#problematic media

[sailatina3]

Ai generated dark skinned mexican Makima

[chestersbraincell]

HOT take: if something that has been keeping you alive, giving you a reason to live, turns out to be problematic? Baby listen to me, look at me, okay.? There are plenty enough people boycotting it for the problematic person behind it to not be supported. You just keep yourself alive and safe okay? Holds your hands. Donttttt listen to the internet just look at me. STAY alive. Stay.

[catboykatebush]

When people are like “omg you LIKE (insert media)??? So you’re just OKAY with the undertones of misogyny/homophobia/racism/ableism/transphobia/classism/etc present in it?” It’s just like… No, I’m not? Because I’m fully critical of all the media I engage with, including media I like or even love? I don’t watch the shows I like with my brain turned off, and I can like aspects of a piece of media and still be willing to say “they were completely in the wrong for how they handled (X issue)”.

If you come at me with this attitude, though, I’m gonna have to assume you’re just projecting onto me because if YOU like a piece of media YOU ignore or deny or excuse everything genuinely bigoted or otherwise harmful about it. Just because you think like this doesn’t mean everyone else does, btw.

Some of y’all really need to realize that ALL media is “problematic” to a degree because no media is made in a vacuum and all media that exists is made under a society in which patriarchy, racism, ableism, etc are still deeply engrained. You should be critical of ALL the media you consume, instead of trying to separate all existing media into a deeply unhelpful binary of “problematic” or “unproblematic”.

[cipherrepeat]

And If I said people need to get more comfortable with characters in media who develop negative traits due to the repercussions of being a minority, what then?

I wish people would stop acting like its automatically bad rep / writing for a character to have negative reactions to something like being transgender or disabled. A character should be more than their disability or orientation and its not automatically problematic to depict how different individuals might respond to these aspects of their personality. Characters dont need to always be the model example of each single factor of their identity. A character who is disabled might not ALWAYS immediately feel strong and independent despite what those around them might say- because the other elements of their identity/personality/circumstances might cause them to feel negatively about themselves. They might lash out, they might get jealous, or bitter. And that shouldn't always be read by audiences as the writers personal worldview on disabled people?? Human beings are RARELY the ideal, and I dont think that characters should be either. In my own personal experience with neurodivergence, sexuality and gender identity, I think that it is natural for people who are in some way different from the people who surround them to develop traits that aren't always going to be positive and that shouldn't need to be something that is hidden away from audiences in media.

Audiences GET more receptive to exploring concept human emotions in media NOW. I beg we all stop reading everything in the most surface level way, and STOP reducing characters to being bad rep simply for being flawed.

...

ok yes. This is largely due to the Influx of people complaining about Jax being a transwoman being bad rep just because she's an abuser. And yes I mean the people talking about SPECIFICALLY solely that reason

I dont even like jax and it BY NO MEANS excuses her actions.. but guys please. internalised misogyny due to being insecure about her gender identity is, an interesting exploration of her character? Its not always as dumbed down and simple as "GASP!!! They made this MISOGYNIST character TRANS?? THIS IS SO PROBLEMATIC BECAUSE NOT ALL TRANS WOMEN ARE MISOGYNISTS!!" Characters have more than one trait and shouldn't be dumbed down that way.

[kuiperoid]

Queen Coke Francis talks about the history of the Hays Code and the wave of puritannical thinking towards media seen among young people these days, sometimes under the guise of social progressivism.

[hounneybuonney]

I just think laughable and hypocritical to think you have any grounds to critique conservatives’ racism and think you shouldn’t associate with them when you have a helluva boss pfp, babygirl Brandon Rogers was in literal BLACKFACE.

This goes for any fanbase of media in which the creators can be deemed problematic. Obey Me fans will conveniently ignore their own and the developers’ bigoted behaviors just to shit on conservatives. Like it was the conservatives comparing Mammon to a gorilla and defending it. The pot calling the damn kettle black. 

[sluttyquarantinetheory]

It's like really strange to me when i'll mention a tv show or put one on and someone will comment something about such and such actor is a fuck. And it's like yeah sure but like they weren't the only ones to work on this 20+ year old show. Also like yeah Jerry Seinfeld is a bit of a fuck but Seinfeld the show is one of the better sitcoms to ever exist. I saw your ass watching Edward Scissorhands the other day. Let's just enjoy ourselves for five goddamn minutes yeah?

[alternativelis]

FANDOM PSA:

Minors in mature/adult fandoms

NOTICE: This is not me baselessly shooing away kids from mature fandoms. number one, obviously i have zero authority over what other people do online, and two? i've been that kid. DDLC loving middle schooler to psychological horror loving adult pipeline lol.

Alright now with the notice out of the way, i gotta tell ya that this topic has been flying around in my head for a few days now and i feel like people might just benefit from this ramble.

TRIGGER WARNING: Opinion (nerd emoji)!!! Minors, especially when not mature enough, (and by that i mean not old enough rather than "responsible" or "not childish") should kindly stay away from mature media's fandoms. IN MY OPINION.

And my current best example is NSO! (Needy Streamer Overload)

-> more yapping under the cut! <-

If you're unfamiliar, NSO is an anime-style interactive visual novel-type game with psychological horror, sexual content, and otherwise mature content, like how mental health is portrayed and how drugs and generally addictions are handled, etc. The main character's a cute anime girl, so... yeah.

This is the main character kangel - hopefully you're getting the idea!

There are the kids who like her purely because she's cute. They (might) argue that it sucks that she's from this game because this game, nso, is "problematic". which... is an immature and arguably ableist view. (media portraying mental health issues DO NOT MEAN problematic media!) Or they might argue that it sucks because SHE'S problematic. They miss that THIS is the entire point of the game. "larping as an nso fan", if you will. And I HATE the way they use live action roleplay as "poser".

Needy Streamer Overload has CLEAR WARNINGS for its contents, FYI.

Another example I can give you is Killing Stalking, the manhwa. Specifically, the fandom back in 2020-2021. One side said, "It's a cute uwu yaoi!" The other side said, "It's problematic, and you're a creep for reading it!"

Flash news: both sides were wrong. If you eat the dove, YOU EAT IT WILLINGLY. Consuming media with problematic/illegal themes won't make you problematic or make you do illegal things. Fiction affects reality, TRUE, but it also depends on how you, as a consumer, take it.

Clearly, that sort of thought process and claims tell me that whoever says it lacks the maturity and media literacy to handle mature media. And when they lack this maturity and media literacy, they should not attempt to talk over fans who DO have that maturity and media literacy.

It's, of course, not gonna happen, but I do hope some individuals realize that some pieces of media are just simply better consumed when you're old enough to properly digest and understand them, including having the media literacy to do so, and not simply throwing words like "problematic" around.

Well, that's all from me. lmk what u think and feel free to start a RESPECTFUL conversation down in this post's comments.

ok bye bye :3