#spop crit

[blackholezyy]

Honestly, I don’t actively hate Scorfuma like I do certain ships like C//A. I just find it to be really, really boring. Let’s get into it:

I already don’t like Perfuma as a character. She’s hypocritical, annoying and ableist (like she put Entrapta on a leash). Not to mention, she’s just not a good written character. She’s boring, one dimensional and had no character arc outside of “nice flower girl preaching about peace.” I wouldn’t mind her had anyone called her out on her BS but no, it just doesn’t happen.

Perfuma also enforces toxic positivity.. which, if you don’t know, it’s basically an excessive harmful pressure to maintain a positive, happy attitude and in turn ignores or dismisses negative feelings like sadness, anger, grief, etc. I won’t go into detail too much so I might just make a separate post about this.

Moving on, Scorpia is probably one of the better characters from SPOP. She’s naive, energetic and deeply protective but also self conscious, deprived of love, and insecure. And throughout the show, she does go through character development (which got retconned in S5 but I digress). One of the most memorable things about Scorpia is her loyalty to Catra. As seen multiple times, she actively defended her even behind her back, is extremely defensive over her to the point where she hates Adora simply because she knows Catra is hurt by Adora leaving the Horde, stays by her side even if it gets her into danger, and is convinced that Catra is misunderstood.

Heck, I’ll even come out and say that Scopria strongest relationship is with Catra. It’s not exactly healthy per say (any relationship with Catra is unhealthy) but we could see that time and time again Scorpia deeply cares about Catra and Catra secretly deep down cares about Scorpia until S4.

The only grievance I have is that when they first met, Scorpia was immediately “ride or die” for Catra. I think it would make more sense and be narratively better had Scorpia grow to deeply care for Catra rather than her immediately caring right off the bat.

But what about Perfuma, you may ask? Well.. I have nothing to say about Scorpia’s relationship with Perfuma outside of aesthetics. It’s the same situation with Glimbow but at least with Glimbow, they were friends and had something. Granted, it was rushed, poor written and came out of nowhere, but at least it was something. With Scorfuma, it was nothing.

One of the biggest issues I have with Scorfuma is that Perfuma immediately liked and crushed on Scorpia the moment Scorpia arrived in Bright Moon. Excuse me for being pessimistic but that makes ZERO sense. You have been fighting for three seasons straight and have like no reason to trust Scorpia, who mind you was practically Catra’s right hand and helped the Horde with the Battle of Bright Moon, kidnapping Bow and Glimmer in the Princess Prom episode, etc.

This is why I say that this show just doesn’t portray war well because in the middle of a war, when an enemy deflects, they would be greeted with suspicion and a bunch of background checks and reasonably so. In war, the enemy could easily plant spies or use someone to gain the other side’s trust and use that to their advantage.

For the rest of the show, it was just.. boring. Perfuma and Scorpia had no meaningful conversations, no real connection, nothing. It’s hilarious that Scorpia seemed closer with Sea Hawk due to their similar insecurities than Perfuma. Which is a shame because I feel like if written well, these two could’ve had a good relationship, both platonically and romantically.

One of the things I do like about Scorfuma though is that in S5, when Scorpia was chipped, Perfuma was heavily devoted to save her and because of that devotion, Scorpia managed to resist Horde Prime, even briefly. Scorpia being chipped had a clear effect on Perfuma and I like how Scorpia sacrificed herself. But that’s where my praises end. Because this would’ve been way more impactful had their relationship had time to actually develop.

Overall, I don’t hate Scorfuma. I actually think it’s arguably one of the more better ships to come out of SPOP. But again, the poor writing and lack of development just drags this ship down for me.

[rjalker]

im confused as to why is entrapta being autistic ableist? like others reactions to her? /gen

Because she doesn't give a single crap about anyone else because all she cares about is playing with her shiny new toys and literally sided with a genocidal facist and helped him on his quest to destroy the planet because it gave her more opportunity to play with machines, and then we aren't supposed to be mad at her for this, because she's autistic, so it's not her fault that she willingly sided with a genocidal facist and helped him destroy the fucking universe.

