#and this is also why 'just watch another queer show' simply doesn't cut it

[nuka]

I think what makes Our Flag Means Death so remarkable in terms of representation is not just the broadness of it, but the depth.

We have an indigenous lead character, but he's not only that. He's also queer. He's a romantic interest. He's middle-aged. His arc portrays surviving trauma and abuse. It also portrays mental illness. And it portrays breaking free from toxic masculinity. And it never tries to put him in a box when he explores his masculinity and femininity.

We have a non-binary character, played by a Puerto Rican NB actor, but their arc is not about their gender identity and their coming out is simply a case of "Just keep calling me Jim". They have a romantic/sexual relationship with a black character, and never is this relationship or either of their sexual orientations or Olu's sex appeal as a fat person or "who even is the man in this relationship hahaha" questioned. When they get into a poly relationship, it's just accepted, instead of questioned or even defined.

These are just a couple of examples. It's not that Our Flag Means Death is the only or the first show with queer/BIPOC/disabled representation, because it's not. What makes the show remarkable is the unique combination of queerness, ethnicity, age, disabilities, life experiences, etc. that each character carries within themselves, yet none of these characters exist solely to appear as representation of any minority on screen. Their identities are not glued onto them, they're ingrained, but in the end, they're just people. Just like in real life. Identities do not work as plot points. Being queer is not a plot point. Being non-binary is not a plot point. It's just a small part of the whole complex experience of life.

OFMD is a perfect example of telling a queer story that doesn't focus on telling a story directly about the queerness itself. Because we have stories about queerness already. We have so many of them that it just feels like tokenism at this point to see yet another story about coming out or forbidden love or anything like that, even if it's well made.

This show took me by surprise with every new way of representation it offered, because each time it did the total opposite of what I expected. It took all the tired tropes and said, "Yeah, see these? We're not gonna do any of that." It delivered something I never thought I'd see on screen.

It never explains the characters' identities to the audience. It simply shows them exactly the way they are and lets you decide whether you see yourself in them, and I think that also allows the audience to question their own identities, to explore gender and sexuality freely without immediately putting labels on things.

People who never thought they might be trans or non-binary or queer in any way discovered their identities through the show. People who struggle with mental illness or trauma saw someone like themselves portrayed with kindness and respect on screen and were finally able to extend the same kindness to themselves. People who are always left out of romantic stories because of their age or body shape or the color of their skin finally saw themselves portrayed as desirable and worthy of love and romance.

That is why so many of us feel that, in the words of Ruibo Qian: "OFMD woke me up."

#ofmd #our flag means death #long live ofmd #save ofmd #this is also why i wanted to see season 3 so bad #this show has an AMAZING writers' room #the diversity begins in there with having writers who belong to the minorities that the show portrays #and with hiring actors who belong to the minorities that their characters portray and listening to their ideas and feedback about them #there's so much the writers still could've given us in terms of representation #there's so much more left to explore #and this is also why 'just watch another queer show' simply doesn't cut it #there is NOTHING like ofmd

[official-panini]

rwrb movie aka "a shitshow"

rating: 1 star, if you want something like the book this is not the place to go.

i watched the movie last night and i have a lot of Thoughts™. i have undone my tumblr exile specifically for this. this may be incoherent but bear with me pls.

there will be spoilers after the cutoff

i had 3 main issues with the movie. obviously i knew it wouldn't be perfect to the book (that would have added at least another 2 hours) but it felt like the screenwriters didn't have any idea what the core of the book was about....... so yeah i have come back to tumblr simply because of this movie.

Diversity: the books had SO MUCH diversity. Nora was bisexual, Pez was 100% queer, these two and June were in a very obvious polyamorous relationship (THEY GOT RID OF JUNE!!!). Amy was trans and had a wife. Rafael Luna was cut out entirely, so we lost a gay Mexican senator who had experienced sexual assault. Oscar wasn't even senator, so we got to see zero (0) Mexican senators. even in terms of other types of diversity, there was less. for example, Ellen wasn't divorced, the movie was just a perfect little nuclear family. not to mention it was Henry's grandpa that was king? instead of having a queen? like the vibes were so different because of that. not to mention, Bea wasn't ever addicted to cocaine. i mean, that added so much to the idea that the royal family wasn't perfect (they made her a pretty little useless princess in the movie).

Palatability: I don't know why I expected better from Amazon, but I was so disappointed. this goes hand in hand with diversity, but i feel like they watered down so many of the themes to appeal to straight audiences? it felt like the difference between "flamboyant" gay vs "quiet, doesn't talk about their sexuality" gay (hint: the second one is the type cishets want from us). even just the way that the only time we see a pride flag is in the reflection of the window. also, one of the scenes i really wanted to see was after henry/alex were outed and we'd see a montage of ppl on the internet speaking out for them, saying stuff like "this was an invasion of their privacy" "they deserved better" "we support you" "you made me more comfortable with my sexuality", etc. AND ESPECIALLY THE "HISTORY, HUH?" SHIRTS. JUST READING ABOUT THEM MADE ME CRY. basically the movie tried to ignore their queer identities past the trauma involved. they didn't celebrate the gayness, they only used it to be like "boohoo they're sad cuz they can't come out".

