#when creators literally have to sacrifice their life’s work for the opportunity to represent themselves in their shows

[apollos-boyfriend]

with the gravity falls renaissance i feel like something people don’t really discuss about its success is the fact that alex hirsch had a final say on the story. the reason gravity falls flows so well and had such a well-executed and satisfying ending is because its creator had control of when and where it ended. the reason so many modern day cartoons (and to an extent, shows in general) feel rushed or poorly executed or what have you is because their creators can’t do that. they’re canceled too soon and made to scramble to finish their stories in the remaining limited time they’re given, if they’re even given that opportunity at all. gravity falls isn’t necessarily timeless or one of a kind because of some creative magic, it is those things largely because it cannot be physically recreated due to the modern industry’s disrespect of creators and the medium as a whole

[marisol993]

For some time now I've seen, over and over again, that the Qunari in the Dragon Age Universe are apparently some kind of racist caricature of black people, muslims and other types of poc's, bipoc's, minorities, ....

From a personal perspective I never saw them as such, but since a personal view of things isn't very objective and can be skewed by ones life-experiances I was completely willing to admit, that I might have been wrong about that and had an opportunity to learn something new here.

The more I thought about it and critically examined this statement though, the less I agreed with any of it. Especially since a lot of arguments in favor of this view seemed to boil down to "this person of [insert relevant minority here] said so". I.e. another "personal viewpoint".

So let's get into a critical analysis of the Qunari and why I think that they are so very far removed from any kind of "minorty" (from a western point of view) coding that you couldn't even see it with the power of the Hubble and James Webb space-telescopes combined:

First of all, who are the Qunari? The Qunari are tall, medium to heavily built, horned (or unhorned, if you only played Origins) humanoids, that come in varying shades of grey skin, with whiteish hair. They are more intensly sexually dimorphic than the Dwarves, Elves and Humans of Thedas, with the males being sometimes nearly twice as wide (especially in the shoulders) and much more muscled than the females. They call themselves the Qunari as they are followers of the Qun (their guide to life and society), though the word is more of an umbrella-term, since anybody of any race is called a Qunari if they "convert" to the teachings of the Qun.

Here's a picture:

At this point some people might already remark, that the Qunari are very obviously "black-coded" since apparently nowadays any deviation from natural, real-life human skintones automatically has to mean, that the fantasy-race in question is meant to reflect black or brown people (even if they are green or bright purple), unless you literally give them a complete and utterly snow-white skintone. If that is the argument you want to go with, I would like to redirect your eyes to the picture above, as it already disproves this. As it is shown there (and in the DA:I Character-Creator), the Qunari can come in a complete spectrum of skintones (from very light grey to nearly ebony), just like all the different races of Thedas (even the dwarves for some reason, which doesn't make much sense for a race that lived underground for most of their history, but what can you do..). This basically means, that yes there are dark-skinned (or "black") Qunari, but there are also those that could be better described as "light-skinned", so the coding-qualifier goes away.

Then there are the people, who might want to say, that because they are tall and "burly", together with the unnatural skintone makes them "black-coded" which is something I never really understood, since the tallest people in the world by ethnicity are the Dutch and if you look at heights in correlation with body-weight the Russians take first place. Both countries not really know for their large populations of darkskinned-humanoids. Another coding-qualifier that goes away.

And then there are the people (who I would seriously suggest should maybe review their own "racial" views, if "black and brown people" is the first thing they think about when it comes to this), who say, that they are a stereotype of the "savages and natives", which is something that is actively contradicted in canon. One of the most prominent traits of the Qunari is that they are efficiant to a T, use every resorce at the disposal to it's maximum (including their people) and that they are more technically and scientifically advanced than many other race in Thedas (except maybe the dwarves) . This is shown through their mastery of gunpowder (which they call gaatlok) and the fact that they can use chemicals and drugs to literally warp the mind of people without needing magic. They are in no way presented as "savage" and if they are named such, it's usually by people who they are actively at war with, who want to insult them. They are also not "natives" of Thedas. Even their so called "homeland" in Thedas, which is called Par Vollen, was colonised by them, when they landed at it's shores in 6:30 Steel-Age and started converting the original population of Tevinter humans and elves, with whom they have been at war with ever since. Let me say that again: The Qunari are active colonisers and at war with the Tevinter-Imperium, who's people are the original population of the land. Not exactly a typical "native or black" stereotype in western media.

So who do I think the Qunari are actually modeled after?

Well let's summarise:

The Qunari came from across the ocean in their ships filled with cannons and guns, to colonise the land and convert the native population towards their beliefs. They are currently fighting a war against the Tevinter-Imperium, an old and powerful empire, that engages in widespread slavery and practices blood-magic by sacrificing said slaves, sometimes also to one of their many gods.

(If you can't guess who I think they are supposed to be modeled after by now, I would recommend to maybe picking up a 7th-grade history textbook again)

Yes, you can make a very strong case for the Qunari actually being these guys:

The Conquistadors (heck, if you cross out a few letters you can even anagram the word "Qunari" out of the word Conquistador). Who also came from across the sea with ships, cannons and guns to colonise the land (south- and middle-america) and convert the native population (to christianity) and fought an ancient and powerful empire with slaves and blood-sacrifices (the Aztec-Kingdoms).

