OFMD obsession blog. I especially am interested in metatextual analysis - reading it and writing my own - but really it's everything pirates all the time for me rn. 30, She/Her, Lesbian GrimGrinningGhost on Ao3, @PoliteMenace1 on Twitter
So I’ve been thinking a lot about the Kraken story, the way it’s told in episode 6, and the way the episode plays when you already know that Ed is not telling a tall tale about a sea monster, but a true story about killing his abusive father.
When you know that this is all a metaphor, a lot of lines take on a double meaning. The night I saw the Kraken becomes the night I understood my own capacity for violence–and in Ed’s own words, that’s the scariest thing he’s ever seen. When he says, “I learned something that night. Fear is the most powerful emotion,” I think what he is really saying is I learned that fear is powerful enough to turn a teenage boy into a killer.
In plenty of other narratives, teenage Ed killing his shitty abusive dad would be framed as cathartic, even heroic. “Abused person finally hits back” is a moment we cheer for in a lot of stories. You could make a solid argument that Ed was acting in self-defense and/or defense of his mother, because there was no reason to believe his dad would stop being violent toward them, and who out there protects poor people from violence? Fuckin nobody. Even though Ed’s life wasn’t literally being threatened in that moment, it’s not crazy to think that at some point with his dad it would have come down to kill or be killed.
The narrative certainly doesn’t have any sympathy for Ed’s dad. But Ed killing him is still framed by Ed as something deeply traumatic, something monstrous, a part of him he’s afraid of and ashamed of. And I think this is one of the show’s core thesis statements: that violence fucks you up even if you come out on top.
There's been some posts saying that Our Flag Means Death is antiblack for being ahistorical. But a fair amount don't sit well with me, a black person. So I'm gonna pull an ADHD and go on several tangents about it. Also, marginalized people aren't a monolith and when I see "listen to black people" from nonblack people, I get sus about who is doing the loudest talking and how, why, etc.
Also this is mostly about the show textually. Taika had a lot of creative influence on OFMD (and he directed the pilot episode) but he is not the creator of the show. David Jenkins is the main show runner, producer, and writer. That said, I'm gonna read more on both of their track records because I did see some important points that were made by others, so bear with me.
Anyway, this post will have heavy spoilers!
TL;DR Personally, I don't think this specific comedy/romance show is antiblack for choosing to not highlight the transatlantic slave trade in relation to their reimagined protagonists. However, OFMD feeds into the swashbuckler genre and I definitely think we should deconstruct that as a whole. Also I wish more people would put their righteous anger into substantially supporting Black creators.
The MEAT
OFMD doesn't shy away from depicting white people as racist: the British Navy refer to Stede's BIPOC crew members as "savages" when aboard Stede's ship. The show acknowledges the atrocities committed against the Native populations of the Caribbean and American mainlands. The tribesman who guards Stede literally says, "you [white people] keep killing us." Nor does it shy away from colonizers exoticizing people from lands that are now former victims of imperialism. Oluwande and Frenchie's scam of being an African prince relies on of the ignorance of the foppish, rich white people that they swindle.
But OFMD is not a documentary, it is a comedy/adventure show with a romantic subplot. It genre bends quite frequently, occasionally dropping the comedy to have serious moments. But the main characters are a white englishman and a white barbadian being played by a white new zealander and a maori new zealander. The conceit is that none of this is supposed to be taken seriously. No one's accent is the same. A man gets weird with some seagulls on more than one occasion. We are having fun in muppet treasure island. There are dummy mechanics in use. This is not a place of honor.
I went into watching OMFD with mental blinders fully up, because I knew pirates + caribbean = oh potential yikes. But as it progressed through S1, the fear that slavery would be depicted in an upsetting way slowly dissipated. And then it just wasn't there really. I think the choice to not explicitly depict the relationship between piracy and the transatlantic slave trade—especially in regards to Stede and Blackbeard—made sense for their tone, but ended up being an oversight in their worldbuilding. If the showrunners continue into s2, they should bring in Black/Afro-caribbean consultants to give insight on what those depictions might be, if addressed.
The swashbuckling genre is distinctive due to 1) shenanigans on a boat 2.) romance. A lot of OFMD is about the romanticization of pirate life, but it also challenges those romantic notions directly. Add two historical figures with radically opposing methods of piracy and THERE WAS ONLY ONE BOAT. That's not true, there was a max of three boats. And you end up with an untapped hotbed of creative potential. The Gentleman Pirate was a narrative figure in Stede's own lifetime and Blackbeard is a goddamn legend. There's only so much influence you can draw before people claim you're blatantly ripping something off.
Slavery is a pretty hard sell, generally. Like, commit a whole episode and tread lightly from there, hard sell. But I wouldn't be surprised if there were efforts to address it in media rez, that just didn't make it to the final cut (but this is me speculating.) TV shows are not made in vacuums, hundreds of people were involved in this production. My point is that sometimes media is not here to trick you into believing that real-life terrible people were actually good and admirable. (Sometimes it is.)
But I feel strongly that OMFD expects you to be on the side of the characters of color from the jump. Catch the implicit, "Can you believe these white people?" in the way they roll their eyes and sigh and give each other looks. The way Oluwende and Frenchie include the African servants(?) into their scheme in Ep. 5. The way the Elder pities Stede when he has a breakdown, but at the same couples Stede with every other white person who's attacked the tribe. I think OFMD seeks to depower the image we have of colonizers as inhuman forces of nature, when they were all very painfully human.
Why did fans not background check this show?
I knew the history of Stede Bonnet prior to watching OFMD, which I'm guessing was not the majority experience (?) I was interested in watching the show when I first heard about it, mainly because the costumes looked nice.
From the number of "Here's the TRUTH about Stede Bonnet" posts circulating, it's clear he's a relatively un-talked about figure. Honestly, that's fine. It happens to be that we will not learn about everything about everyone in human history. But the history of piracy + the slave trade—THAT should've been more widely known. When there's a widespread deficit in knowledge, that's a systematic issue more than an individual one.
That said, if you do not currently connect piracy with slavery, hello, here's your wake up call.
You should be able to infer that Stede, being landed gentry in Barbados, gained his wealth from slave labor. That these characters were inspired by real people who existed in and benefited from a slave labor economy. That chattel slavery ballooned during this time period. The show does not go out its way to acknowledge this. And because it didn't, where does that leave us? Filling in the gaps? Doing our own research?
(The answer is yes.)
It's Just Hamilton 2.0
I didn't make this connection like others did, and at first I was annoyed by it but now I'm kind of like. Yah.
25 year old me understands that the problems at the root of Hamilton extend deep into the entertainment industry: the way white historical figures continue to be romanticized, who we let spearhead big productions, and the histories of actual Black historical figures that were completely excluded from the narrative.
19 year old me thought, "Omg, Black people in major broadway roles! Songs that I and other Black theater kids can perform! An accessible way for me to learn more about American history!" I was in a black theatrical ensemble in college. We had that play m e m o r i z e d.
25 year old me looks at OFMD right now and thinks, "Omg, a show that shows a smart Black woman in a compelling role, a fat, Black man as a compelling love interest, and show that openly says White imperialism was fueled by greed and ignorance. Also!! Good LGBT+ rep!! HOLY SHIT!" 25 year old me also understands that we cannot scrub away the scars left by colonialism. Not even in silly Blorbo show. All media will become problematic with time, and we will never be able to get ahead of it.
But for now I would love for folks to take a step back and touch grass because fanon woobifies historical figures waaaay worse than canon does. Lin did not curse us with Miku Binder Jefferson. Y'all did that yourselves and I mine eyes will never be scrubbed of the memory. Also the lack of love towards dark skinned characters does not go unnoticed don't think I don't see y'all sleeping on spanish jackie.
