A Person Who Stutters analysis of stuttering represented in media.
The Case of J. Majors in Loki S2 — Spoilers Ahead
Disclaimer: I, a person who stutters (PWS), is amongst the 3% of people who stutter. Similar to how not every black person is the same, neither is every PWS, but I do believe there are throughlines we can agree on and it is those that I do not see still represented well in media. This however is still my opinion and based on my experiences/those spoken with in the community.
The newest case I am going to be breaking down is Jonathan Majors.
Stutter/Stammer: A speech disorder characterized by spasmodic repetition of the initial consonant or syllable of words and frequent pauses or prolongation of sounds. — Dictionary.com
Note: Jonathan Majors is not a person who stutters
Who is Victor Timely?
Victor Timely is an alternate version of the same man Majors has played in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Timely, a black man in 1862, is a quiet, timid, introverted science maniac con man who is passionate about showcasing the potential of spacetime in a world that is not ready for such evolution and so he resorts to quick get-rich schemes to get by until he has his technological breakthrough. It is during his con act that the main characters meet him.
- Dead Space has no place in Showbiz
One of the most apparent realities that a PWS has to deal with is the amount of space we take up. We take up space by:
- Any mouth or body tics we produce
- The amount of time we take to finish a word
- The physical silence by whom we are speaking to finish said word
Stuttering takes a lot of energy and it takes a lot of time. But you can’t have some guy taking five seconds to say innnnnnevvvitable. Knowing the amount of space it takes between having a conversation with someone is enormous, even for a PWS who is relatively fluent. What would happen if every prolongation or repetition was in even one scene? It would last twice as long, and if there is anything we know about showbiz is that time is money.
Everything else, including representation, is relative.
- 1 of 2 caricatures
Timely is one of two caricatures I see in media tied to a PWS. They are either:
- #1 Timid, shy, smart, self-deprecating
- #2 Big, loud, and unintelligent
Just as I am sure there are marginalized groups who are tired of seeing themselves misrepresented in ways that have been historically sketched into our minds, so is this caricature.
I know so many PWS who are comedians, teachers, and company directors, leading the charge amongst crowds of people. We are so much more. Allow others to see that more.
If this was an actor’s choice I would like him to know that this was not the right choice.
2. No ticks
Similar to #1, Timely had no tics. Tics are an integral part of stuttering and every PWS has either used to have one/has several/created new ones.
Tics can be anywhere between eyes blinking, hand gestures, head/mouth movements, or twitches that occur while you stutter. Some can have several and others can have subtle ones.
You let me know if you saw any tics coming from this man's performance I’ll wait.
Personally, my tics are probably my biggest insecurity when it comes to my stutter. If they were subtle or just one I think I’d be a different person.
3. Always some kind of mockery
*Spoiler Ahead*
As I said, Timely is an alternate version of the same actor so towards the end of the show we now have jumped back to the same actor as a different character: Kang.
The first thing that Kang says is, “So how did you like ffffumbling old ttttimely”
You should’ve seen my eyes roll to the back of my head.
At the end of the day, no matter how intelligent or humane this man was, we’re always reduced to a mockery, a joke. Because that is all we are. And again like any other marginalized group misrepresented in media, if there is one thing you can do for us if you put us in something, its to give us a break. It is already in poor choice to not be shown accurately.
4. One act of representation they did correctly
In regards to #3, there was no discussion of Timely’s stutter. I was surprised actually we got so far into the show without a mention of his stutter. It is like they were all stutter-blind which honestly many of us love the break.
Timely became an integral part of the narrative in S2. They listened to him and were not condescending or belittling. That was a sight for sore eyes.
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Stuttering is hard, but representing other groups of people in media appropriately is harder. But to all my producers- if you don’t know, don’t do it. I do not know if this was Majors choice or the writer's vision but these moments, these performances, they stick with people like us- the good, the bad, and the ugly. I have loved Marvel since 2008 but to see the one character that I could’ve had my heart but didn’t? It left a sour taste in my mouth.
