Outlander Season 4, Episode 2 had a major White Savior problem
The White Savior moment on Outlander Season 4, Episode 2 remains a problem
Outlander isn’t perfect. That goes for both the books and the show. When it comes to the series, there’s a huge problem with Outlander Season 4, Episode 2.
The episode, titled “Do No Harm,” attempts to show that not all white people are racist. It attempts to show that not all white people agree with the treatment of the slaves. Not all even agree with slavery itself. However, it goes about everything the wrong way.
Instead of getting a story about the slaves at Jocasta’s plantation, we focus mostly on Claire’s view of slavery. Yes, she has some strong opinions. We can all agree that if we went back in time, we’d have a huge problem with the way Black people were treated. However, one person—especially a woman—can’t do much to change the views of everyone in the area.
Claire did far more harm than good with her attempts to save the slave from his eventual death. She put so many people at risk with her White Savior moment. And it is a huge problem that the show has not yet put right.
It’s not Claire’s place to do anything
Claire uses her oath of “do no harm” to justify her actions. She hates slavery and doesn’t agree with the law of the land. That means taking action into her own hands, putting so many people at risk.
It’s Ulysses who has to point out that what she’s doing is harmful. What she’s doing risks so many other lives.
It’s natural for her to want to help. I could understand if she spoke about wanting to do something but listened when others said that it would be a dangerous idea. I’d have actually appreciated more time on the slaves themselves, a bigger focus on this part of history with the Black actors getting more of the limelight.
Instead, we see all this through the eyes of white characters. As white people, we can’t empathize with Black people. Claire can’t empathize with the slaves. We needed this story told from those who could empathize with the slave who was going to be killed for his actions. We needed the story from those who would have been hurt if Claire didn’t accept that what she was doing was wrong.
This is one of those cases where the book handles the topic better, but it’s still not perfect. This all comes down to the viewpoint of the story. We see it from Claire’s point of view, which continues to put the limitations on the stories that really do need to be told.
Maybe the writers were trying to show that Claire couldn’t do anything. But most of us know that if we head to the 18th century, we’re not going to change what happened. Not something on this scale. It wasn’t needed, and just like the storyline, I do believe it does more harm than good to the overall cause even today.
Outlander needs to think before dramatizing
Something the Outlander writers (and everyone up from that position) needs to do is really think about the story they’re writing. What message does it send?
Had the right people been in the writer’s room, I have a feeling this story would have been vastly different. With the right people, the White Savior moment wouldn’t have been part of it.
However, the show still has a problem when handling some topics and storylines. It still has a problem with giving us important Black and Indigenous storylines from the viewpoint of the white main characters. Sure, the white characters are the leads, but that doesn’t mean others don’t get the light shone on them now and again.
I will admit that I learned a lot during the episode about the time period. The biggest takeaways for me, though, came from Ulysses.
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