There are a lot of ways I thought about tackling the racism aspect of this editorial series. The microaggressions, the double standards, the blatant racism. But I think the easiest way would be to begin at the beginning, and that means studying the chronology of The Flash as a television show.
There are lots of stories about when Snowbarry shippers first fell in love with their ship. Some will say it’s when they went on their karaoke date during the first season. Some will say it was in the pilot. Some will say it was a “slow burn.” But what you may not know is that a great many started shipping it before the show started. One story says that it happened when Candice Patton was cast, while another says that it happened the day the trailer came out, and still more say it was when they saw the pilot for the first time. It was, in actuality, all of those things.
The first person cast for The Flash that was related in any way to the Flash mythos was Grant Gustin as Barry Allen, who was cast in August of 2013 and appeared in two episodes of Arrow prior to the mid-season finale. Danielle Panabaker and Jesse L. Martin (January 2014) were then cast. Candice Patton was actually the second-to-last person cast (Carlos Valdes was cast later in the same month); following a chemistry test (which I have promised not to talk about, it being subjective and all) with Gustin, she was cast in early February 2014.
How the Blacks Robbed Redheads: a True Crime Story
Following the somewhat predictable reactions about “black-washing” and whining about how white people were losing an inordinate number of roles to people of colour, there were people who immediately declared that they would start shipping Barry with Caitlin, and they would make Barry/Caitlin happen “like they made Olicity happen.”
I want to be completely clear on this: those people are racist.
There is no pretty excuse, no caveat, no ifs, buts, or maybes. They’re racist. They saw a Black woman in a position that originally “belonged” to a white woman, decided that she did not have the right to be there, and decided that the white woman that they could see would be a better fit for the hero and more deserving of an epic love story based on the colour of her skin. They’re the kind of racist to complain when black and brown people start to be part of science fiction and superhero movies, calling it “pandering,” even though the number of impossible white man movies is not in the least bit of danger from people of colour getting roles. They’re the type to hide behind the excuse that Iris West and Wally West are supposed to be red-haired, and boldly say that people with red hair are a subjugated group. And they’re the kind of people who can truly and genuinely say things like “well if there were a White Panther movie, all of you would be calling us racist,” without a single ounce of self-awareness even though second-hand embarrassment is swallowing the rest of us whole.
Because what those Snowbarry shippers (and all of the people with this privileged view) are saying is that they don’t want to see people who aren’t white on their screens as epic, world-changing characters. They’d much rather they be in the background, serving as accessories, to pat themselves on the back because they noticed the (usually lone) character of colour who’s in the back, cracking jokes. Or they can be the comedic sidekick who’s constantly in awe of the main white dude, and so is always written to be inferior so they don’t bruise the fragile ego of male fanboys.
When they whine that creators should “create new characters of colour” instead of changing the ones that already exist, they’re not just showing their ignorance about the structural inequality of the comic book industry tied in with the fact that unless we are slaves, we just stopped being slaves, or are suffering from some other hardship that at some point during the movie will link back to the fact that Black people used to be slaves, Hollywood is curiously reluctant to give us money to make movies. They’re acknowledging, albeit unconsciously, that majority-white films are allowed to be mainstream, but if we want films to feature people of colour as leads, we need to “make our own” – thus agreeing that everyone is supposed to be able to relate to white people, but Black and brown people are a special interest group when it comes to film. These people will also be curiously silent on the subject of whitewashing.
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Another excellent article. The excessive level of entitlement is why I still contend that racism is a form of malignant narcissism. Narcissists are not content to have 99.9% of the pie. They’ll bellyache about that .1% that isn’t theirs as if they’ll die without that final piece.
I applaud the writers and producers of “The Flash” for keeping on the WestAllen path. It’s more than high time for women of color to get their piece of the love pie on TV and in the movies.
Bless you for continuing to write on this very important topic.
OK, I do see your point there. Certain Snowbarry fans do possess an almost comical level of entitlement to the point where they think that the show is purposely avoiding Snowbarry rather than continuing with the story that they’ve been promising since the pilot. We’ll be exploring that entitlement more in later articles.
