Shadowhunter Alec and Disablity parallel's

 

So I have written a lot about the character Magnus from the TV series Shadowhunters, and I am focusing on the TV character’s as I haven’t read the books in quite a long time.

But I thought it was time to focus on Alec(Shadowhunter) as he is an interesting character when you look at the relationships he has with the other people on the show.  As the settings of the show are essentially mirroring a lot of real-life issues. There has been a lot written on this and discussed both off and online.

These are issuing that young people face in what essentially is a very traditional society, as Alec is a Shadowhunter and their purpose in the world is to hunt demons, they are trained from a very young age, to do so and this is reflected in the show and the way that even the actors understand it.

As the younger Shadowhunters find relationships, Alec seems to be the odd one out and it comes out in the show that he is gay and closeted. It is revealed in the episode titled raising hell in the first series.  Where they are trying to retrieve memory’s from the main character and in the list the help of Magnus and he being an immortal being knows that he needs to let things play out in an interview the actor that plays Magnus shows that he is playing  Magnus knows that in the books Magnus knows that he could solve things with magic but needs to let things play out due, to observing the Shadowhunter’s for a long time and seeing relationships change, over time.  

 

The place that is their workplace and home is called the institute, which is shown to be glamour inside a church as they explore in the series that all the major religions’ were aware of the real threat of demons and knew of forces that protected them against them.

In this episode Magnus realizes in the process of summoning a demon that demanded the price of the beloved memory of the people they loved the most, Alec comes out with a memory of his Parabatai Jace and Magnus being bisexual himself sees the confusion shame and guilt as they fail to retrieve the memory from the demons back to Clary.  That would lead them to the relic that they are searching for. 

Yet in the ending of this scene, we see that Magnus comforts Alec and explains that being Gay is nothing to be ashamed of, yet we see Alec deny it and feel a large amount of shame about it.

This guilt and shame seem to be a driving force in Alec’s life as he doesn’t even seem to pick up when Magnus is flirting with him and pursuing him.  

I see a lot of parallels in disability the shame that you’re not like the others, people that you can’t have what you want, and feeling guilty that they can’t have what they want and normal life.

Sources used 

List of Shadowhunters episodes - Wikipedia

Chain of Thorns | The Shadowhunters' Wiki | Fandom

Harry Shum Jr., Katherine McNamara, and Isaiah Mustafa Interview with Access Hollywood - YouTube