Jason Momoa featured in TV Guide (includes PHOTO)

[wraithfodder]

Jason Momoa of Stargate Atlantis is featured on page 10 of the U.S. June 23rd TV GUIDE on 'top 10 breaking news.' However, most of us know that Jason .... oh, hmm, just in case, under the cut!

Yes, he cut his dreads but his head and neck were hurting from the weight of the dreads. He added that all that hair kept him from wearing a bike helmet and kept ruining his balance on a surfboard. Eek! but SciFi execs didn't want him to cut it so now he's got a wig.

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Comments

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, he looks well, yes, HOT, with the short hair! ;) Gah, I love your kitty LJ icon :)

[vecturist.livejournal.com]

I think he looks a bit younger without the dreads. I can imagine they were a literal pain in the neck for stunt work as well. Still I kind of wish SciFi had let him lose the dreads - kind of screwed up a potential storyline.

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

I think if Ronon lost them in a rather traumatic way, it could work for the show, but then he wouldn't look so... alien?

[belisse.livejournal.com]

he looks even hotter without the dreads. OMG

*drools*

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

Be nice to see some publicity photos with Jason with that hair.

[leesa_perrie]

Sci-fi should have let him get rid of them! There was a scene written, and from what I can gather it would have fitted the episode perfectly.

Did you know they weigh something like 6lbs?

Apparently they were causing a kind of whiplash effect when he did action and/or fighting scenes. Still do I guess, seeing as he now has to wear a wig.

Stupid sci-fi. Ronon without dreads is fine. We fans would have coped I'm sure! And there was going to be a very good character reason for them going...

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

It would be like having my cat (several years back) perpetually stuck on my head, so I can understand why he'd want to get rid of them. However, alas, Skiffy execs probably figure the viewers would freak (or maybe they remember what happened when Tyr clipped his locks on ANDROMEDA!)

Maybe in a future episode, mutant rats can gnaw off the dreads when he's trapped somewhere... *cough*

[toomanysides.livejournal.com]

hotttt

[strange-magic.livejournal.com]

It's not really a wig, I mean they are still "his" dreads. When they cut them off, they saved them and just reattached them for the show. :)
he's still hot either way though.

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

Yeah, so he's right back where he started from! Yes, need some mutant critters to eat 'em.

[kadja83.livejournal.com]

O.O No comment T.T
Why Ronon Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy T-T............

[pisces227.livejournal.com]

I read that at first they attached his old dreads but it was very time consuming so they finally opted to make a wig for him instead. I kinda like the short hair.

Mutant rats indeed! I like that idea.

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

Mutant rats... squirrels on crack. Wraith-mutated bollweevils... any would work for me ;)

[melibabe.livejournal.com]

I think I remember reading that they (Bridge) had a scene planned where he lost the dreads, but TPTB at SciFi nixed it. Pthbt on them. I think that would have been a lovely potentially angst-y scene. :)

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Ronon was gonna hack 'em off out of spite to his captors or something like that, but, oh well, Skiffy execs....

[abracah.livejournal.com]

Oh my!! He almost looks more dangerous without the dreads!!!

I still can't what their reasoning is behind making him keep them. I would lay bets that he will leave the show if picked up for season 6, just so he won't have to wear them anymore.

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

Gee, hope not!

[shansgrl.livejournal.com]

I still think he looks just as fierce without the dreads. (Not to mention HAWT!) Too bad Sci-Fi won't let Ronon get rid of his dreads.

hair is a big issue.

[delux-vivens.livejournal.com]

Here's an example of what can happen when people decide dreadlocks are scary, bad, or otherwise inappropriate. (http://delux-vivens.livejournal.com/625689.html).

There's a reason those comments touched such a strong nerve for so many people.

For posterity, here are some examples of what contemporary dreadlocks look like.

http://public.fotki.com/naturaltai/dreadlocks_from/

http://www.renaissancehairtopia.com/1403672.html

[renisanz.livejournal.com]

I was really looking forward to seeing Ronon cut his hair, but I do suppose the dreads go well with the overall look of his character.

It seems that the "condition" of his dreads, more than the style itself contributes to the character's intimidating persona. They're thick, rough, and give him a distinctly rugged look.

[nojojojo.livejournal.com]

Just one of many reasons why I really wish sci-fi TV producers would stop using dredlocks, braids, and other "ethnic" hairstyles as shorthand for "dangerous" and "alien". They're too damn lazy to attempt real characterization instead of stereotypes, and their laziness gives the mundanes stupid, stupid, stupid ideas.

Of course, the mundanes don't have to voice those ideas aloud.

[delux-vivens.livejournal.com]

They're too damn lazy to attempt real characterization instead of stereotypes, and their laziness gives the mundanes stupid, stupid, stupid ideas.

This.

[berlinghoff79.livejournal.com]

I'm not very impressed with the wig. It looks nothing like the real thing.

Why couldn't SciFi let him cut his hair in BT? It would have been such a strong scene for JM and RD.*pouts*

[rustler.livejournal.com]

I think it's deeply unfortunate that you have chosen to freeze threads rather than allowing discussion about why people are upset over dreads being equated with "alien" and "dangerous."

When you shut down the conversation, it reads (to me) as sticking fingers in one's ears and refusing to even contemplate the effect of what you've said on others.

