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number-fiveya · 3 years

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can you explain what you mean by your opinion about allison's character being about assimilation? lol feels like you have a whole essay on that one and i wanna see it

😳 😳 😳 well, since you asked: 😳 😳 😳

okay, so show allison and comic allison are wildly different-- comic allison seems far more assured with herself and comfortable with wearing her damage on her sleeve, while show-allison isn’t.

show-allison’s storyline is deeply tied in her character constantly transforming herself into whatever the dominant group she’s trying to join wants of her (assimilating), and then being left out in the cold when it doesn’t end well for her. this takes the form of allison’s hyperfeminine gender expression, her ‘type’ as an actress, and her relationship habits. in this essay, i will--

i. femininity.

from day one, the thing that set allison apart from vanya, that ensured that she was kept and not repressed, is that she was more controllable. not only was her power more malleable, but her personality thrived on positive reinforcement and attention. as long as she got nice things and was photographed, she was game to play along with the training and the missions, at least for a while. she was willing to mold her personality into what others wanted her to be, in return for safety and comfort.

notably: show allison is conventionally feminine, and show vanya is androgynous. the sister who was willing and eager to accept the gendered standards was celebrated, and the one who didn’t was rejected.

allison, in the comics, is completely different: she’s androgynous, frumpy, and grim. she’s one of the boys, so to speak. which begs the question: does allison actually dress the way she does in the show because she likes it, or because it’s expected of her?

look at allison’s wardrobe in s1: the woman literally changes outfits several times a day, and they’re always impeccable. she has a full face of makeup and perfectly-styled hair, always. this is someone who cares very much about how she is seen by others. (and when allison reaches the end of the season, she’s traded heels for sneakers, skirts for jeans, and blouses for t-shirts and reused leather jackets. when allison is meant to be fully realized, she is stripped-down, not made up.)

(look at allison’s attire in season 2: a shift from full skirts and stilettoes to blocky shoes and pants as her sixties mask comes undone and she owns that she’s from the future and must return. she does it again.)

look at allison’s behavior in season one: in the pilot she pretends to be inviting to vanya, spends days stalking her and her boyfriend to perform just how good a sister she is to her (even though she’s only doing it to satisfy her urge to mother something) and immediately changes into mourning attire when diego calls her out on not caring that reginald is dead. allison is all performance, all the time.

and part of performing femininity is performing certain traits, like being nurturing, gentle and maternal-- note how allison always casts herself as The Mature One, and The Team Mom, and always has to swallow her anger and her sadness to attend to other people’s needs.

allison was allowed to exist as is because she was willing to play along with what others wanted of her. gender plays a massive role in this, given how allison was a public figure who was commodified from day one -- not only is she a person, she is a product to be consumed by the umbrella academy’s fanbase.

just look at the contrast: the hyperfeminine, sugary-sweet, self-sacrificing sister who goes along with what everyone else tells her to do was accepted by the family and the public, while the androgynous, messy sister who put herself first and resists being told what to do was rejected. allison made herself into the prettier product, so she was favored.

ideally, an arc for allison in this regard would involve her relaxing her style pattern permanently, as she becomes more comfortable in her own skin and stops dressing for other people, and developing a blunter, more assertive personality as she begins to prioritize her own well-being and ceases performing to make others at ease. ideally.

ii. allison’s fame

after she left, she flew straight to hollywood and transformed into a starlet. and even there, she still kept performing, because being an actress means that you’re gonna get typecast. you’re gonna get stuffed into a box, and smart actors capitalize on their types. they assimilate into them, and they tailor their personal narratives to reflect them. allison, in becoming an actress-- and a successful one-- absolutely played along with that system. she was accepted and adored by the public specifically because she jumped right into that cookie-cutter mold and shaved off her rough edges to fit into it (and vanya’s book was so devastating because it told everyone exactly who allison really was).

specifically, the kind of starlet allison is, is a romcom queen. she’s mentioned as a peer of sandra bullock (1x08), she’s advertised in s1 promo material as an ‘america’s sweetheart’ (and is called as much in her introductory scene in 1x01) --- and that term is a typecasting box.

if you are an ‘america’s sweetheart,’ you are a wholesome, relatable, squeaky-clean, beautiful woman with a polite, sweet demeanor. you are who the girl-next-door grows up into. you are the woman that all women want to be or befriend, and that all men want to marry and take home to their mother. you are akin to meg ryan, sandra bullock, or jennifer aniston.

and since this needs to be brought up: irl, the only women who are allowed to be put in this typecasting box are white. because by design, the popular imagination’s image of the relatable, beautiful everywoman is inherently white. that’s starting to change, but we still haven’t gotten an actress of color who’s gotten to the level of the women who typify this role and are wildly successful within it (halle berry got close, but didn’t quite land there. in ten years it’ll probably be zendaya, but that’s still not 'right now’).

