I Really Liked This Show

*THIS PIECE MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR NETFLIX'S THE QUEENS GAMBIT & HBO'S LOVECRAFT COUNTRY*

The trailer for Netflix's new show "The Queens Gambit" seemed interesting enough, A girl becomes a chess legend amidst a life of turmoil, drug abuse, and social challenges. As with pretty much all of Netflix's catalogue the cinematography, costuming, and casting seemed really well done. The story set in the 50s and 60s looked surprisingly like a biographical film although it turns out to be an entire work of fiction.

The reason I wasn't trying to watch The Queen's Gambit however was, well...a little more complex.

Over on HBO, there's a new series titled Lovecraft Country. Set within the same time period of the 1950s - Lovecraft Country is a Horror/Thriller complete with stories of monsters, dark magic, and the scariest topic of all...racism.

For Beth Harmon - The Queen Gambit's lead character, the issue of race isn't her trial as much as it is a small background to the overall story. What Queen's Gambit focuses on however is sexism and how, by being better than everyone else in her field - she's able to overcome it. In fact, race is mentioned within TQG but only a few times. A couple by her Black best friend a woman named Jolene who "lovingly" refers to Beth as both "Cracker" and "White Girl" and once by Beth's adopted mother who mentions to Beth when she tries to get a job "The only girls your age who work are colored".

The implications of that latter statement rung in my ears for days - even now about a week after watching the series as I write this piece. That's the damage of White Supremacy on Blackness. A young girl, Beth's age but of a darker skin color would be without question forced into the workplace early, meanwhile White women would have more years of freedom, more years of care, all due to the fact they were White.

Coming off of the 10 episode season of Lovecraft Country, in part, I knew what to expect from Beth's story and timeline. This story was not about Blackness, in fact, it wasn't about the Black character at all but in a deeper, darker way, for those with eyes to see, it was. Beth and Jolene were both orphans at the same children's orphanage. Beth's story took off when after a few years at the orphanage she was adopted. Jolene on the other hand, aware of her race and society's wickedness, understood that she'd have a more arduous time of being placed in a family due to her Black skin.

Fortunately, later in Jolene's life she took agency over her story and decided to make her own way in the world coming back into the story around the late 1960s this era of course being the age of Rosa Parks, SNCC, Sit-Ins, and the like. However, even this redemption story was still marred by her proximity to Whiteness both by her choice of profession (a radical paralegal) but she works in an office full of White Men, knows she's a diversity hire, and has chosen one of the men at the firm to be her lover.

When asked by Beth what her radical friends will think of Jolene's choice in a partner - Jolene responds "Fuck 'em if they can't take a joke".

Outside of the story of race, The Queen's Gambit was really well made. I had an incredibly hard time realizing the story wasn't based on reality but all a work from a book of the same name released in the 1980s. The characters were so rich, detailed and the story so engaging that I could see why Netflix would choose to bring this story to the screen.

As a writer and a storyteller myself, it was definitely an inspiring story and it's not The Queen Gambit's fault the story and history of the times were so blaringly racist.

I felt sorry for Jolene's character but she never felt sorry for herself. What I felt sorry for was the perspective into how the Black Woman is forced into the "strong character" role. Beth even calls her a " guardian angel" to which Jolene replies "I'm not here to save you, I can barely save myself. I'm here because you need me to be here, that's what family does, that's what we are"

There's a quote going around on social media written obviously by an unnamed Black woman that states "I'm tired of being the strong Black Woman. I want to be cared for, I want to be held." I've seen some of my Black female friends sharing this quote and it continues to be a point that I understand - these Women are the backbone and the background of a lot of stories and I want to do my best to change that.

All in all, I do recommend The Queen's Gambit. You'll fall in love with Beth's story, you'll root for her and you'll cheer when she beats all odds - even of her own making. But I hope that you also don't skip over the storylines of the people who matter to making her who she is - and inside of the historical context what Women and Black Women had to endure during those times.

Watch The Queen's Gambit on Netflix & Lovecraft Country on HBO.

Follow me on Socials! @Kidastronavt on IG/Twitter

You can read another amazing article about Jolene & Beth from writer Alice Wallace on Popdust here: https://www.popdust.com/the-queens-gambit-2648958147.html