there isn't an inherent "point" of Daniel saying that in that scene other than the fact he is lashing out, saying the most hurtful things as possible and trying to drive Armand away. degrading Armand's ex-boyfriend as a "bucket of Louisiana fried chicken" is an insult to both Louis and Armand: one, mocking Armand for his 'Maitre-Complex' (the speech itself is in the context of his final night as Armand's hostage) and two, is overall just meant to be very spiteful. Louis doesn't have to be there to "push back against him," racist comments are made about non-white people more often behind the back of the victim of them than to their face so i think it is actually more realistic that Daniel has said this. to say that the writers could have simply just made Daniel say something else to show how Daniel angry was misses the point. Daniel is angry and lashes out -> he says something racist. once again, this is incredibly common for a white person to dip into racist territory when airing their grievances out to or about someone who who is not white. why should the show feel the need to shy away from that? it was in character, and a realistic thing for Daniel to do because it is something that occurs in real life all the time. it gives this weird implication/expectation that there should be no racism present within the show anymore just because Louis is not the main character or cannot be there to "push back against it" which i find unrealistic.
secondly, i am black. and my next few words are not to be aimed at you specifically, but i think it is about time i do mention something that has been really affecting me as a black person in this fandom in relation to white responses to presentation of race. firstly, i am of course very appreciative of your awareness of racism/anti-blackness and your commitment to have it unlearned, that does mean a lot. but i have noticed a trend with a lot of white viewers who are using the identification of racism in the narrative as a kind virtue signal for their own interests and/or then weaponising this racism as a way to try and make objective commentary on the quality of the show and its characters. it is becoming frankly exhausting to see white people tell ME (a black person) how i should think and feel about presentations and responses to my own race on screen. i am exhausted with people almost trying to frame competition between Jacob Anderson and Sam Reid (two guys who are literally best friends) by saying that Sam is somehow a worse actor (which he most definitely is not) and that Jacob is leagues better but since Sam got his own season the show must be racist! no. the AWARDS BODIES who overlooked Jacob Anderson for his Emmys are the ones who are racist, NOT the show. it would always be harder to promote a queer horror with blacks leads, especially when it wasn't as big when it was first released, everyone knew what they were getting into. tearing down Sam to try and prop Jacob up is firstly very mean (and inaccurate because both Jacob and Sam put generational performances into this show), and secondly continues to propagate very harmful ideas in current society that black opportunity is made of the "taking of the spaces" of white people through things like DEI. and that black people need to be given advantages to have any of their own talent.
i am grateful that you and others are working hard to stamp out racism, but the belief that this season has suddenly become racist because a white man is the lead of saying things like "if there was a black writer in the writers room they might have made the same argument" just gets nobody anywhere because i, a black person, would have allowed that line to stay in the script had i been in the writer's room. seeing characters like Louis be given arcs and plotlines that people don't feel align with his previous character (despite the fact it does) is not the show being racist.
Louis is hardly in the TVL books i am grateful to the show that they managed to find a way to keep two of their brilliant black actors in the show for another season. racism is bad as we know, and i am not going to pretend that this show is 100% free from it, but when white people come into fandom spaces and make their entire viewing experience of the show some kind of racism-vigilance watch to then express these views i don't always find it productive. because in the mix, the opinions of non-white people (in my case black people) gets trampled on in favour for what a white person thinks is racist and not what a black person thinks is. and obviously again, not specially directed at you, but i do feel that racism is constantly used as a false flag by a lot of white folks when they simply don't like something happening on screen. thankfully not with my blog, but i have seen other black run IWTV blogs like @cbrownjc disagree with something that a white person has deemed as racist, and then be hounded with racial abuse or people questioning her blackness! (clearly it is not about racism but just show choices)
i find a lot of it incredibly performative, and find that it makes a mockery of real life racism (something which i have also explained here). i think it's brilliant you are making a conscious effort to not be racist, but i think a lot of fans approach to this season with saying really odd statements like "oh the quality has dropped because the two black leads aren't focal point anymore" or "there are no black writers in the room that's why it must be so bad" that are just...absurd to me. i adored the first two seasons as a gothic lover, and was even further impressed by the character of Louis and Claudia, not because "oh they were black look! representation!" (because personally though i love her i don't really self-identify with Claudia at all) but because they were black characters who actually had writing of substance that wasn't just some one off story only focused on their racial experiences because we are so much more than that. with statements expecting that non-white characters shouldn't have uncomfortable storylines (e.g. Louis/Regina) sometimes to me feels racist and falls very much into the category of "good black person." white people can love Louis when he is acting "right" but the moment he stops this or behaves differently, this show must be racist and trying to damage his character! as Jacob says: it is the MYTH OF REPRESENTATION. Jacob also says there isn't anything in the scripts character-wise that he and Sam have not approved of. not to say that the opinion one black man speaks for the entire community as a whole, but it just completely dispels this idea that the changes to Louis' character have some insipid racist motivation when the black man who plays him completely understands what this is for his character.
once again, please note that my words here are not directly aimed at you, it is talking of just fandom as a whole and i really do appreciate you reading this far of you have! but it is an issue that really upsets me in this fandom and i have just used this post as an opportunity to express that. seeing blogs in this fandom that aren't black discuss with each other in certain echo chambers about what THEY THINK is racist and then completely sidelining actual black blogs in these conversations does not sit right with me, and comes across as patronising, as though some white fans think they understand something that they can never be a true victim of western society better than someone has lived experience has. and though i can't speak for Rolin and the writers: telling non-white people that you are somehow more educated than them does reek of white supremacy, silencing non-white blogs when they disagree does reek of white supremacy. there have been multiple instances when i have found issue with something that a white blog has deemed as racist and instead have found myself simply blocked or completely ignored (again, not specifically directed at you.)
this is not productive to fight racism if we are only using racism as tool of objective critique. if this show does get cancelled (which it won't) as the Twitter mobs want it to, the only thing it will succeed in doing is removing one of the only current shows that i have ever felt properly identified in the black characters, and one of the only shows where black characters get to interact with gothic horror and embrace queerness in such a high quality way.
thank you for your response!
