#.uncalled.for.arrogance.regarding.feeling.cheated.about.something.i.was.never.promised.

[youurelovely]

An obnoxious long rant on the Murderbot tv situation. Did I post this with the intention of having a conversation about it? Yes. Am I aware people are probably tired of talking about it and likely don’t think my thoughts are hot shit? Also yes. Anyway,

the post:

A lot of people have been talking about the casting for the tv adaption of Murderbot Diaries. Some people are disappointed and some people are disappointed other people are disappointed.

Plenty of people have already brought up that making Murderbot’s actor a white man is a loaded decision because of how the idea of whiteness as a default protects an inflated and false idea of white superiority. And even more people have talked about how man as a default is also an inflated and false protection of patriarchal standards.

And I agree with both of those ideas.

Other people have brought up that plenty of queer people treat masculinity and men as an unwanted part of the queer community. Which IS true, despite historically men and masculinity being important aspects of queer identity and love, people DO like to pretend non-binary and gender queer people have to all be feminine or they are mislabeled as a threat. Which is so fucked up and obnoxious.

However, I think that this tv series is clearly not making Murderbot’s actor a man to bring attention to queer masculinity as an important part of the queer community. I appreciate the people who are trying to defend the choice because real people are more important than Murderbot, but I think that this is just a clear case of most people reading The Murderbot Diaries and feeling uncomfortable without a clear binary in which to visualize and categorize Murderbot. Which is understandable. Despite my own discomfort with The Gender Binary, I understand people feeling more comfortable with rules and clear distinctions.

This is the THIRD production of Murderbot which has an actor play Murderbot and I doubt I’m the only one who has seen most interviews ask Martha Wells about Murderbot’s gender. Often they will tell her that they personally read the book with Murderbot looking male and made with male genetic material. Which, personal interpretation is fine obviously no one should be attacked just because they are attached to gender essentialism and believe only one of the Definitely Only Two Genders can punch people in the face. But it’s fucking annoying that a book which means so much to me (and other people I guess /jk) can be limited creatively just because people decided that a fantastical robot must have male genetic organics just because Men Punch Good.

I’m not saying that they should have used an actress. And I’m not saying that Murderbot needs to be feminine. But the actor wasn’t chosen because they looked at a range of actors and thought “why NOT a white man? This changes EVERYTHING about queerness!” Also, why NOT an actress? If I’m supposed to see a cis male actor as Murderbot, why not a cis female actress? Better yet, why not someone non-binary who understands the push and pull of expectations and social norms????

If they make Murderbot the one white character I will seriously lose my mind. Even worse if they make more people white to make Murderbot not the only white character. Why the fuck did they do this?

They picked a white man because of a history of success with fandoms/audiences becoming attached to white men. They picked him because they wanted someone who would look like competent security beyond human capabilities and they thought their vision was best described by a white man. Like MOST other science fiction and action movies.

I have always liked the IDEA of science fiction but I cannot enjoy a story which is written by a man for men to enjoy with action heroes and babes hanging off of them. (Tbh fantasy does this too but I was able to find books I liked a lot easier, and also because it’s always been my favorite genre and I was desperate) (Full disclosure I don’t see a problem with this trope if it’s two women but societal expectations aren’t exactly forcing women to be be action heroes or prioritizing women to be damsels for other women to rescue. Unless we think about how black and brown women are expected to cater to white women but that isn’t lesbianism that’s racism. *disclaimer I am a white person) so Murderbot was literally the start of me finding science fiction books to read that weren’t sexist gender essentialism But In Space TM.

So many people have given amazing recommendations that I’ve loved and so many others I’m excited to read next. Murderbot was the start of a genre revival for me!! I never thought I would find science fiction that wasn’t gender essentialist. And tbh I wasn’t looking as hard as I could have, because I had tried so many that sucked, so that’s partly on me. But what’s important is that, for me, Murderbot is an escape from gender norms and a return to a genre which has historical been viewed as leaning on a bioessentialism view of human gender and roles in society, especially due to the science aspect of science fiction. It isn’t the first science fiction book to have a more queer aspect to it, it’s just the first one I’ve read and I know I’m not the only person who has benefited from finding other books to read from people giving thoughtful recommendations online.

