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kalluralove · 6 years ago

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Open letter regarding the treatment of Princess Allura in VLD

Here is my letter regarding the poor treatment of Princess Allura in the VLD series. I'm hoping it will inspire more people to write their own for the @justiceforallura but, if for some reason you are unable to do so, you can cosign this letter instead. Simply reblog with "I cosign" in the comments. For those not on Tumblr you may do the same by retweeting on Twitter. (Notes in comments and DMs will not be accepted. We want to spread the word to as many fans as possible!) There is strength in numbers! We must make ourselves heard and understood!

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This is a letter to the license holders of Voltron, as well as anyone else involved in the making of DreamWork’s “Voltron, Legendary Defender”.

As a young girl in 1984 I stumbled across a TV show that immediately grabbed my attention. It aired in the afternoon when I got home from school, and it was a small miracle when I could get to the one television in the house first. It was thrilling to me: a giant robot, sword fights, and yes, even romance.

Then there was Princess Allura.

Allura was something you didn’t see enough of in that day. She was a determined young woman who simultaneously ruled a planet and protected it. For a young girl like me she was the epitome of womanhood. But the show was geared towards young boys and girls like me weren’t considered important to its success.

Back then I believed fandom was something Star Wars had. I didn’t know there were others out there who loved the show as much as I did. Especially not other girls. So imagine my joy when, thirty-two years later, I found others who cherished this series as much as I had. We excitedly dove into the reboot, starting blogs while publishing fanfiction and fanart. We reminisced about days of long ago, sharing memories of our favorite characters and episodes.

Some of these women I’ve formed bonds with are women of color. To them Allura of old was a beloved character that they could only somewhat identify with. Yet the new princess was much, much more than that. She looked like them. She was the object of affection for multiple suitors in the show. She was smart yet girlish. And they could cosplay as her without worrying about backlash.

VLD did that for them. They gave those girls someone they could look up to who they could see themselves in. It was even lauded by Allura’s voice actress, the lovely Kimberly Brooks, as progressive. There was so much possibility, so much promise with this new Princess.

And yet, that promise was broken.

As seasons went on we saw a woman who literally lost everything, then lost some more. First she lost her planet and her people. When we find out there are still Alteans alive 10,000 years have passed. They don’t know her (although in the alternate reality she is still considered the savior of the Alteans after an equal amount of time has passed.) She is rejected by them. And, in the end, she dies because of them.

Do you honestly think there is any positive takeaway from this? My friends had to frantically call everyone they knew who watched the show to tell them not to watch it. Can you imagine? This wasn’t Game of Thrones. This was a series that was supposed to be a modern telling of an old classic. Instead it was a modern day lynching of a beloved princess.

Granted to say beloved is maybe incorrect. The showrunners did a very good job of reducing her to a side character, even though she was a leader and a paladin. Collectibles? Merchandise? Toys? She’s barely visible. Backstory? That went to the Galra villains. Happily ever after? She literally was a bone thrown to a popular character. Every effort was made to erase her from her own story.

So my question is, why hasn’t this been addressed? After the uproar around Adam’s death in season 7 an apology was issued at least, although it was half-hearted and forced. Then how is it a main character, with more than 2 minutes of airtime and literally a legacy character, not important enough to comment on? The killing of minority characters has long been used in media and as of late is beginning to be pushed aside as it should be. Any person of color watching a series should not expect the character who “represents” them to be the one who dies when things go wrong. Red shirts may be a long-standing joke amongst Star Trek fans but it isn’t something that should apply to skin color.

It’s unconscionable that between the executive producers, writers, and rights holders, that nobody thought to stop this from happening. Killing a woman of color in a show that’s rated Y-7 is dangerous and disgusting. The takeaway for children may vary depending on their own race but either way it’s detrimental. And for adults, for my beautiful friends who wholeheartedly embraced Princess Allura, it’s completely devastating.

How you decide to approach this from here out is up to you. WEP, as the rights holders I would encourage you to be vocal about this. Chances are this happened outside of your control, and if that is the case you should stand with us and say so. It won’t damage the Voltron brand, it will bring forth a new determination to see this done right. Why? Because those of us who have loved this legend for so long want to see it finally done properly. If you tell us this was not what you wanted we will be first in line the next time it’s reborn.

For Dreamworks, if you value us as consumers of your other shows and movies, please know that our trust is damaged. Whether you directed the writers to do this, or you signed off on it, or you simply couldn’t be bothered to correct the actions of others, you bear liability here. We don’t want a new ending. We don’t want a new season 8. For us the show died with Allura and we can only see the possibility it held through the lens of our imagination. All we ask is something to make us believe again, to give us hope that the next time will be better.

For the Executive Producers, we know you’ve moved on. Even though we defended you through Season 7, we are aware now of the disdain you held for us. We expect nothing from you, honestly.

For everyone else involved in the show, we love you. Your hearts went into this series and we see it. You’ve become our heroes, and we thank you sincerely for the work you did.

