LGBTQ Marketing Ploys: Teasing & Exploitation

Recently we have seen a number of films announce their historic and revolutionary LGBTQ inclusion. And then when the actual product has been released it’s clear that all that hyping in the press has been… rather exaggerated.

We saw this with Beauty and the Beast which widely spread across the media as having DIsney’s first openly gay character on film! And with Power Rangers loudly proclaiming they have the first gay superhero! Yaaaay!

As an aside - can we not all leap in with lists of “queer-coded” Disney villains - i.e. nearly all of them - as evidence of previous gay representation? Any kind of coding/implication/subtext is not representation and it’s extremely problematic that LGBTQ people are continually expected to accept these as representation. We’re repeatedly told that we have to celebrate subtext as inclusion while the erasure of actual LGBTQ people continues - we deserve better than to be the Love That Dare Not Do More Than Imply Its Name. It’s also a pernicious homophobic trope to “gay/queer code” villains: presenting markers of LGBTQ sexuality as evil is tired, common and in no way should appear anywhere as praiseworthy or representative. So, please please do not do this.

As these films actually hit cinemas it quickly became clear that the actual representation was… lacking. LeFou in Beauty and the Beast after spending the whole film working through a checklist of gay stereotypes ended up dancing oh-so-briefly with a man. It wasn’t even something he sought out, it just kind of happened. While it may shock you, your very brief dance partner does not actually indicate your sexuality - just look at all those tedious reality-TV-dance competitions that adamantly won’t pair gay contestants with their own gender.

Ground breaking representation it was not.

Similarly in Power Rangers we see that Trini, the supposed lesbian/bisexual character, turned out to be a teenager with “a lot going on” trying to figure out her life. Someone snarks at her about “boyfriend/girlfriend” trouble without her confirming either way

Well, damn, I’m amazed cinemas didn’t have to deck the rooms in rainbows to respect the sheer power of the representation here?

Even with these not exactly being hailed and universally praised by LGBTQ people, it has kept on happening.

Marvel is becoming an expert - from taunting about Captain America, they teased with Black Panther, then crushed the hopes, then the echoes hadn’t even died before they decided to pull the same damn nonsense with Guardians of the Galaxy 2. Any guesses as to there being an LGBTQ character there? No guesses needed - it didn’t happen. DC is getting in on the action already teasing hints about a female love interest for Wonderwoman.

Star Wars is such a repeat offender of this - and despite repeatedly teasing the possibility of a gay relationship it’s never emerged. Yet even while saying that the next film will not have LGBTQ inclusion - again - they’re still teasing the vague, ill-defined possibility in the film after this. Anyone holding their breath?

It’s opposite number, Star Trek pulled a Le Fou with Sulu - and then cut it down and reduced it because blink-and-you-miss-it is portrayal now.

Fantastic Beasts 2 is also teasing the possibility of a gay romance - of course with no confirmation at all so, again, don’t hold your breath. But this is the habit - writers, actors, producers go to the press, they tease, they torment, they raise hopes then they crash them. Of course, this just seems like it’s continuing the habit of the book - because people are still praising JK Rowling for her awesome - but completely non-existent - LGBTQ inclusion. Hey, Word-Of-Gay counted as inclusion in the books, why wouldn’t we let it pass on television?

Da Vinci's Demons, Season 3, Episode 10: Ira Deorum

After a brief interlude with Rahim and Leo, the new battle is on. Leo, Laura, Nico and Dracula intend to lead their teeny tiny forces against the Turks (who lost all their tanks episode) and rely on the Book of Leaves-inspired lightening device to fry all the Turks who are conveniently wearing lightening attracting armour.

Of course all this may fall apart because Zoroaster and Sophia were captured last episode. Thankfully Lucrezia has also being captured. Lucrezia doesn’t stay captive for long – and when Bayezid goes to question her he finds that chaining her up only gives her new weapons to throttle him with. He’s duly strangled to death before Lucrezia happily goes on a little rampage (finding a convenient crossbow from somewhere) to free Sophia and Zoroaster.

They then head to set up the machine – with Zoroaster failing and badly injuring himself (and seeming to be dead – this episode does a series of “zomg this character is dead!” moment most of which don’t come to pass. I actually think it would have been much more dramatic, especially as it’s the last season, if a huge number of the cast were duly slaughtered. This probably says how little I’m actually invested in these people).

