Lovecraft Country Showrunner 'Failed' Indigenous Two-Spirit Character

The showrunner of Lovecraft Country has regrets about the HBO Max's show's portrayal of an Indigenous two-spirit character.

In a recent Q&A with fans on Twitter, Misha Green addressed the controversial episode, "A History of Violence," in which the character Yahima (Monique Candalaria) is murdered by one of the show's protagonists, Montrose (Michael K. Williams), after escaping a cursed tomb in a natural history museum.

Fans of Lovecraft Country know that the show has been nothing but ambitious in defying genres and their portrayals of historically marginalized characters; its first season has dealt with time travel, the murder of Emmett Till, racist police officers who transform into burrowing monsters, and other supernatural elements.

But in the case of Yahima, who endured centuries of magical imprisonment by white supremacist cult leader Titus Braithwhite only to be killed by another person of color, Green said she missed the mark. She addressed the topic after Twitter user @YungAllyce asked, "why y'all chose to portray Yahima the way y'all did."

Green replied, "I wanted to show the uncomfortable truth that oppressed folks can also be oppressors. But I didn't examine or unpack the moment/portrayal of Yahima as thoroughly as I should have. It's a story point worth making, but I failed in the way I chose to make it."

This is not the first time Lovecraft Country has addressed oppression by the oppressed; an episode showed the backstory of its hero, Atticus (Jonathan Majors), who committed horrific acts of violence during the Korean War.

The Q&A, it's worth noting, occurred Monday, which was Indigenous Peoples' Day.

While some on social media appreciated Green's acknowledgment, there was still disbelief that the storyline made it to television on a major streaming platform, considering how many eyes had to review it.

Lovecraft Country concludes Sunday on HBO Max.