For the fans left heartbroken over the final season, please keep the faith. Make those calls. Write those letters. Silence is viewed as acceptance. Let your sisters know that you stand with them, and let the powers that be know we stand united.

Thank you for your time and understanding.

Your fandom friend,

KalluraLove

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Thank you for reading and sharing. Let's get #justiceforallura trending!

#open letter to WEP #open letter to DreamWorks #open letter to JDS and LM #open letter to the crew of VLD #open letter to fans of VLD #allura deserved better #justice for allura #princess allura #allura #justiceforallura

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they-did-what-to-allura · 6 years ago

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My letter for the @justice-for-allura project. Posting mostly to remind anybody who might be lurking that this is a thing, and it’s a cool thing. If you feel bad bout how Allura’s story went down and wanna make your points known, this is a great opportunity for it.

Edit: Changed some things, fixed a couple typos and reworded some points for clarification.

To the Voltron Team, DreamWorks, to Any and All Involved with the Decision to Kill Off Allura,

Let me begin by thanking the team for giving us this iteration of Allura to begin with. She is a beloved character to many fans. If she wasn’t such a great character, there wouldn’t be so many of us upset about the way her story ended. So, thank you for Allura. She was an amazing character with interesting layers of personality and a delightful design.

In this letter I will explain not only why I was personally disheartened by her death, but also why I believe it was a poor choice to make in terms of writing and the larger narrative.

On the personal end, I related very much to Allura. I empathize with the trauma of losing loved ones and it was cathartic for me to see a character lose so much, but not be defined by that loss. A character who retained a multifaceted personality that included a playful streak, a love of sparkly things, a sense of justice, and abundant courage. She is not reduced to her loss even though it impacts her journey as a character.

Allura’s struggle with Alfor’s corrupted AI also deeply resonated with me. While this is coming from a rather abstract point, it reminds me of my own struggle with a father who is an addict. Allura had to let Alfor’s AI go in spite of how painful it was, in spite of the better memories haunting her every step of the way. The possibility I will have to let my own father go is a very real one because he has made it clear he will never change. His addiction has effectively corrupted our relationship and fed into my own stints with substance abuse. This will be an unspeakably painful decision for me and we have many happier memories that reel through my mind every moment I even contemplate making it.

To relate to a character, to be inspired by a character and her persistence, and then watch her die…really blows. My stomach sank. I felt like crap. I felt even crappier upon hearing that my friend’s nine year old niece sobbed when she watched the ending. I doubt we related to Allura for the same reasons, but I do know that Allura was her favorite character. So with that, I’ll get into the less personal and more objective reasons as to why I feel Allura’s death was a horrible decision.

Firstly, VLD is geared toward younger audiences. I know VLD has a notable periphery demographic, with many older teens and adults such as myself watching and being in the fandom. I know sometimes this periphery demographic can be louder than the intended audience, which I can only assume is children due to the toys and easy-read supplemental materials. VLD has a Y-7 rating, so even if the volume of the periphery demographic drowns out that of the intended, the rating alone demonstrates that this is a show that’s at the least meant to be accessible to children.

Children are impressionable. Representation is important for people of all ages, of course, but it is especially important to children. Kids connect more easily to media where they can see themselves and for the good or the ill, fictional characters can be role models for children.

Allura was a non-white female leader, described in-universe as the “Heart of Voltron.” That’s amazing! That’s truly rare. It’s sad that it’s rare. It’s 2019 and there should be a plethora of non-white female protagonists for young girls of color to look up to. But there aren’t.

Allura was fantastic representation for young girls of color. Representation they hardly ever get. I cannot see a single good reason to take that representation away from them. In fact, it seems downright mean to take that away from them. I do not want the excuse that the staff weren’t aware of the importance of representation, either. You can’t promote the show with official art like this:

…and claim you’re unaware of how important representation is. Particularly for children, for whom this show was rated as being appropriate for.

I do not feel the excuse that this show was about war is reasonable either. Yes, in real life, war is painful. Lives are lost indiscriminately. This was one of the justifications cited for Adam’s death when VLD was criticized for portraying the “Bury Your Gays” trope. However, VLD had already made it clear that war had costs. The Arusian village was destroyed purposely to bait the team. Several Blades of Marmora lost their lives aiding the team. The costs of war were very clear early on in the show. Allura certainly didn’t have to die to reinforce a theme that had already been reinforced several times prior.

On that note, it is very telling that an apology letter was sent for the death of a character who had all of two minutes of screen time, but not for Allura, a major protagonist.

Many people are offended by Allura’s death, feeling that it is racist and sexist. I do not want to believe that Allura’s death was intended to be either of these things. However, there are serious unfortunate implications in killing off your only WoC in the main cast that cannot be ignored. VLD is fictional but it exists in a real world, where real people are impacted by these issues.

While Allura’s death ultimately feels disrespectful given what she represented and its sheer pointlessness in the story, I see attempts at respect in its overall framing. Allura is revered as a hero. There is a statue built in her honor. She has a legacy. These are things that generally shape the celebration of a fallen hero. But even within the framing, there are mixed signals. Most notably, her loved ones take cheery selfies in font of her monument. In my personal opinion, that is the antithesis to an attempted respectful tone.