While the battle begins (Laura is kind of awesome) and we have several near-death moments (including Vlad being stabbed by his brother Gedik – who is probably Radu – who is not all that happy that Bayezid is dead) Leo finally declares surrender and orders his men to take off their (highly conductive) armour

Just in time for Lucrezia to finish putting together the lightening machine (albeit taking an arrow in the process) and then we have lots of zappy zappy zappy – the entire Ottoman army is slaughtered. The remains surrender and the city is free.

Except for Lucrezia who, of course, dies in the name of Maximum Manpain for Leo. We always knew that she was heading for the nearest walk-in fridge and she’s finally settled herself in among the ice trays.

That’s a very quick summation but there weren’t a whole lot of twists there – and we kind of expected everything to go the way it did. It’s not a bad ending, it’s a quite satisfactory conclusion to the whole Ottoman storyline, but it’s a bit… predictable? Safe? Lacking in twists or intrigue or interests? Leo geniused the enemy and everyone is now dead?

Da Vinci's Demons, Season 3, Episode 9: Angel Iratissimus

After our obligatory opening drama scene from Lucrezia and her daddy who holds her prisoner we get into the main plot – the beginning of the war between the Crusaders and the invading Ottomans.

Leo and Sophia are preparing by using genius, making their new shiny weapon and being able to direct the weapon with some help from Vlad’s magic armour that fortuitously helps direct the weapon which they hope will turn the tide of the war

It kind of has to, since the Crusade isn’t going so well. Vlad brings his eleven immortal troops who are super scary vampires. Laura is an awesome leader of the crusade (who looks even more awesome in amour) and super inspiring (unlike the terribad pope who is terribad)

But they’re still ambushed and slaughtered and are generally decimated messily. They leave only a few soldiers, Laura and Nico (and the immortal Vlad) to be found by Leo, Sophia and Zoroaster to make Plan B.

Plan B involves Leo destroying the tanks after stealing one (turns out these tanks, like any tanks, are super vulnerable to infantry in close quarters. Especially when one of those infantry is a fire proof immortal monster – but pretty much everything is vulnerable to fire proof immortal monsters).

While Zoroaster and Sophia plan to sneak into the city so they can use their new lightening Tesla weapon from a high spot and zap the many many soldiers.

The first half goes well with Leo and Nico blowing up many many tanks and slaughtering many Turks (hey, remember when Leo was all conflicted about killing people? Yes? No? Maybe?)

The other part goes awry with Sophia and Zoroaster being kidnapped

I am so frustrated by Sophia. As a character she would have been awesome if she’d been introduced back in season 1 or even season 2 – she and Leo could have developed a relationship. She could have bounced of Zoroaster and Nico. She could have been fun – very very fun. Now? There’s just no time for a character this nifty.

Da Vinci's Demons, Season 3, Episode 8: La Confessione Della Machina

Leo has gone home to Vinci to find his newly discovered sister Sofia and the Leafy Page. And hallucinations. This show always has hallucinations

He also finds Cosmo and several other Labyrinth guys who want to convert him by flogging and torture. This is not a convincing argument. Sophia arrives to the rescue and to tell him that mummy is dead – because this show simply doesn’t have enough angst.

Leo then fights Cosmo and despite his many injuries which left him barely able to stand he does quite well and after much rolling around in the mud, he kills the other man.

There can now be sibling rivalry – and telling Leo that his precious Lucrezia is now imprisoned by her dad, Gedik and the Sons of Mithras. Also he totally doesn’t want to encourage her to be all vengeful but they totally need to murder these people

Together they start to read the page and go on a nature walk while discussing Leo’s many fortune telling hallucinations. And Sofia has Leo’s genius mannerisms – they could bounce off each other well. They use the page and have mutual shiny hallucinations which leads to a shiny shiny invention.

I think they just discovered electricity – or a dangerous Tesla coil.

Riario is still on a guilt trip and has decided to tell the slightly unhinged Lorenzo that he killed Clarice. There are probably easier ways to commit suicide. It’s the battle of the Manpains! Laura pleads for him, throwing around the word “tyrant” a lot, which is amusing when we consider she serves the pope. She goes to try and convince Riario not to throw his life away because Twu Lub while Vanessa tries to tip-toe around Lorenzo’s temper. Which she’s much much better at.

Nico and Zoroaster have managed to teleport all the way (got to love how people can zoom up and down Italy in days in this show) to Wallachia to see Vlad. They’re plan is comically awful “Hi Vlad, please don’t kill us!” It sort of works so we get to enjoy more of Vlad’s awesome decorating style while commenting on how not dead the very very scary man is – given that they killed him before. Of course that means they now have to rely on Vlad forgiving and forgetting that

Da Vinci's Demons, Season 3, Episode 7: Alis Volat Propis

Various city states are messing with history pledging various forces to the Pope’s crusade when a guy in full Turkish armour manages to barge into the chamber where it is all being debated – once he gets there he takes off his helmet and reveals he’s Lorenzo.

