ventilation

demanding black and brown people to prove their blackness/brownness as a performance for your headcannons of a fictional character in a tv show that is based on 40ish decade old books is impossible self centred and pathetic.

just wanted you to know that there are lots of POC as well that are not so foolish and cruel and here for you! It really is a loud minority and can sometimes feel so invasive, and I’m just sorry you’re having to deal with some of that as well, sending you lots of warmth 💛💛

Hello! 👋🏾

So first of all, thank you so much for the kind words and thoughts. They really do mean a lot, thank you. 💕

And yeah, this performative activism wrt fandom, and yes, mostly from white people in the fandom, has been going on since after Season 1.

And with many actual, real-life black and brown fans, like myself, being attacked by white fans due to it. And that somehow we have to prove ourselves by thinking about all this in the exact same way that they have/do.

When, first off, the real sad truth of it all is that a lot of all of this stemmed from shipping, which you can read the receipts about here:

And here:

If you weren't around during Season 1, and particually the hiatus between Season 1 and 2, it was very easy to miss this being the reason why such things happened, and why fandom is in the state it is in now wrt this stuff. But it very much is.

But the second big truth about it all is that while many people in fandom are fans of these black and brown characters, they never really bother to learn about and look closely at the cultures of these characters and what that means for them as characters, at least when it comes to the black characters, from what I've seen, within the story.

Because this whole recent discourse came about from mostly white fans looking at Louis and Claudia's interactions during the seance scene through a white gaze and lens.

Whereas for many black people? It wasn't something that was overly shocking to many of us because we grew up within US black culture and understood the nuances of why what was being said was being said:

And like, I'm not from NOLA, nor do I have family from there. But from some comments from people who are from that region and understand even more the black/creole culture of that region -- which is where Louis and Claudia are from -- there was even more nuance to that scene than just the overall black culture that was going on in it, as well, as these comments explain:

There is a YouTuber who is from NOLA that I watch, who also talks about the show and the NOLA cultural things the show has been putting in, wrt Louis and Claudia in particular, since Season 1 as well:

Jacob and Delainey, but especially Jacob, did a lot of studying of Louisiana/NOLA Creole culture after he got the part of Louis. So I don't think I'm wrong in assuming that Jacob would very well know what those things Claudia was saying to Louis would mean to someone like Louis, given his background and culture.

But, as has been happening since Season 1, really, too many people did not look at it all through this lens -- or even think that there might be a layer to all of this beyond their own outside-of-my-own-cultural-understanding lens to look at it all from.

Which, honestly, is all part of a larger media discussion when it comes to US media, at least when it comes to black people and white people. White culture and a white pov/lens are always, even still, universally viewed as the default when it comes to storytelling.

This is one of the many reasons things within that culture are never explained to the wider viewing audience when such stories are told. Because it is just assumed that people know these things, even if they are not white.

This view of things, however, is not the same as media that pulls from black culture, however. If something isn't explicitly explained, then many non-black viewers just default to the white lens view of it. Even though Louis and Claudia would have felt no need to explain the deeper cultural things that were going on between them, with the things Claudia was saying to him. And therefore, by proxy, explain it to the audience.

I noticed this same thing going on with the movie Sinners last year. There are many US black culture things within the movie that Ryan Coogler, rightly, IMO, didn't feel the need to explain to the non-black audiences because the characters in the story would have had zero need to explain it to each other.

Such as, for example, why Stack told Sammy not to look at Mary when they were at the train station. Or why Mary's passing for white was so dangerous for her to be doing.

I watched reactions where people, who, yes, were mainly white, missed the underlying cultural reasons for things like this. (Granted, I did see some white viewers who did get and understand the reasons behind those things, including the history behind why, which was very nice to see as well.)

So yeah, sadly, the default lens through which stories and characters are viewed by many people, especially white people-- at least when it comes to people in the US, at least -- but likely also worldwide -- is through a white lens.

Even when the characters in question are not white and are from an entirely different race and culture.

And that is what happened during EP306 and the seance scene.

And the very idea that all black people saw the scene in that same way they did, and that if there had been a black writer or two on staff, that would have changed the scene, taking that dialogue out, is also something that is viewed through that same lens and monolithic viewpoint that all black people are exactly the same when it comes to such things.

Because like, I personally am not someone who uses words like the N-word, or calls other black people's hair nappy. (Or, at least, I've never called someone's hair that to be mean. 🙃)

But Claudia? It was very much established back in Season 1 how she talks and the things she has said to Louis in this manner. So not only was it in character for her to say such things, but her being from NOLA and knowing Louis' background, she would have known exactly the meaning behind what she was saying to him and how it would insult him.

So, writing her saying it? Is something many black writers might also very much have done, too. And, as I have said many times, with likely maybe even harsher language than what we did hear.

But fandom, being what it is now and has been for the past four years, didn't even bother to ask or try to find this out. And instead just went right into doing... well, what it did. Without actually listening to the black actors and their thoughts about it, never mind the voices of us black folks within the fandom about it.

Yes, there would have been many of us with diverse opinions about it, I'm sure. Because again, black people are not monoliths that all think the same about everything.

But listening first would have been a much better move than jumping to one conclusion about it, to the point of someone trying to report the show to the NAACP, for goodness sake. 🙄

... in many ways, this show is too smart and nuanced for the audience it has, IMO.

Can't stop thinking about how the only times we've seen Armand lose control over his facial expression is when he is being rejected, and how he tries to force a smile each time 😭😭

When in acute distress, Armand will smile a pained, mirthless smile.