Visited the pink tunnel this weekend, and while I expected it to be filled with references, it really ended up feeling like a monument of gratitude. It was kind of amazing
Do you feel like proudly, unapologetically Black Claudia would really say “nappy-headed?” I know what my people have done - that’s a White insult to degrade black hair specifically! That’s not about Louis’s actions, or passivity, or anything else! Millions of Black men have that hair just like millions of Black men have Louis’s gorgeous skin, and if she’d made a comment about getting it through his skin using ….one of several words, it would be very racist!
It is the writers being racist in that line, specifically, cause it seems like she is insulting his Blackness. Claudia was never one for that, that we saw. If she wanted to insult Louis’s hair, I’m sure that there is a way that she could insult those glossy finger coils that I do not know. He must’ve spent hours getting those done!
hi! in short- yes. i do absolutely believe that an unapologetically black Claudia would say "nappy-headed."
firstly, as you have pointed out "nappy-headed" is originally a white insult to degrade black hair. but it is also one of the racist terms that have been "reclaimed" by some black people, but not all, in the same way the n-word is used. (i personally never use that word because i don't like it, but there is a large majority of black people who do because they have reclaimed it and i have no problem with it. it's personal choice.) but back on topic, it's really common to have the phrase used in 'comedic banter' between black people, and it is also used as an insult between black people. older generations often still say the term, and it is used a lot in relation to colourism, so no, not a nice word, but it is still used by black people towards each other today.
secondly, not to be pedantic but (to me) Claudia is not being racist. she's using racially charged language but she is also black so what she says is not racist. Claudia is insulting Louis' blackness because the entire purpose of the scene is to belittle him and to degrade him as a small fraction of punishment she thinks she deserves (i think it's interesting how she uses language to put Louis down in this scene considering that is usually his preferred line of attack). insulting Louis' blackness is obviously hypocritical considering that she is black, but she has often used such language. she does previously refer to herself and Louis as slaves, and Lestat as her slave master. she often sees things in a racial binary, that's just who she is.
yes, it's rough that Louis must have spent time getting his hair done just to be insulted, that's also part of the point. she has always mocked Louis in some regard of the other for being a dandy ( "just because he can't take you ballroom dancing and call you pretty, to hell with him then?" 2x01) so now adding the racial component to that is just another layer to her belittling of him.
im kind of struggling to articulate here without just repeating the same things over and over again (forgive me) but black people tearing at each other's blackness happens more often that you think. i think that scene was quite shocking to some non-white people who were unfamiliar with this, but some black people were not too bothered by it because it's quite the common experience. some black people were offered by it, some (like me) weren't. my point here to you is just try your best to consider that black perspectives of racism are not one size fits all, and some may not find the same things as others as racist. in the nicest way possible, telling me that you do think the scene was racist doesn't change my opinion. it's very hard to describe but racism is the kind of thing that is 'felt' to me. i can't really explain but in my previous history of receiving racial abuse, i receive it as a physical sensation in my body that i can't articulate. i have never felt that way whilst watching this show (of course the scenes in season 1 with Fenwick aside)
i don't think the show writers are racist. i have never once felt like the show is gratuitously trying to insult its black audience. @cbrownjc has made a few brilliant set of posts explaining this probably a bit better than i can! but here is a post i made a short while ago with the "fried chicken" discourse that might explain my own opinion on the "writers are racist" narrative that some have.
💬 2 🔁 7 ❤️ 32 · Writers Are Not the Characters · initially seeing a lot of the discourse around the "bucket of Louisiana fried chicken" li
Black people calling each other "nappy-headed" very much falls under the racist terms that white people came up with to shame black people, which have been reclaimed by black people for ourselves over time, just as what has happened with the N-word.
And, at its heart, this discourse is being done by white people who do not understand that.
The "fried chicken" discourse was very different than this because it was a white man, Daniel, who said it about a black person/character. So yes, that is why some people -- black people, as well -- read that comment as microaggressive. Because it was a white person who said it.
However, many black people say these kinds of things to each other without blinking because of that reclaimation of the word among ourselves and our culture. The only thing that is unique here is that Claudia said that to Louis in front of a white person, Lestat.
