Lists are hot: 10 Dead TV and movie lesBians

Lists Are Hot is a monthly column for all those that love lists. This time I want to talk about some of the lovely queer TV and movie characters that were killed off.

Over the years, we have seen so many TV and movie lesBians die on our TV and movie screens, that I thought they were worthy of being compiled in a list. And not just because there were enough of them.

Lesbians have died in series and movies like High art, Mulholland drive, the Fox, Basic Instinct, Hollyoaks, If these walls could talk 2, Mädchen in Uniform, Xena, Hex, Dark Angel, Watchmen, Babylon 5, Skins, Los hombres de Paco, Bufy the Vampire slayer and the L word.

Some of my favourite characters, unfortunately, belong in the "dead lesbian" category. Besides, there's something intriguing about looking into all of these death scenes. At least I think so, but then I have always been a little morbid.

In no particular order, here are some of the lesbian characters that died over the years.

10. Tara on Buffy the Vampire Slayer (US, 2002)

When thinking of dead TV lesbians, one of the first that comes to mind is Tara from one of my favourite TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Tara was introduced in Season 4 as Willow's love interest. They met at uni, did magic and other witch stuff together and ended up falling madly in love with each other.

It was a beautiful love story, even though much of that story was told in metaphors rather than the showing of actual physical contact between the two characters.

In Season 5 Tara was killed by a gunshot wound, just after Willow and Tara had made up and were going to live happily ever after. Watch the video below for a nice summary of the Willow and Tara relationship.

 

9. Paulie in Lost and Delirious (US, 2001)

Lost and Delirious is one of those movies featuring a very cute lesbian relationship, that you should just watch halfway through and then turn off before things start to get really bad.

Paulie and Tori are sharing a dorm at boarding school and are very much in love. Things are pretty great for a while until everyone finds out about their relationship and Tori decides to break up with Paulie.

To say Paulie doesn't take it too well is an under statement, as she ends up committing suicide by throwing herself off the school building.

8. Sarah on Hollyoaks (UK, 2009)

Things aren't much better when it comes to European productions. Last year on UK daily soap Hollyoaks, Sarah's storyline came to an end when after she and Lydia broke up, Lydia turned into a psycho stalking ex-girlfriend who ended up killing Sarah by sabotaging her parachute.

Granted, the actress playing Sarah had announced she wanted to leave the show, but there was really no need to go that route.

Then again, it was a suitably bad and cringe worthy ending to an already bad and cringe worthy storyline. Watch Sarah drop dead in the video below (don't worry, it's not that gruesome).

 

7. Irene in The fine art of love (Italy/Czech Republic, 2005)

The Hollyoaks storyline is nothing compared to what happens in The fine art of love, aka the worst and most disturbing (lesbian) movie ever. In this film, young girls Irene and Hildalla fall in love, but because they are trapped in a fairytale/horror movie, things cannot last and Irene ends up hanging herself or is being hung – it is never quite explained.

Do you believe me when I tell you this death of Irene isn't even the worst thing that happens? You wouldn't think so from this video, but it's a creepy movie, trust me.

 

6. Admiral Cain and her Cylon girlfriend Gina on Battlestar Galactica (US, 2007)

I love Battlestar Galactica and I remember being really excited when I found out there would be a lesbian relationship on the Razor movie. Of course, it being BSG where awful things happen all the time, I shouldn't have been surprised their relationship wasn't a happy one. When Admiral Helena Cain finds out her girlfriend Gina is a Cylon, she has her arrested and tortured.

Gina later takes revenge on her by shooting her and in a later episode she commits suicide. It doesn't get much worse than that.

 

5. Lotte in Auf der andere Seite (Germany, 2007)

Auf der andere Seite (the edge of Heaven) tells the story of Ayten, a Turkish girl who meets Lotte, a lovely German do-gooder, who after discovering Ayten has no money or a place to stay, offers her to move in with her and her mother.

Quickly a strong bond forms between Lotte and Ayten and the two of them embark on a relationship. Then Ayten is arrested and deported back to Turkey where she ends up in prison.

When Lotte follows her to Turkey to rescue her, she ends up getting shot in the most trivial kind of ways.

4. Virginie in Le cahier volé (France, 1993)

Another European movie where a lesbian relationship ends with one of them dying, is Le cahier volé (The stolen diary). In this film, both Jacques and Anne are in love with the same girl, Virginie, but Anne ends up having a relationship with her.

Jacques is filled with jealousy and when he finds Virginie's diary, he decides to make himself feel better by sharing her stories with the whole town.

Virginie ends up committing suicide by hanging herself at school. Watch Virginie and Anne in happier times:

 

3. Sandy on ER (US, 2004)

In Season 8 of hospital series ER, doctor Kerrie Weaver gets herself a hot fire fighter girlfriend named Sandy. After being very reluctant at first, Kerrie finally is ready to be out and proud and live happily ever after with Sandy. Of course, that's when Sandy gets killed in a fire. Not as dramatic as some of the other storylines, but still very disappointing.

For once, I want the lesbian character to get the girl and be able to keep her too. You know, the storyline should've ended where this video does.

 

2. Dana on the L word (US, 2006)

Like almost all lesBians I know, I watched the L word faithfully, despite my growing dislike for the show during the course of the seasons. However, in the beginning it was all just good, fun watching, until in Season 3 one of my favourite characters, Dana, died of breast cancer.

Granted, as far as dead lesbian storylines go, this is one of the more original ones, although many years later we still wonder why she had to die.

This in contrast to other characters, like Jenny, who no one really cared about. Beloved characters just shouldn't die.

1. Silvia on Los Hombres de Paco (Spain, 2009)

Speaking of beloved characters, there could only be one dead lesbian at number one. Silvia on Los hombres de Paco might not have been my all time favourite TV lesbian, but I loved her and Pepa's love story, and I am still not over the horrible, gruesome way they killed her off.

I think I have talked about it enough over the last few months, but let me just repeat that getting shot on your wedding day and bleeding to dead for 45 minutes with your wife's hands in your abdomen, is not the way to let a character leave the show.

Let's remember Silvia in happier times:

 

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This post was first published on eurout.