Read on Twitter
Let's talk about Discovery and it's NB/trans characters.
My assumptions here may be wrong, I don't know where the writers are going to take the characters... But. There are things that worry me. Primarily the fact that Gray is an alien and Adira isn't even non binary ATM.
My assumptions here may be wrong, I don't know where the writers are going to take the characters... But. There are things that worry me. Primarily the fact that Gray is an alien and Adira isn't even non binary ATM.
In the latest episode Adira refers to herself as her. And in fairness non binary people do use binary pronouns, but it does seem like the show is leading up to Adira realising her gender as a RESULT of her joining, not endemic to herself.
What does it say that both the trans and the non binary characters are either alien or influenced by alien.
Imagine if Uhura or Sulu were aliens, what would that say about them? About their race? That they're so different as the be *alien*.
Imagine if Uhura or Sulu were aliens, what would that say about them? About their race? That they're so different as the be *alien*.
Ordinarily I wouldn't have a problem, I love the two Dax hosts for their trans allegorical nature. But Adira and Gray were marketed as explicitly NB and trans characters played by actual NB and trans actors. So there is intent behind their presence, a desire for representation.
What does it say that that representation is alien? That GNC people are inherently so alien that they can not exist in Star Trek without being actual aliens? And one of them is DEAD!
I'm willing to see where Discovery's writers take this, maybe it'll be great...but I can't help but worry about where this seems to be headed.
I've seen enough hamfisted attempts at representation of minorities that I can see the warning signs.
I've seen enough hamfisted attempts at representation of minorities that I can see the warning signs.
It's a shame too because the episode itself was great, very emotionally impactful with a strong core message of isolation and connection. But the Adira/Gray stuff kept pulling me out of the story.
I wish they'd never advertised, crowed, in fact, about Adira and Gray. It primed certain expectations that I would've been better off not having. Then their story could've just existed in its merits. Instead because they're held up as representation, I judge them based on that.
The linked interview covers some of my concerns about Adira, particularly the pronoun https://twitter.com/CzarWyrm/status/1324780268708921344?s=19
