let's talk about maia

The show does not do right by Maia generally and I’m sad I don’t see the same rallying on social media about it  that I see for other characters — though I have pulled away from fandom a lot in the last year, so it’s totally possible it’s out there and my dumb ass just missed it. But I remember a lot of fuss around Isaiah not being in promo or Luke not getting enough screen time (which was deserved fuss! not criticizing, just comparing) and I feel like I never really saw the same for her, when Maia was diminished and ignored throughout the entirety of 3A. Like, why bother hiring her as a regular and paying her that salary (since apparently money is an issue for this show now) and then cutting her out of half the episodes, or otherwise giving her nothing to do? Then when she does get stuff related to her own goddamn character history, it’s filtered through the point of view of one of the boys: Simon’s sense of outrage or betrayal, Jordan’s regret.

Now, it’s possible I’m overreacting ahead of time: Maia has not forgiven Jordan onscreen, she has stated all the very valid reasons why he hurt her, and there’s a chance (however slim) that the show will not go the route of the books by making them be “in love” again before he dies, or doesn’t die. But it does seem to me that the show is downplaying what Jordan did as abusive (in the same way that they never really addressed the fact that Camille assaulted Simon or that Isabelle was abusive to Raphael) while also foregrounding him/his perspective to align the audience’s sympathies with him instead of Maia. For example, all of the flashbacks occur from his PoV: the first time he sees Maia, his mainpain at seeing her move on, him laying vulnerable and naked on the ground before running away. Ostensibly this is to give the audience his side of the story. But it’s also the only time we actually see what happened instead of just hearing about it, so the only image that exists in the minds of viewers is heavily biased in Jordan’s favor. The audience sees that he was hurting, the audience sees that he was guilty, the audience sees that he was regretful, that he was out of control, that he was in pain. Where’s Maia?

In my opinion we never needed to see another side of this than the one Maia told Simon about back in Season 2: she had a boyfriend she loved who hurt her and because it was a life-altering kind of hurt that factored into her day-to-day, she was never able to fully heal from it. But the presentation of Maia in the flashbacks is important in figuring out how people will react to what happened; whether they will see it as abuse or a tragic accident. I find it tangentially problematic that the Maia of the flashbacks is super girly and fearful, because it feeds into this trope that women need to suffer through trauma to become Strong and also because I don’t find it consistent with her character. (Btw, I see you, fandom, making a thousand gifsets of her with long hair in frilly dresses being all Stereotypically Feminine, miss me with it.) Like, what, her assault is more tragic because it made her unable to wear ruffles anymore? What is the message here?

We also never see Jordan actually attack her, which is important too. Once again it grounds his perspective over hers: Jordan was in pain that made him lash out uncontrollably, and he was the one left curled in a naked little ball. Somehow an awful thing that happened to Maia is now an awful thing that happened to Jordan. Isn’t it noble how he has build a life for himself after almost murdering his girlfriend! The violence of what he did is removed from the situation outside of a glimpse of Maia all bloody in her little dress — again filmed from his PoV, not hers, which makes it once again seem like something he went through instead of her.

So: downplay the violence, play up the pretty people flirting, emphasize Jordan’s regret and suddenly it seems a lot more like he’s on the path to redemption, forgiveness, and a second chance with the girl he almost brutally murdered. Introducing him as Simon’s Very Charming Pal helps with that too, because it gives viewers a positive first impression upon which to build.

I feel like there is not enough attention paid to the fact that Jordan almost killed Maia. Maia did something Jordan did not like and he punished her with violence. He ripped her throat open and left her to bleed to death on the sidewalk. It doesn’t matter how sad that makes him. It’s abuse. It’s not an accident. And framing it as a result of his lycanthropy is inconsistent with the show’s own rules: Luke didn’t maul Jocelyn when he was out of control, did he? Maia didn’t maul Simon when he turned her down. She didn’t even maul Clary when she had every intention of mauling Clary. Even at their most desperate and fearful they were able to pull back.

Shadowhunters even reframes the whole thing by making Maia herself focus on the abandonment, not the attack. Running away in fear is a lot more understandable and forgivable than attempted murder — making the former the issue she has instead of the latter once again makes it easier for Jordan to be forgiven.

Then the show pulls another bullshit move by making Maia the one who forces Jordan to stay. For no inexplicable reason, Maia refuses to allow Jordan to leave Simon, even though Simon has existed just fine on his own for two seasons and has about 40 other people looking out for him at any given moment. Even though Simon himself supposedly does not want Jordan around! Then Maia abandons Simon despite making a fuss about how Baby Simon Must Have A Minder At All Times. This also visibly pushes Maia out of frame once again, allowing the audience to see Jordan attempt to do something good (tell Izzy what’s up, protect Simon’s family) and enforcing the idea that he is a Good Person Who Made A Mistake. It puts more distance between what he did to Maia and who he is now, which distances them in the audience’s minds and makes it more likely for casual viewers to accept him as redeemed.

I have had a problem with the way the show heaps a lot of hurt on its girls without allowing them the proper space to react to it. I was really angry about Isabelle’s addiction storyline not because she dealt with addiction, but because none of it ever came from her. She rarely got to talk about why she felt emotionally dependent on venom, and even when she did it was usually after a man (for example, Sebastian) told her how she felt first. It was never about the psychological stuff, which is why Izzy never talked about how she felt and why we never got to see her at meetings, working through her recovery. Instead the camera just wanted to perve on her while she moaned and tossed her hair, while trying to trick those of us watching at home into believing that gave her depth (which she already had!) and then trying to trick us into thinking it was a love story the whole time (I could write another novella about that Raphael nonsense). And in line with the gross sexualization, it was also rapey as fuck: the fact that Aldertree hooked her in the first place for unclear reasons (he wanted to drug her into…dating him??????) instead of Izzy coming to her bad decisions on her own terms (HOW WOULD A SCIENTIST NOT KNOW WHAT YIN FEN WAS). Then they repeat essentially the same thing but inexplicably in a more positive light by having Izzy once again accept an unknown drug from an unknown man (Sebastian)! Which she did by opening her mouth and sticking out her goddamn tongue. Please stop perving on Isabelle, Shadowhunters directors! Triple side note: as a woman I have received so many lessons in my life about not letting men I don’t know give me mystery substances that I just know a man wrote that fucking storyline. WHAT WOMAN WOULD DO THAT. I remember being warned about roofies in the FIFTH GRADE. But Izzy just sticks out her tongue and it’s all swell.