on tiktok, i've seen discourse abt prism and whether or not she's a stereotype. and i gotta say—it's genuinely not that deep.
the argument is that, because she's a female black character with attitude, no paternal ties, and a loud personality, she is stereotypical. THOT SQUAD, the VA, said that prism was based heavily on herself. prism's from michigan, THOT is from michigan. THOT's a rapper, so is prism. prism says what she wants and does how she pleases, and so does she.
i'm not sure if THOT relates specifically to not having a dad, but that's generally a common experience in the black community. is it part of a stereotype? yes, BUT stereotypes are unfortunately based in reality. what makes them problematic is assuming something is a universal experience among a community. there's nothing wrong with having a relatable character, even if she fits into a box.
on prism's personality being stereotypical, i somewhat agree?? but only because we see this archetype often. yes, she's loud, full of attitude, but she's not written in a distasteful way. the z-team is FULL of people with attitudes js like hers because they don't like having to suck up to people, and definitely not being told what to do. she's not made out to be unreasonable, angry, or extra. i've been told time and time again that i'm loud and i couldn't care less. i'm allowed to express myself loudly and be black. i'm just being me. prism is just being herself. we are not sapphires.
we have had this conversation about literally every character that acts how prism does. by saying every sassy, expressive fem black character is a stereotype, we're stigmatizing behaviors black women/girls may exhibit naturally. we're telling them they can't act like that because it's ghetto. we can't fight against stereotyping while also putting people into a box for being themselves.
also, mind you, prism isn't even our only black character in-game! coop is a black woman js the same, and her personality completely contrasts with prism's. the game isn't sending any messages that black women all act how prism does.
not even tryna sound like a red pill loser, but cancel culture has genuinely made us scary. we're afraid to approach characters like this with acceptance in case somebody gets offended. so instead, we look for each and every thing that might be problematic in a piece of media. it gets to the point we're grasping straws to just start discourse or seem progressive (this is mostly for them performative yts).
prism shouldn't only be getting flack for feeding stereotypes; she should be appreciated for being included. the inclusion of dark skin women in media is RARE, y'all.
i put this separately because i'm still on the fence abt my take. so, people have said that robert calling prism 'cardi c' was a microaggression. this was a follow-up to his first comparison to nicki minaj and is the problem area in most arguments. rob's 'nicki mirage' jab made sense because of prism's illusion powers and her rap career. she and nicki's aesthetics are also pretty similar, with nicki even having the same split-dyed bob at one point.
@/tinybellyfart on tt explained it best: robert calling prism 'cardi c' was a microaggression because he insinuated that she's a downgraded version of a talented, black rapper; a cheap imitation. i saw some comments brushing this take off and saying people are "too soft" but i see their point. microaggressions are MICROOOO!! they're supposed go unnoticed or won't seem like a big deal if someone else catches them. just because they're small don't mean they ain't there.
i talked with my gf abt it because i wanted her opinion as well, and it was a joke we both laughed at and didn't think much of. people make jokes abt clearly inspired artists, or simply similar-sounding ones, being a downgraded version of the original. not saying it's not a microaggression bc it can definitely be read as one—prism's being compared to 2 black fem rappers—but there's other factors to think abt.
as i said before, nicki minaj and prism have similar aesthetics, and they're all js rappers at the end of the day. rap is a predominantly black genre. plus, punch-up followed up robert's follow-up by calling prism 'lady haha'—a reference to gaga who also dresses like her. it's a jab at her being a walmart version of other pop/rapstars.
idk i feel like i'm brushing off the counterargument 💔💔. what do y'all think??
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