Culture

Sense8 creator Lana Wachowski emotionally thanks fans for ‘saving’ show from the axe

Aug 11 2017
Written by Nick Duffy

Sense8 creator Lana Wachowski was close to tears as she thanked fans for “saving” her show.

The acclaimed Netflex series, created by transgender sisters Lana and Lilly Wachowski, follows eight pansexual individuals around the globe with an apparent psychic connection.

Fans were left devastated when Netflix confirmed that the show had been cancelled after two seasons earlier this year, despite winning praise for its brilliant inclusion of LGBT characters and themes.

Sense8 creator Lana Wachowski emotionally thanks fans for ‘saving’ show from the axe

However, after vocal protests from the show’s fans, Sense8 was granted a surprise reprieve by the streaming giant, as it was renewed for one further two-hour special.

Lana Wachowski, who is serving as the show’s sole showrunner after the departure of her sister from the project, emotionally thanked fans in a video this week.

She said: “The fact that Sense8 was brought back to life was every bit as fairytale and storybook as Trinity kissing Neo [in The Matrix] and bringing him back to life. I think it requires to take a breath, to appreciate it, to look around and admire the ‘holy shit!’-ness of it all.

“What you fans did is quite frankly unbelievable.

“To anyone who knows anything about this business, this does not happen.

“The idea that a very publicly announced cancellation of a show – which included a direct rebuttal to the fans after their initial response – could be reversed by a perseistent, passionate and creative campaign is every bit of the stuff of a Frank Capra movie.”

She added: “The idea that this outpouring of love for the show would reach Netflix and convince them to reverse this decision is, let’s face it, maybe a little too schmaltzy for most narratives today.

“This is also a testament to the cool radical, unpredictable company that Netflix is. They really do care about the artists they work with, the shows they make, and the subscribers – proving again and again that they’re not just a company run by an abacus.

“But it happened, you did it, it’s real! It was by all accounts a kind of populist uprising, and the most astonishing part of it is that you won. That’s something to celebrate.”

Trans actress Jamie Clayton, who plays Naomi on the show, added “I could not be more proud to be a part of such an incredible show that has touched so many people on such a profound level.”

Wachowski also spoke about the importance of trans representation, explaining that for many years the only transgender characters in media were “inherently tragic, or a joke, or a victim, or psychopathic serial killers”.

“Those kind of characters reflect the dominant narrative in our culture about difference – difference is something to fear, something to laugh at, most importantly something that divides.

“When I pitched Sense8, I told Netflix I wanted to tell a different story about difference, in which difference was not something that set us apart from eachother, but was fundamentally the thing that united us.

“Sense8 is different from most shows. I know that. It’s different on purpose.”