so the fact that allison is not only within that category in show-tuaverse, but is embraced, adored, and wildly successful, is kind of a massive fucking deal? but the show doesn’t do anything with this, because it didn’t think those implications through, and set s1 in an alternate universe where race isn’t discussed. in s2, when the show finally addressed it, it never acknowledged what allison’s status meant in the present (and how it feels to lose it in the past), because again, the show didn’t think that far into it.

so on top of being a famous woman, allison’s race is also a factor, because the black women society allows to succeed and be considered as admirable have to jump through a shitload of hoops to just be in contention, and even with her rumor to help her along, allison would have had (and would have wanted) to navigate them to get to the point she is when we meet her in s1. the standards for how allison looks, carries herself and behaves would have been astronomically higher. and it seems like she worked her ass off to meet them.

god it’s really such a missed opportunity for her not to at least talk about this shit in season 2, when her context is totally different and she has to grapple with the lack of that insulating fame, and what it cost her to achieve it... and all for nothing. she literally reshaped her entire personality to be a beloved actress (and gave up love with luther to pursue it), salvaged it when it fractured because of the book and the divorce, and then landed in a world where all that work is null and void.

how does she cope with that? and when she’s back in the present, how does she move forward? does she try to take more challenging, varied roles? or does she leave her career behind completely and chase something entirely different?

iii. queerness.

most significantly, there’s this, and boy have i wanted to talk about queer allison.

tua is a queer narrative (and the show doesn’t realize it, so it’ll never actually go there intentionally, but hey, maybe next time). the characters are all queer-coded (accidentally), the show literally draws a parallel between superpowers and being queer (accidentally), and ordinariness with heteronormativity (accidentally).

and within that framework, allison’s story is an allegory for being a queer woman who passes as straight. specifically, for being a bi woman who passes.

as of s2, allison’s pattern as a character is that whenever she’s in an unfamiliar place, all alone with few resources, she copes by trying to belong in that place and gain acceptance from its people. and the way she does that is by finding a man, marrying him, and becoming what he (and by extension, the society he represents) wants her to be. she is trying to pass as what each setting considers to be ‘ordinary.’

in los angeles, allison marries patrick, a blandly handsome and nonoffensive movie star, because she wants to pass as a modern (note that she keeps her maiden name), squeaky-clean lovable a-list actress. she accepts the ‘america’s sweetheart’ typecast with open arms and transforms herself into it. she keeps herself perfectly styled, smiley and approachable at all times (note how she talks to the cop in 1x08), because that’s her gimmick. and she compulsively rumors everything to be sure it stays perfect. she is assimilating into a-list 2010s hollywood by becoming one of its most bankable, nonproblematic stars, and she uses patrick as a prop to do so.

in dallas, allison marries ray (note that she takes his name) because she’s consigned herself to a life in the sixties, has decided she needs a way to live comfortably and to achieve the approval and protection of the community (after her first night in the city shows her exactly what can happen if she doesn’t have it), and decides that marrying ray is the way to get that.

(the show fucks up allison and raymond’s relationship because it’s either too stupid to realize what it wrote or too bent on fanservice to dare explore the implications, but they’re still there:) allison’s ‘won’t be long’ montage is literally about her assimilating. she changes her hair, her clothes, the way she carries herself, in order to survive in dallas.

the song choice, which is one of the only spot-on ones in s2, is literally in context about a woman eagerly waiting for her man to come home from being away for a long time. it is about allison waiting for the academy, and luther in particular, to come rescue her, and about what she does in the meantime to keep herself safe.

it’s only when the song ends that allison agrees to go on a date with raymond--- aka, when allison gives up on the academy (and luther) coming for her, and accepts that she’s trapped in the 60s, she decides to establish roots as fast as possible to protect herself. so she sets her eyes on ray, who she first noticed because he’s a pillar of the community, and ray literally marries her while knowing nothing about her, [aka: there’s something transactional about the relationship that the show is too cowardly to go into] which is ideal, for someone wanting to hide their true identity.

and voila, she’s now an instantly established member of south dallas. she doesn’t have to work anymore, she gets a comfortable home, an instant peer group in the sjcc (note how she immediately leaves the salon women when she marries, exclusively interacts with ray's circle and has zero friends outside of it), and instant status as the wife of their leader. allison is cunning and the show doesn’t have the balls to own that, but that’s what she’s doing. she is assimilating into the early 60s black community in south dallas, and every move she makes is intentional.

in both cases, allison assimilates by smoothly brushing her past with the academy [read: her past queer relationships] under the rug and either concealing her use of her rumor [read: her queerness] by practicing it out of sight, or refusing to use it outright [read: concealing or repressing her queerness], and then transforming herself into what each setting considers to be ‘ordinary’ [read: changing her gender expression and mannerisms to ‘look straight’]. and in both cases, allison does this by marrying a cishet man.

and in both cases, her relationships implode because of her powers [read: her queerness] reappearing when her husbands catch her in the act of using them.