If you don't want to consume OMFD, cool! Please seek out and endorse media actually helmed by Black people. If someone wants to present a counter-argument to this that isn't an angry stream of consciousness and has paragraph breaks, I will weep for joy.
also just in case anyone did miss this added context that i genuinely can't miss is like. the thing about izzy's betrayal, because i see a LOT of people say that izzy was just selling stede out is that as far as the British were concerned they were selling ed to izzy.
they were selling him. they were providing him to izzy as payment for services rendered to the crown. the show establishes from episode 1 that the british navy considers non-white people to be savages and slaves. episode 5 establishes that the french share this belief, with the french captain calling ed a donkey, which is an old slur for pacific islanders.
its to izzy's credit that i DONT think he gathered that this was what was occurring - he genuinely seems to think that he was "saving" ed from a fate worse than death (being happy and """emasculated""" with stede), but the way the british talk about ed - how they are remanding him to the custody of "captain" hands - demoting him while promoting izzy, the white man given "custody" over him with the expectation that izzy will keep him under control -
as far as the british are concerned, izzy has just bought the man they're selling, in exchange for the man they want dead. which is also why they're willing to turn him over. slavery is alive and well in the 1700s, and they're selling a man of color to a white man's "custody". he's friend to the crown, so he can name his price, and his price was ed.
but not ed's freedom - ed is not captain teach, captain blackbeard, he's entrusted to the custody of captain hands.
izzy doesn't seem to get it. ed absolutely does. this is the kind of shit he's dealt with his whole life.
a meta is percolating: i know there’s the idea about of izzy and mary as mirrors, but tbh: i think mary and ed are mirrors, because stede and izzy have a *lot* of mirroring going on with each other, much as they’d hate to admit it, and so do ed and mary, in ways that i don’t think are necessarily picked up upon.
jumping in double dutch style because this reminded me of something i wanted to yell about anyway: the way ofmd uses a rotating wheel of parallels between characters on like… a million levels and is never satisfied sticking to the 1:1.
i just want to isolate e4 for a second, because that’s the episode where they give us the easiest ways to compare/contrast at once. (i need to do a longer scene by scene/line by line piece on this later, because it’s next level backflips writing and i’m mad.)
so: on the surface and in the visuals, it would be easy to leave the parallel at stede : mary :: ed : izzy.
ed and stede both like the toy ship, they’re the eventual boyfriends we are rooting for, and are the visibly Less Into This half of each narrative pair: mary and izzy are annoyed by the toy ship/what it represents to them and are more on the surface pushing at the other to do things or change.
but here’s where they flip the surface and get into the deeper parallels: mary is trying to get stede to focus up and legit do his job as a father in her side of the story, and we establish that she told stede she didn’t like the water itself, while they were standing by the water. izzy is telling ed to focus and insulting him for lacking initiative when we as an audience know that in their conversation about the clouds, ed solidified a plan he’d already mostly conceived. (and he tried to tell izzy about. while they were standing by the water. fuuuuck this team, you know?)
we see over and over again that mary is a reliable narrator; meanwhile, izzy very much is not.
because if you look at izzy’s rant in this episode analytically and take in the whole of the show and not just take izzy at his word, they took care that each thing he accuses ed of/insists he’s done is pushed back on by the narrative, if you pay attention; he says he did what ed said re: stede without complaint, when he pushed back the entire time. he says he’s massaging the crew when they doubt ed’s leadership, when the writers had him tell ivan and fang the episode before that ed was half-insane and there was no rhyme or reason to his judgement. and he keeps demanding ed focus and says he’s being erratic, when we know ed already threw the plan together and now there’s nothing to do but wait for the fog to roll in.
this is also another cool way where they never do 1:1, because here’s another difference between ed+izzy and mary+stede, and an example of why ed and izzy stay trapped in their spiral together in different but often mutual ways. (and foreshadows why the two narrative pairs will have such different trajectories in the finale!!!)
ed doesn’t say ‘i am asking about these clouds because i have a plan’, and izzy doesn’t say ‘look. fine, why the clouds? clearly you have a reason, or why ask’. so ed doesn’t explain himself, and izzy doesn’t say ‘uhhhh leap year tho, so like. actually we need to modify real fast and then you can fuck off to play footsie with the sweaty lil man in there ps no don’t do that actually, i hate that idea so much it causes me to actually black out in horror a second when i even consider considering it’.
they made sure to set up this whole plot so that if ed and izzy had been communicating well, they could have staved off the entire disaster, maybe come up with the lighthouse plan early, steered off course, etc. (and that makes stede and ed’s lighthouse plan being born of emotional truths and confessions and listening to each other even CRUNCHIER, thematically.)
anyway, point is: ed and izzy are both so fed up with each other that they end up both having communication blockages in differing ways. so in those moments they share a hat with stede, where mary only very briefly tries that hat on in the flashback about animals, because she’s annoyed stede jumps into a conversation she’s already having and cuts her off. other than that, she gets back to just saying the problem out loud in a mostly productive fashion.
which is a perfect lead-in to: if you look beyond the surface to what’s actually happening in their paired scenes, emotionally the clouds conversation cues us that ed is the one reaching out first, attempting to draw izzy into a more holistic conversation, like mary is with stede vs stede with mary. for their part of this beat, izzy and stede are only willing to communicate if it’s on their terms, in their ways, and they spurn attempts to get them to open up to a world outside their immediate perspective.
but then ed gets annoyed izzy just assumes he’s fucking around and not taking shit seriously when ed tried to bring him in on this clouds things, which aligns him more with mary and the animals conversation where she’s visibly annoyed with stede while the clouds : toy parallel ship stays in the chat.
…okay one more thing then i will save everything else for the long version. there’s a cool beat where they lean into showing that the clouds : toy ship are similar but not the same. the toy ship is a symbol of stede’s dreams in ways both positive and negative; he’s still playing at pirates, when that ship represents his emotional state. the clouds are ed’s weariness with the life he leads getting in the way of his natural talent, too, but they’re based on a concrete reality the ship doesn’t carry and reframe ed’s error in calculation into this cool thematic moment of ‘this is a guy who is so good at his shit and has been on top for so long he’s starting to forget to double-check his work and also he lowkey hates a lot of the elements of his job’, echoed by ed’s speech to stede later.
anyway e4!!! it’s a lot!!!! i really need to do that line-by-line.
Edward Teach knows who he is. i think this might be a bit controversial in the analysis perspective, because the idea of Edward teach, fractured identity, doesn't know who he is, is pretty prevalent, but i think this comes from a fundamental lack of familiarity with the experience of being non-white in white society.
what Ed struggles with is the ability to find a landing zone where he can stop code switching. sure, Ed is a social chameleon and changes things up depending on who he's with, but this is a common strategy for people of color in survival mode - managing expectations, experiences, and presentation are essential for not just surviving but thriving in a white world, and that's what we see with Ed -
he's Blackbeard the charismatic celebrity pirate when he first meets the crew because he's putting on the job. he's Jeff the Accountant when he's trying out finer things and high society. he's Blackie with Calico Jack, his oldest living tie to the past, a man who went through hell with him in their youth and a man who clearly thrives on high adrenaline high aggression masculinity. at the end of season 1, he's the Kraken for Izzy, pouring on the danger to keep a known liability at bay (Izzy has betrayed him twice, now. Izzy is a liability) and this isn't a sign of fractured identity, this is a sign of a man who has never been able to show all of himself to anyone and be accepted, and a man who knows he must be in community with others to survive.
no pirate stands alone. you're in a crew, you're a captain, you're a first mate, you're something to someone at all times. Ed can't be on his own if he wants to survive as a pirate, which is all he knows, but he also can't find peace as a pirate, because he isn't known. its not that he doesn't know who he is. he's all of these identities.
it's that it isn't until he meets Stede that he finds a place where he can show all of himself. That's why they bond so closely - they're able to connect because they have common interests. Because Stede isn't scared of Ed, and when he learns more about him he's curious, he asks questions, he shares. Ed is able to relax and share more of himself, to the point that when he panics, he shares too much. He gets nervous. That's why he wants to leave in episode 7 - he has shown too much and they haven't talked about and Ed hasn't been that vulnerable with anyone in a long time.
But then Lucius helps him see that Stede likes him, that Stede is doing this whole outing for him, that everything is good, and he's settled again. And then in episode 8, he's nervous again, because he codeswitched to hang out with Calico Jack, to enjoy some of the old bygone times, and without the context of the conversation Stede and Calico Jack had and the context of Stede's background, he's left to assume that Stede has seen that Ed isn't classy and doesn't like him anymore. So he backs off.
But he comes back, and knowing himself and what he wants is why Ed can walk away from his whole life to be with Stede. Because he knows himself and what he wants. He starts the season knowing himself and what he wants and how he feels - Ed's arc in the first season is not about finding himself but about opening up, settling into his skin, and understanding where he wants to go next. Stede's arc is coming to terms with what he's done, and then finally gaining base knowledge of himself. Stede and Ed are on totally different levels throughout the season, because Ed knows who he is. He just doesn't know how to navigate to where and who he wants to be next.
So all of this said? At the end of the finale, Ed loses sight of who he is. He regresses and falls back because it's easier to be feared than laughed at, and because Stede has broken his heart and Izzy has made it clear that no one will ever stand by all of him, so he might as well be the self that still has people.
But Stede didn't reject Ed. Stede ran for his own reasons. Which means when he comes back to Ed, when he fights his way back to Ed, he's not going to be all, oh darling I can help you sort out your identity. He'll be like oh my fearsome darling, you really are beautiful as he looks at Ed's frankly terrifying visage (or exhausted visage, who knows how long it will have been since this man took a nap) and he's going to be fully accepting of who Ed is. Because Stede knows and loves Ed for who he is. He's seen him violent. He's seen him aggressive. He's seen him vulnerable, soft, sweet, sorrowful, overjoyed. He knows Ed.
When Stede comes, he won't be fixing Ed. It's not Stede's place to fix Ed. It's Stede's job to walk beside Ed, and be at his side, (and apologize) and navigate with him the pitfalls and ups for their relationship, and continue to be the first person that Ed Teach could ever be all of himself with.