I have to be honest, from the pilot, I never really had any doubt the writers would do Westallen. Narratively speaking, it was the only option without ruining their show.
Another article will be posted later today; I look forward to hearing your thoughts on it!
Thanks for this series of articles. I’m pretty distant from fandom (I just watch the damn show) and had no idea all of this hate was going on. It’s horrible and I really, really hope it is just a small (yet vocal) minority of fans and that the PTB utterly ignore them. Speaking only as a person who just watches the damn show, I thought that, from Day One, WestAllen was going to happen, and if Barry ever glanced at another woman, he wouldn’t be the faithful, lovesick person they’ve made him out to be. (Olicity could happen because Oliver was a much worse person than Barry.) But Barry’s constancy, whether in his unquestioning faith in people or his never-wavering love for Iris, is who he is. (I guess racists don’t care about character continuity.)
You’re welcome! I think most people who just watch the show and aren’t part of the fandom don’t know anything about this stuff, but you can’t really be in the fandom without knowing it.
Narratively speaking, it looked VERY hard to change from Westallen, because Iris was always so central to Barry’s story. For some reason the Arrow writers seemed determined to keep Laurel away from it. And the Barry from the comics has always had Iris for Iris and Iris alone.
Yeah, you’re going to see a lot of what racist people don’t care about. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy the rest!
So much truth! When I first joined the fandom I didn’t see the harm in Snowbarry. Literally every fandom has its crackshippers. However as I delved deeper I saw more than people loving their preferred ship. I saw people dedicated to trying to undermine Westallen and Iris West. The level of their pantering to have her killed off or put in the background was disturbing. I’ve never been the sort of person to fling around the race card carelessly but there was no getting around the fact that none of their arguments for hating her made sense and some admitted they didn’t know why they hate her, they just do. What other conclusion can be drawn from that? I’m so defensive of Westallen because I know this is more than a ship war, it’s about blatant racism. Thanks for eloquently putting into words exactly how people like me feel. Kudos!
I think a lot of people – myself included – thought that Snowbarry was just a harmless ship. The interview I just linked was one of the first I saw from the show and I remember being confused as to why everyone kept talking about their romantic dynamic, because there wasn’t one.
I’m glad I’m putting into words how you feel, because it’s taken me so long to get to that point myself. I’m glad I’m making sense to someone! There are two posts in particular that I think explain their behaviour; if you’re kind enough to keep commenting, I’ll tell you. Thank you for reading!
Look, its futile for the Snowbarry fans to whine to the writers and paint Candice/Iris in a bad light, when everyone was prepared for this. The writers specifically told Candice to stay off line and they obviously knew that if they had another woman a) a triangle was going to be wanted and b) if she was white, they’d try to elevate her. Why on earth, would Snowbarry shippers think, that the writers aren’t dismissing their arguments instantly when they calculated this? It was their choice to choose POC for Iris and they immediately gave a warning to Candice, like it makes no sense for them to still be pinning over Snowbarry.
It’s funny because a lot of people really didn’t see Snowbarry and still don’t even what that is until this point. However, it seems like it’s a recognized and “famous” ship because the media, being biased and ignorant (truthfully); gave it attention, Danielle stimulated it, and the writers for the sake of reeling in the audience to stay – gave them the most minuscule baiting moments they knew the shippers would take. I mean, if they shipped them off a urine sample, they can ship them by having Barry be a Good Samaritan and help Caitlin home when she was drunk – whilst, not taking her offering to see her ‘goods’ which could’ve have been interpreted and IS; the most “ship-baity” aspect. That and him commenting on her dress which is a real low standard for shipping since I have had guy friends compliment me and not want to jump my bones, lol. But I digress.
Their standards for shipping are so low… Yet, they have the audacity to hold Iris at the most unfathomable and impossible standards I have ever seen in a fandom.
