TADC Finale | Trans Femme Jax

i know people hate it when ppl say this but...

i think a lot of the people who didn't like the finale just didn't get it

DON'T KILL ME PLEASE-

Like, I think a lot of people went in with expectations that were mis-aligned with the story Goose was trying to tell. I think this tumblr post summed it up pretty well:

• I think if you understand TADC as a deeply personal and direct story centering on transness, emotional/self repression, the inner complexity of cruel people, ego, control, self-destructive tendencies, second chances, and what it means to live a meaningful life, all filtered through the core vision of one person, you'll find a raw expression of all those things, an experience being shared. You'll find a story that is consistent in its theme, subject matter, and quality throughout. Not something impossibly esoteric or flawlessly sophisticated, but a story that puts every piece it needs to into place. A story that completes itself, that says what it needs to and leaves a mark after it does.
  
  Conversely, if you understand TADC as a story to take every single aspect, moment, outcome, and detail totally literally rather than in tandem with the thematic signficance it communicates. Or were looking for a more lore-driven story. Or were hoping for a more rounded exploration of its world and characters, a hollistic dive into the premise it sets up rather than a story barreling towards a specific end goal/a very pointed thematic stance. You're gonna end up disappointed with what you got.
  
  And this is not a moral judgement, I don't think any expectation is at all more correct than another. I actually think my last point is probably even the most fair stance to have. Especially if you don't engage with any secondary material and just look at the show itself, since it doesn't totally establish Jax as a core focus until later in its run. Some storylines do feel very sidelined.
  
  But if you view the show for what it was meant to be rather than what it was expected to be, I personally think it was rather beautiful. Not perfect, not the pinnacle of cinema, but as a trans woman, it was meaningful to me, dearly so. I feel like the standards its being held to aren't totally reasonable. I think it's a story that deserved to be told as it is, I think it's human.

I know people are upset that their faves got side lined, but that was never the story Goose was trying to tell. This was a story about the dangers of repression- and a specifically trans story at that.

Jax's story reminds me a lot of the horror movie "I Saw the TV Glow" which depicts how repressing your queerness (specifically transness in the case of our main character) will slowly kill you.

Jax is a cautionary tale of what happens when you repress, repress, repress. It literally killed her. It killed Ribbit. It killed Kaufmo. It hurt everyone around her- Gangle, Pomni, Zooble, Ragatha, & Kinger (if Kinger wasn't already a fully actualized character who didn't gaf lol).

A lot of people hate Jax. She did terrible things and destroyed every olive branch handed to her and all attempts at helping her. She really, REALLY hurt people. But TADC is a story about the complexity of cruel people, self-destruction, and second chances in spite of it all. 

I think a lot of people simply cannot handle complex characters. People don't know how to treat characters who are both victims and perpetrators. People are so determined to put you in a box of being either completely good or evil, and if you don't fit into those clear-cut boxes, they don't know what to do with you. 

TADC has come to mean a lot to me. Jax's story has inspired me to no longer repress parts of myself- or at least try not to- even though I'm just as scared of rejection and vulnerability as her. I got a hair cut today. I'm going to try to wear the clothes I've always wanted to. I'm letting myself take up more space. I'm doing what I can to build a community irl and online despite being pushed out from the queer community as a whole as a trans masc person. I'm more compassionate.

There's plenty to criticize about the finale and series in general, but a lot of the criticism I've been seeing seem to stem from a lack of media literacy or just not understanding the story Goose was trying to tell. I also just think that this story isn't meant for everyone- even if it's gotten popular. I think this was written for the troubled queers and for people who love complex characters.