Surviving Covid With The Umbrella Academy
Why good storytelling is the greatest escape and flawed characters are feminist
(Disclaimer: I first wrote this in August 2022 when I was recovering from Covid and finished it in March 2023. I do not have Covid right now!)
That’s right, it finally happened. The dreaded illness that each and every one of us can expect to catch at least once in this lifetime. Thankfully, it was a mild version and I started recuperating within a week.
How did I get through the week of bedrest and strange foot and ankle ache? By staying in bed, shutting my brain off, and catching up on Season 3 of The Umbrella Academy.
Now, I have been a fan of this show since Season 1 came out on Netflix. So I thought I knew what I was getting into with this ragtag group of superheroes / adopted siblings. But nothing could have prepared for the fever dream dance of Footloose in the very first episode of Season 3. And nothing can compare to watching that for the first time while also being delirious with fever.
With Great Superpowers Come Greater Flaws
I’m not a huge fan of superhero stories. But the ones that do appeal to me have flawed heroes who fight inner battles along with external ones. Sure, Superman has his Kryptonite. But his nature, personality, and morality are perfect. And perfection… is boring. Why do we have so many Batman remakes? We’re all suckers for the exploration of darker instincts, cool gadgets, and daddy/ mommy issues!
What makes superheroes interesting is their inherent and inevitable humanness.
Captain America is driven by his need for perfection. Hulk by his anger issues. Iron Man by his narcissism, intelligence, and once again, his daddy issues. Jessica Jones is fighting her trauma and an abusive ex/villain. Whether they live on Earth or not, are homo sapiens or not, they are for all intents and purposes, human. And they are driven by powerful (and often negative) human emotions—revenge, fear, anger, and my favourite, confusion.
But what I absolutely love is when characters with superpowers don’t just have nuance, they have outright flaws that lead to miscommunication, inaction, and chaos.
Where The Siblings Go, Chaos Follows
The Umbrella Academy follows 7 siblings with special powers who’re on a mission to save the world… if they can only get out of their own way.
Luther is loyal and thinks he’s the patriarch of the family.
Diego is rebellious and cannot stand Luther.
Claire’s power gets her everything she wants.
Klaus is a chaotic disaster queer.
No. 5 has lived a long life as an assassin and returned to the body of a child.
Ben… is a ghost (and not in this picture).
Victor (represented here as Vanya) has been manipulated into thinking they don’t have any powers when they’re the most powerful.
Sometimes, the chaos stems from their powers. Sometimes, from deep-seated childhood trauma. Their issues and personalities aren’t just quirks to set them apart from each other but often leave them in a state of inaction and paralysis. And they never have a common goal in mind, focusing instead on their own happiness and desires.
Sometimes, the worst thing you can do for the world is to save it.
Every attempt the super siblings make to save the world leads to catastrophic outcomes. E.g. they literally make the universe implode due to the grandfather paradox in Season 3. But that just makes them more endearing! And leads to a dramatic plot filled with unpredictable twists and turns.
The current superheroes are cool, shiny, and a little too perfect.
While the original Marvel and DC creators developed well-rounded and flawed characters, these nuances are slowly being lost in the cool gadgets and fancy VFX. Is Spiderman the story of a school kid coming to terms with his uncle’s death, standing up to bullies, and bearing the responsibility of saving the world? Or is it a story about a kid with cool gadgets who worships the Avengers and wants to tag along with them? You decide.
The Feminisms Of The Umbrella Academy
If you look up feminist critiques of The Umbrella Academy, you’ll find a spectrum ranging from ‘This show is subversive and feminist’ to ‘This is an anti-feminist trash pile featuring incest’. I lean towards the first. I like the show. I like how each character is fleshed out in their complexity and actively tries to overcome their dysfunctions and patriarchal beliefs.
As the characters go back in time, they are forced to face the realities of history: In Season 1, Klaus accidentally jumps back in time to the Vietnam War, falls in love with a fellow soldier, and loses him tragically. Through him, we feel the grief of trying to hide queer love in a time and location that does not make space for it.
Some people criticize this as the show using old tropes or repeating the narrative of marginalized people not having happy stories. I don’t agree.
By forcing the characters into situations that we have only read about in history books, the show makes the audience truly experience what it would be like to live in constant danger and fear.
In Season 2, as the siblings land in the 1960s, Claire is in a precarious position as a Black woman with no voice (literally and metaphorically) trying to fight racial segregation. Elliot falls in love with a farmer’s wife and again faces the danger and wrath of a hidden queer relationship. As the siblings navigate these situations, we as the audience see not only their privilege in today’s society but our own.
But what I find especially feminist about The Umbrella Academy are the flawed characters themselves.
Why Flaws Are Feminist
There’s an inherent problem in typecasting marginalized characters by their ‘diverse identity’ — the gay best friend, the loud Black woman, the overbearing Brown or Jewish mother. But another insidious trend is the creation of these ‘perfect’ and ‘pure’ characters who can do no wrong. In reality, people don’t fit into this category of ‘good’.
Flaws remind us that you don’t need to be perfect to be accepted and respected for what you are — whether that’s a powerful being with the ability to kill humans on sight or someone from a marginalized community.
Here’s a tweet I came across recently that offers solid advice to writers, creators and storytellers.
A great example of this is the podcast Bad Gays, which covers evil and complicated queers in history and asks ‘Why do we only want to remember the good ones?’ It subverts the idea that LGBTQ people should be accepted and respected because they are nice and wonderful in every way, leaving no space for plurality or just plain mediocrity.
And as a perfectionist who sets ridiculously high standards for myself, I try to follow the wise words of Roxane Gay in her iconic essay, Bad Feminist.
“I am failing as a woman. I am failing as a feminist. To freely accept the feminist label would not be fair to good feminists. If I am, indeed, a feminist, I am a rather bad one.
…I also want to be myself. Bad feminism seems like the only way I can both embrace myself as a feminist and be myself.”
Conclusion?
When sick, turn your brain off.
Be flawed. Maybe gay. Do crime.
Write characters with flaws! Especially women.
Ultimately, we are all trying to be better versions of ourselves, including the Umbrella siblings, and that’s all that matters. Accept your flaws. But don't use them as an excuse not to grow.
OTHER STUFF
The Umbrella Academy has one of the best soundtracks of any show ever! Find it here:
Fun Fact! The show is an adaptation of a comic series of the same name. If you already knew that, good for you! I was pleasantly surprised. Find the books here.
If you’re looking for flawed feminist stuff, The Guilty Feminist is a great podcast on the insecurities of 21st-century feminists.
Good Omens (the book and the series) is another great example of a story with flawed protagonists who have the power to save the world. If only they could figure out how.
Some terrifying but much-needed resources on long covid: it affects women more + it affects menstrual health.