A word on the recent Alec shipping poll on the Shadowhunters official account

So I know I’m behind on actual Shadowhunters reviews but Alec’s political marriage storyline, and the way the official Freeform (formerly ABC) account communicates around it, got me pretty annoyed tonight. Annoyed enough that I went off on twitter:

@ShadowhuntersTV Did you seriously just put a woman as a viable option for a gay man to genuinely date?

— Fanfan (@TerresDeBrume)

March 9, 2016

Then, because I was really, really pissed (for various reasons both personal and pertaining with other parts of Rise up) I shared the above tweet on my personal blog

I think it took maybe five minutes before people responded saying I didn’t watch the show, that Alec lives in a homophobic world and therefore his marriage to Lydia makes sense, etc. and so I thought I’d try and clarify a few things about this poll, my reaction, and why I don’t accept “Alec comes from a homophobic world” as a good reason for Shadowhunters’ official account to present Lydia as a romantic option.

I. Why do I say Lydia is presented as a romantic option in the poll?

It’s mostly a matter of juxtaposition. Lydia, in this poll is faced with two other characters (and a ‘no opinion’ button). The first one, Magnus, is Alec’s future boyfriend (you know it, I know it, even people who don’t watch the show know it). The second, Jace, is the guy Alec is currently in love with.

By putting Lydia in the poll alongside them, the Shadowhunters account is implying there is a common point between the three of them. It can’t be that she’s a man (of course) it can’t be the parabatai part, it can’t be the warlock part…ergo, it’s the romantic part.

This is why I say this poll presents Lydia as a romantic option for Alec.

II. Why is it wrong for the Shadowhunters twitter to do so

Let’s get one thing out of the way right away: I am not writing this to shame Alec/Lydia shippers, if there are any. I may disapprove the pairing, but everyone ships what they want and I’m certainly not going to go shame people on their shipping preferences.

However, we’re not talking about shippers here, we’re talking about the official account. By putting the three ships together, the Shadowhunters twitter account gives the three of them the same legitimacy and the same validity. In other words, they’re acting like Alec/Lydia has as many chances of happening as a romantic relationship as Malec or Jalec do.

The problem with that is that Alec Lightwood is a gay male. By acting like Lydia, a woman, is a real dating possibility, the Shadowhunters twitter is negating Alec’s homosexuality and undermines one of the few examples of homosexual characters in a television show aimed at a young public.

I know, we in fandom do that kind of things all the time with heterosexual pairings, but not only are there plenty of heterosexual characters on TV, fandom doesn’t have an official capacity. Fandom reclaiming characters for itself is not the same as executives erasing the things they have created themselves, especially when said characters are a large part of their marketing strategy.

III. Why I don’t accept “Alec lives in a homophobic society”

To be honest, in-universe I think Lydia is Alec’s best marrying option. She’s shown him more respect than Magnus and Jace combined so far, that’s how much the show shits on Alec’s character.

However, not only is the in-verse marriage a political union (not a romantic one, as the poll implies) Alec Lightwood is, to my everlasting sorrow, a fictional character.

And yes, we can discuss the agency he has as a person in the show but in the case of marketing strategies and real world implications, questions or communication (such as the poll I’m discussing) Alec can not have any, since he’s not real.

The persons who have the agency here are the writers or, in the case of the aforementioned poll, the Freeform executives.

They made the decision to have Lydia included in this poll as if she would be a realistic option. Not only does that negate Alec’s canon sexuality, it’s also not balanced—and it will remain so until and unless we get, say, a poll about Izzy’s prospects that lists Clary as a possible option alongside Simon and Meliorn.

III. B. “At least it’s not related to his sexuality!”

When was the last time you saw a heterosexual man be forced into a loveless marriage because dating a (different) woman would be unacceptable?

More importantly, what has been the main argument against this storyline so far in the show? It’s about how he can’t be happy in this marriage because he’s gay.

The political marriage storyline only exists because Alec is gay, in order to create drama both in his life and in his relationship, and the writers know it (see: the way Magnus reacts like he’s been cheated when Alec tells him he’s getting married). You hardly get anything more related to his sexuality than that.

Answer time: Shadowhunters chronicles

Sent by theofficialoctogod :

On one hand, I want to read and watch The Shadowhunters because the Lighthood, and and gay and trans characters. On the other hand... Bad representation, racism, badly written, Jace and stuff. On my third hand (because I'm crazy like that), you have the project of rewriting everything soooooo. Do you have an advice? ^^'

If your main motivation in potentially reading the series is to see LGBTQ+ characters, I’d suggest sparing yourself the pain.

I love the Lightwoods (particularly Alec) a lot but let’s be honest here, that appreciation is 99% pain as far as canon is concerned because the parts of this franchise that aren’t terrible are systematically destroyed–I’m fairly sure Clare couldn’t do that more thoroughly if she tried.

 

If you really want to give it a try and have enough salt to withold the journey, I’d suggest sticking to the show, because you’ll be done quicker (the first season is only 12 or 13 episode long so it’s almost complete) and it won’t make you feel like reading the gazillion spin-offs related to the main trilogy.
(I mean, the latest book in the series, The Dark Artifices is 207 thousands freaking words, and I’ll bet my hat very few of them are good–and none of them are edited) Also, since the show is deviating in somewhat significant ways from canon, there are still chances for it to get better, a hope I really can’t say I have were CC’s writing is concerned.

Sidenote: if you want something a little closer to the book’s storyline, the 2013 COB movie is less changed, and it can be pretty fun if you’re watching with an equally snarky friend. It’s better at handling Alec’s Jace problem (what little we see of it) and while Godfrey Gao isn’t exactly a good actor (bearing in mind that his dialogues aren’t always the smoothest) at least he doesn’t channel his inner Jack Sparrow. Comparatively, its pretty decent, honestly.

 

Other than that, really, my TMI commentary tags, both on my personal blog and my writing/reviews blog kind of speak for themselves: only enter this shithole if you’re prepared to suffer the consequences ;)

(Oh, and a high five for your third hand! I’m flattered by your interest in my rewrite^^)