It’s futile, but that doesn’t mean they don’t still try haha. The writers have never given any indication that Barry has ever wanted Caitlin, but as I mentioned here and as we’ll explore later, she’s a white woman. Thus, she should have her turn with Barry. They can’t relate to Iris, so they’re shipping him with Caitlin instead.
I will say that Snowbarry came as a complete shock to me, because Barry and Caitlin NEVER seemed even VAGUELY romantic, even with their ship-bait stuff. I still remember being shocked that interviewers actually asked the cast members about it, it was that weird.
Their standards for shipping are low because they’re given so little and they HAVE to see Barry with a white woman so they’ll take whatever they can get.
What a parial article!! So, if you ahip another couple because that one seems terrible and selfish, that’s racism!!! That’s VICTIMIZING and it’s really sad to use something as serious as racizm to sell that “love” story. Haven’t you thought that a girl who rejects the hero to choose another guy but sabotages his relationship with another woman and speaks about dating and wedding when their friends/ father is law are killed and her boyfriend is crying is an insult to feminism!??? Think about it. That’s not love
…
So if you continue to read, you’ll understand exactly what people mean when they say that Snowbarry shippers are racist.
But given that I’ve seen your Twitter account before, I know that you won’t care, since you clearly don’t even know what racism is, as you can’t even be bothered to spell it properly. You are one of those awful people who are upset because the white girl isn’t winning and you can’t relate to the Black one so you watch the show through your weird racist shipper goggles, but that is nobody’s problem but your own. I strongly suggest you take refuge in your fanfiction because that’s the only place you’re going to get what you want.
Nobody mentioned anything about feminism, but given that Snowbarry shippers literally started a campaign to decrease a Black woman’s screentime because it’s too hard to pretend the hero loves their favourite white girl when she’s in the room, none of you can call yourselves feminists.
I don’t understand understand why y’all act like Iris should’ve dumped Eddie for Barry. Iris was loyal to Eddie. Barry waited too long to confess his feelings. Iris was an adult and was gonna eventually date some other guy.
Iris didn’t sabotage Barry relationship with Linda. Barry is the one who is at fault. He knew he still had feelings for Iris and should’ve waited a little longer for them to disappear. Barry dated Linda as a rebound. Do those relationships ever work out? No, they don’t. Linda saw the way Barry was acting and went to Iris for advice. You know, his best friend since childhood. Who better to get advice on Barry’s behavior than the person he’s known his entire life? Iris told Linda that Barry was getting over someone. She did not give her name not ONCE. Linda was just smart to figure it out. Iris did not have any malicious intent at all. She was telling Linda the truth.
You wanna talk insult to feminism? Let’s talk. Why don’t you tell some of the people in your own fandom to stop wishing for Caitlin to get with a married man? Huh? how about that? Y’all want Caitlin to steal the husband of a friend? That’s feminism to you?
*Friendly mod here just coming into these comments to say that we’re totally fine with back and forth debate in our comments sections, but we do draw the line at name calling/personal attacks, so we’ve edited this comment accordingly. However, I would also like to point out that at the beginning of this “Not Just an OTP” series, the very first disclaimer was that we weren’t talking about any/all shippers of a particular ship, but only those who behaved in a certain way. Hopefully that settles some of the questions.*
I don’t why you guys keep trying to use he wasn’t her first choice when Barry and Caitlin have dated and married other people. Anyway what you guys should be doing is hyping up your faves directing debut instead of getting your knickers in a twist over an old ass article.
Yes, those people who hated Candice being cast and shipped Barry with a white woman because of it are racist. That 1% of racists who liked SnowBarry to spite Candice do not represent our fandom as a whole. 99% of us did not come to love SnowBarry because Caitlin is white. Most fans started watching after a few episodes had aired. I started watching in season 2. So the majority of shipper weren’t even around during the time you’re talking about! You acknowledged a few of the ship worthy SnowBarry moments yourself. Why am I, a black woman, grouped with racist white people and been called names like Uncle Tom all the time by WA fans because of what a few people did years ago?
