#but i think i truly dont understand most peoples approach to transformative storytelling

[erinthesails]

Some of the justifications for this this weird Izzy stuff seem to stem from, obviously racism, but also a fundamental misunderstanding of useful forms of transformative fandom and basic media analysis. like yes, obviously, you can do whatever you want forever, and there's nothing inherently wrong with reinterpreting a character to explore different possible dynamics, but that doesn't change the fact that, in order to say anything compelling about a story, you have to think about it on its own terms.

I think people think of transformative fandom as meaning "apply whatever meaning you want onto anything and everything in order to make a collage of character interactions that please you personally." Okay sure fine. Do that if you want. But if you're going to be out here claiming that an interpretation that goes obviously against the intentions of the text is just as valid as other interpretations, what's the point if that interpretation doesn't actually speak to any of the goals of the text itself.

I'll use an example of another popular interpretation that I love but don't necessarily think is the canon intent of the story: Ed as transfemme. I'm not recapping all the many thoughtful posts on the topic here (tho go read up on posts by weirdgirlcore and eluciferate if you're interested), but essentially, the idea comes from a few moments and symbolic juxtapositions in the text that open up the possibility of that reading. Do I think that the writers necessarily intended for "be careful what you ask your god for, she might just answer" to be an oblique reference to Ed using sher/her pronouns? Probably not, honestly. But in a story about finding yourself and learning to be who you are outside of constructions of normalcy, AND in a story that canonically contains trans and gay characters, the reading is a compelling one that offers new insights about the forces that Ed is working against. It's a reading you don't have to agree with, but it's one that speaks to the larger themes of the text, and opens up alternate ways of situating these characters within and against narrative conflicts, giving us more capacious ways of thinking about the show

Compare that to a reading of Izzy that places him as earnestly supportive of Ed, and as valid in his desire to maintain the status quo as Ed is in wanting to break out of it. This is a story ultimately about masking and the ways we're made to play certain roles by systems larger than we are: be it heteronormativity, colonialism, neurotypicality, capitalism, even family. It's about the ways we're denied the possibility of questioning those roles, and then choosing a path that allows us to be something Else. So what does it add to the story if, despite the evidence to the contrary presented in episode 4, Izzy IS a long suffering, devoutly loyal first mate and possibly lover to an oblivious, mentally ill mess of a captain? Well. Nothing. Besides the excitement of exploring a dynamic that you personally like. And sure fine that can be fun, but it's a reading that's implicitly supportive of maintaining the status quo!! The thing that the entire show is trying to break!!!

How does it expand our understanding of the show if, of the two main white guys, one is trying to shed the norms that give him power and one is trying to retain his power through threats of violence against a man of color and the romantic lead, and we're supposed to understand these as equally valid and valuable points of view? They're just not!! You want to imagine Izzy as being as sympathetic as the other characters, that's fine, but call it what it is: an AU, and one that's more interested in fun and imagination than with exploring any kind of real characteristics that Izzy displays in the narrative. It just baffles me, the lack of basic media literacy in these readings. You can like Izzy!! It's fine to like Izzy, he's a fun character! But WHAT is the point of taking these characters and saying "well. What if they were entirely different in ways that I like better." Just make him an OC, damn!