#about representation

[ratguy-nico]

I read this today and many thoughts came to mind so yeah this is another rambling.

'til this day I don't get over the fact that only last year we had the Last Season of The Owl House, the rushed end of one of the greatest series of the decade, that could have mark a new course for many series yet to come, the spiritual successor of another of the greatest series of all Gravity Falls.

The Owl House was released in 2020 just four years ago and it was cancelled in 2022, two years ago, presumable cause it had too much representation for Disney's taste.

This is obviousley not confirm, but everyone in the industry and Dana Terrace herself had made clear that this was the main reason.

All this just 2 years ago, many like to say we live in a time were LGBT+ community had all the representation they need, that everything is gay now days and and that this excess of representation is becoming tedious. And then this is a case from fucking 2 years ago.

It just so sickening, to think that yeah we have representation nowdays but it has to be a certain tipe of rep, it can not be too much, in the Owl House I think there was just one straight couple in the main cast, it has not to be too on the nose, gods forbid for the main character to be gay, lesbian, bi or the non existent trans representation, and it cannot be normal, if you are gay it has to be your main trait, your whole life, you have to have like many crisis as you can and have a whole out of the closet episode, it has to be the revelation of the century.

I still remeber Alex Hirsch puteando a Disney cause they didn't let him do many things he wanted with his own serie, among them the relationship betweenm the two town sheriffs, one of the cutest things in the show, and very funny too.

Alex Hirsch has always been very vocal about he's own despite for Disney as a creator that work for them. And thats why I love him.

I still remeber cartoon network forbidding Rebecca Sugar to say that the Gems were womans, cause that would imply that all the gems were lesbians and that was a totally No No for fricking Cartoon Network, the one everyone point when saying is only Disney the non inclusive one.

(why they never bring this back? what is wrong with Steven Universe?)

Though this end like a tiro en la culata which means backfire cause suddenly the gems were non binary or no gender which was fricking funny cause even more hard to explain XD

This also happened with Adventure Time, another Cartoon serie, were everyone was lost whith the Bublegum and Marcy kiss in the last episode, cause we were told they had a relationship in fricking Season 3 but no, they didn't tell explicitly that they were in a romantic relationship, cause you know... lesbian equal bad.

Their relationship keep getting explore and we had amazing episodes with this two navigating their feelings for each other, the past mistakes in their relationship and how to become better together. But all this while not telling us that they love each other, cause they weren't allow to tell us.

This is merely frustration on my part, I know we have better represantation nowdays, but... is not nearly enough, like I said, theres still close to non rep for ace or trans people, bisexual are getting better, though the rep still is plagued of horrible stereotype and fetization, but this is something lesbian and gays can have manage to avoid yet so what we expect.

So yeah we should celebrate our representation, and not let anyone tell us that is enough or too much, cause til this day the best ace representation I have seen comes from Todd from Bojack Horseman a serie from 2014 that ended in 2020, that set the bar and none had even try to fight, I hope Alastor become a better rep in this front, I really hope so. Lilith made an absolute great work, but sadley cause the serie was cut out we missed a lot of this character T^T

And Im not gonna talk about trans rep cause that's just sad.

I will always hold resentment to Disney cause of what they did to the Owl House, for sure, that something I hold near my heart everyday.

So yeah I totally use this persons post to talk about me me me, and I dont know them so prefer not to involve them in this.

And if you dont notice I keep this Animation Series only, cause theres too many series and I have not watch nearly enough, I know thers some with really good rep and others that are lit hot shit. So yeah the world is wild and full of shit.

Adventure Time 2010-2018

Gravity Falls 2012-2016

Steven Universe 2013-2019

Bojack Horseman 2014-2020

The Owl House 2020-2023

[missdagoutte]

I kinda resent people who scoff at the thought of headcanons being representation. For a long time, making headcanons (and creating works about them) was the only way to get representation. For many people, this is still a reality (even though the representation of certain marginalized groups has increased, it is still a little land in the big ocean). Making queer headcanons for me is even more important than seeing random queer characters in mainstream productions, because I know that at the end of the day it's just for profit, and the "representation" is something bland and plastered (with some exceptions). I know the importance of these characters existing on mainstream networks, but for me personally, there is no emotional value. At least not in the current scenario (where in capitalism, even representation is a product to sell).

