Is White actually right?

Is White actually right?

So throughout the course readings this semester, an overarching theme that keeps coming back around is that being white is better than anything else in the world. This notion is seen through the constant white washing of characters in book-to-tv adaptations, animation to live action adaptations and most importantly throughout the writings of the medieval time, such as King of Tars, where the sultan becomes White after converting to Christianity as well as the miraculous healing of the incomplete lump child, who takes after his mother and is the perfect, healthy, and whole white baby.

This set up of thinking leads you to believe that white is right and to be considered as good or worthy, you have to be white. Which, in case you were wondering, is a terrible mindset to have.

But the silver lining is that now there are examples of white being wrong…like outrageously wrong. One of my favorites takes the form of Viserys Targaryen, our beloved “true king.” I know there already are examples of this happening but somehow it is romanticized to be the right thing and somehow it makes you sympathize with said whiteness and then afterwards you feel…tainted because you were tricked into having the feels for the wrong person. Or maybe that’s just me…which is cool.

So Viserys is attempting to take back the Iron throne which was stolen from his family by the Usurper a.k.a Robert Baratheon. So he tries to buy an army by selling his younger sister, Danerys to the Khal of the Dothraki, Drogo. One, I have an issue with this because even if you some deep rooted hatred for her because she may have possibly killed your mother during her birth, doesn’t mean you sell her. But that is beside the point. The real issue is that Viserys was attempting to exploit a whole race of people just to get a crown and what is “rightfully” his. Which I will say is a valid reason for doing something but there are ways you go about it and trying to bend a whole peoples to your will and what you want is going to backfire, but fire can’t hurt the dragon, right?       

        

If Viserys would have gone about this in a different way, he probably would have lived a smidge longer than he did… but in his tragically beautiful ending, Dany steps up and takes his place and makes it better in her very white way. But can we blame her? Sadly no. The only person that was a constant in her life was big brother Viserys and his skewed view of the world, so it makes sense for her to make feeble attempts to free the slaves, the oppressed, and the women that were raped, only to keep them under her rule. She claims that they are now free people and yet she doesn’t give them the resources to properly be free. So she is subtly doing the exact same thing her brother was except she is nicer about it and makes you feel good because she is basically Moses with boobs…and everyone loved Moses except for the crazy oppressive Egyptians a.k.a. the slavers/Dothraki men…

Coming back to the question, is White actually right? I don’t think I can say. There are times when yes it is and no it isn’t. In the case of the Targaryen clan being right, you are not right…