#if reva is done wrong i will kill everyone in this room and myself !!!!!

[ironmanstan]

Hmmm Reva star war. Is interesting. I keep seeing ppl dislike her either bc ppl are racist, or bc they see her as embodying stereotypes and just being the typical "ah we have a dark skinned black woman who's bad so she's the angry black woman stereotype" and like. I think the second one is founded and does have a valid point and should be acknowledged that no matter how well it's done it's very Choice that she's one of the few prominent black characters and she was made a villain, but I think both of these opinions on her so far are kinda reductive and overlook her as a character which to me is also an issue.

Like, I am black I'm afab I'm not a woman but I am a woc per society etc etc I'm not talking out of my ass rn. But like. I think very baseline as she stands she very well could go in the direction of being an angry black woman stereotype, but I think with how the show has set up her character, to me it reads like she's actually being set to be explored as a character and as a person she's shown to be more driven/emotionally invested in a lot of whats going on because she's looked down on and struggles to be recognized because of that and she has wants outside of this that she needs recognition for, no matter what it takes to get it. It right now looks like she wants power/status but I feel like the implication is she wants more? Reva was a child when Order 66 happened and with that knowledge alone her character could go on such an interesting path and we've not even seen her past yet. Compared to the other inquisitors she's aggressive and willing and ready to fight but at the same time with the way she's written I don't really believe she's written this way in order to reduce her to just aggressive and crazy and angry for the sake of it and it being doubled down on by playing into her blackness. With how she's contrasted against the other inquisitors as actually caring about her job and getting results but having her credit stolen and her having to be this hardened person to be even slightly recognized, to me personally I kind of enjoyed it in how it felt similar to the way black women always have to over-compensate and go further than everyone else just to hope to get the same privileges and recognition they do (even though majority of the time they still don't get them) and Reva doing this and being fed up with it and even killing the head Inquisitor, it felt kind of satisfying to me, her having to overcompensate and do all this and then seeing it results in nothing, and instead of laying down and being okay with being taken advantage of, she kills the guy who's taking her credit.

I don't know... The way I see it I think if Reva's character was any other race or just A White Girl she'd be applauded for being this girlboss character not letting men take advantage and step all over her and being driven and knowing what she wants, and I know her blackness informs the perception and intention behind her character but I don't think her character should be discarded for being surface level similar to a stereotype. I think the stereotype is a lot of the times based on/informed by the way black women have to harden themselves and deal with all of the shit society throws at them and do the absolute fucking most to get what they want rather than babying white ppls feelings and allowing themselves to be stepped on, and Reva at this point in time reads like that to me rather than a caricature of black femininity. She very well Could Go Off The Rails and I will be Very Upset if she does, but I think she's shown some interesting character details and has a lot of potential to go in a good direction.

I think another interesting thing that kind of steps away from this and may be me very much overthinking is just the way her design is. Typically I think this like caricature of black women is accompanied by fetishization, or dehumanization, or both. The framing of "Oh this scary, wild black woman with crazy ugly hair and animal-like (or even man-like if they wanna be extra transphobic/misogynistic) features." Or "Oh this aggressive, obsessive, overly sexual crazed concept of a mindless lustful black woman". But Reva isn't either of these, even in a subtle way. I kind of love her design I love she has natural hair done in cornrows I love she has a very blatantly black hairstyle and it's given to her where it meshes with the inquisitor uniform to give her a very graceful and powerful look. I love that she's feminine and her style kind of leans into that even with her fighting style and her being acrobatic and somewhat relying on more graceful maneuvers instead of strong-arming through everything I enjoy she's a black woman allowed to be even in slight ways feminine and graceful when that's not something usually seen at all.

Do I think her being a main villain is probably racially motivated no matter how well she's written? Yeah Lmfao. Either that or it's due to more ignorance I'm willing to assume of anyone working on this show. Do I think she drifts very close perhaps even uncomfortably close to a stereotype? Yeah, esp w how star wars fans can be *cough* stupid as fuck and racist and will blatantly misinterpret her as said stereotype no matter what *cough cough*. Do I think she is irrideemable bad rep, and a racist portrayal of black women? See above, not at this point but time will tell.

U can rb n comment or reply in tags n wtvr do not think u should add on to my post unless ur black tho lmao