basically, allison’s experience is one that a lot of queer women-- particularly bi women-- share: coming from a setting where you’re being openly queer and having queer relationships, and then having to move to a new area where that isn’t as accepted. and making the calculation that it would be safer and more advantageous for you to simply not let people know you’re queer / to let them assume you’re straight.

and while, in some ways, you thrive, because you are comfortable with adapting and with taking on some of the trappings of cishetness (read, being bi and not having to fake attraction to men, and being conventionally feminine and therefore game to accept the beauty standards)... that all ends the second the people in your life find out you’re queer. because once they find out, even if they love you, that’s all you are to them.

back to tua: patrick’s situation being one allison manipulated can be read as allegory for how bisexual women in particular are treated as -- and feel-- manipulative for being in het relationships where they don’t disclose their queerness. especially if there’s significant pressure to be in a het relationship.

and raymond’s reaction to finding out allison has powers is... so fucking similar to how your straight partner might react to finding out you’re queer (bi specifically):

their kneejerk reaction being “there’s something wrong with you. this relationship can’t possibly be legitimate because of What You Are. how dare you not tell me, even though i never asked and it isn’t my business. you clearly tricked me into loving you. you are dirty and untrustworthy and i’m half ready to break up with you now.”

regarding your friendships with other queer people with suspicion, especially other queer people you have a romantic past with (cough, alluther vibing and raymond hovering around them, giving allison the ‘are you cheating on me’ look, cough).

trying to placate your significant other by presenting your sexuality as something they can take part in. aka ‘hey, it’s not so bad, we can have a threesome!’ [aka: ‘hey ray, why don’t i take you shopping to show you my rumor can be good, actually’]

and them of course immediately taking you up on it, eagerly taking part... and then getting upset when you get into it yourself and they realize it isn’t about them. [aka, raymond loving it when allison buys him clothes, and being oh-so-pleased to let her get a fancy dress-- because she asks permission from you for it, which means you let her have it, aren't you so generous-- but balking when she goes to the lunch counter to get revenge for herself]

it’s spot on, is what i’m saying.

both times, allison marries to fit in, and both marriages are ruined by the eventual uncovering of what she’s denying in order to do so. the first time, allison and her husband end things in a vicious divorce. the second time, allison literally walks out and breaks up with her husband via note... but she does so to rejoin the queers and go back where she belongs. so there's progress there, to be sure.

and finally, allison’s relationship with luther is the culmination of her arc.

once more, luther being another academy member = another queer person. m/f relationships. can. be. queer.

it’s the healthiest, the most honest and the most sincere of allison’s relationships, specifically because she doesn’t have to hide her rumor, abuse it, or apologize for it in order to gain his affection [read: she isn’t closeted around him]. when allison is with luther, she is herself.

luther acknowledges her rumor [read: her sexuality] but doesn’t pressure her to abuse it [read: fetishize her], doesn’t condemn it as Inherently Wrong or minimize it [“i love you, despite”], even while knowing that she both has it and has used it on other people [that she has been a ‘bad bisexual’]. he acknowledges it as a part of her, and then just carries on to the rest of her without a second thought. complete acceptance.

it’s a relationship between a queer woman who can pass if she wants or needs to [because you can’t know allison has powers unless she tells you or you witness it in action], and a queer man who can’t because of the way his body looks [... which is the aftereffect of a nonconsensual surgery his abusive parent inflicted on him to ‘fix’ him, that causes him dysmorphia].

a relationship that in the 60s, they would have been arrested for, and in the present they will still receive all kinds of looks and comments for.

it’s a relationship that was shut down the first time around by reginald, and his pressure on them to adopt his standards of rigid behavior: if they’re going to fit in, and be considered ‘good’ within the academy, they can’t be together.

and it’s a relationship she turned her back on four times: the first to ensure that she stays on reginald’s good side, the second to move to hollywood and become famous (given who luther is and what he looks like, he and they won’t exactly be embraced there), the third to marry patrick and cement her role as hollywood royalty, and the fourth to marry raymond and solidify herself as a member of the south dallas community.

this is all to say, because luther can’t pass, that means the relationship can’t either. if allison’s going to be with luther, she has to be ready to be overtly queer. and if that happens, it means she’s finally done with trying to perform heteronormativity, and is comfortable enough with who and where she is to be her authentic self.

so essentially, show-allison’s storyline revolves around the cost of making yourself over in the image of what the culture you want to be accepted by finds acceptable. she plays an active role in negotiating how much of herself she’s willing to change, and demands that the culture compensate her for what she’s giving up, but the process is still profoundly isolating and lonely, and has a net negative effect on allison’s self-image. it will hopefully conclude in her deciding to liberate herself from it entirely, but honestly who the fuck knows given how this train flew off the rails.

#it’s been 84 years #allison hargreeves #tua meta #tua #the umbrella academy

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