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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[darkrosetiger.livejournal.com]

they do give him that dangerous non-human look,

Out of curiosity, are you aware that dredlocks are a fairly common hairstyle for people of African descent?

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[darkrosetiger.livejournal.com]

They are, which is why that comment was serious WTF, since it sounds like you're saying that what would be a really attractive hairstyle on me would give me that "dangerous, non-human look". I'm sure you didn't mean it that way, but it still read as incredibly offensive.

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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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[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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[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]

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.

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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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[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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[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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[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.

[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.

[lamardeuse.livejournal.com]

Since I'm not allowed to reply to darkrosetiger since her threads have been frozen, may I just say word to both of you here.

[julia-here.livejournal.com]

Adding my voice to both yours and lamardeuse's in agreement with DRT.

Julia, 'okay. I didn't know that. I'll be more careful in how I phrase things in the future.' is pretty much the best phrasing, indeed

[loligo.livejournal.com]

A-freakin'-MEN.

[trixiesfic.livejournal.com]

Very well said.

And because the other threads have been frozen, I want to point out here that, "well, they always use dreads to signify ass-kicking alien, like that dude on Andromeda or Predator or whatever else" is not an answer to why this particular issue is offensive. It seems to me that it should lead one to stop and think about *why* dark dudes in dreads are so often cast as ass-kicking aliens and whether there's something kind of fucked-up in the idea that non-white signifiers are used as short hand for scary and alien. Instead of just shrugging and saying that's how it's done and perpetuating the offense.

[cereta.livejournal.com]

*Flails at you, because, yes.*

[scrollgirl.livejournal.com]

GOD YES.

[sinensiss.livejournal.com]

replying here because of the frozen threads, and also because sheafrotherdon has articulated my own opinion on this very well. Words matter; in LJ, words are all we have to build and maintain our community. I'm white, and it matters to me that our community is at its most fundamental level--the level of our casual daily language--an inclusive one.