Jax's gender dysphoria should have been in the background of his conflict, not the center - without overshadowing other, much heavier problems.
SENSITIVE TOPIC: Worrying about orientation and gender has become a cliché in modern "adult" cartoons. It’s a trend that desperately needs to change. The writers could have explored genuinely complex family issues and other morally ambiguous problems, but instead they spent time on a clichéd trope.
Okay, I can prove it. Just compare Jax from episodes 1–4 with the Jax after episode 4. These are literally two different characters. The consistency of the character was not maintained throughout the series. There were no hints about his orientation or deep traumas. Up until episode 5, he was a secondary comic relief character who didn’t need depth or backstory. And don’t justify it by saying it was "well-hidden subtext and well-masked personality". This is simply poor scripting and bad placement of accents and foreshadowing. Why in episode 1 does he show no reaction when his friend gets abstracted right in front of him? Why in episode 2 does he get in the car with a completely unchanged expression? But as soon as his friends are mentioned in episode 5, he immediately shows a fierce glare and his mask starts cracking. wth? how does it work? just because the plot demanded it idk? If he’s so good at suppressing his emotions and wearing masks, then why did he break exactly at that moment? Why not in episode 1, when his close friend "died" right in front of him? And don’t try to justify it with the scene from episode 9 where he cries in front of the mirror. It doesn’t work like revealing an intrigue that just wasn't there in the first 4 episodes. Now I ask. Did you REALLY watch this show or were you just based on your feelings and emotions when you wrote your indignation?
I’m not justifying abuse, but Jax’s mother might have genuinely loved him, even though she expressed that love through insults and yelling. We can’t fully trust Jax’s words, he’s an unreliable narrator. People tend to remember only the bad things and forget the good. Her final gesture - hugging him - shows that she did care about her son. Because of stress and possibly financial problems, she took it out on Jax, and that deeply affected him. But as soon as his mother showed empathy by hugging him, Jax immediately pulled away. After his parents’ divorce (and even before it), Jax was attached to his mother because his father didn’t pay any attention to him. The mother figure was all he had in life. His mother demanded that he act like his father so he wouldn’t grow up weak. She wanted the best for her son - she just expressed it in her own distorted way. Jax and his mother are both victims of circumstances. Their toxic mother-son bond could have been explored really well if the creators had spent the time in the right direction. Because of his mother’s actions, Jax hated her and didn’t appreciate her (In fact, this is probably not entirely true, as I will discuss later). This is proven by his inaction when she was lying on the floor. He didn’t call 911 and just ran away. He didn’t even check if she could be helped. He simply fled. In that moment, he didn’t care about his mother at all because Jax was overcome with fear.
The show could have deeply explored Jax’s misplaced, overwhelming guilt towards his mother. He couldn’t understand why she acted the way she did because inside him there was still a hurt inner child who desperately craved love and attention. It may sound selfish at first, but when you look at it from both perspectives, it’s a painful reality that tens of thousands of people actually live with. I’m just headcanoning here, but it feels like Gooseworx isn’t ready or willing to tackle such heavy, uncomfortable family issues. It’s much safer and more fashionable to lean into a trendy cliché than to dig into complex family problems and make every character genuinely morally gray.
Jax's mother could have manipulated and pressured him by using his gender dysphoria against his vulnerability. This would have only added to their toxic relationship, rather than making it the center of the entire conflict.
The mother's laughter after Jax opened up to her about something "personal and deep" can be interpreted in several ways. I see it as hysterical laughter, especially considering her mental state. She simply didn't know how to react to it all, so she responded that way - basically letting out all her accumulated emotions and negativity (I’m by no means justifying such relationships)
But ohhh... in the fandom, everyone believes she was specifically mocking Jax's gender dysphoria. Are there really no other interpretations? Is no one trying to understand even a secondary adult character, especially the mother figure?
I believe Jax was emotionally dependent on his mother and never fully understood his own attachment to her. Deep down, he still craved the love and attention his parents (the mother) failed to give him. That's why I find their relationship far more interesting than the direction the show ultimately chose to focus on.
Also, Jax didn’t try to become a better person - stop projecting your own feelings onto him and making things up. He was consumed by negative emotions at that moment, which ultimately led to his abstraction. In the end, he was only thinking about himself, "I don’t want to go". We were never shown a single moment where Jax genuinely revealed a better side of himself. The brief teamwork with Pomni in the gun episode wasn’t real character development, it was just temporary fun, even for Jax himself. In short, Jax didn’t change at all. His backstory reveal led to nothing. Saying 'I'm awful' is just a vague generalization and far too simplistic of a reflection from Jax. He never understood the root of his behavioral issues - what specific actions (or non-action) of his hurt not only his mother, but also the other characters. He never said sorry. He never apologized to Gangle. He never tried to understand others. He remained the same selfish person who ruined everyone else’s lives and didn't get his identity. The fact that he gave Pomni the key only proves once again that he didn’t care about others - he only wanted them to pity and love him. Ragatha is the only sane character who states a simple truth that Jax’s fans, for some reason, refuse to accept.
Bankruptcy, financial struggles, parents' divorce, toxic relationship with his mother, lack of attention and love, false guilt - why didn't all this develop in the show?
I won't accept arguments like "this is Gooseworx's self-insert, you just don't understand the character". It's a badly written self-insert that feels forced and doesn't serve the story well
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