I need everyone to know that the rampant racism that taints fandom spaces makes it so difficult to even exist as a person of color.
Constantly mine and others discussions on racism are met with dismissal, refusal, willful ignorance and malice. Constantly. Even months later, I will still get reblogs on posts where people tell me I’m being “dramatic”. They’ll deny that racism exists in their favorite media, they’ll deny that their fandom is racist and the entire time they will talk down to me, degrade me and speak over me and my feelings.
I’ve been called horrid names and I’ve had three separate people make burner blogs just to argue with me on my posts discussing racism. Three.
And worse yet, some people seem to think the opposite of racism is fetishization. If they aren’t being hateful they are boiling down characters of color to stereotypes or hyper-sexualizing them. They’ll only see men of color as aggressive sexual objects, then call it appreciation. This is not appreciation. This is racism.
And don’t get me wrong, I am forever grateful for the support and community I have found. So many of you are insightful, attentive, kind and compassionate. So many of you are willing to grow and listen.
But I am so sick and tired of waking up every morning and blocking racists, I’m so sick and tired of justifying my existence in this fandom. I’m so sick and tired of living in fear of fetishization. Im sick of feeling dehumanized by fetishization in this fandom. I’m so sick and tired of seeing whitewashing.
I’m sick of seeing characters who look like me get hypersexualized. I’m sick of seeing characters who look like me get dehumanized. I’m sick of how this fandom treats characters who look like me. Im so sick of how this fandom treats people who look like me.
First of all, I have no idea what's up with his mantel, but here's what I noticed.
In Episode 1, the painting over Stede's mantel has these paper people, a sea serpent maybe, and a boat.
I think they MAY be his family, only because after Ep 1 they disappear and are never seen again. Episode 1 ends with Stede declaring, "My family is here now, at sea.", and the next time we see the mantel, the painting is empty and is lit by a single light at the bottom, almost like a memorial to the dead.
It remains empty for the rest of the show.
Here's a closer look, and also I noticed the whale paperweight is on the mantel at the beginning of Ep 1. The black sea serpent (?) kind of reminds me of the mural on the deck of the Revenge.
I have no idea what to make of this, if anything, but I thought it was interesting and I hadn't seen anyone else bring it up.
+_+_+_+_+
UPDATE
I'm now like 99% sure the paper people are Stede & Mary's wedding party.
I tried to clear up the photo once I realized, & I think the weird thing I marked in yellow, which I could barely see before, is maybe the priest? But like, just his feet? like he was torn, or like he was eaten by the sea serpent (pink)?
Which I still think looks like the deck motif things but damned if I can figure out exactly what those are. Sea serpents? Dolphins, like the weird ones they used to have in art in the 1700s? Eels? idk.
There's six paper people (marked in turquoise), and their outfits (mostly) match their wedding outfits except Stede. Stede in his turquoise suit, which I think is telling. It's the first thing we see him wear at sea, as a man free from everything this wedding symbolized.
Ok then we've got a weird black triangle thing on the extreme right marked in blue, & six clear tubes? Candles? It seems like maybe they are tubes holding the feet of the people, but then the dinghy (with a helm fsr) (marked in orange), is in the foreground, in front of them.
Lastly we've got these little things in front (red) There are at least seven but probably eight of them, with one behind the whale. I think they are lanterns maybe, and I wish there were nine because that would match the number of the crew and further the theory on lanterns that I have going, which is basically that, instead of anyone being lighthouses, the show says we should all be beacons for one another - lanterns.
It would track with how all of this disappears after Ep 1, replaced with a lighthouse light that is lit for one episode and then is dark the rest of the season - Stede's lets the light go out on the ideal of being a lighthouse for his family.
Anywho so that's the update, will be back with more lantern stuff I'm sure. If you have any thoughts I would love to hear them, especially if you have any idea what the motif animal could be!! (Especially especially if it's a mythical creature - my best guess so far is a Cetus)
I have about 5,000 words theorizing around it but haven’t landed on anything conclusively. My main working theory is kinda complicated.
For the Badmintons themselves I think it may represent how toxic masculinity is actually harmful for everyone involved, even those who benefit from and perpetuate/enforce the system.
For Stede though, the Badmintons represent his guilt for not performing masculinity as society says he should. I think them dying by their own hands is perhaps representative of Stede failing to deal with that guilt.
With Badminton 1, Stede actually does try to address the guilt in some way, but it’s by trying to assert that actually he DOES meet standard benchmarks of masculinity, which he doesn’t.
He tries to say actually I am a pirate, which is technically true, but not in the traditionally masculine ways that count to people like Badminton 1.
When B1 laughs off this claim, Stede attempts to assert it again through traditionally masculine violence - but his best attempt is a whack with a paperweight. It’s a temporary fix - just like Stede running away to sea.
That B1 dies I think has more to do with his own toxic masculinity killing him. He falls on his own sword, literally.
So Stede never addresses his guilt for failing at masculinity, he just puts it aside. By the time we get to B2, Stede’s guilt is at its strongest, and he doesn’t have it in him to try to stand up to toxic masculinity in any way. He just point blank agrees with his inner demon. Yes, I am a monster for being who I am.
So Stede has nothing to do with B2’s death. B2, utterly consumed by his hatred for Stede for not conforming to standard masculinity, entirely destroys himself.
So, twice Stede is faced with his inner guilt about failing at masculinity, and twice he fails to defeat it. It defeats itself because it comes from a toxic, self-destructive system.
When Stede finally does face this inner guilt, the person who has to die is him - the Stede who held himself to those toxic standards. Once he dies, Stede, as Mary says, is finally free.
Izzy Hands is Kylo Ren: Or, An Informal Exploration of Fandom's Proclivity Towards Minimizing and Sympathizing with White Male Violence
i brought this undertaking upon myself by putting this thought out there (and getting cursed with the knowledge that this take makes izzy/ed reylo) without my full intent to write the post. my being cursed is my own fault, my own cross to bear, my own self made misery. however, i'm going to make this analysis EVERYONE'S problem now because jokes on all of us, i wrote the post.
notes for readers: this meta is just under 6500 words. i have tried to divide it into thematic sections determined by bolded lines. sometimes i will reiterate previous points with expanded discussion because i always have more to say. big thanks to @dragonzair @plotdesigner and @twelvemonkeyswere
so to get the ground work settled: obviously izzy hands is not identical to kylo ren, given that he is not the fallen son of heroes, nor directly a key figure of a fascist empire. however, in the context of our flag means death and its fandom, particularly the portion that favors izzy and takes him at his word without examining the underlying context of his scenes and dynamics with other characters, there is a LOT of similarity between the ways that the two characters enact violence, and in the way the fandom response is geared towards sympathizing with these two characters for said violence while also and minimizing their responsibility for it.
i'll start with kylo ren because this won't be an exhaustive analysis of that character, mostly due to 1) i dont really like star wars 2) this isn't about star wars its about how this specific character kinda swept through peoples brains,,, but, kylo ren is a white man with a lot of power who demonstrates little interest in controlling his emotions (makes them the burden of other people), violates the boundaries of other characters, betrays those closest to him while blaming them for that betrayal, and violently lashes out when circumstances and situations don't go his way. he torments Rey, the female lead of the sequel trilogy, both physically through torture and emotionally through continuous attempts at manipulation.
a significant portion of the star wars sequel trilogy fanbase sympathizes with him to an excessive degree, denying his responsibility for his actions, blaming his parents and uncle Luke (despite the fact that he's like thirty) for his choices, minimizing his responsibility for his actions and at times minimizing the extent of his violence, even when its on screen. a tactic often used for this is displacing kylo ren's violence onto the leading man of color, finn, in an effort to make finn look like the real misogynist, the real villain, the real tormenter, all so that kylo can walk away looking better.
this is because pretty much all of western media is geared towards asking the audience to sympathize with white men. with white violence. with (white) emotional expression as violence.
we see this in american cop shows a lot, where we the audience are prompted to sympathize with violent cops violating the law because they just feel so much about the crime, it touches them so emotionally that they can't help but rough up a suspect who's been accused of such a horrible thing (this is essentially the bread and butter of chicago pd but that's another story). it's this idea that violence isn't just violence, violence is sympathetic and an expression of emotion, and it's understandable, and it happens, and critically, of course, all of this is only if the perpetrator is white or acting in service to whiteness.
kylo ren murders his father, and people talk about how sad it is he lost his dad. kylo ren destroys planets, and we talk about how sad it is that his uncle wanted to kill him for seeing he would grow up to destroy planets. kylo ren tortures and torments rey and we get posts about how it symbolizes her womb and their sexual congress (god i wish i was joking).
kylo ren is a dream boy to huge swaths of tumblr and his every flaw and crime is softened under the gaze of understanding, sympathizing, and minimizing.
now, what does this have to do with israel izzy hands, you might be asking?
