#i think he's supposed to represent our own universe and provide commentary on how to support and uplift our communities

[eobarried]

i think that when we talk about earth 42 miles morales, there’s more important things to consider than just “is he a villain or a hero” and here’s why:

1. disregarding thematic elements, let’s look at things logically first. og miles and 42 miles diverge when the spider bites. that means that BOTH of them were accepted to visions academy (we see this in one of spot’s flashbacks to the spider, where it was about to bite 42 miles). 42 miles wouldn’t have been accepted to visions if his father had died already, bc it’s a boarding school and his mom would have wanted him to stay at home. at this point, they have a similar starting point

2. 42 miles attending visions (likely briefly), is important and thematic. visions academy, as a prestigious charter school focusing on academics, represents being a productive asset (being a good student, good employee, working WITH the system). it is presented by miles’s parents as opposite to uncle aaron, who disregards this traditional approach to success in a capitalist society.  actually, the fact that 42 miles was almost bitten while he was in school (as opposed to og miles, who was bitten while he was with his uncle aaron), thematically aligns 42 miles more with his father than his uncle aaron. this is important, because jefferson believes in the american dream and proving one’s self through merit. if 42 miles believes that, it means he has a different viewpoint than og miles, who believes that everyone is deserving of greatness.

3. stereotypes are important in this movie. let’s talk about miguel now. he specifically calls og miles an anomaly. an anomaly doesn’t mean a “universe breaking threat” - if you’ve read anything scp related, anomalies are just things that are strange. they don’t fit in or make sense within the universe. in this sense, the universe is the “canon” - the fact that miguel uses that word is a clue that what miles doesn’t fit into is not only the “storyline associated with spiderman” but also “the storyline associated with a young black man.”

4. when we look at og miles as a spider-person, the “storyline” he refuses to fit into has to do with loss and struggle. everyone around him says: you are spiderman. spiderman has to experience loss, trauma, and pain in order to become a better hero. so you do too. thematically, this connects to miles as a young black man. people around him (like his school counselor) assume that he has to have experienced hardship and struggled in order to fit a certain mold. it calls back to they stereotypes we have surrounding black stories: that in order for them to do well in front of white audiences, that there has to be pain and suffering and hardship and loss. og miles rejects this stereotype and wants to “do his own thing” - tell an authentic story without reliance on pain and struggle. 

5. how does this connect to e42 miles? well, miguel says that 42 miles was supposed to be spiderman, not miles. that 42′s storyline is more stereotypical and fitting - both as a spiderman, but also as a young black man. this makes sense with what we see of him - he has lost his father, and had to drop out of a prestigious school to be with his mother. he was forced to grow up faster than miles - which is why he physically looks older (perhaps also referring to the fact that white people often overestimate the ages of black boys). even without becoming spiderman, his storyline is what a white audience would expect to see of a young black male protagonist. what miguel calls canon, we as audiences would call “stereotypical” “safe” or “expected.” these are stories we have seen over and over again (like spiderman) and that are familiar to us. they don’t make us question things. they don’t undermine our own beliefs and values. perhaps they present a sob story of a young man who was failed by the system (e42) or perhaps they’re the story of a young man who was able to pull himself up, and through effort and merit became what no one else thought he could be (og miles)

6. but, according to miguel’s logic, both miles have broken canon. og miles wasn’t supposed to have his story told in the first place. 42 miles was - but it hasn’t been. both miles have now broken canon, because neither of their stories are what they were supposed to be. we’ve seen the way in which miles broke canon - despite proving himself to be a competent spiderman, he’s still been rejected, breaking the mold of “young man who pulls himself up by earning himself a place in the american dream.” that can’t be his story, because it isn’t true - he didn’t pull himself up. he had a whole community of people - both spider and not - who helped him along the way. his story isn’t one of personal success, it’s a story about community.

7. and in order to solidify the themes surrounding these movies, that means that 42 miles has to have done something similar. but if 42 miles has similar beliefs to his father, that complicates things. if he believes that that a person’s worth is proven by merit, than he would resent miles for being bitten by his spider, because he knows that if he had that chance, he would have been just as good of a spiderman. and if he had been fated (or canon) to be bitten, then he would resent miles even more for taking that opportunity away from him. this is similar to visions academy - 42 miles won the lottery - he had luck. then he passed the entrance exam - he proved his merit. but circumstances meant he had to leave the school to take care of his mother, and he lost his chance to prove his worth to society. not only did he lose the opportunity to tell his story (he did not become spiderman, the movie isn’t “about” him), but in the world of the film, he’s unable to achieve greatness because not only was he unable to attend a prestigious school, but the community around him is now crime-ridden and crumbling because of his lack of opportunity.

8. miles would likely feel guilty about his opportunity, but also frustrated at the same time. why should their only be one spider between the two of them? why is there only one story that can be told? why is there only one version of the black experience that can be shared to a broader audience? why can’t he do both? 

