Tw: sexism, racism, mentions of weird interactions with minors, all that
So like me and my boyfriend went to see tadc finale (we bought the tickets before we heard about gooseworx ascending to racism misogyny heaven)
Trying to be considerate to those who want to watch it blind (even if the creators have one too many strikes on their liscenses), read at your own discretion.
But I think its so much worse when you consider that a core part of a character is their misogyny, but their misogyny (that often takes the form of violence), is often played for laughs.
And I did find it funny when I didn’t realise that it was a repeating misogynistic behaviour. But now all i can think of is how violence against women is such a common problem and one of the reasons why its so prevalent is that women are often told to love and care for abusive men regardless. I’ve met women who told themselves “he doesn’t mean it, he’s just been through a lot, if i show him love and care and listen to him, he’ll be better”. And then they are killed.
So (spoilers), seeing all these female and fem-coded characters withstand abuse from someone and still do everything to make them comfortable, whilst we don’t spend nearly as much time focusing on the pain they’ve had to overcome, their journey of survival, it just feels like the common trauma of a good chunk of the population is ignored, downplayed and pushed to the side, because the biggest victim of misogynistic violence is always the perpetrator. And hey, at least it was funny when we shoved the domestic abuse surviver in the deep fryer!
And i know many people are so used to reading something like this and immediately thinking “its not that deep! Its just a joke! Youre making mountains out of molehills! This is a nothing burger drama”, then consider: its not significant to you because you’re not the minority who is harmed by it. Ofc jokes abt the n word feels like it happened forever ago by people who were sorry, if you weren’t someone’s who’s cultural trauma is being treated as a funny joke by people who will never understand its significance.
But would you all be laughing if it was a bunch of straight people joking about the f-slur and trying to say it over and over? Would you get upset if a queer person saw that and said it was homophobic? Would you tell that person they are media illiterate? Idk, maybe you would.
Its not hard to not joke about trying to say the n word. And joking about it doesn’t mean you said you hate black people, but if you can’t even understand how its insensitive, then you clearly don’t give them much thought.
And its also not hard to joke about hitler in the replies of your own show’s promotion!
And its not hard to not constantly talk about how much you like seeing violence against women on your twitter account.
And its not hard to stop making sexual jokes with a minor almost a decade your junior as soon as you find out their age.
Im not saying she hates poc or jews or women or is a pedo, but anyone with common sense would be nowhere near as close to the line in the way gooseworx is. I really just don’t get whats funny about this? Why do we call it dark humour when its really just “larping as a terrible person”.
And if people are gonna get so mad about others being accused of racism and such, then tell me why being accused of racism is so much worse than accidentally doing something racist. Its like ppl are going “i can excuse racism, but i draw the line at calling people racist”. “Joking about hate speech is funny but if you call me racist you’ve basically gored me online”.
Its so disheartening as a queer disabled poc to see so many queer people be so dismissive of the issues other groups face, to act like those issues are just overreactive kids. Its a joke to them, because its never something they’ve had to seriously experience.
But those jokes are isolating and alienating. When people say slurs against my culture, or even joking about queerphobic or ableist slurs, especially those who’s work concerned a large audience I participated in, it just reminds me that my identity is a funny joke to them, and someone who will never truly fit in or be understood.
Sorry, this was a huge ramble that started off as a criticism of tadc and devolved into a rant about casual online bigotry. I’ve had a really intense week (jury duty), and so everything just feels very high key to me rn.
I don’t hate tadc, i just wish the team were a bit more respectful towards others and more open to growth.
And a disclaimer i really shouldnt need to make. Do not harass anyone ever. If you feel the urge to do something like verbally assault someone, take a breath, put down the screen, and get yourself a snack. If you feel upset, do something to make your day better without making someone else’s day worse. Be kind, there isn’t enough kindness in the world. Ciao.
Edit: just to clarify something, i do not have an issue with a character being written as misogynistic and highly problematic. Some of the best pieces of media are great discussions and explorations of the real life phenomenon, such as Mouthwashing and Bojack horseman. The issue is when their misogyny and their victims are used purely as set dressing, and the only one that gets any meaningful focus from the incident is the misogynist. Its like if all the people bojack abused forgave him and started coddling his ego. The abuse towards women in tadc is only half baked, bc its still ultimately a plotline that centres the abuser and their feelings, whilst paying no mind or respect to their victims. Sucks.
