#Black Spartacus

[philosophenstreik]

einen erfolgreichen weg ging saint domingue, wie haiti vor seiner unabhängigkeit hieß unter toussaint louverture in der folge der französischen revolution - gelebte freiheit, gleichheit und brüderlichkeit in einem land voller damals wertvoller rohstoffe wie tabak, kaffee oder rohrzucker -, bis er von den franzosen gefangen genommen. wie stünde es wohl heute um dieses krisengeplagte land, hätte man dem “black spartacus” einfach etwas mehr zeit gelassen... (kritik zur biographie im vorigen beitrag). von geviert.de und michaela kneißl dazu eine gelungene, sehr ansprechende und ins auge fallende umschlaggestaltung mit (wie sollte es anders sein) dem protagonisten toussaint in seiner typischen uniform.

[goatsandgangsters]

black sails 🤝 spartacus 

“bOY I SURE HOPE THE RAGTAG UNDERDOGS WIN AGAINST THIS HISTORICAL EMPIRE THAT VERY MUCH DID NOT END HERE 😥”

[fuckyeahstufficareabout]

Shows that I will keep fruitlessly recommending to people in perpetuity:

HBO Rome

Black Sails

Peaky Blinders

Boardwalk Empire

Hell On Wheels

Spartacus

[philosophenstreik]

black spartacus

das große leben des toussaint louverture

biographie von sudhir hazareesingh

erschienen 2022

im verlag c.h.beck

isbn: 978-3-406-78458-3

(von tobias bruns)

toussaint louverture - eine zu unrecht hierzulande viel zu unbekannte gestalt der weltgeschichte. “black spartacus” wurde er genannt, aber ebenso “als “father of the blacks” beschrieben, als schwarzer sohn der französischen revolution, als schwarzer george washington, als bonaparte der karibik, als “african hero”, als hannibal von saint-domingue und als zentaur der savanne (...)”. geboren 1743 in die sklaverei wurde er mit weit über 40 jahren zum kopf der revolution in der französischen kolonie saint-domingue (heute haiti) und bereitete so die selbstständigkeit des karibikstaates vor. er verkörperte mit absolutheit den französischen revolutionsruf nach freiheit, gleichheit und brüderlichkeit - für ihn waren alle menschen gleich und trotz all der jahre in sklaverei wollte er nie rache nehmen an den weißen kolonisten, sondern stattdessen ein land schaffen, in dem menschen egal welcher hautfarbe die gleichen rechte und pflichten hatten. es war ein langer kampf, den louverture an der seite vieler verbündeter führte gegen die sklaverei, gegen die engländer und spanier - am ende auch gegen die franzosen selbst, von denen er sich an sich nicht lösen wollte - die die sklaverei auf der insel wieder einführen wollten - auch aus der angst heraus, der revolutionäre funken, die sklaverei abzuschaffen würde auf die umgebenden länder und inseln überspringen. toussaints genie, seine mentalität und seine überzeugungen brachten ihm all diese namen mit vergleichen der superlative ein und brachten ihm am ende 1803 ebenso den tod in einem kerker im kalten frankreich des napoleon bonaparte.

sudhir hazareesingh legt hier ganz schlicht und einfach gesagt eine absolut geniale biographie dieser lichtgestalt der weltgeschichte vor! es ist ein trauerspiel, dass dieser vorkämpfer für menschenrechte nicht auf den lehrplänen aller länder der welt steht und dessen name nicht in aller menschen munde ist. dieses buch sollte dazu beitragen, dass sich dies ändert und louverture nicht mehr “nur” ein haitianischer held ist, sondern in eine weltweite halle der helden einzieht. wie schon im klappentext steht, wäre dies längst der fall gewesen, “wenn er weiß gewesen wäre”. viele bewegungen gegen die sklaverei und für menschenrechte berufen sich zwar auf den “black spartacus”, doch der ihm gebührende ruhm bleibt weiterhin aus. es ist an der zeit das grundlegend zu ändern. eine sehr empfehlenswerte, spannende biographie, die zeigt, wie sehr auch ein “kleines” land wie haiti große weltgeschichte schreiben kann, die jedoch dann von den europäischen ländern lieber unter den teppich gekehrt wird...

[july-19th-club]

seven or eight times now ive watched the episodes in which they take the andromache and this is the first time ive realized that during the initial battle, after they board, every time the camera is from dufresne's perspective it's blurrier than otherwise because. he took his glasses off for the fight

[be-the-glenn-to-my-maggie]

Okay okay, you all might've noticed I'm hyperfixating on 2010 Spartacus again. Here are some scattered thoughts on it, and also a desperate attempt to get my followers to watch it.

This show was so ahead of its time, guys. If this show came out today, the fandom would be insane I'm telling you. A Starz original series about slaves starting an uprising that's literally all about mostly naked men fighting and killing each other in the most brutal, bloody, hyper-masculine ways, but then also fucking each other and no one bats an eye because it's Rome? And also the main gay couple are the only characters that live at the end??? And go start a goat farm?? It's like an uno reverse bury your gays. It's a bury your straights. Bury your everyone but the gays.