And I specifically use the word ‘attempted’ because despite the framing, Allura’s death does not actually come across as respectful in the least. It is crammed into the last nine minutes of the final episode. It is immediately followed by a flash forward to the future. Neither the characters nor the audience have time to mourn her. I do not want to hear the excuse that Allura’s death isn’t offensive because “she died as a hero.” Simply because something may be framed to be respectful doesn’t mean it actually is. The poor execution of that attempted framing itself is one of the lesser of many harmful messages sent by the decision to kill Allura off.

In a world where representation is important, an importance that is acknowledged by the staff, somehow someone still came to the conclusion that Allura’s narrative should end in death. Intent aside, her death falls into the “Disposable Woman” cliche, and is especially gutting because she is a WoC. I cannot reiterate how rare it is to see characters like Allura, non-white women that serve as major protagonists.

Allura suffered unduly throughout the series. She lost an entire planet, her family, her home, her title, and eventually her life. She was always a giving character. She was willing to sacrifice herself to save the Balmera as early as season one. It is noble of her to have that kind of dedication, I’m not saying it isn’t. But girls are socialized to sacrifice their happiness for others, it is a message they internalize at multiple levels.

Girls are socialized to put others before themselves and to sacrifice, and this expectation is especially pressing for girls of color. The SBW (Strong Black Woman) stereotype is a notably prevalent one because of the expectation placed on black women specifically to always be strong and constantly put their own needs last. While Allura is an alien, she is in-universe a minority post Altea’s destruction and IRL, redesigned to be non-white. And many fans, including myself, do see her as specifically black-coded because of her skin tone, hair texture, and having Kimberly Brooks as her voice actress.

A hopeful ending for any character who sacrificed as much as Allura would be one where that character is rewarded for their sacrifice. Where they’re able to find happiness on the other end. Where the audience feels payoff because a character we’ve seen give for so long finally gets. Where the audience feels fulfilled because a character we’ve seen grieve and grieve finally gets to breathe. For kids to see a non-white female character get this kind of ending isn’t only hopeful, but important. Girls— especially girls of color —should be shown that they don’t have to give up everything. Boys should also be shown these narratives, because they shouldn’t internalize the expectation of the girls and women in their lives to constantly sacrifice.

Allura’s sacrifice stands out as particularly glaring when we take into account that teamwork was supposedly one of VLD’s major themes. In a show entitled Voltron: Legendary Defender, wherein the titular robot must be formed by a team, it seems very out of place that it was up to one person to save the day. What was the point of the team bonding with each other, and with the lions, if all of that was going to be rendered useless in the battle that mattered the most?

None of the main characters we’d been led to believe loved each other made any real attempt to find another solution through teamwork. They more or less accepted Allura’s sacrifice at face value even though she was supposedly important to them. The paladins offered some minimal protest, then each gave Allura a hug and just watched her walk to her death. In addition to undercutting the theme of teamwork in the show, it just felt very strange to watch. I didn’t feel like I was watching a team who fought side-by-side at all. These characters felt less connected to each other than they did during the first season and at this point, supposedly they’ve fought side-by-side for years.

Not only did Allura’s lone sacrifice seem to undercut the theme of teamwork, but it just seemed incongruent to the atmosphere of the series. While loss was depicted and prevalent in VLD, nothing ever indicated that it would be a tragedy. Watching Allura’s death play out feels like watching a show that forgot what genre it was supposed to be. The emotional beats aren’t the right ones.

We feel no payoff from her death because it didn’t accomplish anything of value in the narrative. Allura had something to live for after the war, her newfound family and love interest. She didn’t have anything to atone for, unlike Honerva. At best (and I really mean at best here) one could argue that her death contributed to Lance’s development because he spends his life spreading her message after the fact. However, many viewers understandably perceived this as a demotion for Lance with its own set of unfortunate implications. Even if that was the case— which itself feels like grasping at straws for some kind of explanation —I shouldn’t have to point out why it’s extremely problematic for a female character to be killed for her love interest’s development.

Allura’s death felt as pointless as it did out of place. It felt unsatisfying and frankly, just like someone in the writer’s room wanted to be Edgy™ for the sake of it. It also felt particularly mean coming from a team who acknowledged how important representation was to its viewers and who used representation as a promotion point.

VLD is over. That is clear. I do not write this with the intent to get the “real ending” or anything of the like. I write this to express why Allura’s death effected me personally, why I feel it has harmful messages, and why it comes across both as harsh and as poor writing.

I hope all those who were involved with this decision reflect on the feedback from the way her death was perceived, most important the feedback of the WoC in the audience. Major character death should always be handled with care, especially in children’s programs. Representation should always be handled with care, especially in children’s programs. The way Allura’s story ultimately ended feels careless at best and malicious at worst.

Signed,

An Incredibly Disappointed Viewer

#justiceforallura #voltron critical #representation #allura #justice for allura

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