One of my most favorite things to draw attention to is fridging. The wildly popular and sexist media trope that involves killing women off for the good of the male main characters storyline. I always like to clarify that this does not mean that a woman was killed off, the trope is much more involved then that. There are specific requirements for what one could consider fridging. Unfortunately a very beloved character fits these requirements, today we are discussing Charlie – Supernatural.
The first requirement is rather obvious and the one that everyone seems to latch onto; a woman is killed in order to jumpstart a man’s storyline.
The second is that this female character does not get much backstory. We don’t really know who she is, sometimes she doesn’t even get a name. But it is clear that the hero has an emotional attachment to her.
Third requirement is that her death is either gruesome or sexualized. These deaths are often used for shock factor and even in death these women are disrespected. So their bodies are sometimes posed in suggestive poses.
Fourth requirement is that their death is not acknowledged or mourned after the fact.
The fanbase often discusses the treatment of Charlie – Supernatural because of how unnecessary the writing of her death was.
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