This is a trope I see over and over again and I'm sick of it. Autistic or otherwise mentally disabled characters who put everyone around them in mortal peril and have no fucking morals at all, but it's okay, because they're autistic, so they don't know any better, and we shouldn't be mad at them, and they shouldn't have to face consequences for their behavior!

It's demonization and infantilization all in one. Autistic people are evil and would let millions of people die without batting an eye if it means they get to play with new science, but it's not their fault, they're autistic, we shouldn't hold them accountable.

I'm sick of it. Entrapta isn't the first and she won't be the last.

When the other princesses are rightfully pissed off at her betrayal, they're portrayed as being bullies because she's bad at making friends. As thought the problem is that she's awkward and not that she willingly sided with a genocidal facist and helped him commit genocide.

The fact that she literally leapt at the chance to help commit genocide is never fucking brought up or dealt with. We're just supposed to feel bad for her because she's Autistic And Doesn't Know How To Make Friends.

You know how fucking Elon Musk recently "came out" as autistic?

Yeah.

That fucking sums up everything with Entrapta. She's fucking evil and doesn't give a single shit who gets hurt because of her actions, and we're supposed to make excuses for her and be okay with that because she's A Little Baby Autistic Who Doesn't Know How To Make Friends :( :( :( :( :( :( :( /s

I'm sick of this shit. If you search my blog for the word "Entrapta" you should see all the other posts I've made on this subject because it's pissed me off since the getgo.

When they introduced her I was so fucking excited to see a weird character with her dark color scheme and weird movements be a hero.

And then they said no. She's going to leap at the chance to join a genocidal facist and fall in love with the genocidal facist and help him commit genocide because she doesn't give a single flying fuck about anyone but herself and her Shiny Toys.

I hate this trope and I hate allistics and I hate this show.

And you know what. I don't fucking know anything about the writers but if one of them is autistic and they still did this? That doesn't mke it okay, that makes it a million fucking times worse and they are a fucking traitor.

If you try to argue with me on this post that Hordak isn’t a facist and the Horde didn’t commit genocide, shut the fuck up and block me. You are going to be blocked and you’re going to be reported. Literally just block me. If you defend genocide and facism, you are a horrible person.

[aroace-mako]

tbh i really hate how the atla fandom has make zuko's redemption arc some kind of standard for how redemption arcs should be written? i've seen so many people shit on other character's arcs (like catra) because their arc isn't exactly like zuko's. the thing is not every cartoon is going to be a copycat of atla and different characters have different purposes ya know?

i definitely agree that not every redemption arc has to model zuko’s (though obviously his was well written)-different stories are going to involve different redemption arcs. but personally i think catra’s redemption arc was somewhat underdone. based on all the hurt she caused, especially the active malicious verbal abuse directed at adora, i felt like there needed to be more atonement than there was.

[catgirlapologist]

could anyone help me find that post about double trouble as a character being an antisemitic stereotype?

[quadrilioquy]

i think the biggest issue i have with entrapta's writing in the show is that other character's quirks are treated as harmless, while hers are flaws. 

swift wind's singing is something that comes to mind: other characters clearly find it annoying, but it's never presented as a problem, just something he does. his arc doesn't revolve around learning not to sing when it could put them in danger. and like, obviously i don't think that should've been his arc (though i'm not actually sure he had one at all?), but it’s not fair that entrapta has to...make up for the way she is, or something, before she’s worthy of friendship.

there are other characters who were given the same leeway—scorpia is honestly pretty bad at respecting personal boundaries, and sea hawk is sea hawk. he literally gets himself, bow, and swift wind kidnapped, but even when he gets called on endangering people, he’s not treated like he’s a bad friend. none of them are. and that’s not by any means a bad thing! i just wish the show treated entrapta more like them, you know?

[blackholezyy]

Perfuma and Toxic Positivity (LONG POST!!!)

In light of my previous post and because of my previous posts about Mermista and Frosta, I’ve decided to make a separate post to about Perfuma. So let’s get started.