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

I shut down the conversation because I had to go to bed to get up to go to work. I didn't want to wake up and find the comments section (which is not a board) a flaming wreckage. If people are upset, it's one thing, when they start accusing 'racist' toward other fans, I froze the threads. This is a thread about the hair change on a fictional character. People have explained why they said what they did, but others just aren't satisfied. I know I put up my LJ for fun, to discuss a TV show and a few other things, but not to turn into a political platform. If people want to discuss that, they should email each other, because, honestly, I don't want to spend my time moderating comments on pictures of Jason Momoa :(

[effervescent.livejournal.com]

I agree with the comment directly above mine. I would like to invite you to consider how you would feel if you saw someone equating long blonde hair with someone being 'not-human' or dangerous. I imagine that you find it hard to consider, and I think that's why you don't quite get what people are trying to say here - that your equating the two is really quite offensive to them, because for them, it is quite normal. It really does seem as though you feel it's obvious that dreadlocks are not of the norm - which only speaks to the fact that society is so biased in your favour that you don't realise that for some people, this is normal, and definitely human.

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

Please see my comments on my reply to the post above yours.

[sholio]

Oh wraithfodder. Don't do this. We've been on each others' flists almost ever since I've been in this fandom, and other people have already said this more eloquently, but maybe you'll be willing to listen to a friend: STOP. Please stop doing the knee-jerk thing you're doing -- freezing threads, defending your actions and those of other people in this thread who are saying rude and hurtful things to PoCs. It reflects very badly on you.

No one is saying you're a bad person. But every time you trot out the argument "It doesn't matter, it's just a fictional character", every time you defend the person who made the non-human comment because "she didn't mean it" and yet freeze threads when anyone tries to defend themselves against her, every time you accuse someone of being over-sensitive -- those are racist things to say and do. I know it's your journal, but you are behaving just like every racist clod who comes barging into every discussion of bias in the media and makes it impossible to talk about this sort of thing without accusations of "oversensitivity" and intentionality flying around like a hailstorm.

Trust me, I have been that racist clod. My shining Moment Of Stupidity was arguing with Pam Noles about the recasting on Earthsea. ("Glacierdust" is a pseud that I used to use for my personal LJ; it's been renamed to my real name since then, in case you were wondering wtf is up with that.) It's memorialized forever; the Internet doesn't forget, and I'm glad, because there's always Google to remind me that sometimes I need to shut up and listen a little bit rather than charging into a discussion with guns blazing and my bias hanging out all over the place. That exchange with Pam was what helped to break me out of my sheltered corner of the world and made me start listening and learning and paying attention to what people were telling me. (And for the record: I hate admitting to that particular bit of stupidity. I squirm with shame at the mere idea of mentioning it in public, and I'm terrified that people who know me will read that link above and won't like me anymore. Which is exactly why I'm bringing it up here, actually, as a cautionary tale. I can't go back and unsay it; all I can do is try not to be that person in the future and deal with the entirely-deserved flak I've taken for having been that person before.)

I can dig you up some links that were helpful to me in working through my own baggage. (I really need to sit down and collect all of this in one place, darn it...) For starters, from a few things I've bookmarked, here is a good (long) post on fandom and media and representation. Here and here is a two-part discussion of "tone", i.e., does it matter if a fan of color uses the "right" words to point out injustice? And one on how to apologize when you fuck up, because we all do. There are oodles of good links at ibarw.

And for now, you know what I'd suggest -- you started this, and for your own sake if no one else's, have the integrity to see it through. Stop freezing threads and being dismissive of people who argue against you. Listen to what people are saying and do some reading on your own, and try to understand where their frustration is coming from and why your words and actions are contributing to it. I still feel terrible for what I said to Pam and I can never make it up to her, but in the long run it was a learning experience for me and I think it made me a better and more open-minded person. Maybe this can do that for you -- it doesn't help the people here and now whose concerns you've dismissed, but maybe it can help you not make the same mistakes in the future.

(Sorry about all the edits. This was important and I had to get it into the proper shape.)

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

Ah, sigh. The reason I froze the threasd was stated pretty simply. I went to bed. I have a job. I can't stay up until the wee hours of the a.m. My experience with fandom is that when things get testy, people tend to go nuts. Sorry, but I didn't want to wake up and find the comments board filled with vitriol (it was getting close).

My point is that if people have a problem with characters on TV shows being portrayed as aliens because of the color of their skin, the way they speak, or dress, etc., griping here isn't going to change it (nor is taking potshots at each other). If anybody wants to see change, you have to write the producers of a show, and gripe to advertisers.

And I do stand by my remark that dreads were used on the guy on Andromeda (who looks remarkably like Ronon) as well as the alien on PREDATOR (which I already pointed out). That's why they make him look alien. And to my friends who DO have dreads (yes, two do), no, I don't consider them aliens. I never said to the contrary.

And I guess now I'll ask. I have no idea what a PoC is, because I don't pigeonhole people into acronyms...

Dreads vs. non-human argument

[(Anonymous)]

There's one thing some of you are forgetting, if "person of color" = black/African-American, he's neither. He's Hawaiian for the most part on his father's side and a whole mix of other stuff on his mother's side.

apparently, i'm not done just yet.

[delux-vivens.livejournal.com]

if "person of color" = black/African-American,

It doesnt.

It's well known, especially among the people of color participating in and watching this thread, that he is Hawaiian and not of African descent.

Dreads vs. non-human argument

[(Anonymous)]

Ok. My father was from Bengal (which is near India,) and my mother was half Swedish, am I a person of color or a Scandinavian?

Re: Dreads vs. non-human argument

[darkrosetiger.livejournal.com]

I don't know--how do you identify?

Jason Momoa has been very clear that he does, in fact, consider himself a person of color/not white.

[lamaudite.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the pic. He's so gorgeous with the short hair - even if I'll miss the real dreads...

[avrislul.livejournal.com]

I like the new look; I think it makes him look much younger. And the dreads kinda looked like dog doo at times. I guess it was Lisa Bonet's influence, very Lenny Kravitz.

This new look is very "original Star Trek" Klingon in a way!