*sighs*
I don’t know why some of you have decided to be mad about this a year later, but alright.
First of all, this isn’t the beginning OR the end of this series of articles. So you passing judgement on my opinion on it before you’ve read the whole thing is…a little stupid.
“The 1% of racists” – I think it’s pretty incredible how Snowbarry shippers always know the exact percentage of racists in their fandom, especially when Snowbarry shippers, from my experience, know about as much about racism as a chimp knows about brain surgery. And it’s also lovely that you “a black woman” diminish years of racist abuse into “1% of racists”, all the while doing absolutely nothing about it. Not to put too fine a point on it, but at the risk of being rude, people like you disgust me.
“99% of us did not come to love Snowbarry because Caitlin is white”. – this is a gross oversimplification and not even what I said, but reading isn’t for everyone. It is also a bald-faced, ignorant-ass lie.
“Most fans started watching after a few episodes aired”. – do you have proof of this or did you just type it because you think I would believe it?
“You acknowledged a few of the ship worthy SnowBarry moments yourself” – I did. And then if you would, like I said READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLES, you would see how I weigh that against the arguments that I make. Which is that the racism from the Snowbarry fandom is mostly unconscious bias, which is why they/you don’t notice it and continue to deny it when we point it out.
“Why am I, a black woman, grouped with racist white people and been called names like Uncle Tom all the time by WA fans because of what a few people did years ago?” – if people are calling you an Uncle Tom, I highly doubt it’s because of what a few people did years ago. If they’re calling you an Uncle Tom, it’s probably because you’re exhibiting behaviour similar to Uncle Tom. Perhaps some research into the term would help?
Victim blaming black women who are shamed for simply liking another character and shape? Classy.
You’re clearly bias against black women yourself. I have the freedom to chose. I won’t apologize for enjoying something you don’t. I’m not going to call you a racist name because I believe in supporting each other, hopefully someday you will too.
*Friendly mod hopping in here again to reiterate that we draw the line for comments with name calling and personal attacks. I’ve edited part of this comment to reflect that.*
Where did Ivy victim blame anyone?
Are you seriously claiming Ivy is biased against black women when she is a black women herself? A black woman who has written an article talking about racism in the fandom that Candice/Iris receives. The same black woman who went into detail on such matter. The same black woman who defended Candice, whom herself got hate for simply stating she liked Boy Meets World? The same black woman who wrote about the white feminism being displayed in all Arrowverse shows? You really think she is biased against black women. Wow.
All you did was prove ivy’s point. You started typing before actually reading.
“Victim blaming black women who are shamed for simply liking another character and shape? Classy.” – I’m not sure what this is referring to? What shape and what character?
“You’re clearly bias against black women yourself.” – Oh, HONEY.
“I’m not going to call you a racist name because I believe in supporting each other, hopefully someday you will too.” – I can’t do anything but laugh at this.
I wanna know something. Why are you so offended over being called racist than calling out the ones that exist in your fandom? They do exist sweetie. You claim they don’t represent your fandom, well y’all do a terrible a job of showing it. We barely see any SB call out the racists. Tell me why are there still blogs and accounts making up lies about CP, calling her names, etc with lots of followers still around? huh? Keyword, they have lots of them. That means these people see this shit and don’t say a damn.
You want us to stop generalizing the SB fandom. Start calling these people out
I’m a black woman. I’m well aware racists exits. Hate to break it to you “Sweetie” but they’re everywhere, not just in SnowBarry tags. There’s racists in the Westallen fandom, both anti-black and anti-asian. Why don’t you call them out instead of trying to slander thousands of people in another fandom as all being bad?
Go call out the people fetishizing Iris for dating a white man. Go call out the people who harass Grant Gustin and his wife (with racist, anti-asian shit because of her race) because they can’t accept that Grant isn’t romantically involved with Candice. There’s blog, IGs, and Twitters with lots of WA followers you guys are doing nothing about. You’re hardly in a position to point fingers.