STOP THESE SHENANIGANS

Ok, so he escaped the Turks dressed as one. Great, good plan. Then upon leaving Otranto he decided to continue to travel nearly the FULL length of Italy in (presumably very smelly) the same suit of armour?! Even when arriving in Florence, his own city, not only did he KEEP wearing the armour but he didn’t even take the helmet off so people could see him and NOT try to murder him

It would quite literally have been safer for him to walk into the city stark bollock naked. Or dressed in angry honey badgers.

Leo has cured Riario, apparently. And now frees him – which shows that even a genius can be a bloody fool. They’re joined by Laura of Venice (who seems to be a fool as well, returning to the man who held her at sword point). She decides to be quite casual about the whole thing an calmly lets them know Lorenzo is back

Leo runs to him (he’s still wearing the world’s smelliest armour). He finally takes it off (after explaining he wore it for a while since he didn’t know how far the Ottomans have reached – an excuse that makes sense unless you know anything about Italian geography and realise how damn far Otranto and Florence are from each other). He describes the horrible conditions he endured and Leo tries to reassure him about the army they gathered by Lorenzo is more concerned about Clarice and how she was killed.

Riario and Laura still apparently have a thing for each other. He, Leo and Laura join the Pope and others in a war Council to discuss the Ottoman invasion. They plan a united invasion which goes a little awry because Lorenzo declares, literally, that the Pope and his crusade can go fuck themselves. Telling Pope’s to go fuck themselves should probably happen much more often but generally raises many many eyebrows. But the new Lord, Madam Singh, is quick to back him.

Other councillors do not and the man starts well, pointing out that Florence is a Republic so Lorenzo can’t actually overrule them, but then mocks him with Clarice sleeping with Carlo. Lorenzo decides a reasonable rebuttal is to beat the man to death on the Council floor. As an argument it lacks elegance but is certainly impactful. He then rages that Florence will be independent from everyone – Rome, Ottomans, the rest of Italy – anything and everything. Even Nico and Vanessa look shocked.

Da Vinci's Demons, Season 3, Episode 6: Liberum Arbitrium

Riario is back to visions and eye-drugs and general despair and someone/thing calling him “the monster of Italy” and generally not being well. Except Leo who is apparently trying to cure him.

Curing him involves chaining Riario up for his own sake and for the sake of the whole of Florence and having Leo of all people trying to bring him to lucidity. Leo has seen through Riario claiming he’s not part the Labyrinth along with an epic rant of having nothing to do with the Turks, Sons of Mithras, Labyrinth or anyone else demanding obedience and destruction in the name of god (who he doesn’t even think exists but think would be thoroughly disgusted if he did).

There follows some theological discussion with Leo thinking humanity is too terrible to be designed with Free Will while Riario defends it (an interesting twist. Personally I think free will + commandments on pain of pain = dubious free will anyway). Leo doubles down – Riario is the embodiment of man’s struggle between good and evil since he seeks piety and is a murderer. He says this while accusing Riario of the recent serial killings in Rome and Florence (including Clarice and Dragonetti). Riario splutters and tries to deny it while panting and hyperventilating and confused and lost.

The Labyrinth has damaged him, along with his doubts of them that stops him ever being “one” with them. Though he puts this down to his flaws, not the Labyrinth’s. He also saved Leo because, after everything they’ve endured, he couldn’t let Leo die – which Leo takes as a sign that Riario is redeemable. Riario of course starts ranting and lashing out with all a full on multiple-personality rant about how Leo broke him by introducing guilt and shame.

Time for chemistry (including with poison arrow frogs? What did he bring them back from South America? When? Why?) and more multiple personality rambling from Evil!Riario talking about… uh… Also-Evil!Riario.

Of course, this scene is starting to be about Riario – we have to quickly change it to be about Leo and he accuses Leo of being terribad evil and even worse than him because of all Leo’s shiny war machines.

Zoroaster and Leo had a field trip planned for research but Leo has to hastily cancel with Riario ranting and rambling and cackling away in the background (and this show really really should never ever try to make gay jokes under any circumstances).

Da Vinci's Demons, Season 3, Episode 5: Anima Venator

Leo and Zoroaster are heading back to Florence and Zoroastr is duly bitter about Leo’s inattention, paranoia and ingratitude.

They arrive in the city and to Leo’s ruined workshop with Zoroaster trying to make Leo come away and see sense.