So after pissing of one half of tumblr with that, let's start with the other half by talking about the apparent "muslim-coding" and how I disagree with that too.

Let's start with a rough definition of what a muslim is and how I think that that alone shows how the Qunari are in no way coded to be them:

I would define a muslim as somebody who is an active member of the religion of Islam. Islam is defined by it's holybook (the Qur'An), which was revealed to the prophet Muhammad by an all-knowing and omnipresent abrahamic god.

This in and of itself basically already disqualifies the Qunari from being "muslim-coded" since first and foremost the Qunari are not a religion. They do not have a god and they don't pray to any, the Qun is not a "holy-book" and Ashkaari Koslun (the guy who wrote it) was not a prophet, who wrote down the word of god, but a philosopher who basically crafted a "guide to life and society" with his works.

If you really wanted to find something that is slightly "muslim-coded" in the world of Thedas, you might actually have more luck with the chantry-stuff, since they do have a prophet (Andraste) who could talk to god (the Maker), they have a holy book based of her teachings (the Chant of Light) and they believe that the whole world should follow those teachings, so god will return to them (singing the Chant from all four corners of the world). They even have their own flavour of jihadist religious warfare with the Exhalted Marches (though all in all I do think that the Chantry can be better viewed as a take on christian religions since the split between the Imperial Chantry and the original one is similar to the split of the (western) christian church into catholics and protestants).

So what do I think is a better representation for the Qun in the real world?

Well lets look at it in the simplest way possible that the canon gives us:

The Qun is a guide for the life of the Qunari (the people of the Qun) that ecompasses everything from laws, legislative guides, too how society should be struktured and how everyone has to fit into and function in that society, from the most mundane and simplest tasks and jobs to it's highest administrative bodies. Everyone in this society is evaluated, so that they can be put into a position that is best suited to them and their skill-sets. There they will then each work according to their abilities and each be provided for according to their needs (see what I did there). Yes, the Qun can in my opinion be best described as a take on an authoritarian-socialist guide to life, written by somebody with a similar philosophie as Karl Marx.

So all in all, I don't think that the Qunari are in any way black-, brown-, bipoc- or muslim-coded, but a fantasy take on the Conquistadors, if instead of a bible they had all carried around "A Guide to Life, Luck and Community, written by Karl Marx (during one of his more productive weekends)", visually represented by giant Minotaur-People of many colours.

Also I find this obsession with finding every and any kind of reflexion of our real world in some random fantasy setting, by people who are most of the time actively looking to get offended by at least something and mostly every- and anything, quite contrived most of the time and that the day people on tumblr learned the word "codeing" a significant part of the internets critical-thinking skills and will just shrivelled up and died.

Thank you for coming to my TED-talk.

[orphanblackzone]

My love for Orphan Black has remained strong throughout the series’ five seasons and I was lucky enough to have some amazing conversations with the incredible women who’ve filled our screens throughout that time for this piece for Glamour. (I’ve covered the show before for Vanity Fair, Bustle, and Decider without involvement from the ladies—I told you I love this show.) Understandably, much of what I talked about with Tatiana Maslany, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Evelyne Brochu and Kathryn Alexandre wasn’t included in the piece, but our conversations were so fantastic that I knew the Clone Club would love to hear all of what they had to say.

(Note: I didn’t get the chance to talk to the brilliant Cosima Herter, aka the real life Cosima who also served as the science consultant for the show, or writer Renee St. Cyr. Needless to say, our appreciation and respect should absolutely extend to these women, as well.)

Below are previously unpublished excerpts from our chats on everything from acting process, story writing, and even the Clone Club itself.

On getting the opportunity to work with such an amazing group of women both on-screen and behind the scenes:

Tatiana Maslany: “It’s been an amazing job and so inspiring mentally, emotionally, in every possible way. Kathryn [Alexandre] is such an amazing partner. She’s been a lifesaver and I’ve been incredibly lucky to collaborate with her and experience the power of that unity of sisters, if you want to call it that. I think our industry can be very divisive in terms of not only chopping women into these pieces that are more palatable or easy to put into a box as a form of control — you see a lot of images of women being one thing or another, these dichotomies are rarely connected and are usually two separate people — so I think there’s that sense of separateness in actors and kind of a competitiveness because there are so few roles that are so exciting and inclusive, so you’re often pitted up against your peers. What I’ve loved about Orphan Black is its embracing of family, community, collaboration. We were all so grateful to be on the show and be part of something so different. We knew how special it was and we were all so lucky. Maria Doyle Kennedy was one of my heroes and then I got to have this relationship with her. Kathryn is an incredibly selfless person. These people are all so generous and selfless and invested in the work and that’s the only way the show’s been able to go on. Kathryn is invaluable — she’ my partner friend and collaborator — she’s literally just the best. I also think Graeme Manson knew how important it was to be telling women’s stories and in the writers’ room there were some incredible voices. Renee St. Cyr wrote Episode 7 which was one of our strongest. Given the political climate right now and this time in our lives, we feel lucky to do something real and relevant to our experiences.”

