Are TV writers paying attention to the problems, issues, and needs of indigenous people (including indigenous writers)? Misha Green certainly seems to be, although she’s not exactly pleased with her own results. What do you think?
by Zack Sharf
Misha Green is taking responsibility for what she believes is one of the biggest failures of “Lovecraft Country” so far: the storyline of the Indigenous Two-Spirit character Yahima (Monique Candalaria). The “Lovecraft Country” showrunner took to social media this week after the airing of the first season’s penultimate episode to admit she failed the character by killing them off shortly after introducing them.
“I wanted to show the uncomfortable truth that oppressed folks can also be oppressors,” Green wrote in response to a fan asking her about the portrayal of Yahima. “But I didn’t examine or unpack the moment/portrayal of Yahima as thoroughly as I should have. It’s a story point worth making, but I failed in the way I chose to make it.”
Yahima debuted in the series’ fourth episode, “A History of Violence.” The character is an Arawak Two-Spirit that Tic (Jonathan Majors), Leti (Jurnee Smollett), and Montrose (Michael K. Williams) free from imprisonment during their adventure inside the Braithwhite tomb….