Thank you for being the only reasonable person I've seen in this godsforsaken fandom
I think a lot of people are reasonably upset, but are taking a somewhat harmful approach to making things better.
It's difficult to see a show with such openly queer characters and not your own demographic (poc, disabled, women). They think that they should have a place there too, which they should! But you have to consider situations in part of a bigger picture of where we're at as a society.
Right now, the queer community has a lot of attention, and it's easier for pretty much all people to take a walk in their shoes. "I'm a man who loves women, you're a woman who loves women. Well, the only thing that's different is who exactly you love, but you still love, so I don't have a hard time imagining your circumstances."
And while poc have been crying out for attention for years now, most notably in 2020 with the BLM movement, it's much harder for a white man to imagine the experience of a black woman. And considering that if you do it wrong you're canceled, it's easy to see why people shy away from it. People say, "Oh, it's just a person! Act normal!", and yes that is true, but the white man may still accidentally perpetrate a stereotype. And then he's yelled at for not doing research first. It's a cycle that people can get stuck in.
As for physically disabled people, depictions of them are so stigmatized in media at this point that it's hard to know right from wrong. There are going to be mistakes made. That doesn't make it totally okay, but progress is a process. Disabled people have been silenced for a very long time, and they deserve a hell of a lot better. But if we just tell the Council to include them, how are the Council to know exactly what that looks like? We need to give them ideas, we have to guide them.
And as for women, yeah, there's definitely a lot to be desired. Frankly, they're a bunch of white guys; it's bound to happen. What we can do is clamor for more women who aren't only milfs. Yes, we love them, but regular, strong ladies like Jay are needed all throughout the campaigns. Give Jay some love. She's amazing. Condi does great with her.
The JRWI community has the unique position of being able to actually influence the creators. While Disney artists and writers are hidden away behind a big corporation and continue to pump out the same white, straight, cisgendered characters, we have one on one contact with the Council.
Tell me: if you went up to a Disney executive and screamed at them to include a black ambiguously bisexual or lesbian woman in one of their movies, do you think that would help the issue? No, they wouldn't care. They'd just say you're trying to brainwash their children again.
Meanwhile, the Council are a small group of four white, mostly cisgendered and straight men. And yet, they've included gay, lesbian, bisexual, nonbinary, unlabeled, asexual, transgender, and black people! That's awesome! We should be celebrating the fact that this podcast even exists! It's incredible.
Don't scream at them. That's counter-productive. Have civil conversations, encourage them to do more, show them what representation should look like while giving them room to be creative with it. Tell them what they do wrong and then point them kindly in the right direction.
I don't want this community to kill the podcast. I don't want all of this negativity to force Grizzly to leave - and I think it could get to that point if things continue the way they do.
Art is the best way to influence the Council. Draw the pcs with mobility aids! Give the poc characters love and attention, expand on hcs. Make ocs that showcase aspects of these lesser-represented communities. There are so many things you can do.