Who really cares if Murderbot is played by a man? Except so many comments and interviewers just are too uncomfortable to engage with a character without having that male/female binary and no matter how many times Martha pushes past these questions it just keeps happening. Obviously not all interviewers pester for a confirmation of Murderbot’s canonical organic appearance and one even kept pushing for Murderbot being canonically female. Many even praise her for a non-binary character, some of them also just immediately mention that they think Murderbot has male organics.

It’s just so ridiculous to me that so many people seem to think they are reinventing masculinity in a character which is an intrepid space explorer (and grumpy about it). Although of course there are many things about Murderbot’s trauma and emotional regulation that do not fit into masculine gender norms, it is still the character who Saves The Day and Protects Everyone and Is Super Smart And Strong.

There have been posts examining secunits as male and comfortunits as female and those are just an attempt to examine inter-construct relationships and power dynamics compared to people’s irl experiences so I understand why they were written. And I absolutely do not mean to attack anyone for applying a book to the real world. But it feels like there is no escape from a push to define imaginary robots as a “Realistic” human gender when, for me, this entire book series is a book about an agender character who is tough as nails and accidentally makes friends and learns how to examine the ways in which it was dehumanized by people around it.

Again, people writing analysis examining how a book approaches things that are real issues are not doing anything wrong. Just because I’m sensitive doesn’t mean I’m going to assume I’m king of the universe over here. Other people have LIVES and I’m not going to pester them about their actually extremely thoughtful examination about how Murderbot’s prejudice against comfortunits is reminiscent of sex workers and female sexuality. (No matter how uncomfortable it is. The point is not to be comfortable.)

I will admit though that the audio with a female voice artist ART and a male voice artist Murderbot makes me want to kill myself. Like oh interesting, you see the character who is grumpy and kills as male and the character who SPENDS ITS ENTIRE EXISTENCE TAKING CARE OF PEOPLE AND MAKING A HOME FOR THEM AS FEMALE HUH I WONDER WHERE THAT CAME FROM HOW ORIGINAL OF YOU. I’m sorry I know a lot of people like it and I’ve heard that the voice actress does a great job! So I’m glad people are having fun but I am actively furious. Please enjoy your lives and know I’m a total jackass. Much love. (Genuine)

There are plenty of (amazing and talented) artists who have drawn Murderbot in a way that if you saw that person walking down the street, you could assume that that person identifies as a man. And there isn’t a problem with that, I’ve never been irritated by people drawing it this way. There are also more ambiguous fanarts of Murderbot. It’s all Murderbot to me. Just because I’m partial to lesbian ART and Murderbot doesn’t mean I think that my exact preferences should be fulfilled. (Another disclaimer!!!! Lots of people with a complex identity to gender and sex identify as lesbian. If you were confused, you should try learning more! It’s so cool! And interesting! I’m not misgendering Murderbot.)

But this live action business of only casting men isn’t an accident and it isn’t a fan artist with their headcanons. It’s a production that is purposefully making executive decisions about a character who all of us care about. Tbh someone else said he would make a great Gurathin and I agree.

Murderbot doesn’t exist in a world without gender norms. Murderbot was written by a person who lives in our world with our expectations and boxes and labels and limitations from irl people constantly asking everyone around them to fit into their comfort cube of gender essentialism. I can’t pretend that this is a decision without influences.

Anyway. I’m just fucking disappointed. I hope it’s still cute and fun and tragic. I hope I still like it even though it’s not what I was hoping for. I talked a lot about the gender thing and less about the race thing. Idk what to even say about the race thing besides this is very clearly because audiences and fandoms prefer a white man or woman over any non white ones and they are hoping to give it a boost. Why even pick this book is you aren’t willing to have anyone nonwhite celebrated in a fun little robot story.

#murderbot diaries #life commentary #.uncalled.for.arrogance.regarding.feeling.cheated.about.something.i.was.never.promised. #.tired.of.ranting.about.this……for.now. #murderbot tv show