You know how R. Kelly is under scrutiny right now for his years of sexual abuse against Black and brown girls?
YOU are the people on the internet complaining about how Harvey Weinstein got away with it and that we should all be looking in his direction instead.
I am wholeheartedly ashamed that you, an – allegedly – fellow Black woman would minimise the abuse that a visible Black woman faces to compare it to the instance of fans crossing lines (something that is horrible and invasive and that I don’t condone but unfortunately happens in every fandom) instead of doing anything to fight it.
I count myself lucky that you are not my friend and are merely a faceless person on the internet, because I’m not sure I would want to be friends with someone this callous towards her fellow Black women.
Have a nice life.
I am a SB fan myself, I see snowbarries making racist remarks about Candice Patton which is awful. A lot of the fandom defends Candice against these racist remarks. There a lot of poc in our fandom, I am black. I am not ashamed of my race. Some people started shipping snowbarry for the wrong reasons but the fandom is big, like really big. 90%-95% started shipping it when the pilot,1×03, 1×07 or 1×12 aired. Blaming the whole fandom for a few disgusting racist imbeciles is unfair.
“I am a SB fan myself, I see snowbarries making racist remarks about Candice Patton which is awful” – thank you for acknowledging the obvious.
“A lot of the fandom defends Candice against these racist remarks.” – yes, and I am the Queen of Sheba. How do you do?
“There a lot of poc in our fandom” – yes. If you and your friend had read the articles in this series, you would see how I talk about anti-Black racism. But, reading isn’t for everyone.
“I am black.” – of course you are.
“I am not ashamed of my race.” – I’m so very glad.
“Some people started shipping snowbarry for the wrong reasons but the fandom is big, like really big.” – oh, like REALLY big? But still small enough to be victimised by the “mean WA bullies” and the biased journalists and the writers/producers who are “obsessed” with comic canon? Is that the party line now?
“90%-95% started shipping it when the pilot,1×03, 1×07 or 1×12 aired.” – I really wish Snowbarry shippers would release the copious amounts of research that they’ve done on the racism and numbers in their fandom, because there is a word for people who throw out statements without evidence, and it’s not a very nice one.
“Blaming the whole fandom for a few disgusting racist imbeciles is unfair.” – that isn’t what I did, dear. And I think it’s rather amazing that, whenever Snowbarry shippers are confronted with racism in their fandom, there’s never a targeted effort to do anything about it, just feeble noises about how it’s only “1%” of the fandom.
Why can’t people just ship whatever the hell they like & be left alone?
Shipping is a non-issue. I don’t care what the ship is, it’s fake. Shipping is a hobby. It’s about liking something and making some fan-content. It’s not that deep. Someone’s morals and values aren’t evaluated by what they ship. If you think they are, you’re own values are skewed and you need to reevaluate your priorities.
I don’t watch The Flash, but the fandom’s constant drama over this ship vs. that ship is ridiculous. You guys fighting over it are the laughing stock of everyone outside this little bubble.
Every ship war is stupid. Even the ship wars it’s soldiers are convinced is for a good reason, because the other ship is so toxic in X way. They’re all stupid! Shipping is a fantasy. Shipping has nothing to do with real people. Anyone bullying actors over shipping is a dumbass. Ignore them, report them, block them. Writing blog posts complaining about them only feeds them with attention.
Racism is a serious problem. Fight it by going to a Black Lives Matter rally. Advocate for black , especially black female, leaders in government. Do something useful. Whining about other people having different taste in a ship is a waste of your time. You can make a real difference but you have to talk about real issues. Black people are being murdered and you’re seriously pissed enough to write an essay about a ship??????
I don’t watch the flash so here my long ass irrelevant reply that downplays the racism Candice and all her black/poc fans deal with.
This is a beautiful example of white feminism, ignorance, and lack of reading.
Stay in school, kids. It’ll get you far in life.