Alright a decent amount of gays die as well, but not the mains!!

The fandom would be in the trenches. There would be Barca/Auctus vs Barca/Pietros ship wars. We'd be rioting over the Ashur reboot right now because it's not the nagron on their goat farm show we all wanted. I'm telling you this shit would rival Our Flag Means Death in its cultural impact.

I mean, it's also a pretty poignant show with great themes on freedom and humanity as well, but that's a whole other post.

[variousqueerthings]

You like Doctor Who AND Black Sails???? Absolutely chef kiss, cannot believe we share a brain

yeah, I did for a hot second have a separate blog for Black Sails because I actually made this one to be specifically not fandom-related (3 years on and... well.....) so I'm slowly bringing my black sails posting over here instead, fuckit!

thing about Black Sails for me is that on the whole I find it such a perfectly constructed bit of storytelling, with critique that has already been formulated better by other people, that I never know quite what to say about it that hasn't been said, youknow?

it's the show that I've watched that has felt the most like reading a book, with every season leading into one another and the themes introduced in s1 wrapping up in s4, and every piece interacting with one another, and you have to trust that the questions and thematic concepts raised at the beginning have real weight and will go places, which in this day and age of TV is a big ask, because most of the time a TV show has to work one season at a time/doesn't plan that far ahead, lest it get cancelled and/or stretches into depressing perpetuity

(or it's Doctor Who of course, which is just its own monster/mythology at this point, moreso than perhaps any other show, I'd say including Star Trek perhaps...)

but yeah, Black Sails. that's a journey that really matters, you get to the end and you've been holding your breath since probably s2, and you're realising that this is something that TV can do -- I think other shows that have manage the closest (for me) have been miniseries like Chernobyl or Pride & Prejudice and the like, because they've had that clear knowledge that this is the episodes they have, this is where it starts and ends, these are the ways everything talks with one another (Chernobyl and Black Sails especially have in common that the ending makes one want to go back to the beginning, because it's a realisation of OH THIS IS WHAT YOU'VE BEEN SAYING FROM DAY ONE!), but I've not seen it as strongly or as well-constructed (or... finished for that matter) in anything that had multiple seasons like this

+ youknow. multiple polyamorous relationships in different structures, multiple ways of discussing connection and love none of which are more important than the other for being a specific kind, multiple deconstructions of masculinity in popular mythology (pirates), banging sea battles and sword fights, plot moments that take your breath away, political commentary that makes you punch the air, and bits that have you going "OH I READ THIS BIT IN TREASURE ISLAND!!!" (but also you don't need to have read treasure island to watch it... potentially OH YEAH THIS GUY WAS A CYBORG IN TREASURE PLANET 😂)

Black Sails is kind of special. Truly one of a kind

EDIT: ALSO WANTED TO SAY HELL YEAH HIGH FIVE FOR BLACK SAILS AND DOCTOR WHO!

[wen-kexing-apologist]

Based on your recent answer about why you watch BL in which you mentioned many narratives like to punish lesbians with death, I wanted to prompt you to speak on that a bit more if you're willing. I will wait here chin in hands for when/if this is interesting to you because it's a bugbear of mine and I'd love to read your thoughts!

Hello Twiggy! (can I call you that? What should we shorten your url to? t-t?) 

Anyway, I would be happy to speak more on that!

To establish my lens, I am a Westerner, I grew up with no queer elders, and did not really realize I was queer until after I graduated college, so my experience with queer media was limited at best. I know there are films and television out there where the sapphics live, and there are films and televisions where I am completely fine with a queer character dying. I am not a “if any queer character dies they are burying the gays!” kind of person. 

Now, I’ll admit that when I wrote that in my answer, I was mostly saying it based on knowledge of the tumblr discourse I’ve observed over the past decade I have been on this fucking website. In other words, I didn’t know the full extent of the issue, because to be perfectly honest, despite the absurd amount of television I do watch, seeing queer women in my shows has been few and far between. I don’t think I saw a girl kiss another girl until I stumbled upon the YouTube web-series Carmilla in high school. SO, your ask required me to do a little bit more research. 

Here is a link to an article listing 230 dead lesbian and bisexual characters and their causes of death which include toxic envelope glue in Seinfeld??? The list is so long that the article is split up in to FOUR PAGES!