9. what’s more important than 42 miles being a hero or a villain or whatever... is that he’s a person. he’s a kid, like og miles. he is miles - just like miles, he found someone that shouldn’t exist and immediately tied them to uncle aaron’s punching bag. yes, 42′s rope is stronger and his knots are tighter, but he’s still miles. and i think that hopefully, and i don’t know how everything will play out, but i really hope that through this story, 42 miles finds a way to understand and lift up his community on his own - in his own way. without the luck of a lottery or a spider bite. without a superhero swooping in to save the day. without having to prove himself through merit and claw himself out of a bad situation alone. but, like og miles - asking for help. admitting that he doesn’t know how to do these things, or fix his community. working together with those he loves to better the city that he loves. that - that’s what’s important about e42 miles. because he’s not just miles - he’s us. 

[violethowler]

Mixed Signals

As we near the end of this series of essays, I’d like to take the time to talk about something that I’ve been wanting to discuss in relation to the Kingdom Hearts series for a while. I briefly mentioned it in my previous essays but never went into detail because I figured some corners of the fandom would be unreceptive to discussion if I brought it up. But given how many times I have seen Kingdom Hearts fans praise this series for its lack of negative male stereotypes, I think it worthwhile to explore how the series handles gender norms in relation to the Heroine’s Journey. 

Maureen Murdock developed her template while working as a therapist with women in their 30s who had pursued careers in heavily male-dominated fields only to find themselves feeling burnt out and unfulfilled once they achieved their goals. A significant part of her inspiration for the Heroine’s Journey came from her patients describing how they had set out trying to achieve success in these environments by emulating the men in their life such as their fathers, while pushing away the influence of their mothers[1]. As such, deep down the themes of the Heroine’s Journey reflect on the struggles of someone who doesn’t meet the ideals of what society tells them a person of their gender is supposed to be and critique those gender norms. 

On a meta level, Kingdom Hearts represents a fusion of cultures, made from a collaboration between an American and a Japanese company. While there are a few places where the two cultures overlap in terms of gender norms, it isn’t a 1:1 comparison. Therefore, the gender norms of both cultures should be taken into account when analyzing how the portrayal of the two leads in Kingdom Hearts aligns with the critique of gender roles presented by the Heroine’s Journey. 

In terms of Japanese cultural norms, Sora’s emotional openness, compassion, optimism, and ability to easily form connections with others are fairly standard for male protagonists in Shonen stories[2]. However, following the first game in the series, the narrative begins to deconstruct this archetype over the course of Sora’s character arc. From KH2 onward we see him use his cheerfulness and optimism to hide his own insecurities and self-doubt. Our first introduction to his life on Destiny Islands depicts him competing with Riku in physical challenges, while the other kids talk about how much stronger than him Riku is, setting him up for a disproportionate focus on physical ability over emotional. This leads him to believe that he has no strength on his own and must rely on the power of his friends in order to be worthy of recognition and praise. 

Related to Sora’s insecurities about his own strength, one archetype found in both Japanese and American culture is that of the masculine protector. The idea that a man must be ready and able to physically defend the people he cares about from harm, often to the point of self-sacrifice. In fiction, this trope is most frequently employed with a character’s friends, siblings, or romantic partner. The gender of the protectee can vary depending on the story and their relation to the protagonist, but male heroes protecting female love interests is one of the most common ways I’ve seen this trope be expressed. 

Failure to uphold this ideal is commonly used as a source of angst for the male protagonist. Heroes who fit this mould are known to brood heavily if harm comes to their loved ones that they are unable to protect them from, and in some stories may be ridiculed or shamed by others around them. There are also variations where the hero’s inability to protect them is used as a source of angst for the protectee in addition to the main character. Common in stories where the one being protected is a friend, sibling, or love interest, some narratives will have the protectee react to the hero’s inability to protect them by deciding to “toughen up” so that they don’t need protection. 

As mentioned in my first essay, the protagonist of a Heroine’s Journey and their Animus are frequently depicted as two sides of the same coin, with shared core character traits that manifest in contrasting ways because of their different circumstances. At the start of the Kingdom Hearts series, both Sora and Riku have built their sense of self-worth around their ability to live up to this idealized protector archetype. Their insecurities stem from their perceived failure to adhere to that role, with each of them coming at it from a different direction. 

Being the older of the two, Riku is presented as physically stronger than Sora, something which the other kids on Destiny Islands make note of in the first game. Tidus talking about how, despite getting stronger, Sora is “still no match for Riku[3]” and that Kairi “can always count on him(Riku)[3]” frames Sora’s insecurity about wanting to be on equal footing with his Animus as being rooted in his perceived inability to fulfill social expectations.  