I agree with a lot of your article, but what I don’t agree with is that all Snowbarry shippers are racist (I’m not saying it’s mentioned anywhere here but just clearing that up). It’s not so much as Candice Patton being black and Danielle Panabaker being white. By that logic every single white woman in the show, metas included should’ve been with Barry. It’s more a case of back-story and chemistry, coz Grant and Danielle have tonnes of it, Grant and Candice- not really. But that doesn’t make you a racist if you think one black actress and one white actor don’t have chemistry. Plus Iris was/ still is Barry’s first love. We’ve all had that uber-awkward and painful teenage crushes, which is what it’s portrayed to be in the first season. And I honestly quite enjoyed Eddie and Iris’s relationship. There are many hints in the first season regarding Snowbarry- the secret looks, the karoake and what happened after it, her almost kissing him and actually kissing (even though it was Everyman).
Why I don’t pair Westallen is because CW didn’t let it develop. For two seasons they had pretty much zero romantic interest, even though it’s sort of obvious from the first season Westallen WILL happen. Then in the third third season the whole spotlight is thrust on Iris, who has not had much character development. And they practically just got together because they were together in the future and in different Earths. I’m no expert on love, but that is so not a reason to get together.
I have stopped watching the flash a long time ago, but it, and by consequence Snowbarry will always hold a very special place in my heart.
Peace out!
“I agree with a lot of your article, but what I don’t agree with is that all Snowbarry shippers are racist (I’m not saying it’s mentioned anywhere here but just clearing that up)” – So you came here to tell me that you disagree with something that I didn’t even say? And also, from your tone, you…may not have read the article in the first place?
“It’s not so much as Candice Patton being black and Danielle Panabaker being white.” – oh, it’s not? I’ve never heard that one before.
“By that logic every single white woman in the show, metas included should’ve been with Barry.” – none of them should have been with Barry. That is the point.
“It’s more a case of back-story and chemistry, coz Grant and Danielle have tonnes of it, Grant and Candice- not really.” – if you read the rest of these articles, I talk about chemistry. But since I don’t even think you read this one, I’ll let it slide. And apart from the fact that chemistry is subjective, please explain how Caitlin and Barry have more backstory than Iris and Barry. And please no nonsense about “secret looks” and “moments”.
“But that doesn’t make you a racist if you think one black actress and one white actor don’t have chemistry.” – I can tell by this sentence alone that what you know about racism couldn’t fill a thimble.
“Plus Iris was/ still is Barry’s first love. We’ve all had that uber-awkward and painful teenage crushes, which is what it’s portrayed to be in the first season.” – these sentences contradict each other. In fact, the first sentence can’t even decide what it wants to be.
“And I honestly quite enjoyed Eddie and Iris’s relationship.” – yes, very good, and I’m Shirley Bassey.
“There are many hints in the first season regarding Snowbarry- the secret looks, the karoake and what happened after it, her almost kissing him and actually kissing (even though it was Everyman).” – oh good, the secret looks. I see you’re all still reading from the same script. What happened after the karaoke? And why is it good that Caitlin basically cheated on her now-alive fiance? Because it’s either that or sexual assault.
“Why I don’t pair Westallen is because CW didn’t let it develop.” – sweet Jesus.
“For two seasons they had pretty much zero romantic interest, even though it’s sort of obvious from the first season Westallen WILL happen.” – wait, so Iris is/was Barry’s first love, but they didn’t have any backstory or development, but it’s obvious they’re going to happen? What?
“Then in the third third season the whole spotlight is thrust on Iris, who has not had much character development.” – we aren’t watching the same show, are we?
“And they practically just got together because they were together in the future and in different Earths.” – seriously, what show are you watching when you think you’re watching this one?
“I’m no expert on love, but that is so not a reason to get together.” – you’re not even an expert on the show you’re supposedly watching.
“I have stopped watching the flash a long time ago, but it, and by consequence Snowbarry will always hold a very special place in my heart.” – so you came here to say that you disagree with something that I didn’t even say, on an article you clearly haven’t read, about a show that you not only no longer watch, but clearly make things up in your own head when you didn’t like what you saw when you *did* watch it?