racial/american bias in Stargate Atlantis?

[tielan]

It's recently come to my notice that the manner in which 'native races' are portrayed on Stargate is, if not racist, then certainly strongly jingoistic.

This is going to focus on the broader perception of races and how they get portrayed in the show - mostly Atlantis, although SG-1 will be in there, too.

Basically, it seems that the native races of Pegasus are either technologically inept (primitive) or 'the bad guys'.

We have societies like the Athosians, who are still in the 'hunter-gatherer' stage of civilisation, who are on the side of the Atlantis expedition but primitive; and at the other end of the scale, we have societies like the Gennii, who are close to the 'information revolution' stage of civilisation, but are at best wary allies, and at worst, frank enemies.

Then there are the Satedans, who must have had a pretty technologically advanced civilisation before the Wraith took them out - Ronon's weaponry speaks to that - but who don't even get a mention on the 'we could pick over their bones and see if they developed something we haven't' scale. Hell, I don't think anyone's mentioned even asking Ronon if they can take apart his weapons to see how they tick.

Granted, Ronon's likely to look at them and say flatly, 'No,' but the man came from a world that nearly fought back against the Wraith! Just because he doesn't speak much doesn't mean he's a savage. He's probably no more of a savage than any man who comes home from his work, sits down in his lounge chair and can't be prevailed on for more than a grunt or a dozen before dinner, let alone bed.

The episode that's supposed to deal with Ronon's background will be interesting: if only because it took them about 30 episodes to even revisit Teyla's background with the Athosians, and they were relegated to a side plot, a funeral, and some very lovely singing by Rachel Luttrell that had almost no relevance to the plot.

The race issue is another thing that's slowly been coming upon me.

SG1 - Teal'c is the 'native guide' - black, primitive people.
SGA - Teyla is the 'native guide' - mixed race, primitive people.
SGA - Aiden is the 'yes, man' - black
SGA - Ronon is the 'grunt and muscle' - with a polynesian background (? I think - but even if not, the point with Teal'c, Teyla and Aiden still stands)

You know, I'm waiting for the episode where they come across an Asiatic civilisation that's either run like the Japanese samurai or full of Asian crime gangs.

It's a bit worrying, not that there are characters who are relegated to the background and they're non-white(other characters are background, too: Janet, Carson, Zelenka, etc), but that the non-white characters seem to be inevitably relegated to the background in the Stargate universe.

To some degree, I'm sure it's symptomatic of TV shows: white people want to watch white people. Still, I find it disturbing that the nominated 'leaders' of the primitive peoples - and therefore their representatives - are almost always non-white. (Plus, the leaders of the 'white people with civilisation' are evil if their cultures aren't.)

Finally, I'm curious about the fact that the 'jumper driver seat is on the left. Not all civilisations drive on the right-hand side of the road. It's like the assumption that people in the Northern Hemisphere have that birds fly south for the winter, and that things get warmer the further south you go.

Atlantis does not necessarily have to be in the northern hemisphere of its planet. I mean, it very well may be - I haven't studied the shots of the planet all that well. But, coming from the other half of the planet (where Christmas is in summer and we build our houses facing north for the best sun) I think it would be cool to have all the people from up north completely turned around by the fact that the sun's path lies northwards and not south, while the people from the southern hemisphere are all "what are you guys going on about?" While secretly snickering behind their hands.

The idea of a culture that influenced Earth (instead of American-Earth influencing it) is intriguing: but it would have been nice to see some of the standards turned upside down - perceptions changed and rearranged - to make people think.

And if you can sandwich some perception adjustment in between entertainment, I don't think that's entirely a bad thing.

Comments

[lemonbella.livejournal.com]

It's interesting to note that the original Dr Ingram (before he was replaced with McKay) - was designed to be an African American. They apparently had trouble finding an actor to suit the role.

That's not to say there aren't good non-white actors out there, (the rest of the cast shows that) but I expect it's a smaller pool, perhaps less experienced (because of wider racism in society making it harder to gain experience and get to the top - as with many careers) , and that may explain some of the casting bias, if nothing else.

TV programmes do tend to mimic the society in which they function, not because 'white people want to watch white people' (although I suspect there are many TV execs who believe that) but because society creates a biased framework and context in which they can function.

For instance, if you want to portray a realistic representation of an elite military/civilian unit - the colour (and gender)of that is going to reflect the real-life bias. Moreover the colour (and gender) of the actors you have to choose from is going to be a biased one too, because it comes from that society with so much in-built bias. That doesn't mean it's right not to counteract that 'real-life' bias, just that it's another explanation rather than direct racism or sexism.


The 'native' aspect of this has always sat quite uncomfortably with me. For the first few seasons of stargate, the Jaffa nation was almost exclusively black and the Tokra race almost exclusively white. The slavery vrs freedom fighter aspect of that has always made me squirm.

I often think it has less to do with direct racism and more to do with deeply seated 'norms' which facilitate storytelling. (Whether those are any more defensible is open to question) For example, is it that to the vast majority of people a black face is shorthand for supression? and therefore it becomes a way to tell the story in a simple way? I could say the same about the shorthand of English=Evil in much of Stargate (and an awful lot of North American television/film) although I don't think that norm is as worrying.