When they meet again in Traverse Town, Riku’s first on-screen reaction to how Sora has changed since they last saw each other is surprise and confusion at Sora being able to defeat threats like the Heartless on his own, indicating that the root of Riku’s insecurities - which Maleficent of course exploits - is his belief that the value Sora places on their bond is conditional on Riku being needed as a protector. If Sora can fill that role himself, then what purpose does Riku have? 

In keeping with how protagonists are usually depicted fulfilling this role to the point of self-sacrifice, Sora and Riku have both shown a tendency towards throwing themselves in front of an enemy attack to protect someone they care about, such as when Riku leaps in front of Xemnas’s aerial blade to defend Sora in the final boss fight of Kingdom Hearts II, or when Sora puts himself between Kairi and Terranort. Xigbar even comments on this tendency when he talks about how he doesn’t admire “one guy leaping into danger if it means someone else might have to jump in to save him.[4]” 

From the western perspective, one of the things that many English-speaking fans have praised the series for is its avoidance of negative stereotypes in the writing of its male characters. A common cultural attitude in the United States holds that a man must always be stoic and aloof with everyone but his romantic partner. That a man who is open with his emotions, especially if it involves crying, is weak and unmanly. That engaging in activities that society associates with women and femininity makes one less of a man. 

But Kingdom Hearts, from the point of view of western fans, rejects all of that. The writing of the series allows its male characters to express the full range and depth of their emotions and not once does the narrative ever frame them as weak or pathetic for it. None of the male leads are ever made fun of for crying or expressing vulnerability, and they never reject doing something simply for being “girly”. Not only that, but the arc being set up for Sora to learn to acknowledge and work through his insecurities and self doubts instead of hiding them as an allegory works as a direct rebuke of the idea that showing emotional vulnerability is somehow unmanly. 

On another layer, Sora’s arc can also be seen as a critique of the Japanese concept of Honne and tatemae. Tatemae (literal meaning: “built in front” or “facade”) is the behavior and attitude one presents to the public that conforms to the expectations of society in addition to the individual’s station and circumstances, while Honne (literal meaning: “true sound”) represents a person’s true opinions, which are kept hidden except from close friends and may or may not match their tatemae[5]. This can sometimes be used on a more interpersonal level to evade confrontation and avoid hurting others’ feelings, such as when someone says “we should hang out sometime” with no intention of doing but not wanting to hurt the other person’s feelings by admitting that they aren’t interested. 

The idea of keeping one’s true feelings separate from what one says in public fits with how characters in the Kingdom Hearts universe have been shown to hide their own inner darkness and in some cases deny that it’s there, which Xehanort took note of in his conversation with the Master of Masters in Re:Mind. We also have Donald and Goofy’s talk in the beginning about how the Gummi Ship “runs on happy faces[3]” instilling in Sora - despite their good intentions - the idea that his negative feelings about the destruction of his home are a burden to the trio’s ability to complete their mission. As a result, Sora continues to downplay his own sadness and other similar emotions across subsequent games. As a contrast to this, Esmeralda tells Riku in Dream Drop Distance that everyone keeps things locked inside sometimes and that it’s okay to keep some things separate from the world at large until they’ve had time to figure out their feelings for themselves. In this context, the version of tatemae that Donald and Goofy present ultimately causes more damage in the long run, while Esmeralda offers a healthier model of the concept. 

So from a Japanese perspective, the Kingdom Hearts story is deconstructing two common archetypes found in coming of age narratives aimed at pre-teen and teenage boys and at the same time offering a critique of a common cultural attitude about individual expression. Meanwhile from a western perspective, the series defies conventional norms of masculinity and male characters in fiction while also critiquing elements of those views at the same time. 

Both of these are perfectly in tune with how the Heroine’s Journey structure provides social commentary on gender and cultural norms.

The fact that the series challenges the audience's perception of gendered narrative archetypes and social norms from multiple perspectives is also reflected in how it mixes the symbolism associated with its two lead characters. For example, the series repeatedly presents canon Disney Princess romances as parallels to Sora and Riku, but which of the two corresponds to the Disney Prince and which one is the Princess varies from one game to the next: 

Sora acknowledges in the first game that like Ariel, he wants to explore the outside world. The same game also presents Ursula tricking Ariel into helping her as a parallel to Maleficent’s manipulation of Riku. 

Kingdom Hearts I presents the Beast as a parallel to Sora through their shared refusal to give up after being laid low by Riku upon their arrival at Hollow Bastion. Meanwhile in Kingdom Hearts II, the Beast is presented as a parallel to Riku, as mentioned in my previous essay. 

The first game parallels Sora to Aladdin through similar shots of the two calling out for Riku and Jasmine respectively as they are forced to flee the location of a boss fight (the Cave of Wonders for Aladdin, Monstro’s stomach for Sora). Kingdom Hearts II uses Aladdin avoiding Jasmine at the start of Sora’s first visit to Agrabah to parallel Riku avoiding Sora throughout KH2 as a whole. 

