Lovecraft Country Showrunner Admits Show Failed Indigenous Character

Misha Green, showrunner for the HBO Max horror anthology series Lovecraft Country admitted that the show failed to portray Yahima, an indigenous and intersex character. Lovecraft Country blends the unbelievable horrors of H.P. Lovecraft with the genuine horrors of institutionalized racism and violent oppression. Based on a novel by Matt Ruff and set in the Deep South in the days of Jim Crow, Lovecraft Country follows Tic (Jonathan Majors), his friend Leti (Jurnee Smollett), and father Montrose (Michael K. Williams) as they struggle against supernatural and societal foes.

Episode four, “A History of Violence,” saw the trio infiltrate the vault of Sons of Adam founder Titus Braithwaite. Braithwaite and the cult he left behind are fascinated by the supernatural, hoping to tap into ancient magic and open a Gate of Eden. To this end, Braithwaite sought out Yahima, an Arawak two-spirit (someone with both male and female biological features) from Guyana because they could read the ancient language he needed to decipher. Once Yahima discovered his evil intentions, they refused to help him, and so Braithwaite imprisoned them in his underground vault. Tic seeks Yahima’s help in learning what Braithwaite knew, but as the four escape the vault that Montrose flooded by tripping a booby trap, he slits Yahima’s throat.

Responding to questions on Twitter, showrunner Misha Green said that she failed in portraying an indigenous and intersex character. She noted that Montrose’s brutal violence upon Yahima was meant to demonstrate that the oppressed can be oppressors themselves. One of the series’ significant dramatic conflicts is the fight to survive on the part of its Black protagonists against pervasive racial violence. To have one of the characters brutally murder an innocent person who has been through so much is an uncomfortable reversal. Green said it was a valid point, but that using Yahima as a victim killed in the first episode they are introduced was a misstep.

Green’s admission of fault is admirable. It shows that Green seriously considers the critical response that the series has received and doesn’t hold the product so precious that she needs to die on a hill for it. The idea of the oppressed serving simultaneously as oppressors is undoubtedly valid and, in the context of the series, an important development for the mysterious (and possibly evil) Montrose, ostensibly protecting his son. The mistake is in the choice of the victim. Representation for indigenous and intersex characters is minimal, so introducing and immediately killing Yahima off erases any chance to see the character grow, repeating a tired narrative of victimization and little more.

The clever conceit of Lovecraft Country is how closely it links real and imagined horror. Many of the inventive monsters incorporate a facet of real-life trauma. In the first episode, Tic and company see a racist sheriff transform into a hideous monster who can more effectively carry out his cruel designs. The series has yet to delve deeper into trauma, only hinted at as Tic, a veteran of the Korean War, meets the cursed Ji-Ah (Jamie Chung), a Korean fox monster. Given the challenging material, there’s a lot Lovecraft Country has gotten right, and if it slips up again, Green will be the first to put her hands up.

Source: Twitter

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