well, you see, izzy hands is also a violent white man. he also blames other people for his actions (and failures), he makes assumptions about people's motives and their true purpose in life because he believes he innately understands them better than they do themselves (and in doing so, izzy hands works to uphold the colonizer mindset of the british navy, even as blackbeard himself's first mate), he harasses and insults and demeans. he betrays the person he considers himself closest to, and then blames the betrayed for the betrayal. he has delusions of grandeur and overestimates his own skill and importance. and a good portion of the fandom buys into all that he says hook, line, and sinker, all the while minimizing his violence and sympathizing with it.
now this is a good amount of claims, so i'll go through them one by one, and discuss ways that i've seen them brought up in fandom specifically to minimize the negative impact and sympathize with izzy.
firstly: izzy as a violent white man
violence can be a confusing thing, in some people's eyes. to a certain type of person, violence can only be defined in the realm of the physical, in laying hands or weapons on another person with intent to injure. but to many more people, particularly marginalized people (in my experience), violence can also include verbal and emotional attacks, bigoted remarks, and the undercutting of boundaries.
izzy does engage in at least two direct acts of physical violence, first when he grabs fang by the beard and yanks it to punish him for asking a question and then again when he challenges stede to a duel for the explicit purpose of separating him from ed (against ed's wishes!) and then stabs him rather than call it a draw. and note: there's no evidence that izzy WASNT trying to kill stede with that stab. we don't have reason to believe that he knew ed had taught him about being run through, not when the joke of the run me through scene hinged instead on izzy thinking ed and stede were fucking on deck.
but izzy's violence is chiefly of the other varieties. he is verbally and emotionally, homophobically, violent towards lucius, ed, and to an extent, stede himself. i’ll describe these events in detail in the section about him harassing and demeaning others!
izzy blames other people for his actions
on two (maybe three) different occasions, we see izzy displace blame onto other people for his own actions and failures. the first time is when he's explaining how he came to have one hostage instead of two when talking to ed - this one isn't really about violence, just about establishing a bit of personality and character with izzy. ed points out that stede bested izzy in swordplay and izzy displaces the blame for his loss onto stede, saying that it was an ambush, completely unprofessional.
they are pirates, a good 90% of their job is ambushing people
being ambushed isn't a good excuse for losing a fight! especially when it wasn't actually the ambush that lead to izzy's loss. i've seen people dismiss what happens a lot as stede getting by with luck or plot armor or romantic comedy genre shenanigans, but what it ultimately comes down to is that izzy was overconfident in his ability to handle the situation. when ivan took a rock to the face and went down, izzy took his eyes off the man standing in front of him with a knife and because of that ended up with said knife pressed to his face. he took his eyes off the threat before him because he didn't see stede as a threat.
but he's not going to admit that to ed, so he blames stede for being unprofessional and ambushing him.
his second displacement of blame also involves stede, is an attempt to provoke violence - he lies to ed and says that he specifically told him blackbeard desires his company, despite the fact that he did no such thing, and actually avoided (twice!) saying who his boss was. this is clearly because he's hoping ed will get angry and he'll be allowed to take care of/kill/thrash stede around for the embarrassment back when they first met.
if not for the fact that ed is BORED and looking for something new and different, he might have taken stede's unknowing insult as mockery and we see what happens to people who mock blackbeard. (they get skinned with a snail fork and tossed overboard.)
izzy was hoping ed would give him permission to dish out violence, and he's visibly disappointed when ed is fascinated instead.
this leads us to the third time he displaces blame, and this is not an attempt at violence, this is an act of violence. izzy sells ed out to the fucking british navy, and he can play it off as selling stede fucking bonnet out all he wants, but he was prepared for the chance that ed would be there at the mercy of the british. he was prepared enough that he clearly made a deal to have blackbeard remanded to the custody of "captain hands" if he was found with stede bonnet. he could have gotten the crew of the revenge and ed killed, all because he couldn't accept that ed is capable of making his own choices (he thinks ed is being seduced, that something's been done to his brain. he doesnt allow that ed could have different priorities or different choices, its his way or the high way)
he used his knowledge of ed and his past to plot an intimate betrayal, not just in selling him out to the navy but by summoning up his old buddy calico jack to be the distraction to try and lure him away from the rest, specifically so he can hurt people that izzy doesn't like and ed does (stede and the crew of the revenge). if ed hadn't come back, stede would have had the crew to open fire on those navy ships and its probable that they would have done it. they probably would have been sunk then and there, attacking three navy ships with just the revenge on their side.
and the whole time he’s still trying to convince edward that he’s doing this for edward’s sake, that he’s not really betraying him he’s just getting rid of stede, that this is for the best and it will be painless, and then when ed steps up and makes the choice to sign the act of grace to save stede, izzy comes at him again with “do you really want to lick the king’s boots”, as if ed would be at a position of considering it without izzy’s betrayal limiting choices.
a significant fandom response to all of these events has, for the most part, been to minimize and sympathize. i've seen posts about izzy being a housewife abandoned by his spouse for a new model. i've seen posts discussing how cruel ed is for abandoning izzy for a fresh interest. how izzy was just trying to help ed in all this because the navy would have found them eventually. there are plenty of posts about how izzy is definitely super competent and only lost to stede in the first place because of the genre change, never mind that genre changes don’t explain why izzy lost to stede the first time. izzy literally sells ed out to the british navy for petty spite and because he doesn't respect ed to make his own decisions, and the discussion hinges on devotion.
come now. we must see that this is the same kind of minimization and sympathizing that was done with kylo ren, when he murders his own father and then makes it out that it's han solo's own fault he killed him, that han gave him no choice. izzy is implying that ed left him no choice but to sell him out, even though izzy had every choice. all he had to do was walk away. he already had walked away, thanks to the duel he INSISTED on having.
this leads into the next point:
izzy making assumptions about people's motives and their true purpose in life, and the ways that izzy acts to uphold the colonizer mindset of the british navy.
there have been multiple posts about the possibility of izzy having a background with the british navy due to his behavior - specifically how he handles discipline, and posts exploring the racial (and racist) dynamic to izzy and ed's relationship to each other. here i intend to argue that izzy’s similarity towards the culture of the british navy and the racial dynamic to izzy and ed’s relationship are in fact inherently tied together.
because see, izzy claims that he does this stuff for ed, he claims that he wants his captain back, he claims that lucius is a proper seductress sleeping around behind his partner's back, he claims that ed is washed up and posing and blackbeard is the real man - and all of these elements are about izzy enforcing his world view, derived from toxic masculinity as enforced by the dominant oppressively expanding white culture onto the people around him. the world of OFMD, contrary to some beliefs, is not a muppet world of the romance genre, nor is it a world free of homophobia. it is our world, its just not solely centering the white experience. it doesn't treat racism as a source of voyeuristic trauma porn, and it doesn't treat homophobia that way either.
somewhere along the line, izzy hands clearly became the sort of man who thinks the only real power is violence, the way a man leads is through fear, that power makes a man into a god, and that punishment and humiliation are the way to create fear and from that fear, power. these same mentalities are centralized in the british empire and its navy (as well as the fancy folk on the party boat), where the clearly doesn’t respect people of color and specifically black people, where izzy’s tactics are taken from the navy - that whole show he puts on, fine dining while the crew works? that’s a navy tactic. the no rations for a week also calls to mind military tactics for breaking rebellious recruits.
we see the punching down, the establishment of power through fear and punishment, in the way that izzy talks to the people around him, the way he grabs and yanks fang's beard to stop him from questioning blackbeard even while he himself calls ed half-insane/half-mad (there are things izzy is allowed to do that the other men aren’t), the way he moans oooh daddy, daddy and snaps bitch to try and shame lucius for being the penetrated partner (but notably has nothing to say to pete), the way he labels ed a nonhuman and says he's better off dead and then infantilizes him as a gay man by saying he's pining over his boyfriend as if ed, a middle aged man who's had previous relationships, is a naive child. again, we see it in the way he sets himself up to eat a fine meal while the crew works and sets fang and ivan (two men of color) to be his dining servants, salting his food and standing by for his orders. we see it in the way that only roach, frenchie, and oluwande are actually being put to any hard work, trying to heave up the anchor, while the rest of the crew is on light duties!
izzy claims he was honored to work for blackbeard because he respected his skill as a sailor, essentially, his mind. but he constantly dismisses ed and his creative process and his feelings and his opinions and literally anything ed does that doesn't fit with izzy's own preconceived notions of what it means to be Edward 'Blackbeard' Teach. this simultaneously infantilizes ed - implies that he doesn't know what's best for him, that he can't take care of himself, that the decisions he makes for himself are the wrong choice - and lionizes him, makes him not a myth rather than a man, makes him someone who has to constantly win, who can never enjoy a fine fabric, never admire a library, never cry over an abandonment, never express himself with anything but violence.