While not considered an *official* Disney Prince (he’s still unofficially marketed as one), Kingdom Hearts III connects Hercules diving into the River Styx to save Megara’s soul with Riku’s sacrifice for Sora at the Keyblade Graveyard. Meanwhile in KH2, Hercules’s attempts to hide how exhausted he is trying to meet everyone’s expectations greatly resembles Sora hiding his doubts and insecurities. 

The fluidity of which one corresponds to the Disney Prince and which one is the Princess in these parallels also carries over to other narrative symbols. In visual mediums, the protagonist and Animus of a Heroine’s Journey are frequently depicted with a Yin and Yang motif - light and dark in balance with each other. In visual depictions of the concept of Yin and Yang, Yin is the black side - representing darkness and associated with femininity - while Yang is the white side - representing light and associated with masculinity[6]. Visual depictions of Yin and Yang use the Moon to symbolize Yin and the sun to represent Yang. Many visuals include an opposite color dot in the middle of each side, representing how the two forces balance each other out - there is darkness within light and light within darkness, so to speak. 

The depiction of Yin as darkness with an inner light aligns with Riku’s character arc over the course of the series, but Sora is the one associated with moon imagery. Meanwhile, Yang being the light with a bit of darkness inside matches how Sora is on the path toward learning to acknowledge the darkness in his own heart, but Riku, who walks the “Road to Dawn[7].” is the one visually connected to the sun. Even in other pairs that have narrative parallels to Sora and Riku, the Yin-Yang motif differs from conventional depictions. Instead of the typical male Yang and female Yin, Yozora and Nameless star’s Yin-Yang motif has the gendered colors reversed. Nameless star is dressed all in white with dark hair, while Yozora wears dark clothes and has lighter hair. 

This kind of fluidity in terms of symbolism and narrative parallels is perfect for a Heroine’s Journey. Many stories that follow the formula symbolically associate the male love interest with the archetypal damsel in distress, with the female protagonist being cast as the knight in shining armor heroically storming the castle in order to free them. But in the context of a Heroine’s Journey that is setting up a same-gender romance with two male leads, it adds an additional layer of meaning: 

A well known stereotype involving same-sex couples is that their roles in the relationship will be exactly the same as the roles that society associates with an opposite-sex pair, with one always corresponding to the “female” role and the other to the “male” one. The Uke/Seme trope common in fanfiction from the early 2000s is a notable example of this. By presenting a romantic relationship between two male leads where the symbolism and narrative parallels are framed in a way that depicts the implied gender roles as constantly being in flux, the narrative sends a message that people are too complicated and flexible for every romantic relationship to fit into the same rigidly defined roles.

In conclusion, the depiction of Sora and Riku both as individuals and as a developing romantic relationship is consistent with how the Heroine’s Journey challenges gender and cultural norms from the perspective of two different cultures. By following this narrative framework, the Kingdom Hearts series deconstructs gendered narrative archetypes from both Japan and the United States, reflecting its origins as a crossover between franchises popular in each country. 

Sources:

[1] The Heroine’s Journey; Maureen Murdock; 1990. 

[2] TV Tropes; Stock Shonen Hero; https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StockShonenHero

[3] Kingdom Hearts; Square Enix; 2002. 

[4] Kingdom Hearts III; Square Enix; 2019. 

[5] Wikipedia - Honne and tatemae https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honne_and_tatemae

[6] Wikipedia; Yin and Yang https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yin_and_yang

[7] Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories; Square Enix; 2004. 

[kcwcommentary]

VLD4x04 – “The Voltron Show!”

4x04 – “The Voltron Show!”

Well, this episode exists.

Coran’s big screaming rant before the Paladins’ final performance is something. I think it reveals a lot about what Joaquim Dos Santos and Lauren Montgomery were like as executive producers. There is a toxicity that has seeped into this show so significantly that Coran’s big rant, and a couple other moments before that too, are filled with a lot of the same public complaints about the show’s production that we’ve gotten from the EPs in interviews.

The idea that this show just didn’t have the time to show us how events affect characters is discredited by the existence of episodes like this one. I don’t see what this episode adds to the show. We have already seen the Paladins engaging in performances to try to convince planets to join the Coalition back in 4x01 “Code of Honor,” and this episode feels like repeating that story, which wasn’t even a good story to begin with.

Near the beginning of the episode, Voltron is used to help build/repair a hospital on some planet. Elite fighting unit Voltron is doing the work of building a hospital? Shouldn’t this be something that the people on this planet already did themselves? Even if the hospital is to treat war veterans, as Coran says, I would think building it would be something that Coalition members could do as part of their contribution, not something Voltron itself would be assigned to. As I’ve said in previous commentaries, this season feels so casual compared to the past three.

