Among the several things I can say about ‘Stargate Atlantis’

Other than the tokenizing of People of Color, the sexism, militarism, and scientific imperialism in the entire Stargate series, the one thing that really bothered me nearing the end of Stargate Atlantis is the fact that the Atlantis Expedition really is responsible for the deaths of millions of people just as the Coalition accuses them of. They defend this by claiming that the same thing would have happened had they never set foot in the Pegasus Galaxy, then used political corruption to squirm out of any punishment, talkin’ ’bout some “that’s how the game is played” [Stargate Atlantis, Season 5, Episode 93: Inquisition].

Had they been imprisoned, executed, or otherwise punished, with the exception of Teyla Emmagan and Ronon Dex (the token exotic “coloreds” on the cast, and I use the term “coloreds” sarcastically), I don’t think I would have cared. Of course, we wouldn’t have had a show and yet…that’s the point. The ends justify the means.

That in and of itself is some classic white colonialist shit. Even in another galaxy, white imperialists are not made to pay for the damage and suffering they cause while fulfilling their own self-interests at the expense of others.

Let’s draw our attention to the Ancients/Alterans. They’ve ascended to some “higher plane” and generally outright refuse to help the races they’ve peopled the universe with but have left all these dangerous and oftentimes unlabeled and destructive experimental weapons and bio-hazards littered about. They want to take the moral high road, staring down their noses, claiming that one galaxy is so small and insignificant compared to the universe, claiming that they will not interfere with the affairs of “lower beings”. I guess humans get it from their parents….

Oh, oops, we made a mistake and screwed up your whole galaxy. But that’s cool because it would have happened eventually and you guys were too chickenshit to do anything about it anyway. You have to trade with us, because you can’t live without us.  We’ll bust in and save your savage, primitive asses with our so-so advanced technology.

Something like that,

The Walking Dead: Cherokee Rose–Indeed

“…all I saw was a redneck White man appropriating Indigenous culture. There isn’t even a single Native American in the cast, but apparently it’s okay to draw upon their history and their pain to make appoint.  This yet another example of how The Walking Dead fails when it comes to race. Appropriation no matter the reason, is never acceptable.” –Fangz for Fantasy

I know I’m thinking about this too much, but I keep having these conversations with her that lead absolutely no where but to me feeling frustrated with stupid people like myself for even engaging in these conversations.

My sister was outraged and said what she usually says to me when she wants to consume pop media without admitting it’s problematic or looking at it for what it really is: “Shannon, not everything is about Black and white and racism.”

To which I said: “This isn’t ‘Black and white’, in terms of race, and you’re just trying to say I’m being too sensitive or overly critical.”

She replied, “Yeah, but not everything is about that.”

To which I replied: “Yeah, but when it comes to a lot stuff on TV, it is.” Because the American media is dominated by white hegemony and saturated in it’s images and culture. And that spreads like a disease to almost everything else because that’s just how it operates.

Even at the Best Week Ever, somebody was confused.  I admit I didn’t get how the story was supposed to comfort this white woman at a time when her daughter is lost in the zombie-infested wilderness or city or whateva.

0_0

On the one hand, the kid was either dead with cherokee roses growing on or the near the place where her body was or she was zombie in a place where there were cherokee roses 0_0 *confused*

I commented on this at Fangz for Fantasy: The Walking Dead Season Two, Episode 4: Cherokee Rose:

The thing is, I didn’t even see the episode, my sister, who watches the show, was telling me about it and we had a minor spat over the fact that I wasn’t okay with the Trail of Tears reference coming from a racist white man, fictional or not. I do have my issues with people who passively consume media and fawn over presentations of the “good whitey” fallacy. A person doing good deeds, like Darryl, can still be a bigot.

As much as we might use our imaginations or lived realities to sympathize with the characters, a [white] woman who has lost her child in a dangerous area in a fictional situation in NO WAY COMPARES to the myriad systemic oppression, forced displacement, and genocide of an entire racial and ethnic group of peoples by white Europeans in the U.S. or anywhere else.

o_o *more confused* at how that reference was in any way appropriate to the situation, historical and present context, and not racist!!!

I’m done,

~MsQ

Black Butler, European British motif

So I picked up a new anime today, Black Butler.

The truth is I kind of think its funny, occultish, and interesting, despite its exaggerated, supremacist European motif. I’m not surprised because many Japanese manga and anime artist seem to think anything white/European is the best thing on the planet. What I can’t stand for is the ever-present supremacist British attitude of Ciel as the main character.

Reading the English subtitles, which may or may not be accurate, I noticed in episode 13 that Ciel described the men from India as “Indian savages”. Considering all this bullshit talk coming out of England about Black folks and western Europe/Britain’s history with colonialism and their use of this word towards people of color, I wasn’t happy or impressed with its use in the subbing or Ciel’s attitude towards the Indian immigrants.

The funny thing about this show though is that they take hits even at other white people. So far they’ve made Italians and Irish out to be villians while Britains remain pure of Englishmen…smdh.

Japan needs to work ont their issues with racism towards [other] people of color so it stops popping up all over place or at least represented in a light that makes me believe their aware of what their doing.

~Truly,

MsQ