@waltdisneyconfessionsrage, I am genuinely not trying to antagonize you when I say that you are missing the point. And I hope you take some time to read this post and consider what I have to say. @mckitterick since you’re the one I’m reblogging this from, this is for you too. May as well tag @feministdisney too – this might be of interest to you.
‘White Savior’ is a plot trope, not a personality type.
When POC call a character a white savior, we are not criticizing the character’s morals. We are criticizing the writers’ world-building and plot choices.
Y’all seem to be laboring under the misapprehension that a white savior is a racist asshole. That when POC call a character a white savior, we are saying that the character has a savior complex.
You’re missing the point.
A “white savior” is a fictional archetype, defined by the function he fulfills within a story’s plot – the function of helping brown characters who are not knowledgeable enough, not self-sufficient enough, or not moral enough to help themselves.
Here’s an excerpt from Atlantis: The Lost Empire’s Wikipedia plot summary:
Kida enlists Milo’s aid in deciphering the Atlantean written language, long forgotten by the natives. By swimming deep within the city’s submerged ruins and translating underwater murals, Milo helps Kida uncover the nature of the Heart of Atlantis: it supplies the Atlanteans with power and longevity through the crystals worn around their necks.
To recap: An Atlantean can’t find the heart of Atlantis. She needs some white guy to help her find it. She can’t translate Atlantean script. She needs some white guy to help her translate it. She’s got magic powers, she’s immortal, she’s wise, she’s basically a goddess, and yet in spite of all these qualities, she still can’t understand her own goddamn culture as well as some nerdy white guy who showed up two days ago.
A story with a white savior is a story with helpless brown people – non-white characters who require a white person’s skills, knowledge, and/or leadership to improve their situation.
[The Atlantean King] reveals that the sinking of Atlantis was caused when he attempted to use it as a weapon of war. As he dies he gives his crystal to Milo, telling him to save Atlantis and Kida.
To recap: The brown skinned King destroyed his own culture because of his moral corruption, and now must rely on some morally upright white nerd to save his legacy.
White writers chose to write a story about brown people in peril, who are only saved thanks to the intervention of a white man.
White writers chose to write a story in which an indigenous civilization is dependent on a white person’s decisions and capabilities for survival.
That’s what we POC like to call “white masturbation.”
Surely you can see how that story premise is offensive, in and of itself, regardless of whether or not the white character in the story is a “good person.”
We were never criticizing Milo in the first place. Telling us that Milo is actually a good person is besides the point. It doesn’t matter what kind of person Milo is, because he’s not even a real person. He’s a cartoon. He’s make-believe.
The people who created Milo, on the other hand, are real human beings.
Directors: Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise
Writing Credits: Tab Murphy (screenplay); Kirk Wise, Gary Trousdale, Joss Whedon, Bryce Zabel, Jackie Zabel, Tab Murphy, & David Reynolds (story)
8 white dudes and 1 white lady. A veritable cabal of white people wrote this movie.
These are the people we’re pissed off with.
I really thought I was past the point of having to see this commentary post reblogged uncritically on my dash. Come on, guys.
vaporwave
origamiaround
turnnoffyourmind
yousharknotpass
dededos
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romaincrisis