Coran has provided the Paladins with a script for them to perform for the hospital’s patients. Reading the script, Pidge says, “This isn’t even factually accurate.” Coran replies, “Well, this is the legend of Voltron, not the documentary of Voltron.” In other words, it’s propaganda. I don’t think producing and manipulating people with propaganda is a heroic thing to do, so it’s offensive that this show has our supposed heroes doing it. Coran tells Allura that she’s going to be playing Keith. That Allura is weirdly angry, growling and distorting her face as the camera zooms in on her, is proof that the writers of this show did not write these characters to be friends. Keith’s absence here would be the perfect moment for the characters to express some sadness that he’s not there and worry about his safety. Instead, the episode has Allura annoyed that she even has to think about him and none of the other Paladins say anything about Keith at all. “Besides, playing Keith is easy: just act really moody.” Because that’s all Keith is? It seems like another instance of the show’s writers’ concept of characterization as being nothing but single bullet-points.

Coran’s script has Voltron having to “save the helpless Princess Allura.” Because it’s funny for Coran to reduce her into a helpless damsel? Taking away her power and agency for Coran’s story is going to cause the audience they’re performing for to feel empowered and inspired to join the Coalition? “Thank you, team, for always being by my side through thick or thin,” Shiro reads from his script. Too bad there are moments throughout this show where they’re not. Anyone who had been in their audience left during it. Lance wants to get back to air shows with explosions.

Once Coran is alone, one patient comes back in: the Unilu shopkeeper in 2x07 “Space Mall.” He offers some device that he describes as a “mind enhancer.” They negotiate in the same style that they did in “Space Mall.” I liked it back in that episode, and on its own I like this second round of it, but it feels out of place.

The next planet Voltron goes to for their performance is one where they have terrible weather on every day except one. I guess it works as a joke, but it’s certainly not realistic. They’re a day late, and the weather is bad again. Coran says he “forgot to calculate for time dilation.” This show has never included the issue of time dilation in the show’s methods of interstellar travel before. In space-based science fiction, ignoring time dilation while travelling at high speed is a conceit I’m willing to use. But if this show is going to reference it, then they need to actually use it in every instance in which it would be an issue, but they don’t. They only want it briefly to be used as a punchline to a joke here. Sigh.

Lance says to Coran, “I don’t know if you’re cut out to be managing this sort of thing.” Well, since the show had him do so back at the beginning of the season, the idea that he can’t now is baffling. Out of every main character, Coran is the one who’s been shown to be most capable of handling the stress of keeping everything running. This episode takes one of his characteristics, one of his strengths, and suddenly pretends it doesn’t exist.

So, he effectively uses performance enhancing drugs by placing the thing he bought from the Unilu guy under his pillow, which turns out to house some slug-like creature that crawls into Coran’s ear while he’s sleeping. Coran never reacts to the pain of something that large crawling into his ear. And the slug keeps going, somehow getting into Coran’s brain. Now, Coran is not human, so maybe one can get into an Altean’s brain through their ear, I doubt it, but maybe. I don’t buy whatsoever that this whole process is painless though.

They return to the mall. Coran behaves very oddly. Pidge picks up on it, but no one backs her up and everyone just goes along with it. It seems the writer and director intend his behavior to be funny, but I don’t find any of this funny at all. Nor do I find this performance of the Paladins funny either. The small audience that gathers around the performance applauds, one guy wants to join the Coalition. Seriously, this is the best use of an elite combat unit’s time? In this very episode, they’ve made a point that their recruitment efforts have been on planetary and solar system level of scale, and here they’re targeting individuals? Building a coalition on scale to fight a universe-spanning empire would be about diplomatic work with governmental leaders. This plot acts like building alliances to fight a war is done through commercial marketing.

They then head to another planet, and yet again this show doesn’t have a planet shaped like planets are shaped. This time, it looks like a twisted pickle or baguette. Sigh. It’s Bii-Boh-Bi’s planet. I really do not like Bii-Boh-Bi, nor his species. The show clearly thinks they’re funny, but I don’t find a single thing about them funny. This time, the Paladins’ show has them all ice skating. “Does anybody feel kind of stupid right now?” Hunk asks. I know exactly how you feel right now, Hunk.

After the performance, Coran gives a presentation. “I’ve worked up very specific personas for each of you. This is going to help the audience connect on a much deeper level with each team member. There’s Lover Boy Lance. […] Science Wiz Pidge. […] Lone Wolf Keith […]. Hunk, from now on, you’ll be Humerous Hunk. And last, but not least, Shiro the Hero.” With this scene, it seems like the writers of this show know that they are way too often reductive of characters to a single characteristic, so why don’t they fix that in their writing then?

They perform again on the Bii-Boh-Bi planet. If the goal is reaching a lot of different people in the universe, why are they performing multiple times for one planet? Coran, to supposedly help Hunk be funny, has Hunk purposefully tripped because nothing says funny like hurting someone. And then Coran adds fart sound effects. I’m not going to pretend that a fart sound can’t be funny, but this is just Coran being mean.

