3.07 Fresh Blood and some thinky
Nov. 15th, 2007 09:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
aeroport_artBut before I get started, a caveat: As complainy as I'm gonna sound next, it all amounts to mild annoyance. I still love this show, okay? I fucking LOVE Supernatural. So take this with a grain of salt.
So, I've been pretty tired of Supernatural's lack of racial sensitivity for awhile now--Gordon's character being an extreme case in point. Now if it were just Gordon, I wouldn't blink twice; every good vs. evil show has to have a big bad wolf, right? But put in the context of the entire series thus far, it's just. *sigh* Seriously? This is 2007, right?
The entire episode, Gordon was consciously portrayed as a monster. His race only added to the effect--the lighting played on it, using his dark skin to heighten the fear (I'm thinking about his showdown with Sammy). Again, if it was just this one character, I could care less. But just for the hell of it, let's compare him with, say, the YED--in both cases the two characters are meant to be like, boss bad guys (Gordon a lesser one, but humor me). Only, the YED is Evil in an intelligent, conniving way; he's crafty, he outsmarts the Winchesters. Then there's Gordon, who's just bloodthirsty-animal Evil. *shrugs* Whatever, right?
But then you look at the way the show treats black characters as a whole, and it starts to raise some eyebrows. If they're not negligible (Missouri and Cassie being the most important ones, who each get a whopping one episode apiece), then they're negatively portrayed. Remember Jake in AHBL? Did Sam's murderer really have to be black?
Moving on. Let's give SPN the benefit of the doubt on the black people front. So what about the rest of us? How does SPN treat other racial minorities? I know SPN's really gung-ho about its all-American roots, and Sam and Dean are mostly traveling through Middle America where populations are admittedly primarily white, but nobody can deny that you'll come across a Latino, Asian, Middle Easterner, etc. somewhere out there. So why is that over the course of two and a half seasons, I literally can't think of one ethnic character on the show, even in passing? I'm wracking my memory here...nope, I got nothing.
Then there's the standard of beauty: Tall, leggy, and blonde. Really, short girls or dark-skinned girls or girls with meat on their bones can't be hot? Darnit, that means I lose D: Continuing along this vein, all that is pure and martyred in Supernatural is blonde--Mary Winchester, Jessica Moore. The cute, badass girls are blonde--Jo Harvelle, Ruby, Meg. And don't get me started on Dean's taste in women :P
Okay, that's all. That's all I got. Don't throw tomatoes at me, I'm not overreacting because how much I actually care about this is belied by how long this entry is. Everything pretty much amounts to an eye-roll and a shrug. I just wanted to put it out there b/c, well, my eyeballs are starting to hurt from the strain :P
On a different note: So, HOW CUTE WERE THE BOYS THIS EPISODE??? I know I'm not the only one relieved that Dean's gonna stop being such an asshole to Sammay XD XD XD Eeeeeeeeeee Jensen did a great job during the heart to heart. I'm always so impressed with how well he conveys emotions without saying a word. And I don't care what other people say about Bela; I think I like her, bad accent and all :D
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-11-16 03:56 am (UTC)Still........I love my show.
no subject
Date: 2007-11-16 04:02 am (UTC)Me too :)
no subject
Date: 2007-11-16 04:23 am (UTC)And as for beauty... well, even though SPN is kickass, it's still Hollywood. Just like we fangirls want pretty boys, the guys want pretty girls. What's a fan to do? I'm just stomach it knowing that the girls all get killed off or leave eventually. *waits*
no subject
Date: 2007-11-16 04:37 am (UTC)Well, the guy fell into that weird SPN trap where every other hunter except Bobby and the Winchesters suck at their job, but the woman really was kick ass! I loved her. Which is why I'm annoyed she got the brush-off D: I liked Cassie too. I wish SPN would stop getting rid of the few strong, female characters that they create D:
no subject
Date: 2007-11-16 05:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-16 06:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-16 05:40 am (UTC)SPN gets rid of all the characters that they create though. It's inevitable. *sigh* But yeah, I'm getting very tired of the blonds. I really hope Tamara will come back and kick some more ass...
