Disablity and media - Shadowhunter's - Alec

 

Alec presents as very closed off and suffering from what seems to be anxiety, and not comfortable in his own skin he presents as a very closed person and growing up in what is essential if you were to translate it to the real world a military organization it seems that there is an order of things and the reason he is so closed off and not comfortable in his own skin is he is not acknowledging a very core part of himself his sexuality.  

This is raised in the episode, called Raising Hell, ( season 1)  the main character needs to give up memory as a payment for a demon, to get the memory back from Clary the main character, that has been hidden along with relics that belong to the "Shadow world," Alec is a part of an organization that essentially there purpose in life is to keep the Mundine's safe from the Shadow World.  So things that people think are the stuff of legends and fairy tales. 

They are raised in what is called the institute, and these institutes are headed up by an organization called the Clave. In the show, it is alluded to that this organization has an interesting past and parallels real-life historical events. There is also a considerable separation between what the show and the books call downworlders, people or creatures that have come into the shadow world by accident or other misfortune, or long-lived creatures. 

In going back to the memory it is releveled that Alec is in love with what they call his parabatai essentially it is portrayed as a wedding vow taken to the extreme that when they are hunting demons, they are a pair of fighters and are bonded in emotions as well. 

So this can make things in the context of relationships very complex in nature. It is shown in subsequent episodes how Alec is trained to push away emotions and how this has led him to not even recognize when someone is flirting with him. 

The actor that plays Alec ( Mathew Daddario)  has a deep understanding of Alec ignoring this part of himself until he is pushed to make a decision that has become iconic in TV history and the subsequence relationship has been used as a case study in healthy relationships, regardless of the orientation of the characters. 

 As well as his mental health, we see self-harming and in an episode where they are under a spell, he tries to commit suicide as the spell brings out their worst fears, Alec was possessed by a demon and this demon killed a main character's mother. So he feels guilty for it and try's to be more accommodating to the Shadowhunter that has been hidden from the shadow world.  

I have to say that having complex disabilities and anxiety I have watched the series and interview's more times than I would like to admit, but in watching the show I seem to see more parallels that aren't in your face as it is a fantasy setting but would be confrontational if set in the real world. 

Such as Alec falls in love with a downworlders Magnus, a warlock ( who has his own issues as well that I have posted about in the past)  he develops an understanding of the downworlders and I see that the downloaders could be considered a metaphor for disability and not being accepted by there own community so there is resistance when they form there own community and start to organize and advocate for themselves. 

There is a massive growth in Alec in falling for Magnus as Magnus treats him like an equal and this gives Alec a deeper understanding of what the downworlders day to day, lives the judgment and having to hide, this has been the case in disability for a long time.  The judgment has to hide not living up to family standards and being socially isolated therefore having complex mental health issues as well as disability. 

Yet in the show runs we see that Magnus and Alec as a real couple and that Magnus encourages Alec to start taking some time for himself and start to acknowledge what is going on in his heart emotionally.