Zoroaster goes to the palace to be reluctantly greeted by Dragonetti to go see Vanessa – who is still neck deep in politics and trying to get the Council of Florence to follow her (in this case, the councillors are outraged that Clarice, murdered in Rome, hasn’t been repatriated for burial, while Vanessa wants the pope to hold his little Crusade Pageant because it’s going to bring in lot of cash). She makes a skilful argument for profiting from Rome without joining them – Zoroaster and Nico are duly impressed by Vanessa’s awesome control over the council.

He tells them that Leo is rather changed and much darker and more scarred than the Leo they last knew.

Nah, he was always smoking opium and seeing things, not much has changed. Which means when his mother arrives to tell him she was all wrong and how she too now is against the Sons of Mithras as well as warning him that Lucrezia is in danger she could easily be a hallucination. The possible hallucination also warns him about the super dangerous Leafy Book – and asks him to wield it. He refuses, thinking it could all be a trick/hallucination/mind control

Leo gets back to geniusing while Zoroaster and Nico try to talk to him. They throw water on him after he sets himself on fire as part of his experimentation. He barely even greets poor Nico – who is outraged that Leo would work for Sixtus. He comes to his senses long enough to greet Nico before telling him to leave because it’s so terribad dangerous.

Riario and Laura travel to Florence on the first stop of their Crusade pageant and it’s apparent they put a lot of hope on Florence joining them and getting the Crusade started. They’re greeted by Vanessa who Laura quickly focuses on  - showing her the skulls of the beheaded at Otranto (I assume representatives since I doubt they were able to relcaim them). It helps that Laura also hates Sixtus – the also believe Lorenzo died in the siege.

Da Vinci's Demons, Season 3, Episode 4: The Labrys

Leo and Lucrezia and a young son Andrea living an idyllic life – vision, dream or hallucination? One of the three. Even then Leo and Lucrezia are worried about the Architect in Rome. He apparently did something 10 years ago and now wants to be left alone – which involves not attracting attention and taking their son to Rome. We also have an ominous cave.

And back to reality with Leo being all drugged and brainwashed to join the Labyrinth)

Riario meets up with the Architect who continues to be all calm about everything, Riario continues to suspect Carlo.

Carlo is leading the brainwashing while Leo loathes him and accuses him repeatedly of killing Clarice which makes Carlo all agitated because he loved Clarice.

More drugs, more visions of Leo’s idyllic life. He’s not very good at idyllic life though, with his son drawing disturbing crucifixions and difficult moral choices and apparently destroying the Book of Leaves as well as his ongoing conflict with the Labyrinth which controls hallucination world – and demands obedience and conformity.

Hallucination world also has a Vanessa and Zoroaster leading a resistance (against Leo’s knowledge, but helped by Vanessa). Nico’s dead – and Zoroaster blames Leo. Leo tries to get rid of them and they speak of the atrocities the Labyrinth commits to force their conformity. They also have a missing page of the Book of Leaves, they want Leo to use to destroy the Labyrinth.

Hallucination Carlo, Labyrinth bigwig also joins them to scrub in all the terribleness and how Leo destroyed the Book of Leaves and Florence. And the whole conflict over whether to make their son be a whole pro-Roman zealot. He also has visions in his vision. This is getting Inception-y here.

More conflict between the rebels and Labyrinth with Vanessa dying and telling Leo to Wake Up. More fighting more dying and Andrea is a good indoctrinated child of the Labyrinth and helps Carlo and kills Lucrezia – behold the power and evil of indoctrination

Seeing this, Leo grabs a book of leaves page, announces none of this is real – and….

Da Vinci's Demons, Season 3, Episode 3: Modus Operandi

Clarice writes a kind of mutual dislike letter to her husband Lorenzo (it’s kind of “you’re a terrible person, so am I so meh”) in between torturing the man she captures last episode. Clarice has grown some sharp edges. She’s looking for Cosima and is happy to slice and dice to get answers.

Her new hobby is interrupted by someone who kills the owner of the brothel where she’s staying – she sees the man and gasps “you!”

In Naples, Leo and Zoroaster and the other refugees are leaving Otranto. Leo is still sad and blaming himself. Leo wants to go to Rome and work with the Pope to save Italy from the Turks. Zoroaster thinks he’s out of his ever loving mind and that Sixtus is more likely to kill them all than the Ottomans are. Leo rides off and, of course, Zoroaster follows.

