TransFormersWOC

I know there is a lot of negative talk/critique about the women in ROTB, but I wanted to just share as a black genderfluid person, how liberating at least it has been to me to see actual black women portrayed well in a live action tf movie. I understand to a lot of people, the antiblackness that was always a common staple in live actions transformers history, didn’t impact them but it impacted me. And it’s lack of black women, yet making black women (and people) caricatures at any chance they got, was also really upsetting to me. And the way women in the bay films were treated in general was bad.

Rotb was important to me as a black woman fan because for once, we got to see a whole female cast dominated by black women which is rare, if not unheard of for transformers live action media. And they were all given respectful narratives, not made into caricatures and given a chance to shine. A lot of people have made comments about how rotb’s portrayal of women was awful, or how women were failed, and I understand that perspective. I also do not think that by any means, ROTB was perfect in its portrayal of women.

What I do believe however, is that tf live action portrayals of women have come a long way since the bay films. But for people who are not black women, they may not understand nor care about the importance of for once, seeing black women and culture taken seriously on the big screen. The black female characters, in my opinion, were written well. They were given nuance, a respectful narrative and weren’t jokes, caricatures or canon fodder. Elena, the first black live action human, was a breath of fresh air away from what we were used to. She wasn’t white, shy wasn’t super skinny and she didn’t exist as a sex object or a point of romance. She was smart, she also showed us a very real example of microaggressions and racism black women need to face in the work place. Yet, that wasn’t made into a joke, and she was taken seriously by alien life forms when her white female boss ignored her.

And that’s  just something refreshing. We have a black human woman allowed to be flawed, and also allowed to have her subtle experiences of racism taken seriously without being demeaned for it, but we also see how she is integral to the plot, and how her presence was needed in order for the plot to move forward.

I wish we got more Arcee- but I love that she was humanized rather than just made into a joke or a sexual object. She was shown to be extremely intelligent, skilled, understanding, and she was a good fighter and more importantly she wasn’t a caricature. Her being a black woman didn’t dicate how the audience saw her or how she was written. She was written with so much respect and was over all and interesting character.

I could say the same about nightbird. Because not only was she a formindable villain, but she was played by a transfem afro Latina actress, one of my favorite actresses actually, who brought her to life and that was just refreshing to see. again, in media where black trans fems are usually made into cariactures or jokes, I love that nightbird was taken seriously as a villain and a black female character.

My point is that, just because there are issues with the writing of female characters, doesn’t mean you need to discount the actual importance of Black women in the show. I think a lot of people, who are not Black women, and who don’t actually think of or care about Black women’s issues, are quick to not consider how maybe looking at ROTB’s women intersectionally may add more avenues to the conversation of women’s representation. While I don’t think that the film was flawless in its portrayal of women, I think it’s a huge step up and I do think that in the future, things will get better. But for now, as a black fan and a black woman, I absolutely loved seeing and hearing women that looked and sounded like me on screen.

Now, again this doesn't mean that you can't critique the portrayal of women in ROTB, because I have a lot of issues with some portrayals, especially Airazor and even more so, I wish Arcee got more screen time. But at the same time, if you are critiquing the majority Black women, make sure you actually open your space for Black women to give their opinions on things without getting offended. Especially if you are white or non-black yourself.

Like I said, I'm gonna make essays and discussions regarding women in transformers <3. The first person is tfp Airachnid.

TFP Airachhid is honestly, the litmus test for how I feel that Transformers fans can handle “mean” evil, women. Because the hate train that she received and the hate she still receives is massive, and it rounding up to “she killed cliffjumper” or “she’s mean to arcee and starscream” “she killed breakdown” just shows that this fandom wouldn’t really be ready for a female villain that was worse than her, or that just did not give a fuck.

And honestly, that is soo unforutante because we see male characters, like Starscream and even like Megatron, who are basically like Airachnid, if not worse, getting love and support for their actions.

She’s not supposed to be nice…she is a villain a straight up, in your face, villain and that is interesting. Yes, other Airachnids/Black Arachnias get love, but a lot of them are morally grey or complex.

A lot of them either turn good or ambiguous in the end, or aren't who we think they are, giving them a very empathetic past to almost excuse their actions.

Yet, when we have villainous, no morals Airachnid, which I find made her character far more intriguing, it seems that people just hated her, and would hate her for the things they loved with the male villains. She was the perfect mixture of Starscream and Knockout, with Megatron’s brutality, and she was just…hated for it.