If that scene had only been between Louis, Claudia, and Merrick? Claudia would have said the exact same thing, and again, most black people wouldn't have blinked an eye at it.
For many, however, it was her saying that in front of Lestat -- a white person -- that told us how angry she had to be at Louis, because it is very rarely something black people will say to/or about another black person in such mixed company.
So yeah, that is what many non-back people do not understand about all of this. This is a US black culture thing wrt Claudia telling him to get what she was saying through his nappy head. And it falls under the same umbrella as black people in the US calling each other the N-word.
We say these kinds of things to each other, and it is only for us to do so. And no, when we do so, we are not being racist. Just like with some using the N-word with each other.
But if a white person does it? Then it is very much a different thing, and it always will be because of the racist history and motivation to which white people coined and used the term in the first place.
There are many things about US black culture that people in this fandom very much do not get, that is clear. And many of you, instead of actually listening to black people and trying to educate yourselves, would rather just sanctimoniously ignore or talk over us.
Including when it comes to the black actors on the show.
And many of you have been doing so since Season 1, in all honesty.
* * * * *
And I have to say, some people really don't seem to get it that if a black person had been on staff to write that scene, it might have actually contained way harsher language than it actually did. Check out this person's interpretation of that scene if you don't believe me:
Also --
💬 3 🔁 62 ❤️ 238 · RE: TVL 3x06 · the two black lead writers iwtv had 1) didn't work on the same seasons, 2) were men and only one was blac
So yeah, any idea that people have that that scene wouldn't have had the language it had if a black person had been on staff? Is to look at black people as a monolithic entity, and to also not understand the many intricacies of US black culture, and how we talk to each other, among each other.
And forever wanting to talk over us about it all instead.
everything here yes (thank you so much for your contribution), but something i also forgot to add was that there won't be consensus over this between black people and that is okay. non-black should not feel the responsibility to decide for us whether something is racist or not. if we cannot agree on it, then that's fine, third parties don't need to interject, it's okay to observe or just plainly admit that you don't have answer for something. whilst it's perfectly okay to ask questions (i always encourage it) trying to force your own opinion of something that the community itself is not decided on is just not helpful at times.
I've been meaning to make a post talking about my stroke because y'all got bits and pieces of the recovery but I never actually told the story of HOW it went down and the thing is the type of stroke I had is usually the type young people have and since having mine i've now heard multiple stories of people under 40 having very similar strokes and the scary thing is, is that they didn't get help right away. Because you're young and healthy and sure you feel weird but it'll pass right? but it doesn't, and it gets worse, and by the time you get to the hospital (some people literally take days to go) the deficits are worse and recovery is harder.
so here's a super long post about strokes in general, and mine in particular/what I went through.
So for strokes the signs are abbreviated BE FAST. Balance loss, Eyesight changes, Face drooping, Arm weakness, Speech difficulty, -> Time to call 911.
Had I known those MAYBE I would have figured it out but my symptoms were a little mixed. I was reading (fanfic!) in bed because it was a sunday morning and i had nothing pressing to do and suddenly got dizzy. I put my laptop aside because my eyes were blurring (Eyesight changes - symptom #1), and laid down, thinking it would pass, it didn't, it's a little vague how it progressed because I'd been having headaches and neckpain for about 3 weeks leading up to it so I was like 'idk is this a migraine?' (headaches can be a stroke symptom so symptom #2) but i got nauseous and eventually got up and to my utmost surprise I immediately fell over as if I was the drunkest of frat bros. The room literally spun before my eyes as I fell to the floor (Balance loss - symptom #3). I have had some Nights and I had never been that unsteady before. I crawled my way to the bathroom, threw up (nausea - not a common stroke symptom) , took 800mg of ibuprofen, and crawled back to bed.
if you know anything about ibuprofen you might know it's a mild blood thinner and that's a high dose. I may have inadvertently helped myself with that one. I was just feeling like shit and thinking 'idk this might help'
At this point I still thought we were still in Normal Land. Sure, it was a weird morning, but Surely There Was A Reason. (Yes There Was) Anyway, as I'm lying there willing my body to stop suffering I realize my arm is going numb (stroke symptom #4) and I switch positions, because weird, but it doesn't go away, and I gave it a good little while. I'm on a medication that can make my limbs tingle but it usually just does it to my fingers and it dissipates quickly but this wasn't dissipating, and then I realized one of my legs was also going numb. Then one side of my face is going numb.
