it is fair to say that the straight white men in the series are actually there to serve the narrative as none of them manage to make it to the final moments of the season six finale – mind-blowing stuff.
Karma and accountability
“audiences actually see a rich, straight, white, man get punished for something he was absolutely responsible for”
Two perfect examples of this are, of course, Frank and Asher, who both end up (spoiler alert) dying in the final season.
When looking at Asher specifically, the audience is blessed with a karmic storyline because, for once, audiences actually see a rich, straight, white, man get punished for something he was absolutely responsible for (shocking, I know).
Now, this may seem harsh, Asher is not an entirely terrible human being, and I’m not suggesting getting killed off was in any way an accurate punishment for his mistakes, but he does do some questionable things which other underrepresented characters suffer the consequences for.
“the plotline holds [Asher] truly accountable for his actions”
After the revelation that Asher held a party where a girl (Tiffany) was sexually assaulted, his judge father steps in and creates a cover-up which Asher goes along with. As a result, the audience is exposed to Asher’s extremely flawed character. From this point onwards, there is a clear shift in Asher’s narrative trajectory which starts to fall outside of the main group he was once part of. He becomes untrustworthy, deceiving the other characters on multiple occasions.
Therefore, it can be argued that the plotline of How to Get Away with Murder holds him truly accountable for his actions (stunning work). Once his flaws are laid bare, he is unable to successfully re-enter the narrative in the same way and exist as he did before.
Instead, he continues his deceitful ways and gets killed, which breaks the narrative tradition of white men appearing to always prevail in the end, despite their often morally questionable actions.
Redefining successful romantic relationships
Just when you thought the finale couldn’t get any better, Connor and Oliver got their happy ending, and boy did they deserve it.
Throughout the series, How to Get Away with Murder covers a range of romantic relationships. The audience sees Annalise, previously married to ex-husband Sam, later come out as a bisexual woman, as well as multiple heterosexual relationships amongst the other characters. However, the show chooses the relationship between Connor and Oliver to be the central and most consistent romantic story-line throughout the six seasons, and what an excellent choice to make.
“The show beautifully redefines the expectation that the only successful long-term, romantic, relationships in TV are heterosexual ones”
Despite the challenges they face, theirs is the only romantic relationship that succeeds from start to finish. When Oliver finds out he is HIV-positive, rather than this discovery boycotting the entirety of his and Connor’s plot-line for all of eternity, it instead exists as a sub-plot for the two characters.
In true How to Get Away with Murder fashion, their relationship does come under fire many times, as is true for all the characters. However, Connor and Oliver are the only people whose devotion to each other rivals and overcomes these challenges as we see them in the final episode together at Annalise’s funeral.
The show beautifully redefines the expectation that the only successful long-term, romantic, relationships in TV are heterosexual ones and showcases their ultimately happy and successful marriage while raising much-needed awareness about HIV preventative medication PrEP and the fantastic things it can do to prevent someone from becoming HIV-positive.
Passing the mic to dark-skinned black women
While it is imperative that all people of colour are given the opportunity to lead the narrative, How to Get Away with Murder gives the prominent voice to dark-skinned black women. Audiences get to see the two black, female leads, Annalise and Michaela (both absolute icons), unapologetically smash their goals and achieve their dreams by the end of the series.
“not only do the dark-skinned black women drive the narrative but the audience sees them explore plotlines which they are not often given license to portray”
This is an important focus as, despite progress being made, there still appears to be a disparity within the media between the representation that is offered to light-skinned black women compared to dark-skinned black women. In How to Get Away with Murder, not only do the dark-skinned black women drive the narrative but the audience sees them explore plot-lines which they are not often given license to portray.
Annalise and Michaela are incredibly high-achieving women and, throughout the series, they navigate successful and unsuccessful relationships (romantic and familial); yet, most importantly, they finish the series having achieved everything they set out to do.
In the final episode, Michaela achieves her dream of becoming a judge. Annalise’s biggest career achievement comes in season four when she wins her case against The Supreme Court when a black man is wrongfully murdered by the authorities. A dream, we learn, she had since primary school. She prevails at the end of the series, having lived happily after her law career, until her death.
“Racism is built into the DNA of America. And as long as we turn a blind eye to the pain of those suffering under its oppression we will never escape.”
The poignancy of this iconic 2018 TV moment has aged very well; not only does Annalise, a black, middle-aged woman realise her ultimate dream but in doing so she speaks directly to a 2020 audience.
In light of the tragic murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement, the sentiments echoed throughout Annalise’s statements during the case chillingly resonate with the current state of systemic racism which still exists globally. She says: “Racism is built into the DNA of America. And as long as we turn a blind eye to the pain of those suffering under its oppression we will never escape.”.
Therefore, not only does How to Get Away with Murder show successful black women triumph by the end of the series but in doing so, the show gives a voice to the message everybody in the world needed to hear in 2020.
For help and advice on the topics discussed please visit:
https://www.tht.org.uk/hiv-and-sexual-health/prep-pre-exposure-prophylaxis
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/hiv-and-aids/treatment/
Isabelle Casey
Featured image courtesy of Walt Disney Television on Flickr. Image license available here. No changes were made to the image.