Shiro, at least briefly, remembers that they’re supposed to be helming a war effort, and he wants to give a speech about it during the performance. Coran literally tells Shiro to “stop talking. You’re Shiro the Hero. Heroes don’t speak. […] Muscles speak louder than words.” Ugh.

Later, Pidge talks to Coran. “I’m having real issues with the science you put in the script. It doesn’t make sense.” Coran responds, “It doesn’t need to.” This episode is so meta and self-referential. It’s like the writers of Voltron Legendary Defender are condescendingly mocking their viewers. So VLD’s writers know how their writing is bad, they just don’t want to do anything to make it better and resent anyone expecting them to do so.

They perform a third show on Bii-Boh-Bi’s planet, and maybe a fourth.

Coran wants to change their show some more. He wants Voltron to talk. He wants “new weapons and new outfits.” Shiro counters that they only have one performance left, this one is going to be broadcast at least on galactic scale (which tells me these previous performances on Bii-Boh-Bi’s planet were just for Bii-Boh-Bi’s people). The slug in Coran’s brain does whatever and Coran starts freaking out even more. He has a face of rage, but everyone is unnaturally chill. Yes, Coran’s freakout is being played for humor by the show, but it’s disturbing seeing everyone not reacting with a proportionate response to his behavior.

Allura says, “You must realize that we need to get back to fighting Zarkon.” Funny, I’ve been saying that this whole season. Coran screams at Allura, “We are fighting Zarkon, six nights a week and twice on the astral conflux.” It feels like the writers are aware of how bad what they’ve written this season is but that they think it’s unreasonable for anyone to complain about it being badly written.

Coran continues to scream, no one reacts the way someone would react if they were being screamed at. “You’re a bunch of quitters. Quitters. I’m a visionary. I have thoughts. Ideas. I don’t need you anyway. I’ll rewrite the show. Get rid of the whole lot of you. Replace you with new Paladins. And the show will be better than ever before. Except for you Shiro. I’ll never get rid of you. You’re our most popular character.”

What the…?

So, if Coran is supposed to represent the Executive Producers of Voltron Legendary Defender venting their frustrations about executive interference keeping them from doing anything and everything they want with the show, then this is not a flattering representation. We’ve had interviews with Joaquim Dos Santos and Lauren Montgomery now in which they’ve let us know that they had wanted to replace characters. For example, they wanted to kill Hunk and have Axca take over his spot as the Yellow Paladin. And they notoriously wanted to kill off Shiro multiple times but have said they were told they had to bring him back. Literally written into Coran’s dialog are the EP’s complaints about having to keep Shiro in the show.

I don’t know how this episode didn’t get Dos Santos and Montgomery fired. They literally wrote their problems with working for Dreamworks and with WEP into the show’s dialog. It’s like this episode exists for the sole purpose of having this rant by Coran. They took a whole episode’s time to put their whining complaints about making the show into the show itself. When you are putting any behind-the-scenes production drama into the show on purpose, you are demonstrating a severely dysfunctional creative process and work environment.

Allura briefly is “concerned about Coran” but she never acts out of her concern. Hunk is fully dismissive of Coran’s behavior as being nonimportant; friends do not so easily ignore the obvious sign a friend needs help, but they do here on VLD.

While the Paladins are about to go on stage, Coran returns to another planet and gets the big animal that lives there to have it attack the Paladins during the performance. I guess the Paladins didn’t notice Coran taking the Castle Ship and leaving them on Bii-Boh-Bi’s planet? People throughout the universe watch the broadcast. A Galra, who I think is the mallcop from “Space Mall,” is playing with Paladin action figures while watching. The mermaids from 2x02 “The Depths” are also shown to be watching; I don’t know why they specifically were chosen to be shown.

They form Voltron as part of the performance, and then Coran tries to use the creature to attack Voltron, but he gets thrown off as the creature chases the lighting effects around the stadium. The creature nearly kills members of the audience before Voltron can grab it. This creature can shoot rings of explosive energy from its mouth. Sigh.

Coran experiences some intense pain, finally, from having a slug leeching onto his brain. He asks Bii-Boh-Bi to help him, and Bii-Boh-Bi literally reaches into Coran’s ear and pulls the slug off his brain. This episode is absolutely ridiculous. One, that Bii-Bo-Bi jumps to the conclusion that the problem is the slug, but even more so, that he can reach in Coran’s ear and get to his brain. Free from the brainworm, Coran tells the Paladins, who, given their dialog, hadn’t already figured out that the creature was not a special effect. They lure the creature away and the performance is suddenly over.

Coran later apologizes. Shiro says “the Coalition is bigger than ever.” There has been no diplomatic meeting, no writing or signing any treaties, nothing that would be actual indicators of the development of the Coalition. This show has used those indicators before, like when the five alien leaders met for a diplomatic dinner on the Castle Ship in 3x01 “Changing of the Guard.”

