The Hazbin Hotel fandom is guilty of cultural appropriation in regard to handling Alastor’s Louisianan-Creole culture and his characterisation. Albeit Alastor has very little compelling characterisation to begin with.
Discussion ⬇️⬇️⬇️
How many times does Alastor mention jambalaya and his appreciation for the dish? Once. Barely even once - at the very end of the pilot episode that is barely considered canon anymore due to the official show contradicting established ideas from the pilot [ Eg. Lucifer Morningstar’s characterisation ].
It should also be acknowledged that Vivsiepop had to change Alastor to identify as a Creole man because she was receiving backlash for his usage of voodoo magic, which I think should be explored more rather than flashy displays of nothing in his battles [ such as against Adam in Season 1, or The V’s in Season 2 ]
Due to the ashy complexions of her two explicitly black/mixed characters, the mention of jambalaya must’ve been to reference his culture more directly. However, because of this, a particular side of the fandom [ specifically on TikTok ] has done nothing but base his character around this one aspect of his dialogue.
Alastor, and other characters like him, should not be reduced down to a single cultural-characteristic of ‘enjoying and only talking about this food’. I believe that this wouldn’t be avoidable if the script was changed to say another dish. The fandom would still find a way to make his personality revolve around their own limited understanding of creole culture;
influencing this representation to be used in the fan base’s discussions of Alastor and potentially other fandoms [ not to the same extent, but one character I can think of is Hajime Hinata from Danganronpa 2 and the fandom’s obsession with him and orange juice. Note that this is not to the same extent and should not be treated as a similarity or a direct comparison, but rather as an acknowledgement of fandom and how they treat their characters from my own experience ]
Overall, Vivsiepop and the Hazbin Hotel fandom should be doing more to represent Alastor’s culture to the extent that it isn’t forced but also not lazy and rushed.
New rant coming soon about older males engaging in fandom by forgetting they aren’t the primary target audience and creating hostile environments for other fans