and frankly, this simultaneous infantilization and lionization pattern is nothing unique or new. this is a classic tool of white supremacy and a classic tool of colonization from european powers.
it's the assumption that non-white people are inherently more ""savage"", more wild, more aggressive, less intelligent, less rational, less capable of strong emotion. izzy is disgusted by ed's softer side, and this is UNIQUE to izzy. fang and ivan, they both approve of ed's softer side, of ed bonding with the crew of the revenge. ivan says he's never seen ed so open and available and he doesn't sound bothered by it.
but izzy is upset. and in the finale, when ed is mourning and grieving his hopes and romantic dreams, izzy is disgusted. he says that ed would be better off dead than what he is now, clearly considering him emasculated and dehumanized if he can't be the peak of masculinity that's expected of him, not just as blackbeard but as blackbeard who is a man of color. izzy cannot tolerate that this person he respected only on the grounds of ed presenting as the man izzy expects him to be, in the identity izzy expects him to have, no deviations, no stops, no breaks, is not just that persona.
this is racist. i will say again, this is racist. this is izzy expecting ed to be beyond human and other because izzy will not respect him as a whole and complete person. this is the white colonizer mentality that expects people of color to be superhuman and always on their a-game and never have a bad day. this is izzy ignoring the new white men under his command barely working as he puts the new black men to the hardest work the ship has.
this is izzy, embodying the toxic, racist culture that the golden age of piracy represents - mass colonization, empire building, the invasion and conquering of native peoples all over the planet.
what is the fandom response to these scenes, these events? well, once again, big on the minimization, huge on the sympathy. posts abound about how izzy isn't ACTUALLY homophobic he just hates femininity, he just hates laziness, he just hates people who cheat on their partners. posts about how izzy isnt racist, the show probably didn't think twice about how they had people working! izzy isn't racist and you're overly sensitive if you think he is! izzy isn't racist, YOU'RE the racist who must hate white people.
the response is to talk about how izzy is on the breaking point, how he’s afraid, how he’s losing his stability, how he’s lashing out to try and get back the man he trusts and loves and doesn’t realize the damage he’s doing to ed because he just doesn’t understand what’s happening.
the classic fandom response, really. it happened with kylo ren too. kylo ren isn't a misogynist, he just respects rey as an opponent. kylo ren isn't racist, the stormtroopers come from all over. its not racist to like kylo ren more than finn, i just think kylo is more sympathetic and nuanced, and besides finn was being the REAL misogynist by holding rey's hand -
people say ed's the real problem too, for not talking to izzy, for liking stede, for hurting the brand. there are posts theorizing about how blackbeard is izzy's creation too so ed can't just give it up. that ed owes his crew (izzy) to be blackbeard even if it makes him miserable. posts about how ed is threatening izzy more than actually expressing suicidal ideation, because why listen to the man of color when you could sympathize with a white man, right?
after all, ed is so erratic and tired and half-insane, he's leaving all the real work to izzy (never mind that ed had a plan, never mind that ed invited izzy into the plan by asking him about the clouds, never mind that izzy rejected this invitation by being disgusted by what he views as a digression because even now he doesn't care about ed's process and that ed’s sigh about izzy lacking imagination shows this isn’t a one-off-)
never mind that izzy says he was excited to work for blackbeard, implying ed was already a legend when izzy began working for him, rather than izzy having a hand in creating the blackbeard legend. never mind that izzy doesn't actually do anything to come up with another plan besides ask how fast the ship can sail when its already too late and ask about the munitions as though they can take on a fully armed spanish navy vessel (and then doesn't have the canons prepped, or follow through on those questions)-
what matters is that izzy SAYS he's trying to keep them all alive and that izzy SAYS he's managing ed.
never mind what the actual text, the show, reveals to us. fandom takes izzy at his word even as ed's own words are dismissed. ed says he feels like he's drowning? ed says he hasn't tried dying yet, maybe he should give it a go? he's threatening izzy with killing himself, not expressing his feelings. he's just talking about wanting to retire. he doesn't mean it. he's making izzy stress by not sharing his plan, never mind that izzy is instantly dismissive the moment he starts to tell him about how he got to the plan.
dismissing the male protagonist of color in favor of the white antagonist - a classic fandom move. classic white supremacy and defense of whiteness too - to believe white people and question people of color.
izzy harasses, insults, and demeans and also just because i can fit it here, izzy has delusions of grandeur
i already talked about this a good amount in the last segment, but i think this is really critical here in discussing how the fandom minimizes the impact of what izzy does and says in the name of sympathizing with him. izzy's actions are aggressive, his words violent, intended to cause harm, intended to HURT, intended to make people feel small and ashamed, because as izzy himself put it - he's first mate hands, or god to you.
that's the high he's riding on. being god as far as he's concerned.
(never mind that this is clearly a delusion of grandeur because the second izzy is actually in charge he's riding high in classic british navy fashion, sitting up and having dinner in front of the crew to establish power, clearly delineating the line between white and non-white, and then punishing them with no food to regain power after they fail to respect him)
and he gets there, like i said, by punching down. he keeps fang and ivan in line with violence, he tries to have the revenge's crew kept down with violence, he tries to work lucius into exhaustion when he catches him in the submissive role of sex and lucius fails to be intimidated by him -
which again, this is motivated by homophobia and the harassment is to the bottom partner, which happens a LOT with homophobia, because homophobes tend to think the person DOING the penetrating is still a man's man while the person submitting is for lack of polite terms, "the woman", "the girl", the "bitch" as izzy puts it. It's not about hating femininity, its about hating femininity in men aka homophobia. And when words alone can't work, Izzy tries to force Lucius into submission by making him scrape the barnacles, even though he actually doesn't have authority over lucius!
and the thing about the barnacles, because THAT comes up a lot too, is that while barnacles can damage a ship's hull and paneling, the chief problem that barnacles cause is that they slow down the ship by increasing friction between the ship and the water surface. this CAN be a problem, but it's not an immediate problem, it's not one that wouldn't be better served being taken care of the next time the ship docks or comes to port and they get other repairs done. it's not the essential, immediate chore that i've seen some imply. it's scrubby busy work that izzy put lucius on as punishment for not being ashamed when izzy decided to humiliate him. izzy says, you think you're cute and lucius says i've decided to carry myself like i am.
one way that we can tell this is nonessential grunt work is the fact that izzy puts lucius, who by all accounts is the least experienced sailor, to work with minimal instruction. as was pointed out to me, in the history of pirate and sailing media, scrubbing the barnacles is generally a grunt work chore to break the newbies in. it’s maintenance, not essential work that the ship depends on.
and this interaction? this has nothing to do with izzy thinking lucius is unfaithful. it happens before then. and he doesn't come at pete for getting his dick wet, just lucius for being the one wetting it and being unashamed about it. its about homophobia, and the fact that in the world of toxic masculinity the worst thing you can do is "submit".
now, there's subtext here about izzy not being straight, about izzy being repressed and gay and lashing out at lucius who is openly and joyously gay and that's definitely likely - but that still makes it homophobia, and its not internalized homophobia either, its externalized homophobia directed at the gay men around him that izzy sees as emasculated and emasculating. personally i have no patience for people who make others miserable to get some scrap of satisfaction for themselves, but i know other people do, have patience and sympathy.
but there's so much faith extended to izzy. so much talk about his redemption, his suffering, his sorrows, the way he hurts, the way ed hurt him, when izzy initiates the violence and disrespect, but izzy is white and whiteness is prioritized. even when the violence is white on white (izzy vs lucius) izzy’s metatexual position as a repressed gay man is placed in priority to lucius’ emotional safety as an out gay man subject to homophobic violence in the workplace he lives in. when lucius refuses to do the pointless punishment task he’s been given because he wasn’t humiliated, he’s given even more busy work for the pure purpose of burdening, exhausting, and breaking him in, and that’s why lucius is framed as the winner when he makes izzy back off with his own threat of humiliation.
because the work was never essential and was always about humiliation and forcing “respect”. and yet there are so many posts about izzy being right about the work needing to be done and how lucius really is just lazy and uses seduction to get out of work. over on the ofmd kink meme there are SO many posts about how they just want the crew to see how cool and competent and valuable and right izzy is and to have him get hurt/comfort after being misjudged by the crew.
how many analyses talk about the class divide in ofmd while failing to mention the racial divide? i know i've read far too many of them.
as with kylo ren and every other violent white man that becomes particularly beloved in fandom, izzy's responsibility for his violence is often diminished and his sympathetic qualities (very limited in the show) are expanded upon. and just to make it clear, this isn't to say every izzy fan interprets him this way but my goodness have i seen a lot of this sentiment. i find izzy pretty fascinating, on a meta and writing level, and scum under my boots on my personal level, and if anyone takes this post as an attack i mean. that's on you. this post is to raise awareness that this is an on-going habit in fandom that has continued for decades and will continue on for decades if people don't stop and consider, at least occasionally, why they think as they do.