Perfuma is one of the main elemental princesses in SPOP and is actually the second princess introduced to the viewer after Glimmer. Perfuma is introduced as rather passive, pacifistic, and compassionate—less willing to stand up to the Horde as opposed to Glimmer, who is more impulsive and headstrong. I think that her introduction was fine and establishes her character well. My only grievance is how at the end of the episode, Perfuma beats up a bunch of Horde soldiers. Which.. yeah, I understand why but it feels so disappointing because it would’ve been cool if Perfuma and her people learned how to fight while still keeping their pacifism.

It’s kind of like with airbending where airbenders are more evasive and avoid direct confrontation—taking down their enemies without doing lasting damage. And yes we can do this with plants as seen with Flora from Winx Club, who doesn’t typically take her enemies down with brute force as opposed to other characters like Bloom, Aisha or Stella.

Anyway, Perfuma’s little arc in this episode (alongside with all of Plumeria) is basically learning how to stand up for herself and stop relying on others. Which.. how did Plumeria last this long? But whatever, I digress.

And for the rest of the series, she gets nothing. She doesn’t have any sort of an arc, she doesn’t have any character development.. she’s literally the same character from S1 all the way to S5. With Mermista, I hated her. With Frosta, I tolerated her but still disappointed. But with Perfuma, I just feel annoyed because again, there could’ve been so much to expand on her character yet the writers just don’t put in the work.

Now let’s talk about toxic positivity.

As the name implies, toxic positivity by definition is the excessive pressure to maintain a positive, happy attitude even in the face of difficult or painful emotions. The problem with this is that it dismisses and ignores negative feelings like sadness, anger grief and fear. It’s like telling someone to that their negative feelings are invalid and that they should just “be happy.” It can cause long term effects such as increase feelings of shame, limit personal growth, cause emotional distance and damage mental health (increased anxiety, depression, stress, etc.). It also leads to avoidance of difficult conversations which yeah, they are hard to talk about but talking about it and being honest is the first step to healing and without it, it leads to increased isolation and lack of support.

Now with that out of the way, we could see these traits in Perfuma whenever she appears in an episode. Her whole personality is just “keep your spirits up and be happy!” Which wouldn’t be a problem if her arc revolved around toxic positivity and how she needs to understand that it’s okay to express negative emotions. Maybe because of the war, she needed to be strong and keeps her hopes up for her people. But NOPE nothing. As on brand for the SPOP writers.

This makes me nervous because while the show doesn’t directly show toxic positivity, the undertones are still there.

Another issue with Perfuma is how hypocritical she is. She preaches about peace and harmony yet is very short tempered and could be passive aggressive at times. Which again, isn’t bad if it gets explored or if other characters call her out on it. But that never happens, the narrative just constantly pushes for Perfuma to be the hippie pacifist flower girl. I just find it very frustrating that we’re supposed to believe that Perfuma is all about peace, harmony and love when Jet actions say so otherwise. The only reason why this behavior isn’t called out is that it’s played for comedy.

As we can see, SPOP loves portraying problematic themes and act like it’s comedy.

TW!! ABLEISM

Another issue with Perfuma is how ableist she really is. She’s passive aggressive with Entrapta, she literally LEASHES her like a dog and then turn around and complains that Entrapta doesn’t care about her friends.

Let’s not forget that Entrapta is canonically autistic so this is just.. yikes. And also, Perfuma never apologizes for this behavior which makes it even worse. I understand that Entrapta should’ve never worked with the Horde, but the princesses treat her like shit and it never gets addressed. Perfuma never even tried to be patient with Entrapta and see things from her perspective. She just immediately leashed her the moment she started to run off. I could understand that she was stressed because they were in Horde territory trying to save Bow and Glimmer while also keeping hidden to avoid their covers being blown. But no excuse than justify leashing an autistic woman for what? Being herself and trying to help in her own way?