In Rome, Riario has managed to convince the cowardly Fake!Pope Sixtus to leave his secure cell because, as Riario puts it, it’s hard to courageously rally troops while cowering in a safe room. Especially since they need to convince the powerful Lady Laura to throw the weight of Venice behind the Crusade. She has her own plans as well – she wants to gather all of the Republics’ forces in Florence, a traditional opponent of Rome. She hopes that the display in Florence will inspire everyone by the display of unity. She wants a full super, duper carnival display for inspiration

The climax of which will be the display of a Turkish prisoner. The prisoner is desperately praying which causes Riario to explain the whole concept of praying to Mecca while Sixtus insists Rome is the only holy city (which is ridiculous – c’mon there have been Nine Crusades by this point to capture the Holy Land – yet Sixtus doesn’t even acknowledge Jerusalem as a Holy City?). More annoying for Sixtus is that the captured “Heathen Cur” doesn’t look like the monster they want to inspire terror – but a normal, terrified man cowering in a cage.

His attempts to terrifying the man just ends up killing him. Laura isn’t impressed. Laura and Sextus don’t get on.

Leo and Zoroaster arrive at the gates of Rome to meet Riario – and Zoroaster is fiercely opposed to working with him. Leo tries to encourage Zoroaster to make peace – he refuses and Leo tells Zoroaster to leave

Leo meets Sixtus (refusing to call him the pope since he knows about the Real!Pope but not that he had escaped). Leo encourages Laura to stay while he appeals to the Pope to let him “bring hell” to the Turks. Sixtus wants to play “I told you so” over Leo working with the Sons of Mithras – and he dismisses Leo’s offer to make engines of destruction for Rome’s armies. Despite Riario’s objection – Sixtus demands Leo prove himself by finding the assassin first – and demands Leo kisses his ring. Which he does.

Da Vinci's Demons, Season 3, Episode 2: Abaddon

Random cryptic vision time before Leo wakes up from the ruin left by the tank, pulled to his feet but Zoroaster and his father, Pierro. Lorenzo is still fighting to try and delay the advancing Ottomans – even as they use more inventions that look like Leonard’s work. Lorenzo is captured.

There’s lots of slaughter and capturing and general awfulness in the sacked Naples, complete with that tank rumbling around causing chaos and destruction and death. The gang seeks shelter in a church while Leo starts to have genius moments

Zoroaster does his best to try and comfort some of the locals – he’s awesome and cute at it. Leo is busy being a genius and doing smart stuff – and realising that Al Rahim is the one who betrayed him and stole his designs. Al Rahim responds with cryptic riddles and insists that yes, they do want what Leonardo wants. An “enlightened world.” And to create that – they need to destroy everything first. Leo is not a fan of this idea

Of course Al Rahim is one of Leo’s hallucinations and Pierro catches him talking to himself. While Leo babbles, Pierro tries to get him to see sense and see reality. It’s not a matter of Leo vs his own genius, it’s about saving the people who are dying. He also collapses over having, presumably, killed his mother to try and stop the Turks. Leo is carrying around a mountain of guilt but Pierro is there to keep him focused on saving them

With brains, archery and a plucky child they manage to get the gathered refugees to a neighbouring building where they can flee through the hidden tunnels underneath (pointed out by Malia, a Jewish woman who knows where the tunnels the Jews use to hide are). Pierro is captured delaying the enemy so they can escape.

Lorenzo is taken before Bayezid. Bayezid’s general doesn’t care but keeps him around in case he is useful.

The captured men are gathered those who refuse to convert to Islam are executed. Pierro is in the line.

Despite everyone else escaping, Leonard decides to stay… and, of course, Zoroaster stays for him. Leo watches as Al Rahim tries to recruit Pierro – who speaks out against everything Al Rahim stands for and embraced death. Pierro is executed, saying Leo will save them right to the end.

Da Vinci's Demons, Season 3, Episode 1: Semper Infidelis

Da Vinci’s Demons is back for a last and final season to see if it can possibly redeem even a little of the nonsense of the last two seasons.

Which ended last season with the Ottoman Empire invading Naples and we open with Zoroaster trying to get into the city rather than turning around and running for the hills and then being allowed to run through all the battlements – wow their security at war is a really dedicated thing.

Leonardo is prepared to unleash invention death on the invading fleet when his dad, Piero, tells him he sees Leonardo’s mother on board. Just as Leonardo’s mother tells Bayezid, head of the fleet, that she sees Leo. Bayezid apparently cares. Piero begs Leo not to fire, but even he can’t put his epic mummy issues ahead of the war. His mother seems to agree since she encourages Bayezid to victory.

