this explains so much of the discomfort i've been sitting with since episode 4.

Lovecraft Country was Great Until it Wasn’t: From Sundown to A History of Violence by @TheDaniBethea https://link.medium.com/46TX78INA9 

it's also extremely telling how the next episode kinda doubled down on some queerphobic tropes/subtle queerphobia re: Montrose and the stiletto scene.

Ruby's revenge wasn't triumphant. Especially because it didn't feel like it was all for Tamara.

Why was sodomy her chosen method of revenge? why were both scenes containing anal penetration so /violent/? (something @artsy_allen helped me realize as well). I felt extreme discomfort while watching Montrose's sex scene.

tbh all the sex in the show past the first episode has been violent in some way. It's interesting how the only non-violent sex scene was alluded to and not shown. And yes I'm counting Leti and Tic's scenes. Their dynamic is unhealthy as hell and I hope it's addressed.

I'm also really not trying to see the kill your gays shit happen in this series cause (as the article references) we're already falling into some v white patriarchial tropes given Yahima's handling and the not-so-subtle homophobia in the museum scene between Tic and Tree.

And that would really fucking suck considering everything else that's happened. I'm still excited for this next episode but I'm not sure how Yahima especially slipped through the cracks in addition to the rest of the queerphobia and antisemitism I'm realizing w the help of

another article I'm reading .

https://www.jta.org/2020/09/01/culture/hbos-lovecraft-country-contains-a-plot-point-that-resembles-an-age-old-anti-semitic-lie-why

for my future reference: sammy is the name of montrose's boo thang.

If either Sammy or Montrose die, I'mma be the fuck over it. Especially Sammy since Montrose is still a more developed character who's done some shitty things and is not /just/ the queer character

however, I'd hate for them to kill off a deeply complex queer character nonetheless.

I don't expect the show to be free from homophobia and queerphobia bc of the setting/time period but if a show's whole goal is to challenge white supremacist notions of reality, ion think it's too much to ask that the showrunners not subject characters to certain tropes

liiiike we can talk about the fear/lack of understanding in the western idea of transness/non-binarism without adding an indigenous character whose identity rejects colonial perceptions and definitions of gender and sexuality just to kill them off ten minutes later.

We can discuss internalized homophobia and comphet without featuring a violent sex scene between two queer characters to showcase Montrose's inability to accept his sexuality. His refusal to kiss Sammy did that.

I do, however, appreciate the way Montrose didn't say a word throughout his arc. It was beautiful. The ending was gorgeous.

I also appreciate Leti and Tic taking the back seat in that past episode, but their scenes still said A LOOOOOT to me about their dynamic. I fear that Leti is trying to fix Tic as he struggles with his more ~violent~ side and the scene with the baseball bat and the sex scene soon

after kinda solidified that fear for me. I wonder what the writers are going to do with that in the next 3 episodes.

https://www.vulture.com/article/lovecraft-country-recap-season-1-episode-5-strange-case.html

so like there's major dr. jekyll/mr. hyde connections (hence the title of the ep and the writer of this article points out ruby and william but also tic and montrose. omg tic is mr. hyde this episode! i'm real nervous for where leti and tic are going lol

anyways, these are the ramblings of miss Deja between 1 and 3 in the morning. I think I'mma do this instead of actually reading my TL from now on ~

also in the comments for the recap i linked, people are like "Why aren't you this mad about Uncle George??" like..fam, mans was a fleshed-out, cis male character, not a random mystic indigenous, intersex character they inserted for "representation" to kill off 10 minutes later.

whose body was treated as a spectacle when it was shown. keeping Yahima around (or lowkey, better yet, the writers sticking to the rivers and lakes that they're used to and not including them since they didn't know how) wouldn't have taken anything away from the show lol

their deaths are not the same at all. I'm sad about Uncle George but the violence of his death started and ended with the bullet deposited into his stomach by the white man. Yahima's death showcases violence that exists outside of the LC universe.

More on Yahima, a thread: https://twitter.com/johnniejae/status/1303115641738592257?s=20

at this point, this thread is just me chronicling my opinions of the show so i'mma just be referencing other threads for my sake: https://twitter.com/courtdanee2/status/1305590808037466113?s=20

this is now my diary on #LovecraftCountry

I also went on IMDb and saw that Sammy's actor is only credited in 3 episodes and I believe episode 5 was his third episode so that's all we get. a violent sex scene and a kiss. hm.

anywhoo gonna watch episodes 1-5 and take notes cause hyperfocusing on this is the only thing that doesn't make my head hurt

courtney vance is credited with five episodes though! so maaybee we see him again? I'm not trying to dig too deep into imdb and spoil things. esp cause hippolyta and dee are credited with 8

but they were v absent from episode 5

another thing! mute this thread cause the way my brain is set up rn, I'm gonna be on one til I literally can't keep my eyes open

the only fully dark-skinned romantic pairing got snatched from us in episode two and that was the only "healthy" couple if we ignore the implication of uncle George stepping out on Hippolyta

which we obviously can't because that's a big ass lie

re-watched episode five for things I missed. I wonder if the manager came onto ruby as hillary bc she had a little oomph the other yt women didn't have (cause of her Blackness) . especially cause they laughed when she even suggested he got fresh

they could've also been nervously laughing since she was a higher up but they were also comfy w her so idk

I have thoughts to articulate at probably 3am cause.. hm.

I don't feel great after that episode~

I need to rewatch but i have some questions..

who was the dark skinned Black woman in Tic's future?

am I supposed to like anybody other than Leti, Hippolyta, and Dee right now?

is this show going to find the thread it lost in episode 4?

was the quote about flawed stories foreshadowing for the way the writing is currently set up? cause..

I'm leaving room and grace as usual for the show to be imperfect because not everyone can be fully aware of everything and missteps occur. h o w e v e r, there have been some p big missteps.

like Tic is lowkey not even partially sympathetic anymore.

the Judy Garland interview was v powerful though. I enjoyed that part of the episode the most.

and I'll admit, the scene where Ji-Ah forgives Tic melted my heart some but the way it hardened when we see Tic torturing her friend? like how am I supposed to feel about Tic?

his behavior is unnerving from episode 4 on and the women in the show are HIGH KEY letting shit slide cause these little conversations aren't even saying or doing much for me cause he's barely being held accountable.

this is not saying the women he's interacting w need to be or are responsible for him doing better.

they just seem to always be the ones who help him stop feeling guilty about the shitty things he keeps doing.

imma say this tho:

I'm really not trying to see that nigga in the next episode. I know THAT much

it's interesting that the show is capable of spending an entire episode mainly focused on a character who hasnt been central to the plot so far, and her inclusion didn't take away from the other characters

it's almost as if all those comments I saw about Yahima were baseless and ze could've been included for more than ten fucking minutes.

anyway I actually think I hate episode six. I don't hate it more than episode five. I just hate it for different reasons. mainly bc of Tic + seeing the difference in story telling between episode 4 and this one.

time to come back to this thread. this is a major reason why I haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaated the scene in which Christina decides to get murdered like Emmett Till to understand. https://twitter.com/HoodSocialism/status/1313887205832749056?s=19

and it's not lost on me that after all that happened, after she dragged herself out of the water, she laughed.

but I think it's lost on others. that wasn't a good scene. period. it was distasteful if we're being honest.