Character Development: Henry had a plot arc that i felt was more similar to the books, except for the fact that it focused on himself accepting his gayness instead of accepting himself in general. BUT ALEX. THEY DID HIM WRONG. i mean, he didn't have a sexuality crisis on screen (liam was completely ignored). but what really annoyed me was how they didn't show the "fire under his ass" and how he put it out. the entire thing in the book was that he wanted to do everything fast, as young as possible. his entire character arc was learning from June and Henry that he could slow down and get there in his own time. but instead he felt like a plot device to help henry in the movie, like he didn't have a personality beyond helping Henry (and occasionally campaigning for Texas, but w/o his character development we don't even know why he wants Texas so much)

Plot arcs: again, i should have expected this. but. i didn't. in the book, while the overarching plotline was the firstprince romance, a lot of other stuff happened too. while i would argue that there were many mini subplots, the big one was with Richards. he was the one who orchestrated the emails, who leaked them, who tried to sabotage the Claremont administration. and Luna defecting to gather information was so important because of the betrayal + forgiveness + trauma. like the election was so important in the book yet it felt like a background feature in the movie. other subplots that were taken out: june's displeasure with being used as a tool for her mother, henry's mother finally coming out of her room and fighting for something, even just Alex giving the speech in Austin during the election! it didn't even have "you obtuse fucking asshole", the best line in the whole book. it became a pure romcom instead of a contrast between love and politics.

tl;dr: the book was an escapist fantasy that painted a whole world that i would like to run away to, the movie was about two people falling in love with each other (it's hard to escape to a world made for only two people).

anyway i hated it, would not recommend.

#do not watch the movie if you want to feel the same emotions as the book #it felt super geared towards the straight gaze #rwrb #rwrb movie #rwrb film #rwrb movie spoilers #firstprince #alex claremont diaz #prince henry rwrb #prince henry #fsotus #hrh prince henry #ellen claremont #june claremont diaz #rafael luna

[scarhoax]

i stopped watching at the end of season one bc i couldn't deal w what happened to julia but wasn't the whole point that q wasn't the protag?? i feel like the writers made it clear that q wasn't the chosen one who was destined to save the world but that he was just someone who stepped in to help every time bc he cared?? idk how much that changed over the course of the seasons but what happened doesn't really feel like a subversion of the white male protag trope bc he wasn't one in the first place

You’re absolutely right. Also this got a little away from me so I put it under a cut.

Quentin always wanted to be the Chosen One, to be the Hero. At least, he did when he read the Fillory books as a kid. And that mentality holds on through the seasons a decent bit - like when Quentin thinks the quest for the keys to magic will change him into the person the quest needs him to be. But that quest, first and foremost, showed Quentin that he could be happy and find meaning in life - during A Life in a Day (3.05) - without having to be the Big Damn Hero. He could find joy in simply living a life. 

From a narrative perspective, Q became less and less the protagonist as time went on. Even in season 1 you could argue that Quentin is the audience surrogate character - the one that we’re supposed to relate to and see the world (shiny and new and full magic) through his eyes - rather than the protagonist. And in some ways that never changes: he’s usually the person who needs something explained to, for one reason or another (unless it’s about Fillory, card tricks/practical magic, etc.)

By season 3, particularly in Seven Short Stories About Magic (3.08) and even more intensely in The Side Effect (4.08), the core narrative shifted focus to the ensemble cast, explicitly saying that the supposedly “minor” characters are always more important than they appear. Nearing the end of season 4, each character had their own narrative (e.g., Kady with the hedge witches, Zelda’s desire to get the library on track, Alice’s attempt to find the good in magic again, etc.), which split the focus to everyone. There’s not really a protagonist to speak of unless you speak of the ensemble as a whole. 

Especially when you consider that Quentin has been relegated to the background and what a wonderful post refers to as the “chick track” during season 4. He spends the season pacifying a volatile male entity in the hope of getting back the man he loves. 

So yes, even if Quentin had just been a cishet white dude with no history of mental illness, he wouldn’t really be the protagonist in function. He’s not important because he’s the most powerful or the Chosen or a Hero in the traditional view. He’s average. A B- student. He’s not the smartest or most powerful or most charismatic or the most anything else.

What he is, is someone who cares. “The volunteer tomato” that keeps trying no matter what. Regardless of whether he has a good plan or not.

What he is is the glue that holds the group together. It’s his connections (love, friendship, anything in between or outside) and the connections of the people he’s connected to that makes up this small community and allows them to pool their resources to Get Shit Done. And that is absolutely a power of his own. An important one. But definitely not Typical Protagonist Material. 

So to call him a Traditional Straight White Male Protagonist is wrong in so, so many ways. And for Sera Gamble to call him one shows a deep misconception of who Quentin is, both in terms of his position as a member of two major disadvantaged groups (being both queer and mentally ill), but also his role in the story she helped create.

tldr: I don’t know why the finale drifted so far from the established narrative, characters, and roles but, to be crass, it fucking sucks.

(Also totally fair re: stopping bc of the stuff with Julia because that’s super super fucked up and it’s rough to get through. Especially because the ramifications persist through season 2.)

#The Magicians #Anonymous #The Magicians Spoilers #my writing #meta #oops #cw suicide #Quentin Coldwater #thanks so much for asking this! #I love having a chance to ramble on #I hope it was helpful