Reflection and Analysis

VLD - Why I Can't Ship Lance and Allura (10/13/20)

What I am going to write is very difficult for me to write, but I also think someone needs to say what I'm going to say. More specifically, I've not held back in my reflections regarding Lance and Allura getting together during the eighth season of Voltron: Legendary Defender. In fact, I think I'm the only one whose touched upon the fact Allura is in an emotionally abusive relationship with Lance. Sure, there is one other writer whose discussed like I have that his reply of feeling hurt because she was hurting was inappropriate and not at all supportive, and there is discussion of Allura being a trophy to Lance, but nobody really discusses the fact this is an emotionally abusive relationship.

Well, that is unless we're talking the ones who claim Lance is the one getting the short end of the stick in some shape or form in regard to the relationship with Allura.

That's actually where the R. Kelly documentary comes in.

While things between Lance and Allura ever got as toxic as things got between R. Kelly and the women he was in relationships in, there are two definite points which need to be brought up because of the R. Kelly documentary and why Lance and Allura's relationship in the final season is completely inappropriate and this inappropriateness – particularly in a children's show, definitely needs to be addressed.

I guess a good place to start is that I've been fully on board with women of color calling the ending out for sending a negative message to women of color. However, I found myself re-examining the relationship upon watching the documentary and find myself having to argue that the problem is much worse than simply sending a negative message to women of color. I'm talking about how the show doesn't just send a negative message to women of color, but reinforces a negative message to women of color, one girls of color will likely hear growing up.

Specifically, I'm talking about something the women in the documentary said about the message within the colored community regarding their role and lot in life. They're told they're lucky not to be alone, particularly if they are single mothers, but they're also expected to support their man by putting his needs and wants before their own because of the persecution they face within society. There's no getting around the fact Allura of color was told within the narrative she was lucky to have a guy and not be alone, but she was within the narrative expected to put Lance's wants and needs before her own.

This was before I encountered someone who tried arguing with me that because they were in not one but two relationships where they were emotionally abused that they could say that the above was definitely not a form of emotional abuse. I majorly struggled with how they tried quantifying the abuse Allura went through at the hands of Lance as "not abuse" based on their own experiences. Worse, I felt they – without realizing it – outright said that the emotional abuse women of color are expected to put up with, and I say color, not African American because this is a problem for other colored individuals such as Hispanics and Native American women – well, in the long run they were saying it wasn't abuse when it definitely was.

To say that Allura wasn't in an abusive relationship, to argue that – it's another way the voices of abused women of color have found their voices silenced, but I've got to extend this to Aang and Allura's relationship in AtLA as it has the same message permeating the relationship. The women is "lucky" to have a man, but his needs and wants come before her own.

However, in regard to the R. Kelly documentary, I found myself wondering if Lance would end up going that far. Keep in mind this is a character who attempted telling Allura in the very first episode that he wanted to have sex with her, only to be thankfully cut off by Shiro. This is a character who during second season talked about how he wanted a Mrs. Blue, but talked about her as if she would be the perfect housewife. Which – this is something a character can grow out of, something Lance never did – we're told he did, but are never showed he did.

And, I admit that while the comment about having sex with Allura was definitely uncalled for, wanting a partner who wants to be a housewife is okay – if that is really what the female wants. Allura, however, isn't the perfect housewife type. She is not, despite coming to pilot the Blue Lion, Mrs. Blue, but not once did he discuss what Allura wanted from the relationship. He either said what he wanted, or voiced what he assumed was what she wanted.

I'd like to think that – no, Lance wouldn't get anywhere near the point R. Kelly did given the fact he never once acted in a violent matter to Keith, but on the other hand, like R. Kelly he would definitely guilt trip the person, expecting them to let him have his way out of sympathy. After all, he's a narcissist and NOT someone with self-esteeme issues.

Which, is another stark contrast between Lance and R. Kelly and a reason why he'd hopefully not get to that level. He didn't have the self-esteem issues R. Kelly is noted as having in the video, nor did he suffer from the childhood trauma R. Kelly did. He had a good life, no forms of persecutions, though he'd like people to think him not being the center of attention is a form of persecution.

More importantly, I don't think it is fair of ANYONE to ask ANYBODY ELSE to support the pairing between Lance and Allura let alone brush off the concerns – not when it so eerily reflects real life for women of color. This makes the fact Allura who isn't colored gets a good relationship with Keith where she is treated as an equal whereas Allura who is colored gets a relationship where she is treated and acts – well, as colored women are expected to act – even more problematic. Actually, this makes the arguments of "well, she's an alien, so the color of her skin doesn't matter" even more problematic because if it didn't matter, the color of her skin, then why didn't she get treated with the respect non-colored Allura got? Why was she treated with the disrespect we see women of color get in relation to their relationships.

So no, don't ask me to support Lance and Allura.

I guess the one positive I can end this on is I still love DotU Lance who is nothing like this Lance, but then – he put Allura's wants and needs first which meant letting her get with Keith, but he also actually treated Keith like a friend, something this Lance never did. One could further argue that Lance from VLD was majorly OoC given the differences between him and his original canon counterpart, which actually allows room for writing Lance nicer, but – if he's in character that still means no Lance Allura because DotU Lance would put them first.