It’s in the accent. It’s ALL in the accent.

Meta
Title:	It’s in the accent. It’s ALL in the accent.
Creator:	withercrown
Date(s):	April 25, 2022
Medium:	Online
Fandom:	Our Flag Means Death
Topic:	Izzy Hands and class
External Links:	Tumblr post; archive link
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It’s in the accent. It’s ALL in the accent. is a meta essay by withercrown that explores class in realtion to the Our Flag Means Death character Izzy Hands and his relationship to Blackbeard (Edward Teach)

[withercrown]
It’s in the accent. It’s ALL in the accent.

Izzy Hands does not represent homophobia. [...] His accent is aggressively, unabashedly working class. [...] there is more emphasis placed on the fact that his accent is regional, not received. The influences appear to be primarily Northern.

[...]

The general perception in the North is that Southerners perceive Northerners with contempt and loathing, deliberately deride and overlook the North, and when they do take an interest it is for the explicit purpose of exploitation. Northern suffering is worth less than Southern inconvenience. Even today, a Northern accent is often synonymized with a lack of education, empathy, or intelligence, or used as the butt of a joke.

[...]

Izzy, a literal pirate with a strong working class accent, has every cultural reason to loathe the posh, aristocratic, well-educated Stede and Lucius (Lucius can read and has a London accent). Femininity is not the issue here; foppish upper-class affectations are. The authority. The entitlement.

[...]

I cannot stress enough that all of Izzy’s interactions with Stede are historically British class-based grievances.

So before you twist Izzy into some fake effigy of homophobia or self-hating gay or whatever the fuck else, try to look at it from this perspective:

[...]

If you take this read of his character, he ceases entirely to be just some shallow and two-dimensional villain.

[...]

Izzy Hands adds so much to the story, and it shows just how much thought and care went into creating each and every important character in this series - even the villain.

[freakweasel]
Generally great post, as a politically active British person with family in both the North and South this was my first thought when he showed up - but then also I think the self-hating gay angle can’t be ignored. And how those two identities intersect. Layers, man…….. I love a good tragic figure and Con O’Neill brings so much incredible pathos to an already fantastic character. I’m lowkey obsessed.

[three--rings]
I mean, yes, this obviously is there, and Izzy Hands is a fantastically complex and well-rounded character for an antagonist.

But also there’s the “Ooo Ooo Daddy” scene in which he mocks two queer men by flopping his wrists about and simpering.

So, like, let’s not pretend there’s not ALSO homophobia and toxic masculinity happening. The fact that historically queerness and effeminacy was ASSOCIATED with the upper class just complicates matters.

[chthonicathenean]
It gives another layer of nuance to the “soft bad sharp good” thing. It’s not JUST homophobia, it’s that to be a pirate is to fight against everything that is gentle and nice. It’s toxic masculinity because there are acceptable ways to be a man, and it involves rejecting pleasantries and focusing on survival. He gets Calico Jack to get Blackbeard away from the Revenge even though he knows “they had their dalliances”, partly because it’s within the acceptable forms of manly expression. They get urges at sea and there’s only other men around, so occasionally they’ll fuck it out, no big deal. There are absolutely gay men right now who hate the flamboyant sissy type because they give them a bad image.

It’s also important that he’s essentially a vintage queer coded villain all about subtext, in a world where that isn’t relevant anymore. He hates that people are being open and joyful about their homosexuality. The reason Izzy is a compelling character is because there are so many layers to his motivations and that they’re all connected. It’s so much deeper than being a homophobic asshole (whether in denial or closeted or no), though those elements are worked in!