izzy is made out as though he's trying so hard, but he doesn't even care that the crew of the revenge are doing work poorly and sloppily (frenchie is literally nailing his sleeve down…) and when he interrupts them having a meal he screams and shouts but doesn't actually make sure they get to work because it wasn’t about them taking a break its about the fact that they aren’t terrified of being boarded and invaded and he never does any of the oh so concerning work himself.
fandom takes it for granted that izzy is a reliable narrator when he says he wants the work done right and he's trying to keep things running but we learn from fang that when he was last kept in charge he metaphorically (and pretty much literally) shat the bed. and this is a story fang is happy to share with people he's known for less than two weeks. izzy does NOT command loyalty or respect, he does not keep a crew running, he does not know how to manage people, and days of being in charge later he's only saved from death because ed comes back and saves his life effortlessly, because ED commands respect and loyalty.
when izzy is in charge of things without ed's backing, he's izzy the spewer shitting the bed at doing the job.
and yet his competencies are lauded! and defended! what we see that izzy is good at is fighting and selling out his boss. what we see he's bad at is pretty much everything else. (pretty similar to kylo ren, again, who is likewise held up as competent and intimidating and powerful.)
at no point does the narrative ever reward izzy. at no point is he on top in any of the jokes or the gags. izzy is another badminton for this narrative, punching down and forcibly maintaining the abusive social dynamic of the time and place, and thus like the badmintons, the narrative is never on his side.
but i guess the narrative doesn't have to be on his side, because a portion of the fandom will be, right?
when we look at the impact that izzy has on ed, we can see that its the same impact the badmintons have on stede, and here is where i’ll be adding in observations from @ who helped review and critique this analysis in the drafting stage:
The point about the Badmintons is really good because it's about the different expressions of that racist, homophobic masculinity from two different pov. The Badmintons are of course rich and have an emotional distance from Stede and his masculinity/femininity that they turn into bullying and disdain. But Izzy is up close to Ed. Izzy is in the circle and uses many of the same mechanisms the Badmintons use, just in a slightly different way, but they all humiliate, reproach, harass, and disdain the guy they don't approve of. Where the Badmintons wanted to crush Stede to stop him being who he is, Izzy is trying to control Ed to stop him being who he is. Both the Badmintons and Izzy bring up the past as mechanisms of control, they both refuse to listen when they're told No, they both reject other forms of thinking and other expressions of masculinity. The Badmintons want Stede to suffer because he can't live up to their "ideals," but Izzy wants Ed to suffer to "elevate" him to his ideals. And the racial implication of what that ideal constitutes is still there. Especially because even if this is chance, both Badmintons and Izzy are English. If that makes sense.
And if you add the reading that Izzy is gay and repressed (where the Badmintons are probably not), that also explains why Izzy is given a little more depth and screen time. Because whether this is true or not, Izzy is the eponymous crab in the bucket trying to bring down the others with him because he is too bigoted and closed minded to think there's any other way to live outside the bucket
a lot of fans depict izzy's possessiveness as protectiveness from stede bonnet, as defending his relationship with ed from stede, as being afraid that ed will be weakened and left vulnerable by exposure to stede's dangerous softness -
but izzy is the one who hurts ed for being soft
ivan and fang are both "real" pirates who come from ed's crew and they're both in full support of ed and his growth and change. they serve as balances to show that izzy is not, in fact, correct, about the way the world works. these two are hardened, battle-loving pirates who regret not getting to murder and are happy to punch prisoners. but they enjoy the softer life with the revenge and they enjoy watching ed soften up too
(and yes, they stand with izzy for the big "you have to send him to doggy heaven" discussion, but it seems pretty clearly that that's more because of the no pet rules and lingering dog murder trauma than because they disapprove of ed's changing. just him seemingly altering the rules of the arrangement.)
izzy, acting as antagonist, digs his heels in and goes in on ed right as he's climbing to his feet, because he disapproves of ed reaching out and finding community and sharing his softness with other people. he's disgusted that other people have seen the "weakness" that izzy himself dislikes so much.
there has been a lot of pushback against izzy for the way he attacks ed, i would never pretend otherwise. but there's an equally large amount of poeple who diminish what izzy does, the impact he has on ed, and even the nature of his comments. i've seen posts argue that izzy isn't threatening ed when he says "edward better watch his step", as if there could possibly be a non-threatening connotation to the phrase. i'm not going to argue about whether or not edward is afraid. what i am going to say is that its pretty undeniable by any reasonable standard that izzy is threatening ed.
again, posts about how izzy isn’t homophobic, that go about repeating that 'he's not homophobic he just hates when men are feminine' argument, are at best naive and at worst complete obstrucations of the truth because that is BUILT on the inherent misogyny within homophobia. the idea that men who cry, men who wear bright colors, men who enjoy soft clothing are feminine? is homophobia! Because its all about the fear of men being women because gay men especially men who bottom are seen as being emasculated and womanly.
in fact, some fans characterize izzy as emotional and hurt, a housewife, a jilted lover, as being the truly vulnerable one between the two, the one facing losing everything... and never mind that izzy is doing heads and shoulders better than ed, and that izzy CHOSE to leave ed's side when he chose not to respect ed's wishes and instigated a duel that ed told him not to do and asked him to back down from, while ed is the one the narrative shows as having actually been left behind. izzy isn’t left behind. izzy leaves, because things need to be on his terms or no terms. And yet izzy is viewed as the one emotionally transgressed upon, the sad wife dealing with an absentee husband, this all, again, takes me right back to kylo ren.
after all, kylo ren as female-coded, woman-coded, as a feminine character, was a hugely popular take in kylo ren fan spaces. people looked at kylo ren and said that his emotional nature did not make him volatile but in touch with his feelings, feminine coded. his violence was considered self-defense, and he was considered a victim, a real victim, of abandonment, the same way that izzy is even now being considered a victim of abandonment. not going to lie, the way that izzy’s implied masochistic bottom tendencies are taken and blown up by fandom to put him in this space of being more vulnerable than he actually is just reminds me starkly of the way kylo ren fans used his supposed femininity as a defense against critiques of his character.
in conclusion
i cant believe i spent 6000 words talking about this and i guess this is my huge izzy analysis post that covers my general troubles with the way fandom interacts with the character of izzy hands. Izzy is an interesting character because he’s essentially a slightly more fleshed out badminton, he’s an antagonist who serves to kick ed when he’s down and adhere him to the corrupt and toxic mire of masculine society they both inhabit, but too often he’s not allowed to be fully culpable for his behavior.
fandom has a long habit of finding toxic white men and softening their behavior. it’s not even about condoning the behavior, it’s about changing the text to make them more palatable and i believe its to do with our societal predisposition to trust, cater to, and trust whiteness combined with izzy’s queer coding that makes people latch onto him and want to make him something better than he is. after all, if he isn’t homophobic, if he isn’t enforcing racism, if he isn’t violently suppressing the people around him, then its easier to care for him, love him, sympathize with him, empathize with him -
easier to see this white man as a victim instead of the architect of all of his own misery. at every turn izzy can walk away and at every turn izzy chooses to take his shovel and dig himself deeper. at no one’s request, at no one’s entreaty, izzy digs his heels in and drives deeper into the fucked up mire of toxic masculinity because he doesn’t want to leave it and he doesn’t want ed or the crew or anyone else to leave it either. And that’s a fascinating character, a sad character, a hurting character, a fucked up character, and i don’t understand why so much of the engagement with this character wants to run way from that.
izzy hands can find redemption. he can grow and change and become something better. but not if he (and his fanbase) are incapable of acknowledging exactly how deep in the shit he is to begin with. the way for izzy to grow is not for the other characters to change or the other characters to cater to his hurt or make space for him. the way for izzy to change is to recognize that he did this to himself and that his absolution will come from no one else.
After writing about how the racial dynamics of Ed's character in the show affect his choices, it got me thinking about the interracial romance dynamics set up between Ed and Stede. (This is a little more Stede focused than Ed since I already wrote about Ed at length)
Unlike some shows OFMD recognizes systems of privilege and oppression in its world. Colonialism, racism, and homophobia all exist-but no marginalized person in the show is forced to have an arch revolving only around these oppressive forces. The sea within the show, is especially used as a metaphor-and transgressive space where some of these oppressive forces lessen in power, or are more easily resisted. (I.E. Calico Jack's comment "Anything goes at sea" in reference to homosexuality). The show has deliberately set up piracy to be an anarchistic, and rebellious force to traditional society's colonialism and heteronormativity-which is a key element to how Ed and Stede come together.
Stede clearly comes from a place of white, male, and wealthy privilege. It lends itself to a lot of arrogance that he charges into situations with, and a very valid reason much of the crew and other characters are frustrated with him. He isn't afraid to invade spaces which often belong to marginalized people, the poor, POC, and women (Like Spanish Jackie's).
