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

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[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

I think she meant alien, because on ANDROMEDA, they did the same thing; dreadlocks on the, the... sidekick kick-ass alien. Hmm, didn't really watch the show, but the similarities between Ronon and this guy are striking.

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[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

You'd have to ask the producers, but the alien on PREDATOR had dreadlocks or something similar, and they keep copying that style.

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[darkrosetiger.livejournal.com]

That's not my point. I'm not asking the producers--I'm asking why you appear to think that dreadlocks = alien.

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[darkrosetiger.livejournal.com]

So if I end up getting dreads at some point, because I think they'd look cute on me, does that automatically mean I look "dangerous" and "non-human"? Do you really not see why using words like "non-human" to refer to a person of color is incredibly offensive?

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[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

We're talking about a character on a TV show, not reality (because in reality you would not have that many good looking people in one room;) ). If I saw someone with dreads on the street, no, I wouldn't think they're an alien, no more than I'd think someone wearing tight leather outfits was an alien, but that's what Ronon wears too.

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[darkrosetiger.livejournal.com]

*sigh* We're talking about a character on a TV show played by an actor who is a) a person of color and b) until very recently, wore dredlocks all the time, on and off set.

What you're saying is that the fact that a character has dreads signifies that they're alien. I'm trying to figure out why a character with a hairstyle that's common on earth is automatically classed as alien because of that hairstyle. That definition implies that "not white middle-class American = alien".

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[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

No, that's not what I'm saying, and if you truly want to know why Ronon has dreads, or not, then you need to ask the SciFi execs and the SGA producers. And alien, in this show, means, anybody who doesn't come from planet Earth.., although to Ronon, et. al, Shep and his people are the aliens.

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[strange-magic.livejournal.com]

I really don't think anyone meant that comment to be offensive. My belief is that between costuming, his dreads and his acting skills, is what makes him fierce and alien. I'm sure they just meant "non earth like" by saying "non human". No one was inferring that if someone has dreads they automatically look "non human or dangerous". I mean he looks like the biggest teddy bear when he's off camera and he still has/had them, but his dreads work for him in his career towards achieving that "characteristic". it's his job to look unearthly and dangerous. The Wraith have dreads and they look scary and dangerous, but that's ok to say because why? Whether a person is of color or not, that comment shouldn't have been taken so seriously. Everyone in the world is of some kind of color so what does it matter if someone said that someone else look fierce, dangerous or non human with their dreads.

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[darkrosetiger.livejournal.com]

Whether a person is of color or not, that comment shouldn't have been taken so seriously.

I...don't even know what to say to this.

[strange-magic.livejournal.com]

*jaw drop* You icon! *drool*

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[abydosangel.livejournal.com]

Everyone in the world is of some kind of color so what does it matter if someone said that someone else look fierce, dangerous or non human with their dreads.

I think this comment needs to sit there on it's own - looking crazy, while you possibly consider what is wrong with it. Because there is something very, very wrong with it, make no mistake.

Signed -

PoC that may or may not be fierce, dangerous, or non-human with their non-European hairstyle.

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[darkrosetiger.livejournal.com]

Okay, clearly, I'm not getting this across. But it's driving my blood pressure up, so...yeah.

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[strange-magic.livejournal.com]

Because there isn't anything to say. You're making us all out to be racist. I don't care what color a person is or what kind of style their hair is. You are the only one flipping out about it.

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[strange-magic.livejournal.com]

I wasn't referring to people in general, I meant "a character" that someone is portraying. Sorry I didn't clarify that.

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[abydosangel.livejournal.com]

Um, no.

Your completely lame comments is making you out to be...something. What that is, I'm not sure, but 'enlightened' and 'not a defensive ass' aren't the phrases that come to mind.

Shut up and stop digging while you're ahead. Seriously. Because the fact that you don't know anything about how to handle the garbage you type is not escaping anyone's notice.

Also, I'm a PoC I find your comments offensive. Now there's two of us "flipping out".

