Kindred
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Ive always related heavily to W.E.B Du Boiss concept ofdouble consciousness.
For lack of a better word, I was born woke when many people were still asleep.
Im the daughter of a radical.
So when I first readKindred, I felt validated.
And Im sitting here wondering,Where is all of this in the show?
A quote fromKindredthat encompasses the books mission pops up if Dana witnesses her first whipping.
Butler writes, I had seen people beaten on television and in the movies.
I had seen the too-red blood substitute streaked across their backs and heard their well-rehearsed screams.
I was probably less prepared for the reality than the child crying not far from me.
Her writing forces us to grapple with slavery as a reality and not a cautionary tale of Americas past.
In the series, there havent been many vivid depictions of violence, only anecdotes told in passing.
Its figuratively and literally muffled.
And it proves to be more than she can handle.
As the girlies would say on Twitter: Be fucking for real.
I want to snap my fingers in her face and say, Focus!
To punish them, he denies them food, forcing them to ration the little bit hell allow.
Luke, who thought the baby could have been his, is inconsolable.
Tom getseven moreof a backstory, this time opening up about his own harsh upbringing.
Then theres Margaret, a lonely and eternally dissatisfied housewife who gets slapped around by her husband.
Why is she being framed as a victim were supposed to root for?
What is the purpose of this?
Shes just as racist as Tom.
The people who we should be rooting for are background actors who may get a line or two.
For the women, its worse.
Winnie gets a little screen time in this episode, though problematic.
Having to cut her hair.
Whats more interesting is Winnie basically saying she prefers the devil she knows to the devil she doesnt.
This could have tied directly into a conversation about consent and sexual agency.
Its after trying to convince Winnie to stick with the plan that Dana and Olivia go help Celeste.
She tries to confide in her mother, but Olivia admits to being desensitized.
Dana says she doesnt want that same fate of getting used to such brutality.
Shes fully alone in her shot, thinking of her own guilt and complicity as she apologizes to Luke.
He doesnt blame her; he knows that his love for Celeste prompted Tom to take her from him.
Dana offers to help him and Nigel escape.
The episode concludes with yet another scene hearing the white perspective instead of the Black perspective.
While talking to Kevin, Tom says when one of his slaves runs away, it disturbs him.
He says, How do they not know I offer them safety?
Running away is more dangerous.
Time-Travellers Diaries
Kevin is starting to really bother me.
The retreat comment was disrespectfully flippant, and asking her if her braid was a cornrow was cringe.
But I did laugh at the Target, Walgreen, Walmart mantra after Margeret came on to him.
The focus on white characters takes away time to talk about the fascinating sociology on the plantation.
It couldve also tied into the future timeline with Danas uncle being a cop.
Dana needs to get it together.
