Meta: Repcomm - Tumblr Posts
I think one of the more disappointing things about the Republic Commando fandom is that fans of Kal, generally, argue that critics of Kal Skirata are “unfair” in their criticism. That there’s an uneven attention placed on the character’s flaws that are disproportionate to the other characters.
The issue is that fans generally don’t understand that that’s in response to a narrative that holds everyone else alongside Kal responsible for their personal missteps, mistakes, and abuses, but does not ask the same of Kal, himself.
A favorite scene to, I think, argue the above is the scene where Darman beats the ever-loving shit out of Kal. It’s brought up as if it’s a scene we should take at face value, of Darman taking Kal to task, holding him responsible.
But the truth is, in the context of the rest of the series, it’s not.
What that scene is, is damage control.
What Darman knows in that scene about what Kal has done, does not match what Kal has actually done.
That is, what Darman knows is that Kal kept Etain’s pregnancy from him.
What Darman doesn’t know is that Kal knowingly chose to put both Etain and Etain’s unborn child in a position to die. Kal even says as much to himself early in True Colors, but makes no move to change it.
The novels don’t hold him responsible for Etain nearly miscarrying, and Etain nearly dying. They only hold him responsible for lying to Darman about the existence of a pregnancy.
There’s an enormous difference between the two. The difference being that the former is an abusive and controlling man willing to unfairly kill, indirectly, the person his son loves most without his son’s input, compared to the latter of a flawed but ultimately loving man making poor decisions to protect his son in whatever way he can.
And there should be more concern about the way fans of Kal will defend the former as if it’s the same as the latter, when it’s … not. How fans remember the books, is not reflective of how Kal actually treats his sons. But it is reflective of how an abusive man defends his choices as if there’s no other way or option.
And as much as fans want to sympathize with him, it cannot hurt to also take a step back and critically examine everything he does, and compare to how disproportionate the excuses and the forgiveness falls on Kal compared to the rest of the cast besides him.
If fans are willing to overlook how Kal is constantly playing a game of damage control with all of his sons from book one, but are equally unwilling to overlook the physical abuse Vau has waged on Delta Squad and Atin, then all fans are really arguing is that physical abuse is the only kind of abuse they’re willing to recognize as legitimate.
And that’s worrisome.
Being critical of Kal is not a personal attack, and if reading about how Kal is abusive immediately makes you defensive, then … it’s worth investigating why it makes you defensive. It’s worth taking the time to reflect on these questions, what it means to you, and what it changes if it’s true.