How Our Flag Means Death Handles Discrimination
In an age of queerbaiting and carefully edited-out representation, Our Flag Means Death is a bold breath of fresh air. With its frank and sincere same-sex romances, multiple healthy relationships, and characters beyond the gender binary, the show's narrative addresses things that almost never make it to the screen.
Representation is a difficult subject at times. Often, even when examples do break new ground, they can do so in a sloppy or irresponsible way that only hurts the cause. Our Flag Means Death is miles in the other direction, creating an immediate favorite in its community by ignoring much of what makes the medium difficult.
Our Flag Means Death Is A Triumph Of Word Of Mouth MarketingLooking back at the first season of David Jenkins' outstanding pirate comedy, one of the more impressive elements of its narrative is its pacing. The first few episodes are straightforward comedies, letting the audience get to know the characters before the driving force kicks in. By episode four, that driving force is aboard The Revenge, excitedly introducing himself as Ed «Blackbeard» Teach. The relationship between Ed and Stede builds slowly and naturally, and it manages to feel fragile from start to finish. The constant threat to both men's lives, the risk of being captured by the Navy, and the challenging emotional work between the two feel like they could ruin everything at any time. The one thing that feels like it's never a problem for Ed and Stede is the judgment of others, and that feels slightly strange in stories about a same-sex romance.
The way Jenkins and his crew see fit to handle homophobia, discrimination, or prejudice is largely to leave it out entirely. Ed and Stede's relationship isn't challenged because they're
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