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vanitashazeOne: What? I thought the whole point was that angels hadn't come down to earth in thousands of years, and Castiel was the first one. That Dean was the trigger. The whole "Uriel pops down casually" thing just cheapens the whole mythology. Like - what? He didn't have a bigger reaction to being the first angel to once again walk the earth? It's just, I like smiting?
Secondly: So, forty years in the past, before Uriel has even clapped eyes on his vessel, and he's still a scary violent black man who takes orders from a white woman? I mean, come on. They could have made him anyone. One, vessels don't matter to angels, and two, Uriel hasn't even encountered his future vessel, so it's not like he has associations or anything. And so the fact that they specifically chose a male, black actor - who even physically resembles the previous male, black actor - means that they were consciously casting the cruelest - "I like smiting" - most violent, least sympathetic* character as a black man.
Just - dude! Get your racist head out of your hindparts!
*At least Anna's motivations, we understood, and were meant to sympathize with. There was emotional resonance. Whereas, Uriel was given an excuse - "they killed you in the future" - but there was no emotional resonance or empathy at all. He was just a plot point, a tool.
ETA: The only thing I could think of that would not make this the biggest race!fail since - well, the last one - is if past!Uriel's vessel was supposed to be a younger version of future!Uriel's vessel. Which would actually be really interesting, and I want to hear more about that, and why. But since they didn't hint towards that, I'm going to assume the worst.
ETA 2: Okay, so the consensus seems to be that it really was a young Uriel. In which case: Well, the problem still stands. Instead of having two black male characters who are violent and toolish, we have one who is even more so. Not really an improvement, in my opinion.
ETA 3: ...I wonder if experiencing being a black man in 1970s America had any effect on future!Uriel's determination to bring about the apocalypse.
ETA 4: Basically, this episode? I liked the first five minutes or so, right up until title sequence, or whatever it's called - I love the Dean-Anna dynamic and the gentle old-ex feeling; the hints that, had they been allies, they would have been friends - and the last two minutes - OH MY GOD CREEPY - and the bits with Castiel, because Misha Collins is the only actor I've seen so far who really gets the otherness of angels. (Collins' acting talent is about 60% of why I love Castiel.) Everyone else just treats them like they're human, and while I could buy Anna acting like that, everyone else - no. Not so much. So, sorry,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ticketsonmyself - your fears were entirely justified.
ETA 5: What the fuck? Why is fandom so gleeful over Anna's death? SHE WAS A COOL CHARACTER, PEOPLE! THE ACTRESS WAS KEANU-REEVESESQUE BUT THE CHARACTER WAS COOL! Also, how much did everyone love that her roots were showing? The bottle-red we had previously seen had faded a lot, and there were brown roots. I don't know why I loved that so much, exactly, but it was such an intersection - human Anna obviously cared about her hair a lot (trust me, it takes a lot of dyeing and maintenance to build up to that color), and angel Anna doesn't even notice. It's such a weirdly human thing, really, and a constant reminder of her imprisonment.
Secondly: So, forty years in the past, before Uriel has even clapped eyes on his vessel, and he's still a scary violent black man who takes orders from a white woman? I mean, come on. They could have made him anyone. One, vessels don't matter to angels, and two, Uriel hasn't even encountered his future vessel, so it's not like he has associations or anything. And so the fact that they specifically chose a male, black actor - who even physically resembles the previous male, black actor - means that they were consciously casting the cruelest - "I like smiting" - most violent, least sympathetic* character as a black man.
Just - dude! Get your racist head out of your hindparts!
*At least Anna's motivations, we understood, and were meant to sympathize with. There was emotional resonance. Whereas, Uriel was given an excuse - "they killed you in the future" - but there was no emotional resonance or empathy at all. He was just a plot point, a tool.
ETA: The only thing I could think of that would not make this the biggest race!fail since - well, the last one - is if past!Uriel's vessel was supposed to be a younger version of future!Uriel's vessel. Which would actually be really interesting, and I want to hear more about that, and why. But since they didn't hint towards that, I'm going to assume the worst.
ETA 2: Okay, so the consensus seems to be that it really was a young Uriel. In which case: Well, the problem still stands. Instead of having two black male characters who are violent and toolish, we have one who is even more so. Not really an improvement, in my opinion.
ETA 3: ...I wonder if experiencing being a black man in 1970s America had any effect on future!Uriel's determination to bring about the apocalypse.
ETA 4: Basically, this episode? I liked the first five minutes or so, right up until title sequence, or whatever it's called - I love the Dean-Anna dynamic and the gentle old-ex feeling; the hints that, had they been allies, they would have been friends - and the last two minutes - OH MY GOD CREEPY - and the bits with Castiel, because Misha Collins is the only actor I've seen so far who really gets the otherness of angels. (Collins' acting talent is about 60% of why I love Castiel.) Everyone else just treats them like they're human, and while I could buy Anna acting like that, everyone else - no. Not so much. So, sorry,
ticketsonmyself - your fears were entirely justified.ETA 5: What the fuck? Why is fandom so gleeful over Anna's death? SHE WAS A COOL CHARACTER, PEOPLE! THE ACTRESS WAS KEANU-REEVESESQUE BUT THE CHARACTER WAS COOL! Also, how much did everyone love that her roots were showing? The bottle-red we had previously seen had faded a lot, and there were brown roots. I don't know why I loved that so much, exactly, but it was such an intersection - human Anna obviously cared about her hair a lot (trust me, it takes a lot of dyeing and maintenance to build up to that color), and angel Anna doesn't even notice. It's such a weirdly human thing, really, and a constant reminder of her imprisonment.
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Date: 2010-02-10 03:53 am (UTC)Ugh, getting up at 6 in the morning to go to school really isn't a very motivating thought... :/ I do that every day, and I still think, upon reading this: EWWWWW. Unless you want to be up, no one should have to be awake at that time in the morning.