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I get angry when Lovecraft Country shows up in my list of recommendations. That anger is complicated.
The core of my anger is rooted in the treatment of the (invented for the show) intersex indigenous character Yahima. While I think Misha Green has been too readily given a pass for her tweet acknowledging "failing Yahima", that's the only place of which I'm aware she even discussed the issue.
Part of my anger lies in the "invented for the show", then summarily murdered and tossed aside less than an hour running time later. It was a conscious choice for the showrunner (Green) to add an intersex character to serve as a lightning rod for anti-trans* bigotry and dehumanization. The book, which I loved, worked very hard to address discrimination, specifically racism and sexism, both of which were prominent features of Lovecraft's works. The show added anti-intersex, anti-trans acts and deeds to show "hey, oppressed people can be oppressors, too!". Every member of an oppressed community already knows this, often times intimately; this decision, to sacrifice intersex/transness to make a point about male gayness, is clearly aimed at the majoritarian perspectives, and tracks in "kill your trans" to something I very much enjoyed (the book).
More anger is rooted in my relationship with the horror/dark fantasy/SF community, of which I consider myself a member, but it's a far from comfortable relationship. It's an overwhelmintly cishet, dude-centric community, and while this is changing, it's a slow fight against those whose only issue with mainstream hierarchy is that they aren't on top**. While there has been more coverage of this mistreatment of Yahima than I expected, the general reviews of the Lovecraft Country series have been overwhelmingly positive: in mainstream press, industry and subculture press, and among my own friends and acquaintances who partake in and identify with this subculture. Unsurprisingly, it's that last part that causes me the most heartache.
The idea that something only matters if it affects the viewer is a cold experience of exclusion for anyone not safely in the majority everywhere, all the time. It's a disappointing lack of empathy for everyone who knows more than 167 people***. Much like being gay, lesbian, bisexual, or in other ways sexually non-normative, transness isn't always or often visible. Every person who uncritically extols the merits of Lovecraft Country the show runs the very real risk of reminding a trans person they know where they stand: less important than "a good story".
I'm pretty open with friends and acquaintances about being both queer and trans, and I *still* see the brushing aside of the treatment of Yahima, of the intersex and transgender dehumanization, from some people known to me. People can like what they like, but for fuck's sake, at least acknowledge that the media you consume has implications and consequences, often for people you know.
Seeing the Lovecraft Country series keep showing up in my recommendations list reminds me that a book I thoroughly enjoyed has been tainted with bigotry, and that the community of which I consider myself a member considers me incidental at best, less than human at worst, and that sometimes it's people I know who share these views.
*I include intersex people in the transgender label, as is common practice.
**This includes, but is not limited to: sad/rabid puppies, "true victim" white het dudes, geek libertarian dudes, gamergaters, "fake geek girl" propagandists, cosplay creepers, false past nostalgia afficianados, and anyone who thinks straight white geek boys should dominate geek culture.
***Trans people are regularly reported by self-identification in survey as 0.6% of the US population.
The core of my anger is rooted in the treatment of the (invented for the show) intersex indigenous character Yahima. While I think Misha Green has been too readily given a pass for her tweet acknowledging "failing Yahima", that's the only place of which I'm aware she even discussed the issue.
Part of my anger lies in the "invented for the show", then summarily murdered and tossed aside less than an hour running time later. It was a conscious choice for the showrunner (Green) to add an intersex character to serve as a lightning rod for anti-trans* bigotry and dehumanization. The book, which I loved, worked very hard to address discrimination, specifically racism and sexism, both of which were prominent features of Lovecraft's works. The show added anti-intersex, anti-trans acts and deeds to show "hey, oppressed people can be oppressors, too!". Every member of an oppressed community already knows this, often times intimately; this decision, to sacrifice intersex/transness to make a point about male gayness, is clearly aimed at the majoritarian perspectives, and tracks in "kill your trans" to something I very much enjoyed (the book).
More anger is rooted in my relationship with the horror/dark fantasy/SF community, of which I consider myself a member, but it's a far from comfortable relationship. It's an overwhelmintly cishet, dude-centric community, and while this is changing, it's a slow fight against those whose only issue with mainstream hierarchy is that they aren't on top**. While there has been more coverage of this mistreatment of Yahima than I expected, the general reviews of the Lovecraft Country series have been overwhelmingly positive: in mainstream press, industry and subculture press, and among my own friends and acquaintances who partake in and identify with this subculture. Unsurprisingly, it's that last part that causes me the most heartache.
The idea that something only matters if it affects the viewer is a cold experience of exclusion for anyone not safely in the majority everywhere, all the time. It's a disappointing lack of empathy for everyone who knows more than 167 people***. Much like being gay, lesbian, bisexual, or in other ways sexually non-normative, transness isn't always or often visible. Every person who uncritically extols the merits of Lovecraft Country the show runs the very real risk of reminding a trans person they know where they stand: less important than "a good story".
I'm pretty open with friends and acquaintances about being both queer and trans, and I *still* see the brushing aside of the treatment of Yahima, of the intersex and transgender dehumanization, from some people known to me. People can like what they like, but for fuck's sake, at least acknowledge that the media you consume has implications and consequences, often for people you know.
Seeing the Lovecraft Country series keep showing up in my recommendations list reminds me that a book I thoroughly enjoyed has been tainted with bigotry, and that the community of which I consider myself a member considers me incidental at best, less than human at worst, and that sometimes it's people I know who share these views.
*I include intersex people in the transgender label, as is common practice.
**This includes, but is not limited to: sad/rabid puppies, "true victim" white het dudes, geek libertarian dudes, gamergaters, "fake geek girl" propagandists, cosplay creepers, false past nostalgia afficianados, and anyone who thinks straight white geek boys should dominate geek culture.
***Trans people are regularly reported by self-identification in survey as 0.6% of the US population.