Lots of cannon fire unleashing carnage on the fleet for a whole lot of angst – especially since Bayezid decided to lead his fleet from the front and his ship was hit. Leo’s mother ends up in the water with big heavy chains on her

The cannons seemed to have worked, blocking the entrance to the Naples harbour. Alfonzo is now all for declaring victory and Leo a saviour – (presumably not worried about the Ottomans finding somewhere else to land their fleet or the fleet has been so devastated). Alfonzo and Lorenzo argue about who gets to pay Leo to make the shiniest biggest weapons

Of course, Leo is all angsty and not really thrilled to be responsible for the death of so many people – or any future deaths and certainly not the death of his mother. He storms out in a temper with Lorenzo convincing Alfonzo not to stab Leo for his insult.

Zoroaster goes after Leo to try and provide some level of comfort. It fails somewhat epicly.

As Leo angsts – he notices that the Ottoman flag ship is suddenly burning brighter and stronger hours after just smouldering. He reports this to the princes and Alfonzo is quick to deride whether “heathens” could manage the chemistry Leo is referencing – Lorenzo isn’t that quick to ignore the technological might of the Ottomans but Alfonzo is sure the arriving Napolese fleet will totally take down the remaining Ottomans.

Alfonzo, in case we missed it, is a damn fool.

The next day the Ottomans are making something as the Naploese fleet arrives – and is destroyed by Ottoman undersea mines. They also manage to get their ships past the blockade with Genius so now it’s back to war again with cannon fire going both ways and all is chaos and bad because the Ottoman have super duper cannon – which looks a lot like Leonardo’s cannon multiple barrel cannon.

LGBT Tokens: Marketing Ploys, Hints and Broken Promises

Recently The Advocate ran a blatant marketing piece where the cast of Teen Wolf sounded off on what a wonderfully LGBT inclusive show Teen Wolf was and how important and special it was. This isn’t the first time The Advocate has waved Teen Wolf’s very dubious inclusion flag.

Frankly, every single thing they said is so enragingly wrong as to be almost comical and I could go through each quote and tear apart how wrong each one is but Farid Ul Haq at the Geekiary already has done pretty awesomely (and in a previous post when Tyler Posey apparently thought Teen Wolf focused on a gay storyline at some point. I can only assume powerful hallucinogens were involved, or the show was cut EXTENSIVELY before reaching TV).

This is rapidly becoming a trend. The show creators of Teen Wolf definitely have a habit (and, yes The Advocate is an eager collaborator) of pushing their very slim inclusion as a marketing tool. In the past the cast and writers have been happy to play to slashers on multiple occasions. Before season 4 they pushed that they were introducing a new gay character - Mason. Check the quote, I’ll repeat it here for wry comedy:

“but rumors of Mason being heavily involved in the supernatural elements of the show have started to surface”

Hey, remember his heavy involvement? Do you? No? No, you don’t because it never happened. Mason was a token lurking at the back of the cast who rarely appeared for most of the season and received zero characterisation. They also failed to mention they were dropping Danny (despite hints - yes more hints - of his heavier involvement at the end of season 3) without any explanation because they

“didn’t think there was anything left for Danny in BH [Beacon Hills]”

Of course there wasn’t! He had zero character! He had zero storylines! He had zero involvement in the plot! There was nothing there for him because there was never any attempt to give him anything. Which, also, is the reason why I have not the slightest word of praise for Teen Wolf’s “orientation-blind Utopia” because it’s, frankly, nonsense. Homophobia hasn’t been removed from Beacon Hills out of some vision of an ideal world when prejudice is dead (apart from anything else the plot rejects it - why would Scott dancing with Danny as a joke to put off Coach even have worked if there wasn’t a culture of gay kids being kicked out of proms?) - it’s a consequence of not wanting the LGBT characters to have storylines! After all, if there were homophobia in Beacon Hills then Danny or Mason or the blink-and-you-miss-her Caitlin would actually have to have a storyline around it. That isn’t praiseworthy - it’s just an excuse for tokenism and laziness.

Teen Wolf is not even close to an isolated example - too often we see hints and nudges passed off as actual inclusion, punch lines as characters and tiny tokens as main characters. Show creators, producers, actors, writers et al play to it for their marketing when addressing LGBT people or people they think are LGBT allies (or slash fans) - The Advocate is a repeated tool in this respect - previously having non-existent bisexuality being pushed in the Divergent film and scraping the barrel for an LGBT analogy in a Grimm episode. But it’s not alone - The Backlot actually wrote a separate post about their feelings on Goyer using them to  sell Da Vinci’s Demons as a pro-LGBT show.