He underestimates piracy is often a forced profession (as told to him by Olu in episode 1) to those in the most marginalized positions. He can be dismissive of the crew's frustrations or worries often (fails to notice when they are in danger like Lucius going missing)-and doesn't often comprehend how racial violence works. When the English Officers are making microaggressive comments against his crew in episode 1 he does appear uncomfortable, but also fails to entirely understand the weight of those insults to his crew or stand up against them (even if it would've been dangerous). The indigenous group are right to be wary of him in episode 2 and address his internalized bias and racist reaction when he assumes they are cannibals which ate the hostages. He is a self-focused white man, even if he is capable of emotional intelligence and empathy with others.
Rightfully so, the Revenge crew has plenty of reasons to want to mutiny and kill him-as a privileged outsider who's impulsive decisions, and invasion of space for the marginalized, is going to put all their lives in danger (as he does in episode 3 on the Spanish Ship).
Despite his very expected of-the-time-period (And unfortunately still persist in modern times) ignorance, privilege, and microaggressions Stede still appears to be an outlier of the elite white men of his society. Unlike the English, or French aristocrats he does not showcase any overt prejudice to members of his crew-and even seeks out their advise and council (when his own excitement hasn't gotten him to make an impulsive decision). In fact by coming to sea-Stede surrenders a degree of his privilege, since it is the pirates like Spanish Jackie, Blackbeard, Calico Jack, and even Izzy who through experience and physical force have earned the most power and respect on the high seas. Being a white, wealthy, man doesn't carry the same immediate access to power as it does in Barbados-and Stede is seemingly willing to make to make that sacrifice to learn along the way. While part of this must be a-credited to the excellent writing on the show more focused on creating a modern, inclusive, experience-credit must also be given to the writing for showcasing historical subtext which demonstrates why Stede would have more progressive viewpoints.
Throughout history, there are multiple instances where marginalized groups end up bonding together-because they're all pushed to the outskirts of society. It makes sense a lot of the most staunch abolitionists of the 19th century (amongst white people-since there were plenty of POC who did the majority of the work) were women. Enduring discrimination is painful, but can have the affect of building empathy-which seems to have been one of the effects in Stede's case. Episode 1 establishes what a menace Stede is to his more marginalized crew-but it also importantly showcases how intensely marginalized Stede was in his own society. Stede experienced abuse in his own house AND from his own peers due to his overt lack of traditional colonial masculinity.
We're told he cries easily and picks flowers (Stede confirms he did), which make him the ire of the more traditionally masculine boys in his school, and provokes their physical and mental abuse. Stede's queerness has ostracized him from his society and some elements of his privilege ever since he was a boy.
While his marriage does not continue his overt abuse-it's a further situation of Stede trying to exist in a colonial role that is just miserable for him as a queer man. What's interesting to how Stede responds to his marginalization though-is he chooses to walk away from the abusive heteronormative, colonial, society-rather than become embittered (and lashing out-which he does do once he tries to return in episode 10) trying to exist in it. It's part of the reason he feels a kinship to the other pirates (even if it isn't alway reciprocated or over-assumed on his part), and finds life more comfortable amongst others who have also been outcasted from colonial traditional society. He finally has a space he can be openly queer (Not in the immediately seducing men sense-but in ignoring the demands of traditional masculinity sense)-because it is a transgressive space in and of itself. I would argue one of the most important pieces of Stede's arch in the show-is realizing resisting the colonial, violent society he was told is normal-is not something to feel guilty about-but needed for justice and happiness.
As much as Stede questions what he's done or who he is becoming upon killing Nigel, when he actually pauses to consider his death-he finds he doesn't feel guilty at all about it. He recognizes what an abusive and horrible colonial force Nigel was. What he really feels guilty over is the harm he could've caused to leaving his family vulnerable without him-or I would argue-the overall guilt he feels each time he transgresses against the traditional societal role he was told he should respect. It's here, he begins to let go of his privilege that was apart of that abusive colonial system, which also abused him.
Enter Ed. After hearing stories of his success and adventures, and freedom of anarchy Stede is instantly starstuck by the idea of Blackbeard before even meeting him. Ed is equally intrigued by Stede before they meet-someone who doesn't seem to be overwhelmed by his reputation-and also an apparent 'gentleman' at sea-a persona difficult to exist in a hyper-violent power structure of pirates. I would argue Ed's initial interest in Stede is split between that intrigue-and as we learn at the end of episode 4-his plan to kill him and steal his wealth & assets. And why wouldn't he? As far as he knows Stede is just another wealthy white man who would put him down the moment he gets a chance.
That is until Stede wakes up. As others have pointed out, immediately, without even knowing he is a Captain Stede treats Ed with respect as though they are equals. Ed is clearly perplexed by that, and it extends his fascination toward Stede even though he is still heavily invested in his long-con. However it's when Ed shows interest in the untraditionally hyper-masculine fabric-and Stede responds not only with equal adoration, but invites Ed into his secret cabinet of more, his perception of Stede begins to shift. Stede is not the same as the previous condescending white aristocrats Ed has come across previously who would've never invited him to touch their things-none the less wear them in the next scene. Their clothes swapping also gives us the visual cue of the equal playing ground Ed and Stede meet at on the sea. Stede still carrying some of the power of his wealth and whiteness, and Ed carrying the power earned from being Blackbeard for years, and the biracial influence able to earn loyalty from pirates of different identities across the board. Not at all how it would have been if they met in Barbados.
From there, relieved to find someone who has an appreciation for the same untraditionally masculine interest they share-the pair open up further. Sharing their mutual exasperation with the role they've been forced into by society, due to their marginalization.
By the end of the episode-bonding on their mutual eccentricities they've developed in response to learning to cope and make life interesting for themselves-Ed is already beginning to doubt his plan. It's obvious on his face when he turns from Izzy after sharing his plan to murder Stede. This long-con of playing hyper-violent, hyper-masculine, to survive has become draining.
The following episode we get an instance of Ed learning high class manners from Stede for said con, when a French Officer racially insults him referring to him as "Donkey". While Stede recognizes Ed is upset-he does not seem to understand entirely why it's so deeply harmful to him. Clearly having an old wound reopened Ed is especially eager to go to the fancy French aristocrat party to prove to himself, and perhaps even Stede, he can be more than those insults. That he could even pull off the con if he suceeds.
Initially, Ed is proud he's somehow outdid Stede at the party, a white man in his own element, by being more 'liked' at the party. Stede however, knowing society well, is most likely familiar enough to be wary of the overt or passive aggressive racism that exists in these spaces. He warns Ed they can be fickle. We know first-hand he's been mistreated for his own version of masculinity, so he's more aware of what discrimination looks like in this setting, as opposed to the previous microaggressions he underestimated from the officers He's not at all surprised when Ed leaves the party distraught-and his desire to get revenge on the French aristocrats is an extremely huge shift for him and Ed.
While the comedy of the scene is overt-many have pointed out Stede is shockingly unfazed with the obvious destruction and clearly loss of life on the French ship. It's burning behind them as people jump into the sea and Stede smiles proudly. It's a massive change from Stede's panicked response to 'accidentally' killing Nigel. He's quite content-proud of himself! Just like Nigel, the aristocrats represent and showcase colonial violence, their deaths are all played for comedy and without sorrow (unlike Karl or Lucius) because the show is so anti-colonialist-and has no sympathy for those who represent it. While Stede struggles to feel righteous anger for himself in terms of responding to Nigel's oppressive force-he is plenty able to on Ed's behalf.
For Ed, this act completely changes how he sees Stede. In this scene, Stede has not only demonstrated he is willing to be rough and fight back when needed (not just a simple tender rich man), but he willing to betray his own class and race for Ed. "Cut loose" is a significant line-cut loose as in-have fun, be unhinged, but also cut ties from his own people. It's only BECAUSE Stede does this we can even have the moonlight "you wear fine things well" scene. Ed no longer sees Stede as a rich target he won't feel bad taking out-he sees someone who cares about his feelings and willing to resist the forces colonialism with him and more importantly FOR him.
"You wear fine things well" is an unwitting seduction on Stede's part-because to Ed it is reassuring him-he is just as fine, worthy, and precious as he hoped to be as a boy. Stede is showcasing he does not view Ed in the stereotypes of his race at all, which have marked many of Ed's interactions at sea for the majority of his life. By the end of this episode Ed is infatuated with Stede: they're similar in their eccentricities, Stede empathizes with his plights, and he's enchanted by his courage to defy convention. Not that he'll ever lay his heart bare to tell Stede at this point. Especially when he sees Stede doesn't go in for a kiss like he does. He's never had this kind of equal and relatable relationship with another person-and most likely never assumed it would be with a white man.
So he starts flirting.
