I’ve somehow ended up on the anti side of tiktok, and there was this one video where the op said that writing about wincest (incest between brothers Sam and Dean Winchester from supernatural) was evil and morally wrong. A lot of the comments were agreeing and saying that incest shouldn’t be normalized even if it’s fictional, and other people were saying that fiction does affect reality because consuming a lot of something affects the brain. Now, I don’t think writing fanfiction about incest is normalizing it, no matter the author’s intent. A well-adjusted person will know that incest is wrong, even if it’s portrayed as okay in fiction. But I was wondering what you think of the fact that people say that consuming a lot of something affects the brain, and makes someone desensitized to something which eventually leads them to think that thing is okay. Do you know if that’s true or if that’s just antis spewing crap? Even if you don’t know, what are your thoughts on that?
“what I think of the fact that people say this?” I think they just want a noble excuse to harass people. that really is all I think about them. they’re just a bunch of bullies who think harassing real people over fiction makes them morally superior.
normal people won’t ever think bad things in fiction are okay in real life just because they repeatedly consume fiction with taboo topics, otherwise horror fans would have thought murders were okay in real life and started killing people, because of the slasher movies they repeatedly watched, a long time ago.
if someone lets fiction affect them enough to the point they believe bad things in fiction are okay in real life, because these bad things are portrayed as good in fiction, then chances are that, with or without the fictional things they consume, they’re already troubled and they need professional help. but their inability to separate fiction from reality is not fanfic writers’ problem or responsibility. fanfic writers are not their parents or babysitters.
I’ve been into non-con ever since I was about 7 years old. and a 7-year-old me knew that the fictional scenarios I liked were bad in real life. a 7-year-old me could separate fiction from reality. so I think it’s fair to assume normal adults should be able to do that too (and if they can’t then they need professional help).
gothic literature didn’t normalize incest. game of thrones didn’t normalize incest. hannibal didn’t normalize cannibalism. slasher movies didn’t normalize murders or violence. and these media were consumed by millions of people across the world. taboo topics have always existed in fiction. and if these mainstream media didn’t normalize shit, a silly fanfiction isn’t going to normalize shit either.
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve watched hannibal. and guess what? I am still able to understand that cannibalism is bad in real life. I have never had an urge to start killing and eating people.
if you (general you) are deeply troubled that you genuinely cannot separate fiction from reality, the issue is you, not the fictional things you consume. and in that case, you need professional help.