And it made me realize that in terms of female villains, we haven’t ever had one like her. One that says ‘fuck you’ to morality and shit, because I just do not think the fandom could handle her. And I’m talking about in the TV Shows.

There are female villains in the live action, but that is another topic for another time.

Lastly, to me as a Black Woman, I cannot help but feel a lot of hatred toward Airachnid is people not checking their own racism and antiblackness. I think it’s easy for people to, not even realize it, but hold black women to higher moral standards than others. The point is that, Airachnid is voiced by a Black Woman and fandoms tend to be very critical toward Black women whether they be live action, voicing characters, etc. black women are either too much, or not enough.

Funnily enough, we are seeing this with ROTB with tons of people who aren’t black women, bashing the representation of Black women in ROTB and saying they aren’t doing enough or they’re pointless.

And this brings me back to Airachnid and how fandoms tend to, unknowingly be very heavy and critical toward black characters, but especially, Black women characters as well who are mean, or who do not fit to their standards. That is just my perspective from a black woman.

I’m not going to sit here and say that everyone who dislikes Airachnid is racist, but I will say separately that I think a lot of reasons for disliking Airachid are rooted in misogyny.

There has been no good reason for disliking Airachnid that I haven’t seen laced in some form of misogyny, because every reason she is hated, you can trace back to a male villain doing the same thing, if not worse.

Given fandom’s negative reaction toward Airachid, I wonder if we’ll actually ever see such a cold, heartless female villain like we did her. I think that only thing that makes things ‘acceptable’ is if a female villain has complexity, or has depth or will eventually be a ‘good’ guy again, or at most, morally ambiguous. That is what makes a female villain acceptable and frankly, that’s not fair but unfortunately I just feel…that’s how it is.

Another thing I noticed, which I will make in another essay, is how TFP tends to shame any form of ‘feminity’ especially in its women but also, in queer outwardly femme charaters, like Starscream.

The ‘tom boy’ or ‘one of the boys’ perosna is something that we tend to see with Arcee and Miko. And forms of femininity such as motherhood, or being outwardly femme like Airachnid or Starscream are seen as ‘bad’ by the narrative.

What I mean by this is that, June is shamed for being motherly toward Jack, by Arcee and by Miko and it is something that she is made to feel bad for, for wanting to care for Jack. Arcee and Miko are portrayed as I said, as being ‘one of the boys’ Arcee herself made a negative comment toward the idea of being PINK…which is ridiclous.

Airachnid and Starscream are both heavily femme and queer coded, but they are shamed by the narrative and the fandom. Starscream is brutalized on the daily, and Airachnid, who is outwardly femme tends to be seen as irredeemable by the fandom and also inexplcitly evil by the narrative.

TFP’s issue with femininity  is something is something I certainly want to talk about later on, but given this essay is just about Airachnid, I will stop here.

The last thing I'm also going to say is that I don't think that the writers knew, or understand how to write a female villain for a notoriously misogynstic fanbase. There are reasons why the other female characters are 'acceptable' and it's because they are for the most part, written in a way that is okay for a male audience. That doesn't mean they don't face their fair share of misogyny...they do. Especially Miko.

But an outwardly evil femme fatale who doesn't give a fuck about it...the fandom is just not ready for such a character. And while I don't think the writers needed to pacify her, i do 100% believe that when operating in a misogynstic fandom, you should learn how to write a female character in a way that will not get her dragged the way Airachnid has been dragged.

If you enjoyed my essay, please share and consider following?

I am happy to announce a new event focused on TF Ladies and TF OCS!

What is the event? Transformers Ladies and Transfomers Ladies OC day is a day happening, October 21st, to celebrate not just canon TF Ladies, but the fandom's lady ocs as well.

Why? Because despite women and female transformers having a huge impact in TF Media, there is never enough love and support for TF women. That said, they need their day? Not just canon characters, but OCs as well. I wanna see your beautiful ocs !!

Who can partake? Anyone is welcome to participate just understand this is a day for women tf characters and women tf ocs.

How to participate: FOLLOW this blog, share this, and keep updates. Mark your calendar. FOLLOW MY TWITTER! And share the promo there as well <3.

What is not allowed: pedophilia, racism or transphobia.

there is almost an immediate sisterhood formed (when things go right) between women in TF and I love it. All women robot, regardless of their backgrounds, almost immediately drift toward the other and grow close to them, and they have their own little family units and are happy. and that's just really cute.

and i wish other women's spaces , esp queer women's spaces, were like that.