Following the tragic shooting at a Uvalde, Texas elementary school that left 19 children and two adults dead, fans of Abbott Elementary have now been pushing for show creator and star Quinta Brunson to include a school shooting episode to address gun laws in its next season.
But while that idea may seem pertinent for some, for Brunson herself, it’s not something she plans on including. After being barraged with multiple messages, on Wednesday, Brunson took to Twitter to address their requests.
“Wild how many people have asked for a school shooting episode of the show I write,” she began in a tweet. “People are that deeply removed from demanding more from the politicians they’ve elected and are instead demanding ‘entertainment.’ I can’t ask ‘are yall ok’ anymore because the answer is ‘no.’”
She continued, “Please use that energy to ask your elected official to get on Beto time and nothing less. I’m begging you. I don’t want to sound mean, but I want people to understand the flaw in asking for something like this. We’re not okay. This country is rotting our brains. Im sad about it.”
She then posted a screenshot of just one of the messages she received that read: “This is just an idea. For the eventual series finale, a school shooting episode to highlight the numerous ones in this nation. Formulate an angle that would get our government to understand why laws need to pass. I think Abbott Elementary can affect change. I love the show.”
Now, I don’t know who needs to hear this but Abbott Elementary is quite literally a workplace COMEDY. Yes, it tackles serious things like underfunding in public schools and the challenges that it presents, but come on now. How absurd of an ask is it to request an episode like this for a show that’s been doing a damn good job of highlighting the joy that’s still present in schools like Abbott despite those challenges?
Why would you want to see little Black kids subjected to that kind of trauma, fake show or not? Black children and parents already go through and have already gone through so much in real life (you don’t need me to start listing names, because we’d be here all day), we don’t need to see more trauma played out on a show that’s been a reprieve for so many. And to be honest, I don’t think any show should be trying to do this reenactment. Yes, entertainment has its place when it comes to affecting change but I’m sorry, I don’t think this is it.
As one user who responded to Brunson’s tweet so aptly put it: y’all are asking the WRONG ABBOTT. Meaning, y’all should be bombarding Texas Governor Gregg Abbott with messages demanding he and his henchmen do something about these gun laws. Y’all got the right passion, it’s just directed at the wrong person.