This may be an unpopular opinion but I truly believe there is a difference between adding diversity for publicity and adding diversity to actually show off different cultures.
Like, the recent Snow White live action movie, (which I am using as a bases on this because it is what sparked my wish to write about this) seems to be definitely trying to diverse by having a latina actor for the sake of publicity and not for actual diversity, which I really don't like, BUT don't get me wrong, I love diversity, I love learning about other cultures and getting to learn about people who are different from myself, but when it's just there to look good for the company and to look inclusive, really defeats the whole point of why adding diversity in media is a good thing, because the point of diversity, (At least I believe) is supposed to be showing off things beyond yourself, and letting you see into a different way of life that's different than your own, which is a thing that fantasy does with fictional concepts, these are interesting because it is something different to the things we are used too, diversity is like that BUT it is showing real-life things.
Disney, by just putting this for just for what feels like to just look good, really just makes it feel shallow and just to say "hey, look what we did.", If this was remixing the story Snow White, using familiarity using a subject matter we know but retelling it with, let say for example Hispanic cultural setting, since the girl playing the live action Snow White is latina (if “Hispanic” the wrong word to use, sorry, I've heard the term be used interchangeably/associatively by people from that heritage and I've also seen other people from that heritage say "No Latines and Hispanics are two different types of individuals" so I am sorry if "Hispanic" is the wrong term to use) then I wouldn't mind that because they are using a familiar story and being creative to show it off in a unfamiliar way, or if there is a hispanic version of a story that is like Snow White (I am not sure if there is, though I do know "Cinderella" has different versions of it in different cultures, though in the way I am meaning it, not as those retellings of it, but like those stories that have a similar plot, like their was, if my memory is correct, a Chinese story that follows the same concept of Cinderella, in this case I am referring to those type of variants) then I also wouldn't mind because we are seeing a different culture's version of the story, which I find cool!But as far as I know, this new Snow White isn't. I feel like if you're going to add diversity, make it meaningful not just make it feel it's just a white person with a different coat of paint, BECAUSE that takes away the beauty of diversity!
also, racebending is racist, though if you do it in a way to change the story, then it’s not, it’s just a remix of the original story. If they made the Little Mermaid Middle Eastern because the first recorded folktales of mermaids came from Assyria, then I will find that a very clever choice, and an interesting way to tell the story of the Little Mermaid using the folklore of the first stories of the mythical creature to put a new spin on it, which makes it cool and interesting, but just putting a new-skin on it and call it a day, doesn't add anything to it. If they retold the tale to make it more accurate to the original story, like I heard they did for Mulan, I wouldn't mind that because they are using the original source material of the chinese story to make something else different from the animated movie Mulan, it is very different from the animated movie, yes, but it's still the story of Mulan and they were still creative with it, so I find it an actual good retelling.
Diversity is good when you actually do it right and show things beyond oneself, Diversity isn't good if you are just doing it for show and basically putting a new skin on it NOR making it actually meaningful and introducing the audience to the beauty of different cultures and ideas they might not get to have the chance to see otherwise, defeats the whole purpose of having it!
this doesn't just apply to racial and cultural diversity, this can apply to the portrayal of disabilities, mental illnesses, different genders, and sexualities, these are things that make people different and unique, I like seeing that shown in media, but just tossing in there as an afterthought takes away the meaningfulness of it, if you can take it out and get the same story, then what's the point of adding it? Diversity is to show off differences and what makes them valuable and worth knowing, if it doesn't change anything, it just watering it down to just a quirk or aesthetic than an actual character trait, which feels patronizing.
There is NOTHING wrong with adding new viewpoints and expanding your view of the world, thus gaining knowledge to formulate better opinions on things, adding diversity just for publicity, is just like giving a person who only knows what exists inside of their own house and thinks that's all there is and painting their room a different color, instead of opening the front door to show them there is much more to the world than the confines of their home, give them the opportunity if they wish to explore it and learn more they can! Making it surface level robs people of this opportunity.
Tl:DR: Surface level diversity is NOT cool or exciting or neat, but patronizing at most, HOWEVER the deep and accurate actually meaningful diversity is, and that’s why diversity works when you show it off in a meaningful way, it opens doors to new perspectives and ideas that can help expand your view of the world, surface level stuff just paints the door a different color, but doesn’t open it at all.
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i will say, altho i think its cool that there are still scene kids, i also think its rly sad that theres no like....unique subculture created by youth today?? like when ppl dress "scenecore" theyre just trying to wear a perfectly curated caricature of wat ppl used to wear in 2007. and same goes for the adjacent "-cores". its all cosplay.. but like cosplay thats so overly perfected it removes the essence of ugliness that used to make these styles so endearing. when i think back to being scene during the 2000s, it felt like, so cool because it was this new thing that we all created together. by the uglies, for the uglies..sure it was loosely based on punk fashion or whatever but. it was repurposed and evolved naturally into a new style. i feel like kids now dont do that anymoe? like theres no social capital in it so they dont bother. its kinda depressing.
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"it's a comedy show"
This is a dumb take. Fight me in a parking lot have you no whimsy in your life. People analyze and criticize Brooklyn 99, the office, it's always sunny. You know why? Because it's public domain!!! Literally everyone is free to criticize them and if you don't like it idk touch grass?
I've been seeing this take around alot and I can't help but feel like it just will never make sense. Like you can't go on and on about media literacy and then LITERALLY discourage media analysis. People are allowed to care about things even if they're dumb fictional teenagers!
"oh it's improv of course it's not gonna be clean"
I mean. Yeah? But people can still be disappointed. It can't be changed obviously but people are still allowed to discuss why things didn't feel the best.
"I just think it's dumb and people should spread positivity"
I agree! But The opinion the episode had good and bad parts can exist.
"it's so para social to be upset at [blank]"
Imma be 100 percent real with you. Half of the time this take is horribly misusing the term para-social. If people are upset directly with the players past "maybe this wasn't the best decision n genuinely was a little weird" then sure!
"contradictions aren't a bug they're a feature "
Yeah. When those contradictions actually contribute something narratively. Which we will not know until episode 20. Otherwise people can feel literally any way about it. Who cares.
"what are the bad kids supposed to do it's the end of the world"
.
There are like 17 different DND podcasts where in the final moments a villain gets a genuinely nuanced death and it's also the end of the world. Fighting is the most convenient solution because that is what the system they are playing in encourages! I agree the ratgrinders Do Need to die but I just didn't like HOW.
"shut up and leave the fandom"
Say aaaaaaaaa open ur mouth real big
Also. So no one misinterprets me.
I am specifically talking about when these arguments are used in bad faith to shut down any discussion of the episode :0
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Doodles of a utmv oc in his various outfit stages called sable, bc he's just goofy and i love him.
i really need to make a comic discussing the lore for his au bc that shit is wild.
bro gets his life ruined by a fucking anime cat girl hologram because he's a fucking steven universe fusion of sans and others (???) that has the ability to do a jojo's bizarre adventure stone ocean ending (which is how he pissed off the fucking catgirl who used to be flowey but ig he's just a fucking anime girl now so like??)
(PLEASE it makes so much more sense in context, im a decent writer you gotta believe me)
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