In terms of your natives = technologically backward, line of thinking. What's interesting is that for much of SG1 it was actually the other way around. It was Earth who are the technologically backward people, and the 'aliens' were all better equipped and more experienced. The premise of Atlantis I think has turned that on it's head, rather than a deliberate intention.

okay, that was all fairly incoherent. I apologise.

[rydra_wong]

I often think it has less to do with direct racism and more to do with deeply seated 'norms' which facilitate storytelling.

I'd guess that none of it is "direct racism", in the sense that the PTB involved would undoubtedly be appalled if anyone accused them of consciously thinking that non-white people are alien or primitive.

But that doesn't rule out a vast body of entirely unconscious assumptions, which may co-exist with the best conscious intentions.

And it's not, I think, that the Stargate PTB are somehow especially bad in this respect: these are assumptions and images which are part of the culture, which tend to soak into everyone unless they're consciously questioned.

But the first time I saw "Children of the Gods", the SG-1 opener, I was just ... *flails hands around* ...

OK, you have a set-up where the brown-skinned quasi-Egyptian guy sends the huge black warrior guy out to kidnap women (including a white blonde American woman and the "native" wife of one of Our Heroes), who then get kept in a room where they are apparently forced to wear flimsy clothing and lounge on cushions, before being selected, brought before him, stripped naked and laid out on an altar-type table (and that's before we even get to the phallic snake-thing) ....

And it didn't occur to anyone at any point that this scenario might bear, oh, a passing resemblance to a zillion Orientalist harem/rape fantasies? Which might, just might, involve some assumptions about race and gender which are not entirely in keeping with modern thinking?

*flails hands around even more, having been failed by words*

I don't think you have to say, "OMG THEY ARE ALL RACIST BASTARDS!!!", because really, I doubt that they are. They are probably lovely liberal-minded well-meaning people. But that doesn't mean the shows don't have some significant racial issues.

[lemonbella.livejournal.com]

But that doesn't rule out a vast body of entirely unconscious assumptions, which may co-exist with the best conscious intentions.

yes, that's exactly what I mean. It's about those deep seated assumptions more than anything else.

One thing you do have to remember about SG1 (I think someone has said this above) is that there are canonical reasons for (some) of the racial bias in the first few seasons. Canon is strongly connected with egyption mythology for those first few seasons and historical accuracy (as SG1 was very strong on to start with) would suggest that the majority of the jaffa would be of african descent. To change this, just to be 'balanced' could be seen as just as racist by assuming non-white people wouldn't appreciate mythological/historical accuracy in this context.

[rydra_wong]

One thing you do have to remember about SG1 (I think someone has said this above)

I think that was me, actually *g*.

Yup, I think there can be perfectly plausible within-canon reasons.

But my feeling is that if that's your basic set-up, so that your aliens are disproportionately non-white compared to your main cast, then that's a good reason to be damn careful about how you are or aren't representing them.

And I really don't get the sense that this is something the SG PTB have thought through at all.

Which does not mean, of course, that we must shun and abjure the shows and cease to enjoy the pretty or write the pr0n *g*. Just: better to be aware than not.

[lemonbella.livejournal.com]

Oh totally, writers are thinking "let's blow things up!" not "let's misrepresent racial abilities" and we need to keep that in perspective.

[ladyjax.livejournal.com]

That's not to say there aren't good non-white actors out there, (the rest of the cast shows that) but I expect it's a smaller pool, perhaps less experienced (because of wider racism in society making it harder to gain experience and get to the top - as with many careers) , and that may explain some of the casting bias, if nothing else.

Just to push back a little on this point: the idea that there's just not enough POC/non-white actors in the pool starts to ring hollow for me at this point. Maybe in terms of where they're casting (Vancouver), or the fact that they're casting for series television, which a lot of actors will turn down because of that kind of long term commitment but overall, there's a whole lot more actors out there who like doing sci-fi and would welcome the chance to get into it if they had the chance.

Recently "Nightline" ran a special about "Grey's Anatomy" and it spoke directly to the casting question. One of the actors, Isaiah Washington, talked about the fact that the show's creator, Shonda Rhimes, looked at the actors she was being given and said (heavily paraphrased) that you couldn't tell her that the only actors/actresses they could find to fill the major parts were white actors. She made them go back out and look at a larger pool which is how she got the cast she got.

I look at "Lost" and see one of the most racially diverse casts I've seen in years.

I think that when producers, directors, and casting people make a commitment to having a diverse cast there's more of an effort to make it happen. Because otherwise, we're stuck with the same thing: that the 35-40 year old (good-looking) white guy will always be the hero that we're expected to cheer for.

It's part of the reason why folks were really cheesed with Joss Wheadon when he made "Firefly." You had all this Chinese culture with no Chinese people anywhere you looked. One could make an argument for cultural absorption but it still was a little shaky. But I wasn't expecting much after seven years of "Buffy" and five years of "Angel" where Southern California was portrayed almost completely white in a way that was just weird. And make no mistake, I loved these shows but after a while, we started joking that the reason there were no POC in Sunnydayle was because they got the memo that bad things happened to people in Sunnydale and stayed away.

