Bonnie Bennett stays a fan favourite on The Vampire Diaries. Performed by the versatile Kat Graham for eight seasons, Bonnie is a robust witch on the present. Regardless of Graham’s smaller function than stars Ian Somerhalder, Paul Wesley, and Nina Dobrev, the sequence’ followers nonetheless keep in mind Bonnie as a powerful but extremely underused character.
Some followers and critics consider sure showrunners have been racist. That may lend some context as to why Bonnie’s character by no means obtained the identical depth because the Salvatore brothers and their love triangle with Elena.
Bonnie skilled racism as a personality, ‘The Vampire Diaries’ viewers say
Fans have taken to Reddit to voice their opinions about how The Vampire Diaries showrunners handled Bonnie as a personality in her eight-year run from 2009 to 2017.
First, there have been her origins in Mystic Falls. Her ancestor, Emily Bennett (performed by Bianca Lawson at first and Kat Graham in later episodes) was a handmaiden for Katherine Pierce in 1864 Mystic Falls. Though born in Massachusetts, Emily was highly effective but proven in a subservient function that Blacks had throughout that interval in Virginia, some followers identified.
Still, followers complained Bonnie was all the time relegated to the “best friend” function and stepped in solely when others wanted help.
“The racism against Bonnie is 100% true,” one Reddit consumer wrote. “I like and adore Kat Graham, and so they did her so soiled on the present. With all of the occasions we had sit via Caroline singing, however not Bonnie. Bonnie was shoved to the again till they wanted her witch abilities to outlive, after which she’s instantly shoved out of the way in which once more.
“Her and Damon really becoming friends was so sweet, and I LOVED that storyline, and then it seemed like it was kinda just dropped? It really pissed me off. I thought we’d see more of Bonnie as a person, not just a tool to survive.”
What about Bonnie’s relationships?
Then there have been Bonnie’s romances.
“Bonnie was done soo dirty for love interests,” one Redditor mentioned. “I know Enzo treated her well, but I couldn’t help but feel the writers were just giving her Care’s seconds … like they clearly didn’t intend for him to be Bonnie’s when they first wrote him in as a Klaus replacement to be obsessed with Caroline.”
After all, her one real love was Elena’s youthful brother, Jeremy Gilbert. Then the writers discovered an elaborate manner for them to not be collectively by seemingly killing Bonnie, leaving Jeremy to show to alcohol to drown his sorrows. However Bonnie got here again to life, solely to inform Jeremy to overlook about her as a result of they may by no means be collectively.
Then there was the time she saved Matt in season 5. He grew to become the sheriff of Mystic Falls in Legacies. However, alas, Bonnie was not there defending the city.
Why so little display time for Bonnie Bennett in ‘The Vampire Diaries’?
One fan on Reddit famous that Bonnie may need had much less display time due to Kat Graham’s schedule.
“Bonnie, I know a lot of people in the Fandom point out [The Vampire Diaries co-showrunner Julie Plec’s] racism. Maybe it’s real, maybe it’s not, but what many don’t realize is the racism of the network. The CW urged Julie and Kevin [Williamson] to kill Kat Graham off the show many times, and each time they were like, no, not gonna happen, and the reason [I found out] that Kat was absent from some storylines was because she was either touring or making a film.”
What did Kat Graham say about her time on ‘The Vampire Diaries’?
Kat Graham responded to the opportunity of racism on the set of The Vampire Diaries.
“I will say that I was fortunate in a lot of ways because if I ever felt anything — at the time Mark Pedowitz, who is still the president of The CW, who’s also Jewish, he was a really great ear for me,” Graham advised ET in November 2020.
Graham’s measured response doesn’t imply there weren’t points with racism behind the scenes on The Vampire Diaries.
In a separate Reddit thread, a fan posted a screengrab of a tweet from co-showrunner Julie Plec that she then deleted.
“I believe Black women are going to save us all and I am so sorry to put that pressure on you, but white women are continually failing all of us,” Plec wrote. “I hope you understand that me seeing you as a hero is not meant to add to your anxiety — rather, it’s to lift you up and celebrate you.”
Plec’s newest present is Vampire Academy, based mostly on a ebook sequence of the identical title. It stars Sisi Stringer, Daniela Nieves, Kieron Moore, and André Dae Kim. It is going to start streaming on Peacock in September.