Many have pointed out the "Stab me" scene is clearly Ed's attempt to flirt-to get Stede physically close to him, it's also demonstration of how in a hyper-masucline setting so much bonding is done via violence. We can imagine this may have been how the sexuality went between Calico Jack and Ed. But Stede's version of masculinity, romance, etc, is so different from this high seas violent courtships-the attempt goes over his head. That's why Ed is agonized with the push to kill him by Izzy in episode 6. He does his best to convince himself, like Izzy says, Stede is a pet, a passing infatuation/lust, but the reminder of his childhood trauma from the 'fuckery' is too much to bear. Stede is not like his Father, or other white men he's killed, he's Stede, he listens, he's already protected and defended Ed once-and joined Ed in his absurd behavior stepping outside of all masculine expectation with him, so he's willing to open up and tell Stede what happened-especially since Stede seeks him out after his panic attack.
Obviously this is an extremely intimate scene on its own, but the fact Stede is someone Ed can fall apart in front of, cry, express his distain for the tenants of his own power, brings Ed even closer to him. This kind of emotional showcase would've had the opposite effect with any other men Ed knew as Blackbeard. But unlike Jack, or Izzy, Stede makes so much space and empathy to comfort Ed's emotions. It's not often a man of color's vulnerable emotions are put on screen as a central important plot point to be given weight and tender time to.
It's worth noting how Ed being the seducee and attempting to anxiously win back Stede's affections is a departure from historically racist depictions of interracial romances on screen. Quite often in the past we saw the POC member of a pairing containing a white person, was often characterized as being more animalistic, rough, or aggressively sexual. While Ed is clearly more traditionally masculine and hardy as pirate-he's given the role of the infatuated one-the one pining tenderly (plus we see Stede commit more violence on screen than we do Ed!). Ed's given a beautifully rich emotional score of being romanced, in a setting on the sea where the pair have equal footing of privilege. They're pair of equals bonding over their odd (to everyone else) behavior.
While Ed refers to himself as a Kraken, a mythical monster-that imagery is part of the racialized violence he'd endured all his life. The fact in that scene Stede does not reinforce that imagry but instead tells Ed he's his 'friend' is so monumental for Ed. As someone who has been on a journey of learning violence is at times unavoidable to survive against oppressive forces, Stede answers Ed's murder plan with empathy and relief. It completly undercuts the racist idea that either one of them is more 'naturally violent' with Ed in tears over the fact he no longer wants to commit murders to survive. Ed's humanity and tender emotions are put at the forefront of the show multiple times-asking the audience not to stereotype him in a caricature-even if other white characters are willing to. (Which is why fan depictions that lean into making him a literal monster are regressive at least, and racist at worst)
Episode 7 and 8 really showcase how Ed has no idea what to expect of Stede. He spends most of episode 7 feeling rejected and far too vulnerable (after that bathtub confession), since Stede has not openly returned his flirtations (And perhaps rightfully wary from his previous experiences with white men) and it is only when Lucius spells out to Ed that the entire expedition is meant to be a gift to Ed from Stede, he relaxes. Once he knows Stede is somehow returning his affections, he reconsiders his plan of running away and agrees to co-captain with him.
When Calico Jack shows up in episode 8 he throws a wrench in everything-but also provides us interesting backstory for Ed and his relationships with white men. He tells Stede "You two have a lot in common", which can seem like a humorous throw away line since Jack and Stede couldn't be more different in their presentation of masculinity. I would argue what Ed sees and is referring to-is that Jack and Stede are two white men who seem extremely uninterested in prescribed colonial masculinity and that is what stands out to Ed. That isn't to say Jack's version of toxic, violent, frat-boy, immature, masculinity is healthy-but Ed can recognize they are both outliers from proper navy officers. (Ed's perspective is demonstrated in episode 9, when he tells Chauncey "you all look alike", a joke yes, but also how much these proper colonial white men blend together for Ed.)
Stede has made enough of an impression on Ed though-and shown him such a space of alternative masculinity-he is willing to sacrifice EVERYTHING for him by getting back on the ship instead of rowing away with Jack. Once again the English officers attempt to re-affirm their structure of colonization on the sea-such as when Chauncey tells Ed "He's from my world not yours" in regards to having the right to execute Stede. Ed however returns the previous gesture of Stede's- betraying his legacy as a pirate by taking "An Act of Grace".
Piracy is once more a metaphor for colonial resistance since Chauncey attempts to argue Stede isn't a 'real pirate' and therefore can not have an "Act of Grace". But once again we see Stede's chaotic, more tender version of masculinity shine through, as his 'piracy' is proven from his simple abduction and nourishment of a plant-not any amount of bloodshed. Chauncey throws a fit, as it is another example of piracy and masculinity not playing by traditional colonial rules.
Despite being thrown back into a colonial setting at the reform school-Ed and Stede are now in position where both have been entirely stripped of their power. It is what lets them kiss on the beach without the imbalanced power dynamics of colonial society-and just themselves. It's truly touching moment because it's the pair of them wanting each other, even without all their fineries or power attached-which is why they're in the same outfit. It's a really remarkable way of doing an interracial relationship in media-Ed and Stede's power dynamics are communicated via their outfits throughout the show.
When Stede chooses to return to his family-it's only after he receives a scolding, for betraying the colonial role he was given (A Father, obeying naval officers, etc) he chooses to leave Ed feeling such immense guilt for straying from his designated role and privilege (plus the idea his tender form of masculinity as emasculated Blackbeard). There's even an element of white privilege Stede is able to return his comfortable life immediately, rather than being tracked down by the English for abandoning his post. But once home, the show demonstrates so well-and Stede can finally acutely see-he never belonged in this abusive colonial system. And the people who manage to find happiness within it-only do so by deviating (Mary having her affair, widows riding themselves of toxic husbands, etc) from that abusive system's demand. Stede leaves Barbados, free of guilt from Chauncey's death, and walking away from the abusive system this time recognizing it is the right thing to do. Most significantly, Stede relinquishes one of the sources of his colonial privilege-wealth.
It's a complete commitment to change, the world of piracy, and Ed. It's Stede finally recognizing violence against colonial forces (such as killing the Badminton twins) is needed, because they are so oppressive and violent in and of themself. It's Stede recognizing walking away from colonial forces (the heteronormativity of his previous life) is needed for happiness and freedom-and that includes sacrificing the comfort of wealth. Stede returns to the sea without the pomp and flash of his former privilege, ready to commit to a life of rebellion with Ed, against that world. It makes sense coming from this place of privilege, and choose to let it go (rather than having it revoked) Stede finds himself in a 'happy' ending at the end of Season 1.
Ed however, is ending the season feeling the brunt of colonial violence. Stede leaving him (which we can perceive is how he sees the interaction, since if he imagined Stede dead he probably wouldn't of thrown out all his things) is an example of Stede behaving how Ed feared an upper class white man would see him as. Disposable, which is what drove his anxiety in episode 8 to leave with Jack "You would always see what I am". Ed has been trying to avoid being hurt this entire relationship with Stede and he failed. Izzy's threat, another example of white violence, pushes Ed over the edge to make him shut down completely to protect himself all this white violence. It's a violent change for Ed because not only did he believe someone saw him past all the stereotypes he'd been pushed into in his life-he also must be furious at himself he dared to think Stede could be better than his previous interactions with white men.
Ed has every right to be furious and feel deeply betrayed. I would even argue he has every right to attack Izzy after Izzy spent so much time threatening him and berating his new-found more tender masculinity. It's worth noting if you watch Ivan and Fang in episode 6 they remark how nice it is to see Ed so 'open and available' and when Ed is singing in episode 10, Fang watches on with a tender sympathetic expression. The other men of color understood how monumental it was for Ed to have a chance to be seen as more than just a vehicle of violence. Unlike some people I don't think 'utterly heartbroken in a robe singing sad songs Ed' is 'true' Ed entirely. I think he still has plenty of chaos and anger against colonialism in him-but surviving via violence and constantly bearing his teeth has grown draining for him, and he would prefer to be softer and more expressive if he has the choice.
Stede completed his arch resisting colonialism-so I wouldn't be surprised if we DO get season 2 from Ed's POV. Stede's ignorance is part of the reason he did not pause to consider as much as he thought leaving Ed would help him-would also wound him. Stede returned to his privilege and power, and while it finally helped him see the light-it caused an immense amount of harm to Ed-and did not consider how deep his feelings were at all. It would be likely in a show that has done so well to set up a stage that an interracial relationship can flourish challenging previous structures of power, and putting two wildly different men on the same power level-it now shifts to the man who's at the crisis and crossroads of his identity like Stede was at the start of season 1. It's my hope season 2 would conclude with the pair of them standing firmly in their identities, knowing they can exist outside of the role colonialism attempted to press them into.
the symbolism of stede having a secret closet full of fine things in a rainbow of colours that you can only get to via a secret door but he lets ed in right away after only just meeting him and finding out he fancies a fine fabric too (read: likes men, but of course stede isn’t consciously making that connection yet). he shows ed exactly how to get inside, invites him in, and ed loves every single part of it. i love a gay metaphor so much i’m banging my fists on the table
germansingergirl
dailybridgerton
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titsay
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