I can’t think of any reason for this episode to exist. It doesn’t do anything to advance the plot. It doesn’t give any big exploration of character. It’s not even slightly funny. The only thing I can think of is that this whole episode was done so the EPs could write their frustrations with their job into the show.

Part of why I originally became interested in Voltron Legendary Defender is because so many of those who worked on Avatar The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra were working on this show. I thought the quality of storytelling in those shows would carry over to VLD. Going into VLD, I had respect for Dos Santos, Montgomery, and Tim Hedrick because they came from those shows. I didn’t realize until really recently that Joshua Hamilton wrote for AtLA and Korra too, so I should include him in this list too. But VLD is nowhere even remotely as well written as AtLA and Korra. For AtLA, I now give a lot, if not most, of the credit to Aaron Ehasz. I’m loving what he’s doing currently with The Dragon Prince. But I also have to give a lot of credit to Mike DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. Whatever good work Dos Santos, Montgomery, Hedrick, and Hamilton did for AtLA and Korra, it’s because they had better bosses. With VLD, Dos Santos and Montgomery became the bosses, and I primarily blame them for the problems with the storytelling of this show.

I can’t get over that this episode literally puts the EPs public complaints and claims about executive interference into the characters’ dialog. Like I said earlier, I’m surprised they didn’t get fired for this.

[republicstandard]

The Standard Conversation: YouTuber 'The Iconoclast'

The Iconoclast is a content creator and now hard copy magazine publisher from the north of England. His growth since beginning his channel a year ago has been nothing short of meteoric, having just passed 60,000 subscribers. His videos make insightful commentary on politics, demographics, Islam and Western culture.

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RS: What led you to start your YouTube Channel?

My friend and I, both avid viewers of other YouTube channels at the time, would sit in the pub and rant about politics every day. We'd talk about the latest content creator we'd discovered and recommend channels to each other. One day my friend told me I should start a channel of my own, considering I have a background in video production and an endless supply of obnoxious opinions on the world. I kept making excuses not to do it though as I was still pursuing various things in my “real life”, and I knew starting a channel of that nature could jeopardize those ambitions. Well, to make a long story short, those other plans fell flat on their arse, and suddenly I had nothing to lose. I started making videos slowly and enjoyed the feeling of finally being able to get so much off my chest, as there was nobody in my life (other than my mate) who aligned with me politically, and I always felt as though I needed to keep my head down and mouth shut for fear of social exclusion. Soon enough, an audience began to grow, and here we are.

RS: What's the purpose of 'The Iconoclast' as a name? Why not go public?

I knew I'd be discussing controversial topics on my channel, so I felt having an internet moniker was the safest way to go. Also, just from a production standpoint, having my face on screen wouldn't really add anything to the content. I know a lot of people enjoy getting to know the personalities behind the YouTube channel, and there will be a day where I appear as myself, but I didn't want to make my channel about me. Plus, The Iconoclast is just a cool name in general.

RS: White genocide is real. How do you see the next 30 years or so playing out? Is there a way back for The West?

Despite the depressing nature of the topics I cover in my videos, deep down I am an optimist. Hard to believe, but it's true. Sometimes my optimism gets severely tested (most days) but I truly think the European people have the will to survive. I don't think this survival process is going to be pretty though- I think we're in for some really rough times, but that was always going to be the case when you have a political class who routinely ignore and talk down to the people they're supposed to represent. Eventually, the populations of Europe will have no choice but to take matters into their own hands, and in some respects, they're already starting to do so. The dramatic rise of populist movements across the continent, as well as street protest groups, signals a Europe-wide mentality shift. If our leaders don't take this seriously, they will be replaced.

RS: Your channel has exploded in popularity. Any ideas why that is?

Authenticity. I think people can see that I'm just a normal person trying to make sense of what's going on and they identify with that. I don't try to put on a performance with my videos, I just present the information and give my opinion. Pretty simple. Of course, I try to keep my production standards high, which is part of the reason why I'm not an every day uploader, but I believe in quality over quantity. I'll never make a video where I talk down to my audience, and I'll freely admit when I'm unsure on something. Some YouTubers go out of their way to let you know how many books they're currently reading, or which online course they're taking in an attempt to paint themselves as some sort of expert – I'm not interested in that. I also stay away from YouTube “drama”, and I know my audience appreciates it.

Or subscribe to me instead. https://t.co/CenDlM5ARe

— The Iconoclast (@IconoclastPig) February 14, 2018

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RS: Brexit is going ahead -slowly. Do you think the British political elite are capable of delivering on their obligations?

