that’s true! a well-written character doesnt mean that they have to be considered a firmly good person. i find morally ambiguous characters interesting too

however, saying that about jax to wave off valid critiscm of the way his character was written just falls flat. jax IS an abuser. not only is it physical, he also inflicts mental harm with his consistent insults, suggestive comments, and blackmailing

jax’s character is, essentially, an abusive asshole with a sad backstory as his only redeeming quality. he has barely any character growth and the show seems to want us to sympathize with him. his violent actions, especially against ragatha and gangle, are often played off as a comedic factor. all his victims end up forgiving him, and he faces no real consequences for his actions

long rant incoming

i used to be a tadc fan. honestly, there are things i agree the show did well, but there are also things that should have been different. this will have spoilers, including episode 9.

starting off. this part is more of a gripe about goose. she has made misogynistic and racist comments in the past. i’ll admit that it was in the past, and yes, people are capable of change. regardless, she should have known better as a grown adult. however, those same ideas made their way into the show itself, so i doubt she’s done much work to rid these biases. there are misogynistic and racist elements in tadc.

no media can be perfect. i also think that being a fan of something doesn’t mean treating it like it can do no wrong. with that said:

misogyny.

let’s take the characters for a second. there are six (seven including caine) main characters. jax, one of the main characters (other being pomni) relentlessly shows to be a bully, as early as the pilot episode.

lots of fans have already noticed that he bullies only the girls, and zooble, who’s genderqueer. kinger seems to be immune to this mistreatment, and caine does too.

jax has physically and mentally abused the characters, especially ragatha and gangle, from the start. but it’s odd. why only the girls? why not anyone else?

also, let’s not minimize the amount of harm he’s caused. i know many people in this fandom like to justify his actions by blaming the victims.

but perhaps the biggest moment happened in episode 9. jax has a fantasy about gangle, in which he flirts with her and implies he wants to have sex with her. mind you, this is one of the same characters he’s been bullying since episode one. jax does not care about the person gangle is. she’s a toy for him to play with and break at his will. if he cares about her at all, his behavior does not show it. i shouldn’t even have to say this, but this behavior isn’t okay. it isn’t excusable, it isn’t justifiable.

in episode 8, gangle sides with her abuser. pomni makes excuses for his behavior. when he chokes her in episode 9, she gives him a hug rather than making him face the consequences of his actions. this is not the fault of the characters, but the writing.

then he abstracts (not sure of the chronological events, i’ll edit this when it comes out on youtube 👍🏽). he does not learn from this experience. he has spent the show mistreating the women, had them support him in the end, and then he died.

fiction also affects reality, and reality also affects fiction. violence against women is not uncommon. in fiction, it should not be used to add comedic factor.

media with characters who aren’t good people doesn’t mean the media is wrong, but when engaging with serious topics such as this, they also need to be written with caution. having the women support him, make excuses for his actions, despite facing the most harm, was not the right way to depict this topic at all.

onto racism

most of us are aware of what the VAs said. we also know gooseworx took part in it. if you don’t know, Michael Kovach (jax’s VA) and Ashley Nichols (zooble’s VA) had a video resurface about them joking about racial slurs (iirc, it was about the n-word). they gave an apology, goose did not afaik. its not my place to accept the apology, all i will say was that it was a dumb move on their part to think it making a shitty joke like that was a good idea.

moving on, before episode 9 leaked, there was one voice actor who also happened to be a poc (queenie’s VA, Cassie Ewulu). ONE. and that character just so conveniently was barely named (if at all). she was dead from the start, her purpose was only to give character depth to kinger, a white man.

now that ep 9 has been leaked, from what i’ve heard, zooble and gangle are also both poc. (some people said jax too, some didn’t, so im not sure about that. will update when i find out for sure)

edit: jax is hispanic

oh wow! win for diversity, right? /s

zooble, who is portrayed as “angry/combative/irritable,” etc. making the decision to make her a poc needed more thinking. there’s a common stereotype in media, especially regarding Black women, where they are seen as aggressive and mean, pushed off to the side, and not fleshed out as much as other characters.

gangle is also included in this. she, (indian, i believe) an Asian woman, was portrayed as meek, shy, and submissive. one of the stereotypes for south/east/southeast Asian women is that we are shy, naive, childlike, and obedient.

also, not to mention, as others have pointed out, zooble and gangle’s VA’s are white. it feels like they changed it on a whim, or at least didn’t bother much with making sure their representation was a bit better. not to mention that giving Black and Brown voice actors a platform is something that a lot of popular indie animation lack, despite indie being a way to help marginalized people share their voices.

zooble and gangle also have the least amount of dialogue between the main characters, on top of their stereotypical portrayals. meanwhile, queenie was dead throughout the entire story and used as a way to get additional sympathy and character development for kinger. she wasn’t even named.