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Netflix's Ginny and Georgia shows mixed heritage experiences on the screen

I see both worlds so clearly,

and I skip and jump and dance

and fall between, never seen.

I belong in the spaces between.

Check all that may apply.

- Ginny and Georgia S1 E8: Check one, check other



Ginny and Georgia is a Netflix series that focuses on the two main characters, 15 year old Black mixed-heritage daughter Ginny, and her white southern mother, Georgia. It follows the story of the two with their son/brother, Austin, as they move to a predominantly white rich neighborhood to start a new life. 

There are many themes within this show, such as socioeconomic status, romance, coming of age, friendship, sexism, sexuality, revenge, mystery and more, but the theme I want to discuss in this blog is how they represent racial identity. 

Ginny and her parents 

As mentioned, Ginny's mother, Georgia, is a blond, beautiful, white southern woman, who uses her charm and sexuality to survive through the harsh life she has been handed. Her father, Zion, is a Black man who met Georgia when she was young, having Ginny at the age of 15. 

We do not meet present-day Zion until episode 7, but he is discussed a lot up until this point. Ginny constantly tells Georgia that she is nothing like her, mostly referring to her sexuality and looks, but I believe also to her racial identity. This is common amongst many mixed-heritage individuals, who find it hard to relate to their parents at a fundamental level as their racial background is not shared with either parent. 

When we meet Zion, Ginny is writing an essay on what 'home' is to her. She says the fictional town Wellsbury (the town she lives in) is her home, as after years of moving around, she finally feels comfortable with friends and a social life. Zion finds a lack of heart in her essay, so takes her to a poetry slam in Boston. This inspires Ginny to write an essay-poem hybrid which highlights how her identity cannot fit into a box no matter how much society tries, entitled "Check one, check other" (also the name of the episode). 

Her parents show that she does not share the racial identity of either of them, and needs to learn to accept that her heritage may not be the same, but needs to learn to accept both sides of herself, both racially and accept her parents. 

Check one, check other

The poem Ginny writes is very powerful, representing Ginny's relationship with her mixed identity, themed around the idea that those of mixed identity usually have to check the box labelled 'other' for racial identity, making it sound like mixed-heritage is not a real experience. The script can be found here if you would like to read it, but I recommend watching it.

In the first line "Growing up, I thought people were born with their heads cocked, because that's how they've always looked at me" shows how the ambiguity of mixed heritage appearances can confuse people, and how the lack of visual stereotypes makes it hard for people to understand racial identities. 

I got this many times myself

When I used to work in a Chinese restaurant in my hometown, a group of boys found my racial identity of such interest they started making bets to determine what racial heritage I had. No one won. All that was left was me feeling uncomfortable, unsafe, gazed upon like an object for their entertainment. 

Lines such as "which part of me belongs today?" and "they don't furrow between the layers like I do" shows the complexity of race and its intersections with a sense of place and space. To feel like one possesses two identities, switching between one or the other for survival.

"I belong in the spaces inbetween" 

Oppression Olympics: Ginny and Hunter relationship 

The scene I am entitling 'oppression Olympics' is one I have never seen on TV before, and I will explain why. 

But first, context. 

Ginny and Hunter have just finished reading their essays/poems, and Hunter won the competition because the teacher called Ginny's poem too 'unconventional' (and we all know what that really means). Ginny is complaining to Hunter that the teacher was being racist and she should have won, and Hunter argues that she needs to stop causing arguments in the class if she wants him to treat her better. Thus starts, the oppression Olympics. 

Hunter says he just likes to keep his head down in class and do as he is told, whereas Ginny exclaims she has a voice and wants to use it. She then tells Hunter that be can just be himself because he is half Taiwanese, which makes him different to her because its "not in the same way I'm not fully white". Ginny argues that Asian's get stereotypes related to their exceptional knowledge, whereas Black women are labelled "stupid, lazy, angry". Hunter argues back saying she does not know what its like being the race he is, stating he has to serve in the military at age 19, and that when he went to Taiwan he felt like an outsider that didn't belong. Eventually they both spew racial stereotypes at each other, Hunter saying "how Black are you then" and Ginny saying "you're barely even Asian". I am summarizing a lot here but I wanted to talk about this narrative, and why doing it this way is so interesting. 

First of all, there are no white people in this scene. It centres and focuses on the experiences of the two mixed heritage characters, which does not usually happen. In an earlier episode, we see the pair talking about their shared experiences about being mixed heritage, which juxtaposes nicely with this scene. I'm glad they showed both to represent the complexities of a mixed heritage identity - some experiences are relatable, others are hard to understand. 

The argument was done well because it showed two approaches: one strategic (Hunter) and one emotional (Ginny). After Ginny expresses her stereotypes towards Hunter, you can tell it was in an emotional way, and I think this is because because of a lack of a Black role model in her life, she has not had time to understand both her own racial background and others. Hunter seems to understand it more, as he expresses the term "oppression Olympics, lets go" before speaking. When Ginny responds with "excuse me" he says "what, literally what?" to show her you just did the same thing to me, so why it is an issue when I do it to you (similar to what Mahtani in 'tricking the boarder guards: performing race' says some mixed heritage people do to disrupt understandings of race). 

Each mixed identity is so different, its impossible to compare them, and whenever we try, it could end up something a little like this. 

Summary

Ginny and Georgia is just a good show to watch in general, the characters are good, we have a good story arc, but I mostly enjoyed it because it truly focused on and centered the experiences of mixed heritage teenagers. Life is already complicated at the age of 15, let alone also having to navigate a racial identity that even society doesn't understand. 

It was cathartic to see a mixed woman express how she does not fit into boxes, how she moves between the lines set for her, and how she belongs to both worlds and sees them both clearly. It's about acceptance of a whole self, rather than trying to separate identities based on racial heritage. 

I belong in the spaces inbetween 

Check all that may apply. 

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