Here are a couple of names from shows I either have seen or recognize: 

Tara Maclay in Buffy the Vampire Slayer 

Lexa in The 100 

Tosha in The Wire

Poussey in Orange is the New Black (which I will absolutely never forgive this show for) 

Toshiko Sato in Torchwood 

June Stahl in Sons of Anarchy

Patty O’Farrel and Veronica Cortes in La Reina del Sur

Jamilah Olsen in Black Lightining

Dani in The Haunting of Bly Manor

I do not want to count how many times I have seen the words “died in her girlfriends arms” in this list, and I’m only a page and a half in. I do not want to count how many times I have read “Cause of Death: shot/stabbed/blown up/murdered/throat slit” I have seen three separate queer women from True Blood on this list, three separate queer women from Boardwalk Empire, four from Orange is the New Black, four from Killing Eve. The cause of death for a character named Emily in Teen Wolf is five lines long. We know how Supernatural is about killing women and killing queers, and killing queer women (there are three on this list I’ve seen so far). And there are some truly convoluted deaths in here, and unsurprising a number of the most fucked up ones are…you guessed it, committed against queer women of color. 

And there are plenty on this list from like…American Horror Story, or like Scream, or you know other shows with very obvious ‘this is kind of an everyone dies’ situation. Like I’m not surprised if multiple queer characters from The Walking Dead die, I’m not going to hold it against the television show Spartacus for killing a bisexual woman in the final battle where everybody dies. (I will blame them for systematically killing off any and all interesting, complex female characters until we were left with almost nothing, when we had such good ones in Season 1). I do not see Dani dying at the end of Haunting of Bly Manor to be a ‘Bury Your Gays” situation in the least. 

And I am a lot more prone to being comfortable with a queer character dying if there are other queer characters in the story, as long as they don’t all die, you know what I mean?  

Hell, even in shows written and/or performed by queer people where at the end everyone lives, they’ll still sometimes kill (and then resurrect) the characters. Laura in Carmilla  for instance. 

According to a study by LGBT Fans Deserve Better, 62 lesbian and bisexual female characters had died over the past two seasons of television (at the time, which I think was like 2014-2016) and the 2015-2016 year saw the highest number of deaths of queer women in one season of television (42 characters accounting fro 10% of all deaths for scripted television shows that season)

In 2016, a GLAAD analysis was published stating “25 lesbian and bisexual female-identifying characters have died on scripted broadcast and cable television and streaming series since the beginning of 2016” and went on to say that most of those deaths were used to further the plot of the often cishet main character, and violent death was the most repeated ending for queer women in media. 

Looking further back in time, the Hays Code of 1930, which had major influence over United States television, did not allow for positive portrayals of queerness. And those impacts linger for far longer than those rules were put in place. I’m thinking of the very obviously queer coded lobster person in PowerPuff girls (which was one of my childhood shows) named HIM who was the personification of evil. Ursula in The Little Mermaid being inspired by a drag queen. [And it is here I will put an aside to say, I love queer coded villains, I think the person that made most of DIsney’s villains in like my generation of Disney films was queer himself, yada yada I’m covering my ass from anyone who wants to engage with this post in bad faith blah blah]. 

Hell, I’ve seen one GL out of Thailand, which was GAP the Series and even they killed off another queer female character and made Sam suffer abuse at the hands of her grandmother. I’ve heard about how The Shipper treated its lesbians. 

The TL;DR version of this is that, for a very long time in (at least Western) television, a sapphic existed in a narrative, and a sapphic died, often violently, often in their lover’s arms. And thanks to studies like the one by LGBT Fans Deserve Better, these disparities were made glaringly obvious, and rates of lesbian death in shows has been going down since 2016.

[psicopathya]

[somfte]

Watching some of Spartacus has really reset my entire outlook about nudity in TV. Like. I didn't realize how much dick i *wasn't* seeing in other shows until I watched Spartacus

Does your show have a young man brothel worker with a gold chain attached to his swingin' bits and come dripping out of his mouth?

Does your show have a bunch of meaty warrior guys getting armored up together and they all start out dicks out naked and also it's non-sexualized? (except by me, i am sexualizing them)

dirty Vane dick isn't enough i need more, boobs are great but the level of equality in nudity in spartacus is unmatched

[sapphiccharacterstournament]

Sapphic Characters Tournament Bracket 4 Round 2 Masterpost

Clare Devlin vs Two

Alex Vause vs Grace Choi

Anne Lister vs Karen Walker

Shane McCutcheon vs Betty McRae

Van Palmer vs Callie Torres

Lucretia vs Martha Walker

Jade Claymore vs Veronica Fisher

Petra Solano vs River Song

[love-pinups]

[patroclusdefencesquad]

there are two wolves inside of you. one is obsessed with the starz tv show black sails and it's complex characters, incredible and nuanced writing, and highlighting and condemning of issues that still affect modern society. the other is obsessed with the starz tv show spartacus and it's poor writing and terrible effects because heehee gay gladiator boyfriends!! the wolves live in harmony because gay rights

[craig-parker-cravings]

Character Comparisons

Haldir the good guy and Darken Rahl the bad guy, both in red cloaks and very similar scenes

2. Gaius Glaber and Darken Rahl, both baddies revealed under black cloaks

[shrimpschips]

Continually baffled by the complete dearth of official black sails merch. Like spartacus had multiple novelizations and a video game, but Starz couldn't even be bothered to make fucking tshirt for black sails