The bandwagon hate that Iris West-Allen stills gets today from antis, over two years after CWβs The Flash ended, directly stems from the fact that the character antis actually want to be mad at, but canβt be, is Barry Allen, and the reason theyβre so mad is that Barry Allen spends all nine seasons of CWβs The Flash completely and utterly in love with Iris. Like itβs not just that The Flash is nine seasons of Westallenβs love story, itβs that Barry Allen does not waver an ounce from his love for Iris. He is in love with her before the showβs timeline even begins, and he falls more deeply in love with her for the showβs duration. But these racist antis cannot possibly be angry with the titular lead, on whom they try to project their own feelings that donβt even remotely align with the way in which the titular lead is written, so of course they project all their hate and anger onto Iris, when what is at the root of their hate is that the show right from the beginning clearly established that Barry is in love with Iris, and then enforcing that this is the case each and every season. Itβs the sheer strength of Barryβs love for Iris and the unequivocal fact that his love for her never wavers. Antis still cling to Patty Spivot, a character that briefly dated Barry and whom he forgot seconds after she left, while completely ignoring that Barry treated her poorly during the actual relationship, because for him, itβs always Iris, and itβs always going to be Iris.
When Iris fans point out that the root of the hate towards her character is not the bs βbad writingβ excuse, but misogynoir, antis always throw a fit, and yet generally the only supposed piece of bad writing they regurgitate all their time is *checks notes* βWe are the Flash,β a line that they continue to take completely out of context, while ignoring all the times that Barry said the same exact thing to Iris. (Also, never mind the fact Iris says, βWe are the Flash,β to invoke the metaphor that she shares Barryβs burdens, as that is partnership and marriage.)
How do I know βbad writingβ is just a pathetic excuse? Because when actually analyzing the show objectively, Iris is the most consistently written character on the show, besides Barry, in terms of her characterβs arc and trajectory. She has clear goals, personal and professional. At the end of season 9, Iris has been married to Barry for several years, and they have continued to build and cultivate a supportive, beautiful, and healthy marriage where they continue to fall in love with each other each and every day. Iris has built Central City Citizen Media, her flourishing multimedia news agency. She has mentored many reporters, including her daughter, Nora West-Allen, who chose to follow in her momβs footsteps. She has two beautiful children with Barry (Nora and Bart). She cultivated her own sense of leadership, strengthened by her partnership with Barry, just as he cultivated his own sense of leadership, strengthened by his partnership with Iris. And we see her growth, personally and professionally, throughout the showβs nine seasons.
The fact remains that racist antis still scream and whine and spew vitriolic hate at Iris, even today, but these antis are actually really mad at Barry Allen, because he only ever wanted Iris and fell more and more deeply in love with her as the show progressed season to season. Itβs just that they cannot actually admit that thatβs their problem, so they incessantly hate on Iris.
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