On Monday night’s episode of The Fosters, titled ‘EQ’, the show dealt with the urge that most people feel after watching an episode of the ABC Freeform drama: suicide.
Specifically, the show centered on an effort at the high school to ban Romeo & Juliet. You know, because two people in a made-up story hundreds of years ago killed themselves. And that might lead to 21st Century kids with bucket hats and ironic t-shirts killing themselves.
Watch as Brandon Foster (David Lambert) confronts the PC Commissar who is trying to block his production of Romeo & Juliet:
Brandon: So you're the one behind this.
Not just me. A lot of students feel that way.
Brandon: Yeah? Well, this is what I think of your petition. No one's saying suicide is sexy.
Teen suicide is a real problem, Brandon. A big one! God, and you're glamorizing it by staging your play!
Brandon: It's not my play! It's Shakespeare's! And it's done in more schools than any other play in history!
That doesn't make it right! Last summer, my best friend's sister hung herself after her boyfriend broke up with her. Suicide is a real tragedy, Brandon. Not just some dumb way to end a play. And don't think this is over just 'cause you ripped up a piece of paper, okay? There's a lot more where that came from.
So, there you have it. True to millennial form, literature and history must be erased and discarded in order to preserve the “safe zone” and psychological well-being of the delicate “skulls full of mush.”