Now what? You've got no room to be high-handed about this.

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[darkrosetiger.livejournal.com]

Please point me to where I said that anyone was racist?

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[abydosangel.livejournal.com]

*taps*

It's called 'projection' and 'knows damn well that something was off about the comments, so projects some more' = racist.

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.

[leesa_perrie]

In the recent interview on GateWorld, he clearly says that it was the sci-fi that decided to keep them, not himself or MGM.

Very slight spoiler - ie the name of an episode - towards the end of the snippet, so don't read if you don't want to know!

GW: So you're going to continue to wear the wig throughout the year?

JM: Yeah. SCI FI won't let me cut it.

GW: Really?

JM: Until it comes to a point where it's going to hurt my neck. That's one reason why I wanted to cut it. It's going to get to a point where physically I'm going to have to cut this thing off. Because it weighs just as much as the other one.

The whole point of cutting it was to get rid of that. But it's nice that I can go home at night and not have it. It takes 40 minutes in the morning (to put it on).

GW: So all of Season Five?

JM: This whole season is all wig. It's funny ... all the aliens have wigs.

GW: So that scene in "Broken Ties" where he gets them cut is not going to happen?

JM: No. I was hoping for it, but SCI FI said no. Which is funny, because they didn't want Ronon to have dreads in the first place. So it just goes to show you ... the tastes change.

Clearly, he wanted them gone, Joe Mallozzi had written a scene in the above episode (Joe says he will share it with us on his blog after the episode has aired) but Sci-Fi said no. I know that he had a difficult time making the decision, earlier somewhere he said they were a part of Ronon's character, but from Joe M's blog and the above interview it is clear that he decided to lose them. Joe had said it would be Jason's decision...only for Sci-Fi to turn around and say he had to keep them!

[aelfgyfu_mead]

Thanks for the link; I hadn't seen that one!

[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.

[miriam-heddy.livejournal.com]

I hope you realize that there's nothing "alien" about dreads.

[sheafrotherdon.livejournal.com]

I believe you when you say you never intended to offend anyone when you suggested dreads gave Ronon "that dangerous non-human look." I think few of us ever intend to offend people. But that's almost beside the point - the point is that several people found that statement offensive, myself among them.

It's possible, yes, to argue that Ronon is an "alien" within the show - but that doesn't equate to non-human. He's clearly human, set apart from the Wraith and the Replicators, who are distinctly non-human species, with different methods of sustenance and reproduction. The Ancients, too, are/were human, and their back and forth traipsing between the Milky Way and Pegasus further twines together the fortunes of Earth's humans and those in Pegasus.

Ronon's dreads are Jason's dreads -until very recently they were one and the same, and Sci Fi (by Jason's own admittance) never initially thought of dreads for Ronon's character; they became part of the character because of the actor involved. To comment on the dreads, therefore, is to comment on the actor's appearance; it's to comment on a hairstyle found primarily among men and women of color; it's to comment on the fact that Jason is a man of color, living primarily in the United States.

There is a long history in the U.S. of those in power - measured however you like in the mix of class, race, and gender - describing men of color as not-human, as beasts of burden such as donkeys, and most popularly as monkeys and apes. I'm sure you did not have that in mind when you wrote - you weren't trying to suggest Ronon (or Jason) is a different species like the old-time racists in the South - but that context is there, most especially if you are a person of color who has withstood such comparisons, and/or whose families have withstood such comparisons.

This is the minefield. The lesson here (for all of us! I really do not mean this as something that only applies to you or to this discussion) is that words matter; that words and phrases carry contexts beyond what we might most readily see given our own experiences. Those people who commented in anger were not being unreasonable, nor over-sensitive, nor were they "flipping out" as one other commenter said. They were trying to articulate a different perspective, one that weighs upon your words whether or not you intended that weight to be there. This is one of those situations where we all go - 'okay. I didn't know that. I'll be more careful in how I phrase things in the future.' And in doing so we create a compelling community for every fan there is.