no subject
Date: 2007-11-16 06:05 am (UTC)Seriously, why do they get rid of everybody?? I guess there's Bobby :0 I want these people back: Ava, Tamara, Ash, Jo. Oh, and duh, JOHN. Please? ;_;
no subject
Date: 2007-11-16 04:56 am (UTC)As for tonight's epi, I was torn about the lighting. A part of me really liked the lighting, but there were moments during watching when it definitely hit me about Gordon's portrayal...using people of color combined with darker lightening is seen to heighten the "wrongness" of a "menacing" or "evil" character. Yes, its so problematic.
As for SPN and race overall, I've actually had this discussion with a few people over the course of the seasons, and I remember at one point we were like: What is with SPN's use of Black men as villians all trying to kill Sammy?? *shakes head* The addition of the two Black hunters in the first episode was a nice break from the pattern, even though the Black guy got killed in true horror movie tradition.
On one hand, I'm just happy that there has been more than one Black character. Yes, Missouri was a stereotype, but I loved her, and too bad they didn't give her more episodes. SPN shocked me by putting Dean in an interracial relationship. Fandom may have hated Cassie, but I'm just happy she existed. It would have been nice to see her fleshed out more. And I was proud of SPN for even tackling race in Route 666. Cause most shows don't go there.
I do get annoyed about the lack of other racial diversity on the show. I'm no saying SPN has to be Heroes or Grey's Anatomy (it's easier to diversify with ensemble casts anyway), and I know that the excuse is given that SPN takes place in "Middle America," but Middle America in 2007 has a hell of a lot of people of color. Seriously. I mean has there been one Asian or Latino on SPN? I so thought Bela or Ruby was a perfect opportunity to diversfy...
Anyway, love my show, even though it falls short on this.
no subject
Date: 2007-11-16 05:34 am (UTC)What, really? They did? I loved her D: She totally showed her strength by doing what was right for herself when she decided not to be with Dean (who despite his awesome skills in bed would be a terrible boyfriend). And she was smart and cool *_*
Anyway, love my show, even though it falls short on this.
My thoughts exactly.
no subject
Date: 2007-11-16 05:11 am (UTC)Gordon was known as being a smart/successful hunter (according to Ellen, Bobby, Kubrick and etc), Jake was a soldier/redeemable (he didn't WANT to do what the YED told him to do, he was backed into a corner when Azazel brought up his mother and little sister.), and Hen(d)ric(k)sen is one of the GOOD guys (he just doesn't realize that Sam and Dean are the good guys too), and I've noticed a few of black doctors on the show too... I don't really see how we're being portrayed in a bad light.
Well, they aren't the only standard beauties. The Crossroad demon is supposed to be your ideal woman, right? Well, wasn't she a small, curly haired black girl before? I thought that particular actress was pretty as well. I sort of wished that they'd mix it up a little, though. Seeing as Dean has a varied taste in women i was hoping they'd bring in another black girl as a CRD in ahbl, but I was okay with what we got, too.
At least they aren't written like the twins in Heroes are (not sure if you watch that show too lol... just throwing it out there) where the characters are from D.R. but magically appear in Mexico trying to cross into the U.S. illegally. (Note that you'd have to go OUT OF YOUR WAY to get from the Dominican Republic to Mexico. it makes no sense geographically.)They've also written them as naive, stereotypically religious Latinos. And do I need to even mention the fact that the music they played at Alejandro's wedding ISN'T traditional?