(at the time I did not look in the mirror but I had a drooping eyelid - symptom #5)
Those all seem bad. I grab my computer and google 'when to go to the hospital for dizzyness' as that felt like the worst of my problems. and indeed the list I found highlighted that if you are also experiencing loss of balance, blurred vision, nausea, and limb numbness, you should see a doctor. That seems like far too many symptoms to be having all to be listed. I grab my phone (thankfully plugged in and by my bed), and start layering on more clothing because it's about 10 degrees out and i'm in a pajama dress. The very nice man at 911 talks with me and sends an ambulance, I tell him I don't think I can get out the front door of my building on my own and he asks if I can get to MY apartment door to which I say yes and he assures me that's fine they will have keys to my building.
(I have been since informed they love to chop down doors but no, I could get that far)
I wait by my door laying down on the ground and they arrive pretty quickly. They see to me in the hallway, which is more of a lobby in my building and the only place with room for me to lie down (I cannot stand unassisted at this point) they ask me a bunch of questions, take vitals, and ask me where I would like to be taken. Me, having never had to go to the fucking hospital in an emergency before, simply go 'wherever is close' because I again, I am having a stroke and do not have the wherewithal to think through these things.
A big firefighter helps me down the stairs (it's only a half flight and I still almost did not make it) and we get underway.
At the hospital they wheel me into triage and I mostly lie there gratefully and answer some questions and respond to some tests (grip strength, following a pen with my eyes, that sort of thing) and then I hear what is great when you've been at urgent care for two hours but what is Very Bad when you just arrived in an ambulance and that's 'She's next'. I jumped the line for a CT scan and an MRI. I was there less than ten minutes before I was actively being scanned. honestly closer to five.
my active symptoms seem to have been worse than some of the stories I've heard, not being able to walk AT ALL in particular, although some other are pretty equal (Footless Jo on youtube had a stroke around the same time I did of the same type and has discussed hers, she delayed going in despite the severity for a variety of reasons and it sounds like her recovery has been difficult) My recovery was pretty easy because i was actively being cared for and on blood thinners right away. My stroke was caused by an vertebral arterial tear, aka the inner part of an artery tore which can cause a clot. This tends to be the type of stroke young people have although I'm sure it's possible to have a different type.
I was pretty out of it in the beginning, but I was only in the hospital for 6 days and then in a rehab for another 4 to relearn how to walk and balance, then i was released unto the world and just spent time going to physical therapy and recovering for awhile. I was out of work for about 8 weeks total. I basically had the best outcome for a stroke. I recovered almost fully back to 100% (I'm about 2% less sure footed than I used to be, but it's rarely noticeable), my face still feels a little weird but has markedly improved so I live in hope it will eventually get back to normal. It massively sucked. But strokes can fuck you up for life and I came out a weird medical story to tell and have to take some extra medication now/precautions to take (i cannot do certain types of yoga, no weightlifting, no push ups, no going on rollercoasters.... things that could strain my neck essentially) but overall I escaped very lucky.
It's like her trial plea, turned inside out: that agonized, half-rhetorical "can't I cry and say I'm sorry? You have to give me a chance to say sorry"
Lestat had the floor (albeit under duress) to give a persuasive, melancholy performance, while Claudia was relegated to the place of the accused.
This time, Claudia had the floor (albeit under duress) to give a jarring, baleful malediction, while Lestat and Louis were relegated to the place of the accused.
And while Lestat had designs to save Louis (being out of danger, himself), Claudia is beyond the ability to do them any mortal harm (being in a place of incorporeal torment). Each stretches their gifts to their fullest to achieve their end. Lestat sways the audience until he bleeds and Claudia tactically eviscerates until she snaps.
it's ok to block anyone to curate your experience unless you have me blocked in which case you're wrong and also missing out on beautiful wonderful meee <3
hi everybody please reblog this and tell me your go-to coffee order right now and if you don't like coffee feel free to include your go-to tea order instead
amandla
titsay
vaporwave
