Yeahhhh this was not their best. The racist and sexist elements were clearly there, but I was more distracted by the reliable writing strengths that were unusually absent, rather than new fail!information. For example, WTF with Emma being so OOC??? I do not need my characters to always be insaneo smart, but it was supremely odd that she trusted Sydney to that degree with such little convincing. I also found it incredulous that Emma would steal the blueprints for the playground and believe it was a 2ND HOME, WHA?? I really relish the power struggle between Emma and Regina, and that Regina often does outsmart Emma, but I really felt like this one was entirely unearned. *IF* they had played up the Emma is preoccupied with Henry card, I might have believed she was less vigilant about making allies, but the playground plot was too far-fetched for any in-character Emma.
But back to the racism and sexism issues...
I feel like we were expected to sympathize with the Evil Queen breaking Genie's heart, but also feel as though Genie being trapped in the mirror was portrayed as a righteous comeuppance. THIS DISTURBED ME GREATLY.
Genie's stalker-wish-reaction to being played by the Evil Queen evokes the Myth of the Black Rapist to an unsettling degree. Genie will have her even though she said NO (and she said No in a nice way for her, "hey you can live!"). Up until this point, it seemed he was making foolish, immoral choices because he was blinded by devotion and desire. Writing in the stalker-reaction unfortunately recontextualizes these behaviors as undifferentiated from those of the King: their affections suddenly revealed to be a veneer for the underlying motivations of control and possession.
But I don't think the show actually wanted us to read their motivations of control as equally threatening or equally requiring intervention. First, Genie is the only character we've seen in Fairytale world not engage in questions of family. He has no people to miss him, side with him, or fight on his behalf. Of course, we already know how devastating the King's death will be to Snow White. When the King dies, three storylines with three separate emotional impacts are simultaneously in action: 1- Snow White's heartbreak, 2- the Evil Queen is being freed (but before she was corrupted? or apparently not?), and 3- Genie's betrayal of the King. And, to some degree, it doesn't matter how you actually feel about any of these storylines as an audience member, so much as the King's death is structured to incite vastly different complex feelings.
As the King dies, his last words are condemning Genie, saying "I shouldn't have made that wish" - You know, the one freeing you from *SLAVERY* WTF. I get that he's been betrayed, that Genie has gone off the rails, and this statement could have even functioned ok if the show had actually positioned it as a really BAD thing to think. But then - the show actually AGREES WITH THIS - goes on to show Genie as a dangerous, rapey, middle-eastern black guy, and then follows up by actually reimprisoning him as a direct result of his dangerous rapeyness.
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pt 1
Date: 2012-02-04 01:37 am (UTC)But back to the racism and sexism issues...
I feel like we were expected to sympathize with the Evil Queen breaking Genie's heart, but also feel as though Genie being trapped in the mirror was portrayed as a righteous comeuppance. THIS DISTURBED ME GREATLY.
Genie's stalker-wish-reaction to being played by the Evil Queen evokes the Myth of the Black Rapist to an unsettling degree. Genie will have her even though she said NO (and she said No in a nice way for her, "hey you can live!"). Up until this point, it seemed he was making foolish, immoral choices because he was blinded by devotion and desire. Writing in the stalker-reaction unfortunately recontextualizes these behaviors as undifferentiated from those of the King: their affections suddenly revealed to be a veneer for the underlying motivations of control and possession.
But I don't think the show actually wanted us to read their motivations of control as equally threatening or equally requiring intervention. First, Genie is the only character we've seen in Fairytale world not engage in questions of family. He has no people to miss him, side with him, or fight on his behalf. Of course, we already know how devastating the King's death will be to Snow White. When the King dies, three storylines with three separate emotional impacts are simultaneously in action: 1- Snow White's heartbreak, 2- the Evil Queen is being freed (but before she was corrupted? or apparently not?), and 3- Genie's betrayal of the King. And, to some degree, it doesn't matter how you actually feel about any of these storylines as an audience member, so much as the King's death is structured to incite vastly different complex feelings.
As the King dies, his last words are condemning Genie, saying "I shouldn't have made that wish" - You know, the one freeing you from *SLAVERY* WTF. I get that he's been betrayed, that Genie has gone off the rails, and this statement could have even functioned ok if the show had actually positioned it as a really BAD thing to think. But then - the show actually AGREES WITH THIS - goes on to show Genie as a dangerous, rapey, middle-eastern black guy, and then follows up by actually reimprisoning him as a direct result of his dangerous rapeyness.