Honestly, a character who is Perfuma done right is Flora from Winx Club.

while I do have my own criticisms about Flora, she is infinitely a much better character than Perfuma. I’d even argue that Perfuma was based off Flora (tanned skin, blonde hair though Flora only has blonde streaks, pink and green color scheme, flower/plant girls). But unlike Perfuma, Flora is actually patient, kind and listens to others, even to people like Diaspro. She is definitely the mom friend of the group as she gives others like Aisha, Brandon, etc. comfort and a place to vent out their feelings.

Overall, Perfuma is a terribly written character. Like Frosta, Mermista and quite a lot of characters in SPOP, Perfuma could’ve been such an interesting character had the writers handled her well. If it were up to me, I would’ve expanded more on the toxic positivity side of her character and have her arc be learning that it’s okay to feel negative emotions. Maybe she bottles up her emotions for her people because the people of Plumeria sees her as some kind of anchor. Maybe as she learns these things, her powers get more stronger because she’s expressing herself rather than bottling up her emotions.

But nope. Nada. And it’s depressing seeing something that could’ve been great be handled so poorly.

[rjalker]

My response to this post because apparently the OP or someone else on the post blocked me because they’re also an ableist peice of shit :)

Yeah, this scene pissed me off. Entrapta willingly and happily joined up with the facist genocidal colonizers who were destroying the planet because all she cares about is getting shiny new toys to play with. The other princesses are 100% justified and correct in assuming that she doesn’t care about them, because she doesn’t.

The only thing Entrapta is ever shown to care about is technology and mother fucking Hordak, THE literal alien invader who is trying to destroy the fucking planet.

If your friends leave you because they think you’re dead, that doesn’t mean you side with a fucking enemy, it means you figure out a way to get out on your own. Or you pretend to side with the enemy and sabotage them, not literally help them conquer the fucking planet better than they ever have before.

Entrapta is a terrible fucking person. She does not actually give a shit about anyone but herself and her shiny new fucking toys.

There is a trope that Entrapta is just the newest iteration of, of very clearly autistic characters who endanger everyone around them, and it’s okay, because they’re autisticm so they don’t know any better! So we need to forgive them and coddle them and let them do whatever they want, even if what they want includes joining a genocide a fucking facist and helping him, or, you know, carrying around some fucking dynamite and blowing up something where people are standing like it’s no fucking big deal.

Entrapta in universe being autistic is not the problem. But out of Universe? She is an ableist fucking stereotype and I am sick of it. I’m sick of seeing very painfully obviously autistic characters being criminally negligent and putting everyone around them in Mortal Peril and facing no consequences and feeling No Remorse and being coddled and their hands held because they’re cute little innocent babies who don’t know any better so we’re not even going to try to correct the behavior.

Entrapta is a terrible person, and she is an ableist stereotype, and pretending that her only issue is that she’s autistic is just shit writing along with everything else in the last season of She-Ra, and it’s also ableist as shit.

I’m pretty damn sure it’s cannon the Entrapta is the oldest of all the princesses.

She is a grown fucking adult.

Just because she’s autistic does not mean she cannot be held or should not be held accountable for her fucking crimes, which I must reiterate include literally siding with the genocidal facist alien colonizer and helping him to destroy all life on the goddamn planet.

[rjalker]

Cartoon with all the heroes in dark, saturated color schemes and all the bad guys in pastels.

Pale does not equal good.

Dark does not equal bad.

She-Ra has a lot of overt racism, including the blatant whitewashing of Mara, and the darkening of the skin of Shadow Weaver's skin when she becomes even more evil, and the fact that Catra, the brown girl, is the one who is violent and abusive and animal like and out of control, and then it also has the more subtle form of racism with the designs of all the characters.

Not to mention the ableism, with Hordak being physically disabled, Entrapta being autistic, and Shadow Weaver having facial scars to mark her transition to being evil -.-

Not to mention the part where romanticizes incest and abuse and victim blames abuse victims for not staying with their abusers -.-

Oh and let's not forget the combined transmisogyny and antisemitism of the only non binary character in the entire show being a non-human shape-shifting lizard person who is evil and specifically tricks their way into the heroes good graces by pretending to be a girl to gain their trust before revealing their true self and betraying them.

This show is brand freaking new. It wasn't made in the 80s. There is literally no fucking excuse.