Maya Bauer

#lanternsfinale It's almost poetic that #Lanterns was arguably the greatest exercise in narrative gaslighting that I have ever watched. Over and over again, characters in the show tell us how we are supposed to assess other characters, or how we are supposed to interpret events, despite what we actually see being said and done. We're *told* Hal Jordan is a bitter, broken-down racist and sexist who is terrible and everyone hates him. Yet Hal Jordan is the only character actually working to save lives, stop the villains, and behave reasonably. Despite being targeted for death by a town filled with acolytes to a genocidal alien Manhunter, we *see* him trying to protect these same townspeople from the Manhunter's death rays, and he never takes a single life. Yet he goes to prison for crimes he never committed, while the collaborating Sheriff and townsfolk go free. We're told John Stewart is ultimately a better Green Lantern than Hal Jordan; that he is effectively the Chosen One. Yet we see him lie to people, torture people, murder people, and try to con a city out of billions in tax dollars for emergency shelters he privately admits are unnecessary and pointless. He lets the murderer of Hal Jordan go free, and helps to cover-up the existence of another genocidal Manhunter on Earth. He then claims a power over Earth that he was not granted, fueled by a Lantern tainted with fear. But, no, he is the best Green Lantern, everyone. Hal Jordan ultimately wanted to die and doesn't mind that the alien-collaborating, murderously unstable mother of a hybrid alien monster will walk free. The writers told me how and what to think. And, seriously, who am I going to believe? The narratively incompetent, race-obsessed Lanterns writing room? Or my lying eyes?