Calling Nadakhan a genie just cuz you don’t like him or care to understand what he says icks me out so bad when Ninjago is the only show I’ve seen in my life that acknowledges genies are not and never existed in Arabic mythos, they were Djinn, Jinni at best but not genies, it’s not even Arabic in its name origin.
Not even the way genies act represent djinn even a little, and again Ninjago goes out of its way to show the complexity within actual djinn, not all good, not all evil, and not entirely immortal. Just please stop going to the one piece of popular media we have calling out genies aren’t a thing but what they actually are and call them genies. Even if you don’t like the character, have respect for the culture it represents. A culture genies are not a part of.
I agree that genies are bullshit and invalid culturally, but I disagree with the idea that calling them "Djinn" is more respectful.
Djinn in Arab culture are recognized as invisible fire spirits with their own societies and cultures like humans, with all the nuances and choices of humans.
Ninjago, however, cares way more for Aladdin orientalism, and decides to simply re-connect Djinn with genie, which is still a Poor choice cus the whole trope is a poor choice.
Also I have to disagree with your tags calling Ninjago's Djinn the "least racist depiction of these guys" given our most prominent Djinn is a power-hungry hyper-masculinized barbaric pedophile trying to recreate the glory of his old home in a new land... like it's stereotype on stereotype on stereotype.
Yeahhh I just can’t find any better ones, tho imma have to disagree on the pedophile claim, Nya can’t actually be a child within the 6th season, timeline wise it doesn’t add up, and if they are still kids then the hoards of thirsting adult fans become… yeah I don’t like the push for them to still be kids, it makes not only Nadakhan but everyone in that season look like creeps.
People in this fandom are also too comfortable with the idea that child labor is encouraged even tho there’s absolutely zero proof. So the ninja would all have to be adults by season 3 to run a school at least, so yeah, he’s not a pedophile or hebephile. You can’t sway me on that stance.
I think raine made a good point, I don't find it productive to argue semantics over one word he used. Nadakhan's actions are objectively predatory and I don't find it crazy to interpret some of them as pedophilic either. I'm not sure what about the timeline would indicate nya couldn't still be a teen by the sixth season. The ninja working in positions we see as adult jobs doesn't explicitly mean that they are adults when we know ninjago doesn't operate on any meaningful labor laws/legal system lol. it's pretty clear with the earlier seasons especially that they just make the ninja do whatever's funniest for the bit. Yes, you're right that Nya and even the other ninja being teenagers would make almost everyone in skybound look like creeps, that's why it's such a controversial/unpopular season. Even if they all were adults, the misogyny Nya experiences and the often blatant sexual harassment in this season are just uncomfortable to watch
I have so many thoughts on the ninja’s ages I honestly just plan to make a YouTube video about it at some point!
But one footnote in my argument, especially with the jobs, will always be that if Ninjago is a society where children are allowed and encouraged to work jobs that we see them have there’s way more of an issue with the series world than Nadakhan existing. As a child of a security guard(at a place WAYYY less likely to get broken into btw), which Cole worked as, I find it way more problematic that this supposedly 15 year old is allowed in such a position and expected to deal with break ins than the fact Nadakhan does horrible things that are actively punished both in universe and by the narrative.
And for the last point all I can say is good honestly, it should be uncomfortable and I think that’s the point of why those scenes were written that way. From what I’ve gathered the overarching theme of Skybound is consent. Nadakhan is a perfect villain for that theme and it’s made stronger by just how uncomfortable his scenes are. What’s actually terrible about the season is incel Jay and how he never stopped being an incel and how the way he worded his stupid last wish was the most petty shit ever.
The thing is the writers didn't put thought into this kind of thing and don't expect us to either. Not saying that means we shouldn't consider it, but all of what you are saying is still just a headcanon. I don't necessarily disagree with you, I'm just saying the moral implications of having these jobs are unique to your interpretation and not something present in universe. I can definitely see the main four as adults at that point, don't get me wrong. But I was mostly talking about Nya, the main target of Nadakhan's sexual harassment. She has had no evidence whatsoever of being an adult at that point. Her behavior and narrative arc from S1-S6 is a coming of age story among other things, plus she was explicitly stated to be younger than Kai and the main four.
I agree that some discomfort can be a good thing, but in a show intended for ten year olds to have so much sexual harassment and misogyny (a lot of which is neither punished nor addressed) it can rightfully leave a bad taste in the audience's mouths-- especially among those who have experienced something similar in real life. Regardless of how well Nadakhan fulfills his narrative purpose what he does well as a villain is overshadowed by the orientalism that almost entirely defines his character. I find it difficult to see his predatory behavior as a genuinely thought out choice rather than the product of years of western racism against Arabs and their culture
