#problematic adora

[ericas-spop-blog]

Alright, one more grumpy post, and then I've got a draft or two about parts of the show I *did* enjoy.

Part of the reason I'm so insistent in reading Adora as the fundamental 'problem' in the Catra-Adora relationship for most of the show, is that said show puts effort into resolving it.

This is honestly a lot of visual focus for a basic exchange - a full on shot-reverse-shot - because it's a reversal of Adora's previous behaviour.

It's specifically her not doing the thing that messed up her relationship with Catra, and then with Glimmer.

The show is basically standing here going "Look, Adora stopped doing the fucky thing! She's trusting other people to be competent, instead of running off to try and solo everything! See how much she's grown!"

[ericas-spop-blog]

S4E04 - Glimmer Thinks

Adora: "Glimmer thinks that they're tracking She-Ra somehow."

...I'm sorry, Glimmer thinks that they're tracking She-Ra?

'Cause I don't think this is Glimmer.

And Adora certainly doesn't seem to be rejecting the idea.

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This is subtle, but significant - Adora believes that the Horde is tracking She-Ra. She's not the only one who does, and isn't the one who came up with it, but she still absolutely believes it.

But. It's also a belief that is unpleasant and uncomfortable for her. It makes her feel helpless and powerless, pushed to the sidelines.

So, when she talks about it, she doesn't express it as a belief she shares (eg, "We think" or "it seems like"). She also doesn't attribute it to it's actual source (Juliet). Instead, she finds someone she's in conflict with - someone she can be angry at - and attributes it to them.

That uncomfortable, unpleasant thought? That's not hers. She doesn't have to unpack it, or examine why it makes her feel this awful.

Because it's Glimmer who's responsible. She's forcing Adora to think them. Because. Because she's just bad, okay?

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After all, that's how it's always worked.

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Isn't it?

[ericas-spop-blog]

Salvation at Swordpoint

So. People keep saying that Adora is always forgiving Catra, that her hand is eternally extended in the first season.

The problem with this is - it's simply not true. While there are moments where Adora offers 'salvation', there are many in which she does not.

There is no plea for Catra's defection at the Sea Gate.

No bargaining when she arrives at Princess Prom.

And no offer made when Catra returns the Sword, enabling Adora and Glimmer's escape from the Fright Zone.

No, Adora's promises of salvation are far from constant. They are, in fact, limited to very specific circumstances.

Adora offers escape when Catra is begging her to come back.

She offers rescue when Catra is dangling over an abyss.

She extends her hand when Catra is feeling worthless and unlovable.

Adora offers salvation only when Catra is in a position of physical or emotional vulnerability, when she (seemingly) has no choice but to accept Adora's terms.

[ericamzdm]

S1E2 - Okay With That

Folks tend to forget that this isn’t how it went - that Adora didn’t immediately transition from (finally) recognizing Shadow Weaver’s ongoing abuse of Catra to trying to get Catra to escape with her.

No, the first thing Adora says isn’t “come with me.”

It’s “How could you be okay with that?”

And that’s. Hrm.

Let’s reword this for illustrative purposes.

Catra: “Shadow Weaver has been openly abusing me for years, how did you not notice?”

Adora: “Oh no! Your abuse makes me very sad! Tell me it’s all okay so I don’t have to be sad.”

That is what Adora is asking for - for Catra to tell her that she is okay with it, that her abuse is trivial, that it’s manageable, that Adora does not have to feel sad or helpless or guilty about it.

The first thing Adora does, when she is finally forced to acknowledge that Catra is being hurt is not to try and fix that hurt - it is to demand that Catra manage her emotions about it.

Which Catra does! Immediately, reflexively, with a certainty that tells us that this is a well established part of their relationship. That Catra is used to saying she’s okay with utterly not okay situations for the sake of making Adora feel better.

And once you understand that. That Adora habitually demands Catra make her feel better by having Catra dismiss her own suffering -

(so that they can keep moving towards the goal of power and safety)

Well, it make it hard not to parse Adora’s failure to be soothed as a sort of punishment. That Catra didn’t lie enough, wasn’t convincing enough, didn’t debase herself enough to make Adora happy.

Catra didn’t tell Adora that everything was perfect, so now Adora is taking away everything she has.

[aphantpoet]

Catradora and abuse

The brilliance of Catra and Adora’s growth is that they both came from an abusive situation and internalised those mindsets and behaviours. Catra pushes people away because she’s scared of being vulnerable leading her to hurting people and forcing herself to stay in a place where she isn’t safe of valued while Adora pushes peoples problems onto herself leading her to violate boundaries and define herself by what she can do for others. neither of their reactions to their abuse is healthy or better than the other. Both reactions deserve to be called out. In the end they only heal from the abuse by acknowledging it and processing it. Them not being in a position to process their abuse is the fundamental conflict and neither is an abuser  to the other for it. Conclusion: Shadow Weaver deserved a more painful death.

[ericamzdm]

Not Because of the Sword

[Adora] “[I left the Horde.] Not because I picked up this Sword, but because it was the right thing to do.”

You sure about that, Adora?

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Because when Glimmer and Bow initially confronted her with proof of the damage the Horde was causing, she explicitly rejected it, doubling down on her defensiveness.

It is only after she turned into She-Ra, after the power, glory, and Destiny that The Sword offered was made apparent -

That she allowed herself to begin questioning the things she’d been told.

And even then, only the parts about herself.

This, deciding to stay with Glimmer and Bow, is the moment that Adora left the Horde - and the explanation on her lips was entirely about The Sword and it’s attached destiny.

Adora left the Horde, not because it was bad, but because The Sword (and She-Ra) offered the promise of a narrative about herself, her origins, and her purpose that was more enticing, more flattering than the one Shadow Weaver had given her.

So, sure, when she turned against the Horde in Thaymor the reason she gave was that it was wrong.

But would she have been willing to do that, to give up ever going home, if there wasn’t a Glorious Destiny waiting in the wings for her? If this wasn’t a fight she thought she could win?

Would Adora have been willing to "do the right thing” if she were just herself, and not She-Ra?

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Well, Adora wants to think so.

[But she is desperately afraid it isn’t true].