I want a reading thread now. Does one exist? I'm gonna make one.
OK, so the short answer is:
...still long.
NON-SPECIFIC SPOILERS BELOW
I feel like the show depicted violence toward lgbtq people in a way that was, in itself, a violence. Watching it felt traumatic. I kept thinking, "who is this for? Why are the makers of the show making these choices?" I understand that violence is a part of lgbtq history. Like, REALLY, I do. However, when you have it in an entertainment forum, there are ways to deal with the violence that show respect and sorrow for the things in the past and there are ways that dramatize and sorta...re-traumatize? Perpetuate the trauma? Pass it on to a new generation?
There was a scene of happiness. With the music and the drawn-out anxiety. And the assurance that something was about to go horribly wrong. And I felt like ... like I was being made to witness violence against my community and that the witnessing itself *WAS* a violence, you know?
The scene in question screams, "you aren't safe. you aren't wanted in public spaces." It is juxtaposed with a private party involving queer people of color, ratcheting up awareness that queer people and poc people aren't safe and that they dare not seek comfort outside extremely private spaces. There's this sense of 'if you can do it where no one knows, you're ok, but you dared go out somewhere together, so you kinda brought it on yourself.' One of the main characters accuses another in this way: "we shouldn't have even been there." The thing is, it's not historically inaccurate, but the way it is dramatized, and the way the anxiety is ratcheted up through cinematography, music, juxtaposition, and the lingering suggestiveness of the shots (police brutalizing people in positions clearly meant to elicit thoughts of [a particular type of] violence), it just really rubbed me the wrong way.
When I watched episode 6, I thought to myself, "no way was this written by a queer person" when, in fact, it was. That hurts me a little to conceive of, honestly, but I think the fact that it was a male (queer) writer might have something to do with it.
I think I've probably skirted the line of what is OK to write about on the forums, and I don't want to get in trouble. I'l probably finish the show at some point... but I was honestly sick to my stomach after episode 6, and I needed a break and a comfort show.