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A review by zees_reading
The Sandman Vol. 5: A Game of You by Neil Gaiman
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I liked the story - the plot - of this volume. It was interesting, seeing more of Barbie and her life and her dreams that we were introduced to in an earlier issue. The artwork was interesting.
But this book was absolutely awful to read. I understand that this book would have seemed very progressive to a cishet audience (and maybe even a queer audience given how little representation there was) at the time this was released. But having to tread through the incessant transphobia, transmisogyny, and homophobia was painful. And I get that the idea might have been to show the struggles of a trans woman coming up against transphobia and stereotypes and fighting back against it all to be who she is without apology. And we do get those moments when the transphobia is challenged: Wanda corrects people who misgender or deadname her, she explains concepts to friends who don’t understand something, questions people’s preconceived notions about her, we have her friends (Barbie specifically towards the end) refusing to misgender Wanda to an unaccepting family, and we get Death affirming Wanda’s identity.
Yes. We’re presented with a cisheteronormative point of view (something the assumed audience participates in) and then shows the characters challenging that point of view.
But this is still a trans woman’s story being written by a cisgender man. And it shows.
Wanda’s story in this book is filled with nothing but transphobic tropes. On every page she is misgendered and/or deadnamed by friends, strangers, gods, and dead men. She corrects them and is essentially ignored. And in the end of the story is killed for no other reason than to further the plot of the main character.
Its painful and exhausting to read. It doesn’t bring in the nuance that this discussion would need in order for the story to feel anything more than harmful.
I was so excited to see a trans woman as a main character/primary side character. But how the story was handled just ruined it.
Also…the handling of the lesbian couple felt really weird and infantilizing. It just didn’t sit well with me.
This is definitely not a favorite in the series.
But this book was absolutely awful to read. I understand that this book would have seemed very progressive to a cishet audience (and maybe even a queer audience given how little representation there was) at the time this was released. But having to tread through the incessant transphobia, transmisogyny, and homophobia was painful. And I get that the idea might have been to show the struggles of a trans woman coming up against transphobia and stereotypes and fighting back against it all to be who she is without apology. And we do get those moments when the transphobia is challenged: Wanda corrects people who misgender or deadname her, she explains concepts to friends who don’t understand something, questions people’s preconceived notions about her, we have her friends (Barbie specifically towards the end) refusing to misgender Wanda to an unaccepting family, and we get Death affirming Wanda’s identity.
Yes. We’re presented with a cisheteronormative point of view (something the assumed audience participates in) and then shows the characters challenging that point of view.
But this is still a trans woman’s story being written by a cisgender man. And it shows.
Wanda’s story in this book is filled with nothing but transphobic tropes. On every page she is misgendered and/or deadnamed by friends, strangers, gods, and dead men. She corrects them and is essentially ignored. And in the end of the story is killed for no other reason than to further the plot of the main character.
Its painful and exhausting to read. It doesn’t bring in the nuance that this discussion would need in order for the story to feel anything more than harmful.
I was so excited to see a trans woman as a main character/primary side character. But how the story was handled just ruined it.
Also…the handling of the lesbian couple felt really weird and infantilizing. It just didn’t sit well with me.
This is definitely not a favorite in the series.