Bloodchild Assesment

1. What is your reaction to the text you just read?
- I'm not sure how to describe how I feel about it. It was definitively intriguing, and offered a point of view I had never thought of before. So in that respect, I liked it a lot. I'm still unnerved by the premise though. It was interesting to learn about what was actually happening in this society slowly as you read, especially since our first introduction to T'Gatoi was that of a caretaker, having almost a motherly, familial bond with the main character. That perception of T'Gatoi changed as we found out more about this unifying "birth" process between the two species, and how in a way the humans can be seen as cattle or simply "vessels" to carry out the young of these aliens.

2. What connections did you make with the story? Discuss the elements of the story with which you were able to connect.
- I personally connected to that feeling of trusting a caretaker at the beginning. But, I definitively feel like there is a lot at play here. Viewing the relationships and roles between people in your life in different angles is one of the things. What started as a caretaker, towards the end became basically a partner who you would carry offspring for. The text also offers a view on how we treat animals in captivity and use them to continue our existence and survival. Here, the humans are the animals; and although the characters have convinced themselves that their treatment is no longer as barbaric as how they used to treat the humans, no one in the text really has a choice. That is the way things are, and the main character can't run away from it during his life. This brings the moral ambiguity to light when comparing it to how we use animals in a similar way today.

3. What changes would you make to adopt this story into another medium? What medium would you use? What changes would you make?
- If I were to adopt this story into another medium, be it a movie or a comic book, one of the most important things I'd like to keep is the set up of T'Gatoi interacting with the family at the beginning should be as inviting and harmless as possible. I want to keep it that way so that the contrast of the reveal towards the end is still as strong. To keep that contrast, I wouldn't want to put off viewers right off the bat with T'Gatoi's intimidating appearance, so I would cast her as still-alien but more aesthetically pleasing to viewers so that they "trust" her more, much like the main character does. The scene should feel more familiar and pleasant, with bizarre, slightly off-putting elements in the background.