I think they're capable but it's clear they don't want to. Like I said earlier, our political class regularly ignores the concerns of the public, and even when we had a majority of the country vote to leave the EU, they're still trying to derail the process. It's quite amazing actually, these people constantly blow hot air when they talk about “British values”, but here they are blatantly trying to reverse democracy. Not all of our politicians are bad, however, I'm a big fan of Jacob Rees-Mogg, and I hope he takes some inspiration from House Of Cards and positions himself as the new Prime Minister pretty soon. But the fact remains, the majority of our elected officials hold the British people in contempt. Brexit is up in the air right now. I think we'll end up completely crumbling and getting some bullshit half-in half-out sort of deal with the EU, which would mean we'd effectively still be inside it. But you never know, we may be pleasantly surprised (although I doubt it).

RS: Is there a peaceful way to resolve the problems (rape gangs, jihad, Islamisation) posed by large Muslim communities in the United Kingdom?

Unfortunately, I don't think so. Ten years ago, maybe. Now we've allowed things to go too far. Our immigration system is broken, our police are cowards, and our left-wing press tries desperately to cover up crimes committed by certain demographics. After every terror attack the narrative is “Don't be Islamophobic!”, after every new rape gang that's discovered it's “White people rape girls too!”, instead of tackling the problem of jihad we should really be concerned with “far-right terrorism” etc. To be honest I'm shocked things haven't kicked off already! After the Rotherham scandal was made public, I thought for sure people were going to lose their cool. Maybe it's the typical British attitude of rolling with the punches, or that stupid slogan “Keep calm and carry on”, but there's only so much people can take. If the government are really so concerned about revenge attacks against UK Muslims, they need to sort out the core problems associated with it - end Islamic immigration, deport those who don't have legal rights to be here, end foreign funding of mosques, and police Muslim neighbourhoods properly. But like I said, as of now things are looking grim. Purely from a demographics standpoint, many cities across the UK will be majority Muslim in the near future. Most of the school kids in Birmingham are Islamic. Even my small town in the north is starting to experience Muslim immigration. My local city recently had a rape gang scandal hit the news. Things are bad. Of course we'd all like to avoid blood running through the streets, but the way successive British governments have continuously brushed this problem under the rug, a boiling point is simply unavoidable.

RS: America is seeing a growth of motivated and often violent leftist groups in response to Donald Trump. Have you noticed anything similar in the UK post-Brexit vote?

They exist but they're nowhere near the level of ANTIFA in the US. Our leftists spend more time crying on the floor than punching people. Although recently we had a small group of them crash a Jacob Rees-Mogg speaking event at a university, but the only thing that happened there was a bit of shoving and pushing. If you're asking me whether the potential is there for these groups to grow and get violent, I'd say definitely, but as of now, they're relatively tame.

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RS: You've made the decision to publish a magazine to accompany your YouTube Channel- what led to that?

To put it simply, The Iconoclast magazine is a platform for regular people to express themselves politically. It's an open-submission format where I encourage people to come out of their shell and talk about what's on their mind. I don't agree with all the opinions I decide to publish, but I think that's important. There were a few reasons why I started it.

As amazing as the internet is, I've always sort of resented it for damaging physical media. One of my favorite things to do when I was younger was to spend my Friday nights at the video rental store picking a selection of films to watch, then I'd go next door to order a pizza, and my night was all set. I know these days you can fire up Netflix at the touch of a button, but to me, that only means you can discard media just as quickly as you can acquire it. Back in the day you had to commit to your choices because you had to invest so much more time and effort. I wanted to bring a sense of that back. Having something “real” you can hold in your hands creates a sense of legitimacy. I also didn't want to get trapped in a small little corner of YouTube, because in the grand scheme of things it's actually not that influential. There are so many people out there who are just as politically frustrated as the rest of us, but they have no connection to the YouTube sphere at all. We need to reach these people, and I've found one of the best ways to do so is by putting physical media out into the world. So The Iconoclast magazine aims to bring a wide range of political and cultural essays to people in a different format. I get a lot of messages from readers who tell me they've let older family members borrow the magazine and they now watch my content (and others) on YouTube. The writers and contributors to the mag are normal people from all over the world who desperately want to express themselves, but aren't comfortable with video production, or prefer the pure anonymity and freedom writing can provide. If a magazine like The Iconoclast was around before I started my own channel, I think I would have contributed to it myself.

Sometimes I look at other YouTubers who have 10 times my audience, and I imagine to myself “God if I had that many subscribers I'd have done this, this and this”. I don't think people are taking enough risks. YouTube provides a false sense of comfort and security for a lot of creators and they stop pushing themselves. I wanted to try new things, get into different mediums, and actually try to influence things and people in the “real world”. Whether my magazine does that effectively in the future, I'll have to wait and see, but it's a start. The enthusiasm from my audience for the first edition was off the charts, and I only hope the project continues to grow and I can build something really impressive and exciting.

RS: Best of luck with your career- keep fighting the good fight. Thanks for your time.

The next issue of Iconoclast Magazine will be released in early March and will be available to buy in physical form as well as digital. You can subscribe to The Iconoclast YouTube channel here.

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