#davidyost

The real reason Billy Cranston – The Blue Power Ranger – was killed off the 1990’s epic – Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers

David Yost

The longest running Blue Power Ranger of all time The second longest-running Power Ranger of all time The most memorable hero in my entire life - Billy, played by David Yost

“You know the funny thing about morphin’? You don’t appreciate it until you can’t do it anymore!” – Billy Cranston/David Yost

I’ve spent 25 years of my life, off and on, wondering why Billy, the greatest Blue Ranger and Superhero of all time (in my humbled opinion) left the show so abruptly and why the way they “killed” him off was so out of the blue (no pun intended). Until now, I had no idea why. Which is why technology and the internet have become such an incredible way of learning information and connecting with the entire world.            The story, as I understand it, and as I read more about what happened, makes me so mad inside that it makes me want to turn back time so that he could have continued on his projected trajectory. I’ll let Billy tell you first, in his own words, what happened, and then we will discuss it further.

“Um, I, I walked off set one day, during the middle of lunch, halfway through the day, I just made a decision, I’d been thinking about it for a good week, and the reason that I walked off is because I was called a “fa**ot” one too many times. So, um, I had just heard that several times while working on the show from creators, producers, writers, directors.” -David Yost (Source – David Yost, IMBD) *-I will be sharing the entire IMBD Interview at the end of this piece.

So, let me get this straight. A creative team for one of the most prestigious stand-alone superhero franchises made one of their most talented and devoted cast members walk off the set because they continuously called him a faggot!?            This, to me and a lot of other people, is absolutely flabbergasting. According to David, the creators would pull other members of the cast into a private room to ask about his sexuality. While David hadn’t known it was happening. This is too much. It was 1993. How could it have been so surprising that a cast member was gay to a bunch of artistically inclined producers? Furthermore, why would it have caused them to belittle him about it and isolate him within the team that he worked in? This is what David said,

“And I know that my co-stars were called in a couple of times to different producers’ offices and questioned about my sexuality, which is kind of a humiliating experience to hear that and to find that out.” -David Yost (Source – David Yost, IMBD)

           I cannot believe that this happened during the production of a television show that would go on to teach me and the rest of my generation how to be fair to everyone as individuals, work as a team, respect our planet, help others, and ultimately save the world. This show made me who I am today. What I’m starting to realize is that maybe it was the actors all along that taught me these things. I mean, I must give the writers their due credit, but I will not be about to credit them for ultimately pushing out the best part of the show, in my eyes. Billy was my hero. Billy was the one I inspired to be. Is the one I inspire to be.            When we watch these shows as children, we interact with the shows as if we were in them ourselves. We become friends with the characters, and we aspire to be them. We truly believe that we can be them. We do carry that into adulthood and throughout our lives. We never forget. Never…forget.

I am a gay man. I never even knew that Billy/David was even gay! (though, I don’t believe Billy was a gay character. I’m starting to think otherwise) It didn’t matter to me. I mean, I was seven when Power Rangers came out, but it was only another year of my life before I knew I was gay. If I had known then what I know now, I wouldn’t have continued watching the show and then devoted my time, instead, to fighting a battle worth fighting right along-side my real hero – David Yost.

This is something else David said,

“It’s not that people can’t talk about me and have their opinion about me, but continuing to work in an environment like that is really difficult, and I myself was struggling with who I was or what I was, and to be …made fun of on some level or to be stereotyped or put into a category in sort of saying ‘you’re not’ – basically, I just felt like I was continually being told that I’m not worthy of where I am because I’m a gay person and I’m not supposed to be an actor and you can’t be a superhero.” -David Yost (Source – David Yost, IMBD)

           Let’s let that sink in for a bit. Just replay it in your mind – “I’m not supposed to be an actor and you can’t be a superhero.” This blows my mind. And not in a great way. In a flabbergasted kind-of-way. Can’t be a superhero. Well, if anything, it makes him more of a superhero to me that he would give up his place as a leading Superhero just to be able to tell my generation that it is not okay to allow people to tell you what you can and cannot be just because of who you are, and/or what you are. Because it’s not. It’s not okay. He was, is, and always will be The Superhero in my mind. Billy Cranston, the Blue Power Ranger, will always be my Superhero of choice. Why?            Because he was nerdy and smart. He wasn’t a karate genius. He didn’t have the brick-shit-house body that the other Rangers had. He was exactly who he was and still managed to be an integral part of an incredible team of Superheroes that saved the world. Gay or not – he was the sole reason that the team was able to modernize, communicate, and understand their purpose. So, what in the hell did they mean when they told him that he would never be an actor or a Superhero?