Kathryn Alexandre: “It’s been an absolute dream. The women on the show are all so supportive of each other and there was never a moment that felt like anything was a competition. Whatever we were trying to tell with the show was really infused by how everyone acted on set. It was a top down example that Tatiana displayed — she really set the tone for how everyone treated each other and it was such an inclusive and collaborative energy. I think a lot of the reason for how all of the cast and crew acted towards each other was really because of the example and standards Tatiana set for just being supportive of everyone. Everyone’s voice was heard and important. It didn’t matter who you were, whether it was a PA or first AD or a cast member or creator or writer — everyone’s input was heard, especially when it came to character. There were times when we were trying to say something about a particular woman or portray something from a different point of view and we’d turn to the first AD to hear her experience about that particular situation. I was very new to the industry when I started OB and I didn’t have much camera work under my belt so I feel extremely fortunate that my first experience was such a powerful one. It made me realize the importance of having female voices and telling female stories. It’s very easy to not realize that that aspect might be missing from other screens or other shows. Having this be my first job made me very aware of how important it is to have that diversity.”

On Mrs.S’s death:

Maria Doyle Kennedy: “It’s a fairly enormous sacrifice to make, but in terms of her methods and what she feels she needs to achieve, she’s come to the point that she knows that Ferdinand must be taken out and taken down. They’ve tried to do it many times and in many different ways but it never happens. She knows that to do this job, she has to do it herself. She’s ready to sacrifice herself in this way. That’s the most telling thing about her methods — when push comes to shove, she’s actually willing to sacrifice her life in order to save the others. We’ve been hinting at it slightly and setting up all along through this series — and I feel this is really important myself — it’s that S is sort of passing the mantle onto Sarah, onto the next generation. S’s mother died and when that happens, it just changes everything. My parent-in-law died last year and I saw the extraordinary effect it had on my husband. People say you don’t really understand it unless it happens to you. It’s not just the loss of someone you love, it’s that your vision of the world shifts. It’s the tribal order and it’s your job to pass the wisdom down because you’re going to be the next to go. We’ve been seeing that properly this season, she’s been really relating to Sarah as a mature adult and she’s relinquishing to her all the time. It’s designed for her to allow Sarah to take the lead, to not just be reliable but to be the driver to really have her own agency and be strategic as opposed as just being trustworthy.”

On their love for Clone Club:

Maria Doyle Kennedy: “I think one of the biggest things that became apparent to us after Season 1 and 2, when we started to meet our fans, we started to realize that Clone Club was this bond. It was forming among people that was transcending anything we were doing. It was a desire for connection and for family and that was hugely what we were representing — the idea of chosen family, of nurture and support and of other types of structures that aren’t necessarily represented as family but that can actually be that family in a much more positive way than many traditional models do.”

Evelyne Brochu: “I think it’s one of the biggest chances of my career to get to play someone that’s so open and that passionate and who doesn’t question the legitimacy of her feelings. I think because I got the chance to play that, I got the chance to see a lot of people who were inspired by this, which is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. We’re making a TV show in a studio in Toronto and then someone comes back to me and says that thanks to my show and my character, they had the courage to be themselves with their parents, their friends. I never anticipated that and for that, I’m empowered and really grateful.”

Tatiana Maslany: “I’ve always felt like Clone Club must be special. There’s an international community around the show but to a greater extent, it’s about the people. The most amazing thing was that I met a woman the other day who was about 42. She said she’s known since she was a baby that she was gay and didn’t come out until recently and the show helped her do that. She’s in a relationship now. That’s unbelievable. That’s incredible to us that we can have that impact and start those conversations. Girls who tell me they met their girlfriend in Australia through Clone Club meetups and they live in Idaho or whatever, it’s incredible. It’s a total privilege to tell these stories and see how they affect people. It’s like getting to talk about things that matter to me and so many people who don’t always have a voice and getting to enact it and tell those stories. It’s amassive privilege and such a joy as well. It only sparks our creativity and passion more for the show, the more stories we hear from people about the impact it’s had. That’s the greatest gift.”

On the importance of Cophine:

Evelyne Brochu: “Normalcy is a very important thing. You don’t realize it when you’re doing it. When you get to that place where you don’t even notice that something is a huge step forward, that’s a huge victory. Fuck yeah! It should be the norm, why not? Something that feels so normal should be portrayed in media as normal. You’re like, yes! This isn’t an issue anymore. Putting Cosima and Delphine at the center of the show insofar as the central romantic couple, it’s not sidelined or about anything else but true love and challenges and how they’re going to overcome that. Graeme and John are amazing. Normalization is a huge challenge and can have a huge impact. Right now, we need that impact. The President legitimizes misogynistic comments and normalizes those behaviors, but if we’re on this side of the fight, we have to pull on something positive for what values we want in our lives and push forward.”