The toxic reaction to From’s newest story highlights the grace men get that women don’t
From hooks you with its mysterious town and nightmare creatures, but its real brilliance lies in its characters. Recently, fan reactions have exposed some frustrating biases, especially in how people judge male and female characters. It’s a revealing look at grace, empathy, and double standards in media storytelling.
Look at Fatima and Jade, two characters trapped in this nightmare. Both bring value in different ways, yet the fandom responds to them completely differently. Fatima is resourceful, loyal, and essential, offering practical help and moral support. From day one, she’s welcoming and supportive, building relationships and earning the community’s admiration over her year in the town. Jade on the other hand, literally speeds into town bringing absolute chaos. People in town only stomach him because they are stuck doing so.
Grace for Jade, Scorn for Fatima
Things take a dark turn for Fatima when she ends up pregnant, something she had been told was impossible for her. She starts experiencing extreme symptoms. She’s losing teeth, vomiting many times a day, and craving/eating rotten food. Then naturally starts spiraling with the possibility that she’s either turning into one of those monsters or, worse, carrying one. It’s chilling! But, instead of empathizing with her or understanding her trauma, a lot of fans are quick to judge her for “overreacting” or “making things about herself.” Can you imagine?
Then there’s Jade. This man crashes into the town high on drugs. He and his friend run a family off the road, causing a child a severe injury. From that point on, he’s the absolute worst. He’s rude to kids and people with mental health issues, he insults almost everyone and walks into people’s homes like he owns the place. Think of him as a guy who’d probably enjoy a podcast with Andrew Tate. There’s no debating, unlike Tate, that Jade is intelligent. But he’s also insufferable, yet fans are obsessed with him. I mean, he’s got cute TikTok edits!
Meanwhile, Fatima’s going through what’s basically a living nightmare, and people can’t give her an ounce of the grace they’re dishing out to Jade. This difference in how we view these two characters reveals a frustrating double standard. Jade is chaotic, self-absorbed, and unhinged. People love him because he’s witty, he pops off at characters that occasionally deserve it, and he showed glimmers of humanity twice.
But for Fatima? She’s navigating her own trauma, and it’s somehow still not “acceptable” to some fans. Fatima’s unraveling from a horrifying pregnancy, something unimaginable, yet her reaction is just “egotistical and insufferable” for some viewers. I have yet to see any arguments based on what happened with Tillie. It’s all surrounding her not being as “calm” as she was in previous seasons.
How From Reflects Gender Inequality
Many have voiced, that Jade’s intelligence allows him room for these actions. Yet from my point of view, I can’t even begin to agree. Is everyone still stuck in town? Since that answer is a resounding, YES, then it’s clear his intelligence isn’t enough. He must work with others to obtain the information he needs. Only with many working together will we get answers.
This clearly shows how society holds men and women to vastly different standards. Women, like Fatima, must endure unimaginable horror and trauma while staying composed, resilient, and quietly strong. Meanwhile, men, like Jade, act rudely, selfishly, or harmfully and still receive grace and understanding. Fatima struggles naturally, because anyone would break under her circumstances, yet fans dismiss her or question her reactions. In contrast, Jade flaunts his flaws without consequence, rarely facing accountability for his actions, and even earning praise for traits that would condemn a female character.
From pushes its characters to their limits, revealing their complexities and some sparking genuinely fulfilling, insightful conversations. This double standard goes beyond fandom culture, reflecting broader societal biases in how we treat men and women. Society expects women like Fatima to become perfect survivors, handling everything with resilience and staying silent about their struggles. Meanwhile, men like Jade behave abrasively or offensively and still earn praise for their “depth” and “complexity.” From maybe considered a horror, but in this way, it’s a reflection of our real-world biases. Fatima and Jade aren’t just characters in a show, they’re lenses into our assumptions about who gets sympathy and who’s labeled “insufferable.” It’s time we start giving women the grace they deserve, even in fictional worlds overrun with monsters.
This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.
