Goodbye, Ophelia— Visual

 Savor Daniels | Goodbye Ophelia, an adaptation of Friedrich Wilhelm Theodor Heyser’s Ophelia c. 1900, is a digital

piece depicting Heyser’s original scene with an added sinister onlooker spectating the troubled woman.

Goodbye, Ophelia—

In this digitally drawn portrait, there lies a woman in the foreground amongst swampy water.

This woman is a representation of the titular black female character left to drown by the waist

side in the media; behind her in the shadows, there stands a spectator watching on as the woman

sinks disappearing beneath the surface of the water. The woman’s gaze is trained on the perceiver

of the piece, making the viewer just as guilty as the spectator behind her. Her eyes are dead, not

pleading for help, just watching the consumer as the consumer watches her.

I often feel like this interpretation of Ophelia in many ways. 1Growing up, I rarely saw characters

like me be considered actual love interests.These characters were often tossed aside as training

wheels for the main love interest to enter the picture; it’s tragic.2 This situation wouldn’t bother

me so much if it weren’t something I’ve seen and experienced in real life. Black *afab people are

often an after thought, pushed to the societal back burner because they are “not desirable” or

“practice”for “true” relationships. 3This often happens when an afab person is in a relationship

with someone of the opposite race, whether that relationship be romantic or otherwise. I’ve heard

it all, and by it all, I mean these specific talking points:

- Black afab people are needier than “average women”

- “I couldn’t possibly date a black woman they’re too crazy”

- “Why would anyone want to date a black woman?”

This piece embodies the struggle to be seen and recognized—if not just heard in general. The sad

part is when people have their minds set on something so horrible they tend to take it to heart,

and there’s no talking them out of it. The loud minority of people have been just that, loud.

However, it is also a systemic issue, with the belittling of black afab people historically, as well

3 From Servant to Sidekick: The ‘Black Friend,’ Then and Now.” Literary Hub, 8 June 2023,

lithub.com/from-servant-to-sidekick-the-black-friend-then-and-now.

2 Tronn. “The ‘Undateable’ BIPOC Co-Star.” YouTube, 8 July 2024,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdHMAzVmTA0.

1 The DevonKate Show. “Disposable Black Girlfriend.” YouTube, 13 Oct. 2025,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-CNucKGKPE

as other POC groups. Something that often comes to mind is the 4Puerto Rican Birth Control

Trials. In the early fifties, the need for a contraceptive was booming, so tests began on Puerto

Rican women. Medical malpractice is nothing new for afab POCs. 5Centuries of forced

sterilization and being the proverbial leftovers of womanhood have led to our media portraying

black afab bodies as disposable. In connection to our past three units this is expanding upon the

discussion of afab people’s second rate roles in society. I knew a good bit about some of the men

we discussed in class, but nearly nothing about the women brought up in our later units even if

said women impacted my personal life and experiences by their existence.

Women are a historically overlooked aspect of our world, no matter how influential they are in

life or in death, it never seems to be enough to get the recognition they deserve.

*Afab - Assigned female at birth

5 “Sterilization of Native American Women.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 20 Oct. 2025,

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterilization_of_Native_American_women.

Murphy, Michael. “The Troubling Past of Forced Sterilization of Black Women and Girls in

Mississippi and the South.” Mississippi Free Press, 12 June 2024,

www.mississippifreepress.org/the-troubling-past-of-forced-sterilization-of-black-women-and-gir

ls-in-mississippi-and-the-south/.

4 “The Puerto Rico Pill Trials.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service,

www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/pill-puerto-rico-pill-trials/. Accessed 17 Nov.