TV programmes do tend to mimic the society in which they function, not because 'white people want to watch white people' (although I suspect there are many TV execs who believe that) but because society creates a biased framework and context in which they can function

Alas, in publishing it's a little more naked. I actually had a friend who worked in the publishing industry come back and tell me (after I questioned why the cover of a book showed a white woman on the front when the heroine on the inside was clearly Black) that publishers believed that "Black people didn't read science fiction and that white people wouldn't buy books with Black people on the cover."

[rydra_wong]

after I questioned why the cover of a book showed a white woman on the front when the heroine on the inside was clearly Black

Octavia Butler's "Dawn", right? Although I'm sure there are other such horrendous examples - I certainly remember there being some Earthsea covers with a white Ged ...

[ladyjax.livejournal.com]

Octavia Butler's "Dawn", right? Although I'm sure there are other such horrendous examples - I certainly remember there being some Earthsea covers with a white Ged ...

Actually, the book I was talking about was "Larissa" by Emily Devenport but you're right about the Butler book. The original Questar edition of "Dawn" that I have has a white woman on the cover. I remember sitting there reading the book, looking at the cover, reading the book some more, and looking at the cover again and thinking "Whoa, WTF?" The Warner Aspect omnibus edition of the Xenogenisis trilogy has thankfully, corrected that.

Ursula LeGuin has talked extensively about "Earthsea" - especially in light of the Sci-Fi channel production. She's not a happy camper about a lot of those types of changes.

[rydra_wong]

"Larissa" by Emily Devenport

Ooh, I don't know it - is it good?

Ursula LeGuin has talked extensively about "Earthsea" - especially in light of the Sci-Fi channel production. She's not a happy camper about a lot of those types of changes.

Yes, I thought her essay about the Skiffy production was a masterpiece of righteous fury.

[ladyjax.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I don't know it - is it good?

Yeah, it was good. I'm not sure how many of her books are still in print; I bought mine in the early 90s. But the publisher was ROC Books. I'd stick with "Shade" and "Larissa" - they're sort of joined together. Some of her other books were not as strong.

[rydra_wong]

Thanks - I'm always on the look out for new sf recs.

[saeva.livejournal.com]

That'd be because the SciFi Channel's TV make of the books had a white Ged... One of the Ashmore boys, Jake or Aaron.

- Andrea.

[rydra_wong]

No, this was even before Scifi got their hands on it *g*.

[lemonbella.livejournal.com]

I didn't mean so much that they aren't there, but that they often get prevented from getting the experience/contacts because of bias elsewhere in the system - and this stops them getting to the point where they're considered for many roles. It's still a problem, just a different type of problem.

I think an awful lot of media creates self fulfilling prophecies about their audiences. If you assume 'black people don't read something', then it's less available, which means less people read it which means there's less demand, which 'proves' their initial premise.

A similar thing could be said about gender and sci fi as a whole. There's a huge assumption that the majority of sci fi audiences are men - to the extent that marketing etc is directed at them. However, a real look at the market would suggest it's women who form the bulk of the audience, that doesn't neccessarily get back to TPTB

[ladyjax.livejournal.com]

I didn't mean so much that they aren't there, but that they often get prevented from getting the experience/contacts because of bias elsewhere in the system - and this stops them getting to the point where they're considered for many roles. It's still a problem, just a different type of problem.

You've definitely got a point there.

I think an awful lot of media creates self fulfilling prophecies about their audiences. If you assume 'black people don't read something', then it's less available, which means less people read it which means there's less demand, which 'proves' their initial premise.

Yeah, which is one of the reasons why people will eschew the traditional routes to getting their stuff out there and go a different route. Which of course means when the mainstream discovers it, it's all "oooh, look at this cool new thing" while the rest of us are standing there going, "And you're just noticing there was an audience for this now?"

A similar thing could be said about gender and sci fi as a whole. There's a huge assumption that the majority of sci fi audiences are men - to the extent that marketing etc is directed at them. However, a real look at the market would suggest it's women who form the bulk of the audience, that doesn't neccessarily get back to TPTB

Mmm, yep. Apparently at one of the first Sentinel cons in Vancouver the producers were shocked (shocked!) that all these women (with serious disposable income) were their prime audience and not the 18-49 year old male demographic. Although I had a conversation recently with someone who posited that there are more female sci-fi fans associated with series television than male fans. Apparently more male fans are drawn to movies (franchises in particular). I'd be interested in following up on something like that because it makes you question what these two audiences are drawn to in those particular mediums.

[lemonbella.livejournal.com]

They had something similar with the stargate, (and Smallville) audiences I think. They tried to put them in timeslots to attract this supposed "key demographic" without realising that it's 25 - 40 year old wonmen who make up their audience, and also make up a disproportionate amoun t of the "active audience" (the ones that buy DVDs, attend cons, stay up till 1am debating on LJ *g*).

Anecdotally, women do seem far more involved in fandom full stop, and far more inviolved ins eries television - wheeras men seem more prominent in film audiences. It woudl be really interesting to examine that.