POC as Other: The Foreigner, The Savage, The Non-Human

We’ve said repeatedly on Fangs for the Fantasy is that not all inclusion is good inclusion - something that is often forgotten since so many shows and books completely erase minorities or, at best, present hollow tokens that are blatantly there to tick boxes. It’s tempting to celebrate even limited inclusion - but we should be wary of given uncritical praise to problematic tropes raising their ugly heads over and over and over again

One of the most pervasive of which, for POC, is the Other. Not Like Us. The Alien. The different - repeatedly we will see something that separated POC from the “local” people (or, in extreme cases “normal” people). This isn’t the same as presenting POC with cultural markers - in fact we’ve spoken before about the removal of identity with POC characters - but as expressly Othering POC as external to the setting

A common example of this is by making all POC foreign. When POC are included they are often not local to the setting - they come from elsewhere, some foreign land, they’re immigrants or visitors or passing through or, in some cases, outright alien or non-human. This isn’t inherently a bad thing, obviously there is no problem with having POC from foreign countries to the setting nor even in having non-human POC - the problem comes when these are the only or the overwhelmingly predominant representations especially when the setting of the book/show is much more diverse.

Take The Dresden Files. Harry lives in Chicago - a city that is 55% non-White, yet the vast majority of the very few POC who appear in the city are not native Chicagoans. We have members of the High Council (emphasising how global and diverse the High Council is, which isn’t a bad thing), visiting wizards (Ramirez), foreign knights of the cross from Japan (Shiro) and Russia (Sanya); but very few actual Chicagoans are POC. This allows the (very limited) presentation of a few POC in the book while still implying that Chicago is an all White city. We also have Uriel, a Black angel - non-human POC who is by definition alien, which leads me nicely to Dominion.

Dominion is set in Vega, a post-dystopian Las Vegas. In the here and now, Las Vegas is only 48% non-Hispanic White - fast forward to Vega and we do have a fair number of POC in the city; but when you looked at actual people from Vega it is all white. All of the POC were either foreigners - natives of Helena (Arika) with it’s often emphasised different culture (nearly every time Arika or her fellow Hellenites appeared it was to emphasise her sexual nature or their foreignness and alienness to Vega) - or, tellingly, not human at all. Noma, Michael and Furiad, perhaps even Gabriel, are all POC and all angels. Again we have a setting that has presented several POC to the cameras (albeit not always for very long or in much depth), but they’re all Other, they’re all foreign or alien or inhuman. They’re all “not from round here.” We have an attempted display of diversity while still implying that the “home” location is all White.

Even in the future we get this same sense - look at Almost Human with Dorian the Black android. Again, there is no problem with Dorian being a Black man - nor is there a problem with a number of the other androids being POC (both the police bots and the sex bots). There is a problem that very few of the other human cast, both background extras and main characters combined, are actually POC. Again, we have diversity presented on the screen, even a co-protagonist presented as a POC, but we still have a trope that renders the POC as Other.

Da Vinci's Demons, Season 2, Episode 10: The Sins of Daedalus

Leonardo is rescued from the burning workshop by the guards and taken out to his friends where he can tell everyone about Carlo killing Andrea. Despite his injury, Leo insists on going off riding. Despite being injured, having taken time to be dragged out of a burning building, he almost catches a hooded figure we assume is Carlo – before running into a tree branch. And this is why you don’t ride in forests. While he rolls around on the forest floor, he has a flash back which is all wonderful and paternal about what Andrea meant to him – which may have been more pointful if there’d been some effort to develop this while Andrea was still alive.

Clarice attends the scene of the fire and Vanessa tells her about Carlo being the killer; Vanessa seems to be accusing Clarice because she slept with Carlo. Vanessa refuses to return to the palace but Clarice orders her taken there – she’s pregnant with a Medici so Clarice makes the decisions. Nico speaks up, protesting that Florence is a republic and Vanessa has rights – and gets a slap for being disrespectful to Clarice. Clarice asks who he is and Nico says “I an Niccolo Machiavelli”

We have finally stopped hinting about who Nico is.

Anyway, his dad is apparently a very well respected legal scholar. And yes, he knows the law. This tense scene is interrupted by Vanessa going into labour.

She gives birth to a baby boy – who Clarice greets as a “male heir at last.”

