‘The OC’ Creator Killed Off Marissa Cooper Because of Online Trolls
One of the great modern mysteries is why TV’s favorite trainwreck best friend, Marissa Cooper, got killed off The O.C.
At the time there were a lot of rumors, including that Mischa Barton was tired of being in the spotlight and did everything in her power to get herself off the show so she could have more time to focus on the important things in life, like partying with Lindsay Lohan.
But as it turns out, Mischa Barton actually had nothing to do with Marissa Cooper getting killed off The OC. Internet trolls did.
Over the weekend, OC creator Josh Schwartz and three other members of the show’s creative team reunited at the ATX Television Festival to answer some questions that people still have about their monumental teen show after all these years.
Of course it was only a matter of time before Cooper’s death got brought up.
“It’s complicated,” Schwartz began, “There were a lot of factors involved, and it was something we really wrestled with. There were a lot of reasons, both creative and cynical. Steph [Savage, the show’s executive producer] and I, we still talk about it. What we found was, and this was a really good lesson for us, if somebody posts something online, it’s a one-to-one ratio. They are not speaking for 1,000 people.”
Unfortunately, Scwartz didn’t realize this lesson until after he killed off Cooper and the Internet exploded in a frenzy of, “Whyyyyyyyyyys” and “OMG, I could literally die right now, I’m so upset.”
“The people who were the most vocal online weren’t speaking for everyone, and we realized that people were very attached to the character. There was a lot of anger and fan art that came our way.”
Sadly, The O.C.’s ratings took a huge dip after Marissa got killed off, and the show never recovered from the loss.
And just think, it all could have been avoided so easily.
Let this be a lesson: never give in to peer pressure. No matter what age you are.
[H/T MTV]
Also read:
Mischa Barton Is Returning To TV, Hope She Doesn’t Wear Any Of These Tragic OC Outfits
