The Umbrella Academy accurately highlights America in the 1960s

The Umbrella Academy season 2 highlights an America you may not have known existed and one that we can all learn from.

The Umbrella Academy season 2 was a resounding success. Unlike some programs, this one didn’t suffer from a sophomore slump. In the past, we’ve seen that some TV shows and movies will repeat everything they did in the previous offering thinking that it won’t be noticed, but fans always pay attention to things like this. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case here.

While keeping things fresh, The Umbrella Academy also kept the fundamentals of the show. Klaus was eccentric, Diego was constantly trying to prove that he wasn’t a failure, and Number Five remained an arrogant know-it-all.

As great as everything the creative team did was, there’s one thing that has to be highlighted. Their ability to depict America in the ’60s the way that it really was.

Black rights movement

For this writer, the first example hit the hardest. In episode one, Allison is unaware that she’s in a time period that wasn’t accepting of Black people. Her first interaction was walking into a diner for help only to be met by a guy pointing to a sign that said ‘Whites Only’. This wasn’t something anyone expected to see. However, we shouldn’t be shocked.

Recently, people with a platform have been finding ways to highlight the good and the bad about both the past and present, shining a light on unacceptable attitudes and atrocities of days-gone-by in the process. The Umbrella Academy doing this is just another example of that.

A lot of people will say that Black people need to get over the racism we face by saying it was a long time ago. That isn’t close to the truth. The Umbrella Academy points out that this was barely 60 years ago. There are people still alive that went through these atrocities. How can they forget something like this? It may be an uncomfortable reality, but it’s one that needed to be mentioned if the show was going to accurately depict the 1960s.

Then there was the sit-in. That was a powerful scene. This writer is too young to have been there for this. However, I’ve heard the stories. The brave men and women who were bold enough to show up in defiance was incredible. They were verbally and physically assaulted for fighting for their rights but remained steadfast and committed to their cause.

This scene accurately showcased a movement that should never be forgotten about. It’s an important moment in American history – one that reminds us of the work that has been done and, indeed, the work that’s still left to do. This writer applauds the creative team for adding this narrative to the season.

Moreover, they highlighted a positive that we don’t hear enough about. They put a spotlight on the role Black women played in the movement. Black women opened their shops for meetings, stood by the people when they were in need, and offered encouraging words when things seemed bleak. All of this and they still managed to stand up and physically defend their people when they had to.

In addition, it was the Black women who came up with a good portion of the plans – a fact that’s not as well-known. This writer applauds the creative team for highlighting this.

A love that couldn’t be

There was also the realism of how you were treated if you were gay. Klaus dealt with this first hand.

Klaus was doing what he could to save the life of the man he loved. Unfortunately, in those times, it wasn’t acceptable for two men to openly be in love. Despite that, Klaus was going to do whatever he could stop Dave from enlisting and dying in a pointless war. He may have succeeded if Dave’s uncle wasn’t there.

The intolerant uncle antagonized Klaus by making fun of his sexual orientation and ordered Dave to punch Klaus. Dave unfortunately felt pressured to be “manly” in front of his uncle and did so.

Hurt that he was punched by the man he loved, Klaus fell deep into a downward spiral of alcohol after being sober for three years.

Let’s also not forget Vanya and Sissy. Two women who found love in the most random of instances. Vanya literally fell into Sissy’s life out of nowhere –  she didn’t know who she was, but Sissy brought her into her home. In return, Vanya helped her with her son Harlan. In a short amount of time, they fell in love. Like Klaus, society at the time wouldn’t allow it to last.

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Sissy was married to a man that would do anything to make sure she didn’t leave. He didn’t take any responsibility for his actions and would even talk down to their son. Nobody’s taking away from him how hard he worked to provide, but he never treated his family with the respect they deserved. And that made him the worst.

When he found out what was going on, he was disgusted. There were a couple of things wrong with his disgust. First, and the most important, he shouldn’t have been disgusted: A person can’t control who they love. Second, he had no right. It’s not as if he did anything to show his family that he he loved them. He left Sissy alone with their child by lying about working and who knows what else.

Furthermore, it really hit home when he had the police stop Sissy, Vanya, and Harlan from leaving. We knew he was deplorable, but he was also a controlling monster. Sadly, this was accepted in the 1960s and, for many, it still happens in 2020 as well.

This was another reality that the show unapologetically tackled. Sissy and Vanya had to hide who they loved because the world wasn’t ready to accept them in the ’60s. It’s sad that society was at that stage back then and, by highlighting this, The Umbrella Academy writers reminded us that there’s still work to be done.

Yes, bafflingly, being queer still isn’t something that’s accepted by everyone today as members of the LGBTQ community are still persecuted, judged and attacked for being who they are. While it’s legal in all 50 states (and rightly so), that doesn’t mean that it’s accepted by everybody. Many people all around the country still keep themselves hidden out of fear.

Imagine being gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer in the 1960s; having to be something you’re not because you could be judged, assaulted or worse because of someone’s hatred. That’s what The Umbrella Academy did a great job of highlighting through Vanya and Sissy’s love. Of course, the world is a much more accepting place now than it was back then, but even though it may be “better” now, we still have a long way to go.

The Umbrella Academy made it a point to showcase how different things were in the 1960s. It wasn’t a bright and sunshiny day for everyone. For a lot of people, it was a struggle. Many people couldn’t just be who they were or love who they wanted.

We saw how ideologies and prejudices about people’s external and internal attributes could make a person spiral into depression, drugs or worse – simply because they weren’t allowed to exist freely. This writer commends the creative team of The Umbrella Academy for showing an unfortunate side of America that should never be forgotten – one we can continue to learn from today, tomorrow and for many years to come.

What do you think of the dynamic imagery that was shown throughout this season? Let us know in the comments below.