Sigh.. alright @princeescaluswords, @camelotpark let’s discuss
First of all, I’ve seen you do this “he’s Latino bc someone white said he loved Mexican food and his mom has an attached surname and he went to Mexico #twice shtick and I gotta tell you, I know you’re not joking and you think that’s valid and also it’s totally racist so please pocket this bc especially coming from you, it’s gross.
First let’s talk about Latinx signifiers. At no point does Scott mention a Tia, an Abuela or any form of familial connection. Even in non Spanish speaking households these signifiers exist. Teen Wolf didn’t do holidays but there’s no ofrenda in the background, not even textiles that would point to Posey’s own indigenous background. That’s because Scott McCall was written as a white character.
So what does that mean? It means he was written universally to appeal to the majority demographic watching the show. Anyone can relate to him because they see themselves when they look at him. And in order to make him relatable they shave his character down to the lowest common denominator.
Or to put it in a more obvious way, Scott McCall was written by a white man. And if a white man has written a character, and then casts a person of color who was not originally meant for the role, AND NOTHING CHANGES IN THE SCRIPT, that’s racist or at the very least fertile breeding ground for large amounts of nonsense.
The fact Jeff couldn’t be assed to include any ethnic elements to give more depth to Scott’s character is just plain lazy. He wasn’t trying to be groundbreaking, he wasn’t trying to represent other alternative latinx households, he simply did not care until he was told he would be awarded and even then it was for casting Posey, not for Scott being a character of color. Because news flash, it doesn’t matter that Posey thought Scott may be half Latinx, it’s the writers that dictate what that looks like.
Additionally, and this is a personal gripe, the idea that “well not all Latinx households speak Spanish, or have xyz signifiers!”, while that’s true and valid, it is not something that ever needs to be explored in a show where he is the only alleged latinx presence.
Another example is the way they dealt with Kira. She couldn’t speak Korean and was bad at math but Arden can speak Korean and is extremely intelligent. So why try to write an alternative experience that Arden hasn’t experienced? Why was it necessary to flip a trope with her character? This defense of Jeff’s laziness is wild justification.
In order for shows with a majority white cast to get away with this they need to have additional, traditional representation first and then they can talk about blazing paths for the unseen. Or they need to verbally address it. The problem is Jeff thought that by making Beacon Hills color blind it meant that no one could have culture, which is the entire issue with that concept.
You end up with a show where we never see any of the Black characters parents or family but Liam has a Black Daddy and Malia has two dads. Where Scott, a Latinx character has two latinx parents one of which is a single nurse mother and the other is an abusive alcoholic. You end up with a show that has not one, not two, but FOUR mystical negros!
You end up with a show where a white were panther drags a latinx character toexico and turns him into a Germanic berserker. A show where the one Latinx presence we do get is by seemingly nefarious hunters?
And omg my GAWD do not get me started either the Internment Camp romance!
You cannot couch a character of color with stereotypes and not balance it with positive cultural representation! If you do it leads to nearly a decade of fandom infighting.
Lastly, why do we see Boyd as Black?
Posey may have latinx features, but he could also pass for Italian, for Greek, for Portuguese, for allammer of ethnicity.
Because, and this is gonna blow yall: ETHNICITY =/= RACE
The reason we are Black is because we’re not white. Let that sink in. We were judged by the color of our skin because it was easier to round us up then try to go after the white indentured servants. So the idea of Black being obvious and different is something that has been ingrained into our society for CENTURIES.
Boyd is Black but he could also be African American, he could be Haitian, he could be Jamaican, which is it Prince?
If you can tell ethnicity just by looking then what’s Boyd’s background?
Not all people of color experience racism the same way and to try and level and homogenize those experiences is dismissove, racist and reeks of white privilege. Black people have the bonus of being judged solely by our race without need for ethnic background. Blackfolk have created a culture because ours was forcibly stripped from us so miss me with “how did you know Boyd was Black, I don’t see color except for Scott who is very obviously Indigenous Mexican.” 🙄
Don’t be lazy like Jeff, don’t be boring and maybe you can work on not being wrong all the time too.
It’s Black History Month. Maybe try.
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