I vividly remember watching this very episode where they killed off Billy Cranston. I gasped. As did my friends. It came out of nowhere. In fact, Billy was to go on for much longer alongside Tommy and Jason. So why would he so suddenly be taken out of the show?            But it was the 90’s. We didn’t have immediate access to news about things like this. This moment broke the kid’s hearts and we were supposed to just sit around and accept it. It was so sad that it wasn’t long after Billy’s demise (David’s demise) that I stopped watching the show. Tommy Oliver was also a leading hero in my life, but it wasn’t enough. I was an aspiring Power Ranger because of Billy. And Billy was never to return. I was heartbroken. And I didn’t even get the courtesy of understanding why.

This story is something I am greatly passionate about. I really hope one day to meet David Yost at a Comic Con. I hope one day to be able to shake his hand and tell him how grateful I am that he helped shape the person I became and continue to grow into. I hope, one day, that kids will get to see their heroes in the way that they are supposed to – just like them.            I hope one day, that these pathetic judgments dissipate into thin air. I really do. I hope one day that we can all move on from these stereotypes and isolations. I really do hope that one day we can all just be free to be ourselves without having to worry about what someone else is thinking about it. Unless we choose to go onto American Idol, there is no need to have people judge you for being who you are.

David Yost will always be in my heart, soul, and mind because he was the one that taught me to always do your best, give it your all, and allow people to come around and realize that you are worthy of being on the team. He taught me that being who I am is worthy of anything I set my mind to. Whether that be an actor, a human or – A Superhero.

As promised, here is the full interview with David Yost via IMBD: (I have copied and pasted it so that it is 100% quoted from him)

 [Being asked on why he left the Power Rangers franchise] That's a good question and it's actually a really serious question for me, so if I cry, I apologize in advance. All that me getting old and going off to some foreign planet or something ... I don't know - I wasn't there for any of that. I don't know anything about it, I've never watched the episodes. Um, I, I walked off set one day, during the middle of lunch, halfway through the day, I just had made a decision, I'd been thinking about it for a good week, and the reason that I walked off is because I was called "f***ot" one too many times. So, um, I had just heard that several times while working on the show from creators, producers, writers, directors. It's not that people can't talk about me and have their opinion about me, but continuing to work in an environment like that is really difficult, and I myself was struggling with who I was or what I was, and to be ... made fun of on some level or to be stereotyped or put into a category in sort of saying 'you're not' - basically, I just felt like I was continually being told that I'm not worthy of where I am because I'm a gay person and I'm not supposed to be an actor and you can't be a superhero. And I know that my costars were called in a couple of times to different producers' offices and questioned about my sexuality, which is kind of a humiliating experience to hear that and to find that out. So there was just a lot of issues; it just felt like a bad marriage. And I could either stay and do the second movie and finish six more months of the show or just - I don't know, I guess I was kind of worried about my life. I was worried that I might take my own life. So in order for me to get a handle on what was going on, I needed to leave when I left. And so that's sort of why I left the show.

Please stop judging people for who they are. Please stop making people feel isolated because they are different from you. Please allow people that could really change your life, be your best friend, and really do some good for the world. Allow it. Because it could be the best thing you ever did.

Remove the negativity and move into the reality of freedom. We all want freedom. We all want to help. We all want to do good. We all want to just be. Just be.

You are beautiful no matter what they say. Live it. Inspire.

Thank you for listening,

Allow this story to help you become a better you.

 JR McWilliam

Credits

 David Yost – for being honest and sharing your story. I am at least one person who will share this story and continue to fight this battle with you – because some battles are necessary and should be fought. But much like the expectation of the Power Rangers, I will not instigate these fights and I won’t use my powers for my own gain.

 IMBD – for the interview. I would never have known this story without it. I have done my absolute best to make sure I didn’t paraphrase.

Google Images – to a multitude of artists and the original photographs from the show Mighty Morphin Power Rangers circa 1993-1996, thank you.

The Artists – thank you for continuing to capture the beauty of the Power Rangers – you are recognized and appreciated.

 Note

*-This has not been approved by David Yost or the creators of the Power Rangers. If I was able to communicate this with them my life would be much different. But I hope I have only stated facts, my opinion to the best of my ability, and done David justice by sharing this story.            -To the creators, producers, and writers of the Power Rangers – please know that I forgive you, you were clearly misinformed. All I can hope is that you go on with your careers and your lives without ever making that same mistake again.

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