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This post contains a frank discussion of season 4, episode 4 of Outlander entitled "Common Ground". Proceed with caution.
It's almost too appropriate for Starz to air this last episode of Outlander during the American Thanksgiving weekend. The episode sees our love Jamie travel back in timeSam Heughan) and Claire Fraser (Caitriona Balfe) find common ground – literally and figuratively – with the aboriginal peoples who will be their neighbors in a new North Carolinan colony that the couple named Fraser's Ridge – after themselves. The episode is radically different from one of the most popular and striking moments of Diana Gabaldon's novel Drums of autumn apparently as part of the ongoing attempt of the series to correct some problematic racial representations in the sources.
In Gabaldon's book, written more than twenty years ago, the chapter entitled "Noble Savages" sees the Frasers first meeting the Tuscarora tribe after Jamie fought and killed a real bear. The men of the tribe, who do not speak English, nevertheless respect Jamie through his physical prowess and honor that he returns to the animal that he killed. In the show, however, the animal was transformed into an Aboriginal man suffering from mental disorders who, dressed in the skins and claws of a bear, wounds both the animal and the human before Jamie does so. landslide. This change was unpopular with at least some fans. (The Vulture narrative requires Vulture's recap in its absence.) Although the change was, according to the producers and Gabaldon, at least somewhat motivated by budget and logistics, this modification of the fight Outlander avoid some of the pitfalls of Gabaldon's book.
It's a nod to the Cherokee's respect for his women. The man from this episode was banned from his tribe for raping his partner: "He hurt his wife," Tawodi (Will Strongheart) tells Jamie. "A year ago, he slept with her against his will, that's not our way." This is a particularly intriguing Outlander to travel considering how much books and series have sparked controversy about the subject of sexual assault.
In addition to Tawodi's enlightened vision – which, let's say, does not exist in the book -, the character uses English when speaking with Jamie. In Gabaldon's book, the Aboriginal characters who met the Frasers for the first time can only communicate with gestures and grunts. When he meets them, Jamie is reluctant to give them whiskey because he has heard that the natives have a problem with drinking alcohol. The men of the tribe offer a pipe as a gesture of peace before one of them seize the breast of Claire to determine if it is indeed a woman. A faithful adaptation of this battery of L & # 39; fall The scene probably did not go well, especially during a holiday weekend where the question of white settlers and their attitudes towards the Native American population is of great concern to many people.
Talk with Vanity Fair about the series projects concerning his Aboriginal characters earlier this year, the executive producer Maril Davis "Unfortunately, this book contains many stories that are not necessarily so flattering to Native Americans. We stick to the source, but we also want to be sensitive to the Amerindians [and] also show things from their point of view, so that it does not seem so one-sided. To explore the non-white side of the story, the writer and executive producer Matthew B. Roberts , flew to North Carolina and sought the advice of a Cherokee leader.
This is not the first time that Starz's adaptation of Gabaldon's novels attempts to smooth out some of the most difficult contours of representation by the author of non-white characters. Last year, Roberts explained to Buzzfeed some of the changes the series made to controversial non-white characters in Season 3. In the same article, Gabaldon herself – who presents herself as a half-Hispanic – vigorously defended some of his words and attitudes. books. In Drums of autumnFor example, Jamie and Claire do not stop calling their neighbors "wild". Such cases, according to Gabaldon, are supposed to be as much a commentary on the Frasers as anything else:
Time travel stories offer a writer a lot of possibilities for socialization.
comments – but very few of these books comment on the
(always modern) temporal traveler; it's very one-sided. My kind of
are not. The main point here is that Claire is not (not categorically)
"A modern woman". She was born in 1918 and became an adult on the eve of
of the second world war. The point here is that Claire's attitudes and
The perceptions are those of a woman with her background, her experiences and
perceptions. They do not look much like the attitudes of an American
30-something today.
But the Starz adaptation does not always have the place to thread the needle as finely. Compare Gabaldon's attempts to portray the appropriate bigotry in her day that Claire and Jamie might expose in their dealings with Black, Native and Asian characters with Jamie's awake speech to Governor Tryon at the beginning of this week's episode. When the Tryon rages about the savagery Jamie could find along Fraser Ridge, he says, "Savagery can exist in many forms, majesty. . . I have witnessed both the prince and the poor. Speaking to Vulture, Heughan said he approved of the different version of this episode of Jamie's big fight, even though it deprived him of his "Returning" moment. He calls the man-bear conflict "the beginning of the kind of understanding and mutual respect that Jamie has with Native Americans. This moment, really in their eyes, gives them a little respect for who he is and vice versa. "
All attempts in the series to counter the treatment of white Americans for the non-white population have been well received. For example, a plot about slavery two weeks ago drew criticism for falling into a trap of the white savior even as the show was trying to cope with the consequences of Claire's well-meaning but mistaken interference. . Some particularly controversial stories, such as the one that deals with abortion among the slave population, have been completely excluded from the adaptation.
But even when he actively avoids controversy, as with this week's Cherokee plot, Outlander is always in the headlines. Actor Will Strongheart, who delivered this week's speech on the fact that sexual assaults are not the Cherokee's way, was convicted in 2010 of two counts of assaulting his girlfriend of the time, Melanie Rope. In a statement to the CBC following the viral passage of Rope's Facebook post on Facebook, Strongheart wrote, "I have often repeated it on my social media accounts, my letters, and so on. I presented my public and personal apology, held myself accountable for the negative actions that I had done and hoped that each time was the end. "
In front of the cast of Strongheart on his Facebook page Sunday, Gabaldon replied: "I have absolutely nothing to do with casting. Sometimes they will tell me in advance who will play a particular role, if it is an important character and they want me to announce it here, regardless of the medium chosen, but not otherwise. . Of course, I do not think it's good that it happened. On the other hand, I do not think it's reasonable to ask the production managers to investigate the background of each actor they hire for a small part. "
according to Weekly entertainmentStrongheart will only appear twice this season, including a major role in next week's episode "Wild".
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Courtesy of Jason Bell / Starz
Courtesy of Starz.
Courtesy of Starz.
Courtesy of Starz.
Courtesy of Starz.
Courtesy of Starz.
Courtesy of Starz.
Courtesy of Starz.
Courtesy of Starz.
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