years later and iâm slowly parsing out the many-layered racism in the merlin fandom towards guinevere as portrayed by angel coulby. of course thereâs the usual overzealous slash shippers who resent any female character they see as âcoming betweenâ the not at all canonically gay (white) male faves theyâre shipping. of course thereâs the blandly racist âguinevere is supposed to be blonde and white and and andâ haters who just canât wrap their heads around a legendary female character being played by a black woman. but thereâs also a more insidious kind of racism that stemmed from fans who never spouted hateful rhetoric but disguised their racism in comments like âher character is all over the placeâ and âshe and arthur donât have chemistryâ and âi just canât relate to herâ when what theyâre really struggling with is that guinevere was written as a character thatâs normally exclusively the province of white femininity. sheâs beautiful, but humble and unaware of the effect of her beauty and person on people around her. sheâs dutiful and kind, but speaks up for what she believes in, even at great cost to herself. sheâs feminine and graceful and poised, but she also feels desire and longing, and occasionally those feelings overcome her composure and she expresses them towards arthur. she falls in love with arthur but never asks him to risk his life or his kingdom for her, instead seeing and understanding the bigger picture of keeping camelot safe. and all of this is conveyed even through the precious little screentime sheâs given, because angel coulby is a brilliant actress and portrays her characterâs vibrant inner life effortlessly in just a few sentences.Â
but (white) viewers simply cannot wrap their brains around a black female character whoâs disempowered within the fictional world she occupies, yet holds emotional power over a main character - especially a white male main. they just canât understand a black woman who exceeds the tropes theyâre used to (especially in genre media):Â Loyal Best Friend, Sassy Cheerleader, Righteous Champion for Justice, Hypersexual Lover Coming Between White Hero and his True White Love, or Asexual Voice of Reason. white fans just absolutely couldnât fathom a black female character daring to have layers and humanity and desire and beauty and love and strength and softness in the complex way they imagine and develop white characters who have far less growth and nuance onscreen. the relationship between arthur and merlin literally never changes from sarcasm, throwing things, deception and ribald physical humor - and yet fandom imbues this dynamic with richness and layers and depth that they imagine it must have, because itâs between two white people.Â
and so because guinevere evaded the tropes that both showrunners and fandom use to trap and degrade women of color characters, and because the m*erthur fans were coddled and baited to the very end by showrunners (as large white fandoms always are) these fans interpret her within the framework of whatever racist trope they find easiest to claim. guinevere calls arthur out? sheâs stepping out of place, and itâs not realistic. guinevere stays quiet for the sake of duty? she doesnât really love arthur, itâs not consistent. guinevere impulsively kisses or expresses desire towards arthur in some way? whoa whoa, thatâs way too slutty, and out of character. and and and. it continues. fandom cannot bear seeing black women as fully human, so they chop and screw the bits that suit their needs and insist their interpretation is right. itâs not racist you see, theyâre just pointing out facts. the racism pre-empts interpretation, so that no matter how well the character is written and portrayed, people see what they want to and are used to seeing, over and over again.
dededos
romaincrisis
yousharknotpass
theartofmadeline
titsay
stormborns
kaledo-art