Leo didn’t die in the forest – he was found by Al Rahim who just happened to be in the area. Leo has a bone to pick with Al Rahim since he went to a completely unknown continent to find the Leafy Book and all he got was a tacky statue. Al Rahim blames it all on Leo’s mother which is unlikely to endear him. Anyway, Leo wants to stop Carlo and his Labyrinth friends (who may or may not be the Enemies of Man who Riario has just joined) but Al Rahim wants to know why – to save the Leafy book or to avenge Andrea (pfft, like anyone gave a damn about Andrea Verrochio before this episode) because he’s Al Rahim and navel gazing and unnecessary cryptic bullshit must accompany EVERYTHING. Anyway, Leo’s mother’s cryptic code points to her childhood home which is, apparently, Constantinople. Oh good he can trip over Lucrezia there, that’s useful. I also hope they can get a little more specific because Constantinople is huge

Al Rahim thinks the journey is monumental which is, perhaps, an exaggeration since Lurcrezia apparently managed it in like 2 days, a week tops. He also thinks Leo will get lost – also unlikely given Constantinople is rather well known. Yes I am taking his cryptic bullshit literally because I am sorely tired of the nonsense. Then he decides to send Leo to Naples (where he can conveniently run into Lorenzo! How very useful) where he will “find what he seeks” Which will probably be a boat. Going to Constantinople which is a) freaking ridiculously cryptic and overwrought and b) an excuse to stop Leo going to the much closer (and Lorenzo-less) port of Pisa to get a boat.

Over to Riario (who hates everything and everyone twice over) and the Enemies of Man who don’t want anyone to find the Leafy Book because people are arseholes and can’t be trusted with Ultimate Cosmic Power. And they’re going to help Riario by pouring super salty water into his eyes.

This is a singularly unhelpful form of help. They torture him until he joins them, possibly breaking him in the process.

Back to Leo and Zoroaster found him by, presumably, psychic means. (Leo rode off into the wood, and was doctored in a little hollow by Al Rahim the Cryptic – how did Zoroaster find him? Check the GPS on his phone?) Anyway, Leo is going to Naples to find the Leafy Book and Zoroaster isn’t up for that (he has, to be fair, already gone above and beyond the call of duty to seek out Leo’s bed-time reading) but he will come along to kill Carlo for Andrea’s sake (wow, everyone’s pretending to give a damn about this man now).

Da Vinci's Demons, Season 2, Episode 9: The Enemies of Man

Leo and Riario are on the ship back to Italy, Leo still obsessed and Riario thinking they need to pack it all in – he even intends to throw himself on the pope’s mercy. Good luck with that. They also acknowledge that while they’ve liked working together the whole alliance thing is now other

In Florence, Leo notices something amiss – the streets are empty. He and Nico return to his old workshop where Verrocchio meets them and warns them Florence is no longer home, shortly before the guards arrive. A new guard captain drags them to the palace which is full of men and bare breasted women (some seemingly enjoying proceedings, others definitely abused). The palace is in a shambles – and Clarice is chained on a throne wearing very scanty clothing. All of this is forced by Duke Federico of Urbino – who took the city by force at the Pope’s urging. Both Clarice and Leo cling to the hope that Lorenzo will return.

In Naples, the Pope is trying to make Lorenzo tell him where the vast sums of Medici gold got to, since neither he nor Urbino can find them, in exchange for exile for Lorenzo and his family. He reveals that Florence has fallen – and Lorenzo punches him. How many Hail Marys for punching a pope? The Pope calls him no matter than usurers, heathens or jews, which pretty much sums up a fair chunk of the Pope’s prejudice. Lorenzo does promise to give up all of the money - to king Ferrante of Naples if he can free Florence. The pope smugly points out he and Naples are allies, this isn’t a negotiation – Ferrante, considering the vast sum of money would beg to differ – it is a negotiation now.

Lorenzo and Ipolita flirt and kiss and are seen by the pope.

Back in Florence, after a brief reunion with Vanessa, Leo is taken for some special torture (with some side references to him being a “sodomite” so he might enjoy the torture. Da Vinci’s Demons you’re on far too thin ice to pull this shit). He’s fastened in stocks opposite Carlo, also in stocks; but at least Carlo is eager to meet Leo. The torturers arrive (with background scenes of rape) and knock out the guards – it’s Zoroaster and Amerigo in disguise.

They take Leo and Carlo to a tavern where the loyalists are hiding (including Captain Dragonetti) – while Frederico’s men attack random men in the street. Of course Leo intends to take the palace back and with Carlo’s knowledge of the palace he comes up with a plan.

Which is foiled when Dragonetti et al are captured obtaining supplies, interrupting Leo and Carlo bonding over being bastards and Cosimo’s obsession with the Book of Leaves. Instead they take a riskier route into the palace, past the furnace

Inside the palace, a guard tries to take Vanessa to be raped by Nico stands in his way. In response to Nico’s defiance, the other prisoners stand as well. Faced with all the prisoners ready to attack him, he backs out.