There may be debates about fanfiction being revolutionary or not, but for me personally, it's always been the place I've turned to when I've wanted representation. It wasn't always perfect, but there were times when I found incredible work written by people who were more sensitive to my identity than any company would be. And most of the time, these people were just like me. Queering things that were imagined to be inherently normative is a beautiful concept to me. Knowing that we have this ability is so important, because I always thought we had no power over how we could be portrayed. But with fanfiction, we do.

[gerec]

My daughter loves Tauriel...and so do I

I saw a post re: Tauriel just now, defending her against accusations that the character was poorly written as a Mary-Sue and didn't belong in The Hobbit and it got me to thinking about my own thoughts on representation of minorities in the media (and I use the word 'minorities' in reference to anyone not white, male and heterosexual).

I largely stay out of the fray when it comes to this topic, because I already have very strong views that don't need changing (not enough, we need all types and better, and Agent Carter rocks) and I don't have anything particularly brilliant to say. But as parents do, I find myself looking at the world through my 9 year old daughter's eyes, and come to appreciate things that I might otherwise have dismissed out of hand.

I come back to the issue of Tauriel in The Hobbit, who, while I did not object to in any way, also did not really appreciate as a character. I'll readily admit to feeling that her love story with Kili was rushed and the love triangle with Kili and Legolas was DOA. But watching the movies again and again with my kids really gave me a whole new appreciation for her, and for Peter Jackson and his team for adding her to the trilogy.

When I speak with my 5 year old son, and we talk about who his favorite character is, he's spoiled for choice. Most often it's Bilbo, because Bilbo is brave and small like A, and he's the one going on this mad adventure. But sometimes it's Thorin because he's the King or Gandalf for his magic or even Bombur who is funny and can fight with his hands and feet sticking out of a barrel! 

But everytime I ask my daughter, it's always 'Tauriel'. And she loves Tauriel for lots of very good reasons - she's pretty, she's an elf, she's a great fighter, she's kind, she's brave. And though I teach both my kids we can emulate / look up to anyone for their admireable qualities, regardless of whether or not we are exactly alike, I think kids (at least my kids) still want role models that are more 'like them'. 

So when I look at Tauriel from G's point of view...well she's pretty awesome. Not only is she all the things I listed above, but she also learns to look past her own prejudices to befriend (and fall in love with) someone completely different from her own race/upbringing. She stands up for what's right, and isn't afraid to go against someone in a position of authority over her - risking her own wellbeing - to save the lives of others. She's a fearless warrior that also cries when she's hurt/sad. She's a little awkward around strangers but loves and cares fiercely. And she learns a pretty tough and heartbreaking lesson about love and loss.

Bottom line...Tauriel is my daughter's hero in The Hobbit movies, and I think she makes a damn good one indeed.

[charmre]

I'm really happy there was something on Clarence and I know that the creators fought to even have the kiss on the cheeks allowed (before it was a kiss on the lips but they had to compromise) and I'm extremely happy that there's at least that but

why is it that a couple of 2 males characters is more acceptable and more "allowable" than a couple consisting of 2 female characters (i.e. Marceline's and Bubblegum's relationship having to be closeted) huh CartoonNetwork?

[jude-n-julia-cryobyte]

So I was just watching This video. I usually like watching Game Theory stuff because Matt Patt makes some great vids and it's very entertaining to watch his theories. Get's the mind working.

However the points he's making don't seem to.. get across to the viewers. I hope I'm not wrong in my understanding of his work on this but it seems like he's taking the right direction in the video. Reading the comments I see a lot of:

"Oh sure you're complaining about villain's being gay, but there are heterosexual villains too and no one complains about that representation."

Clearly these guys didn't really listen to the video all too much. The entire point is the portrayal of LGBT(I'm missing something in this and I apologize) community as being generally bad, with few exceptions (Read Persona and few other characters). These people seem to be missing the point of the video being that the community is represented absolutely poorly with most  being Villains, inhuman, racist and other bad qualities. The idea  is sound I just... feel sad that people can't understand it. I hope that people will get past this point., there are a few too many closed minded people out there and I just want this to change.