The Walking Dead fans petition against Scott M. Gimple over Carl Grimes decision
While we are not one to report on any and all petitions under the sun, there is one out there that, (as of this writing) has more than 30,000 signatures. What is the primary goal of this? It’s to get showrunner Scott M. Gimple fired over his decision to kill off Chandler Riggs’ character of Carl. Why go through all of this trouble of protesting if it’s not actually going to bring Carl back? Here is some of what Tyler Sigmon, the creator of this petition, had to say on the subject:
The entire show has been a lead up to showing Carl become the leader that his father is, maybe one day taking on the mantle himself. Actor Chandler Riggs even considered postponing his college education so he could work on the show after Gimple promised that he would be on the show for 3 more years. Chandlers dad, William Riggs, said in a Facebook post, that was later pulled, that Gimple fired his son just 2 weeks before his 18th birthday even though he promised the actor 3 more years of working on the show. He goes on to say that he never trusted Gimple or AMC and that his son did, making it especially heartbreaking for him to be fired. Chandler has been working on the Walking Dead since 2010, spending almost half of his life on the show. Gimple gave no [explanation] as to why Chandler was killed off other than that it was because of “the story,” and that it had nothing to do with personal issues but many speculate that the claim is false.
Sigmon’s argument here is clearly that Gimple treated Chandler Riggs unfairly in making him an apparent promise that he did not keep and, to go along with that, he also treated the longtime fans of the show unfairly in that Carl was meant to be a part of the show for a long time to come given that this is how it goes in the Robert Kirkman comics. (It’s a little bit of a bummer, by the way, that Kirkman hasn’t voice his own thoughts on this.)
There are two things we’ll say in regards to this petition:
1. We’re not really comfortable with the idea of campaigning for someone to lose their job.
2. Do we think that it’s a mistake to get rid of Carl? Sure, but the irony here is that many Walking Dead fans have been furious as of late over the lack of action and surprises on the show. Now that the show has presented one of its biggest surprises ever, there are many people angry over the fact that a beloved character is dying. There are moments here that border on selective anger — it’s pretty hard to win if you are a producer working on the show in the eyes of some.
You can see more of what Riggs had to say about his impending exit from The Walking Dead over at the link here. Also, be sure to like CarterMatt on Facebook in the event you want some more news on the show and others we cover. (Photo: AMC.)