CB's main cast is all white and male. (Prunella is 8, a kid, I won't call her a woman) And this is something that should be questioned. The exclusion of women and people of color.
But, while questioning this, as a South Asian brown woman myself, I ask people to reflect on some parts of what they're saying.
When you say that the main cast brown keys are either lazy or mean, you're reducing Bronze and Violet to their worst characteristics. Bronze is also intelligent, observant and helpful. Violet is also resourceful, caring and protective.
The party prince from HAT was a drunkard and an idiot, but he was also the only prince in the comic who ever spoke of the people he was ruling, he also was the only prince who asked his princess for advice on national decisions instead of treating her like a oh-so-delicate flower.
People of colour are above all, people. And people have flaws and they have strengths, that's what makes a character.
Do you reduce Chase to the singular word conceited? Goldie is daft, Buddy is sultry. If Deacon was a poc, you would question why the poc is a poorly socialized gump who sees women as a different sparkling species. But nobody ever says that. And it's for the simple reason that they're white.
White characters are allowed to just exist. White people are seen as whole people.
In your mission to look out for dogwhistles, you subject the characters of colour to a degree of scrutiny, criticism and reductionist language that is never shown to their white counterparts.
It is a problem when the coloured character is just a stereotypical caricature. That example in CB is that rapist from HAT.
But he's not just the only one who does that, episode 2 and 3 is just a slew of white princes either getting slapped or punched because they keep forcing themselves on Chase.
The WOC you call "just eye candy for Deacon"-- One of them is the most established archer of her realm, she's brave and she's brilliant. The other one is a scared princess who learns to step out of her long self imposed exile for the good of her nation. Third is Violet. All these side characters have their stories, and their personhood.
The problem here is not these women, the problem here is your beloved boyfailure who doesn't know how to act. He is drooling over all women irrespective of colour, not just the WOC. He thirsts for everything female, including a robot!
I know in today's climate, just the existence of poc is political. And I get it, you're trying to look out for racism in media. But in doing so, if you only rip characters of colour apart, if you only focus on their worst traits to further your argument, which side are you even playing for?
All characters in CB are flawed. So yes, the poc are flawed. And yes, the whites are flawed. Freely accepting the same traits in whites which are immediately questioned in a poc is a double standard in itself.
Yes, my existence as a WOC is political. But nothing about me just existing is politics. I'm just a person, I'm imperfect, I have my vices, I have my sparkly bits. And that's what I would like to see from a media representation, a person.
Punko sucks at making her characters coloured. But what she doesn't suck at is making her characters, irrespective of their colour, people.
