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

[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.