But besides that? IAWTP! This episode actually FELT like spn! I just wished my tivo had recorded this episode so i could watch it again *sighs*
no subject
Date: 2007-11-16 05:47 am (UTC)Gordon was known as being a smart/successful hunter
That was true up until a point, and then actions start to speak louder than words. I thought he was fine for all of season 2, kind of cool even (I thought it was great to have a hunter with a different philosophy than the Winchesters or Bobby) but by season 3, he needed a new schtick. His one-track mind and obsession just got to be really lame and flat of him :P
Yeah I do watch Heroes. I didn't know the twins were from DR :O The thing with Heroes for me is, even though they stereotype often and badly, I give them miles of leeway for making the effort. True, I started off hating Hiro and Ando--their accents were all wrong, Hiro was such a stereotypical Asian Nerd--but by this point in the series, when the recurring characters are comfortable in their roles, I feel like it's worked out for the better. Hiro has a lovable quality and while Ando's American-Japanese accent (and acting D:) still grates, I don't really care anymore. It's hard to get these things right. But they made the effort! *throws confetti*
*rambles and rants*
Date: 2007-11-16 05:26 am (UTC)That said, however, I really agree with you on the overall portrayal of anyone outside of the general standard of beauty. I mentioned this in a post a few weeks ago in reagards to the women on the show, that I think it has a lot to do with the white male view of what a strong, sexy female character is. I feel it more this season than the past two, that suddenly the show is being injected with these women who are supposed to be sexy, spunky, tough, kick-ass, and they all seem to be cut from the same mold - tall, skinny, white, perfect hair that never gets messed up, in desperate need of a Big Mac - as if those writing these characters don't really have any other ideas for how to write a woman (even though they've done several good and believable ones - Ava, though thin, at least looked like she ate occasionally).
I think when it comes to the issue of thinness and perfect-looking-ness in the women on this show (and lots of TV in general) part of it came blamed on the audience - most people just like to see pretty people, even if it's unrealistic. Not saying that it's right to perpetuate that standard of beauty, but I do think that TPTB are playing to their viewers' desires to a point. However, it drives me nuts that so many people (especially in the media) seem to believe that skinny=beauty, and if you're a woman you must weigh under 120 pounds to be pretty. I hate that whenever there's a heavier actress on TV there's so much "Yes! A woman can eat like a normal person and still be beautiful!" ...Um, of course they can. Many are. And it'd be really nice if we could get away from the standard of beauty that says we must be skinny, white, perfect hair and makeup to be pretty.
(that rant went a little off topic there, sorry).
I think overall SPN has had a severe lack of minorities throughout the series. Even if they're spending most of their time in mid-America, they do occasionally take trips to Texas, Chicago, New York, California, and in any case, there are other races out there - even in the Midwest - besides black and white. There's a lot a love about this show, but diversity is not it's strong suit, and it's a little tedious and frustrating to watch. I don't think they've done a terrible job with black characters (especially compared to every other race, none of which has ever been featured on the show), but I do think the disperation between black and white characters is highlighted by the fact that all of the major black characters (ie, those who have appeared in more than one episode) have been antagonists.
Re: *rambles and rants*
Date: 2007-11-16 06:01 am (UTC)I mentioned this in a post a few weeks ago...
Yeah, I totally remember you talking about it :D At the time I was like "You tell it, girl!"
Ava, though thin, at least looked like she ate occasionally
Ava!! Why did they destroy her D: The fans were positively eating her up. She was so fresh; the only realistic female character they've managed to come up with, really. Buh.
but I do think the disperation between black and white characters...
You bring up a good point. On an individual level, I don't have a problem with the black characters--it's just that within the racial context, it gets increasingly frustrating and painfully predictable D: I mean, I thought television networks overanalyzed this kinda political correctness shit--what in the world are they thinking, not even throwing us a bone?
no subject
Date: 2007-11-16 05:27 am (UTC)I was actually thinking about girls on the show not so long ago and thought that Supernatural needed a new logo "No Fat Chicks Allowed."
no subject
Date: 2007-11-16 05:49 am (UTC)I'm surprised Gordon lasted as long as he did.
Ugh, if they'd just nipped him in the bud by the end of season 2, I would've liked his character fine. I'm always interested in seeing other hunters in the SPN world and what their philosophies are.