I said this in a comment on another post but fuck it I’ll make it its own post.
I would like to know why I’m supposed to be upset that Rachel called Shane stupid. Seriously.
Because every time I see someone bring this up, it’s presented like it’s self-evidently awful, and I just truly don’t understand why.
I’ve been in fandom and reading fanfic since I was 10 I’m 26 now. And to me? That’s a very normal way for writers to talk about their characters.
Go into the notes section of basically any slow burn, mutual pining fanfic on AO3 and you’ll find authors calling their characters idiots, dumbasses, disasters, oblivious morons, and every variation in between. Usually they’re saying it with nothing but affection because the characters’ stupidity is what’s driving the plot.
What really confuses me, though, is when people make the jump to “Rachel ONLY calls Shane stupid”, “Rachel ONLY talks negatively about Shane.”, and “She never talks about his positive qualities.”
How do you know that? Genuine question. Who told you that? What are they basing that on?
I’ve been a fan of the GCU for 4-5 years. No disrespect but a lot of the people repeating this have been in this fandom for maybe 6 months? And in those 6 months most of you have been obsessing over the actors (no judgement same) and reading and writing nothing but fanfic (again same). I highly doubt you’ve gone back and digested 8 years of Rachel Reid content lol.
In fact it’s impossible to do that. Rachel deleted her Twitter and discord a while ago, which was where years of comments, interactions, jokes, and discussions lived. Unless someone was personally archiving every tweet for a decade, nobody has a complete record of every time she talked about these characters.
And if they heard it from someone else, who did that person hear it from?
At some point, it starts to feel like fandom telephone. A person makes an interpretation, someone else repeats it, and after enough repetitions it gets treated as established fact.
Because Shane is absolutely not the only character Rachel has ever called stupid. I know that because like I said I’ve been in this fandom for years. Do you even know the other characters to make this claim? Surely you can tell me how she talks about Kyle and Eric if you believe this? Do you even know who the fuck Kyle and Eric are? 😭
Personally, I don’t care if Rachel calls Shane stupid sometimes. It never crossed my mind to even THINK about being upset about that. Not only because it’s pretty normal writer behavior for me but also because I’ve seen her talk about lots of her characters that way. It’s not a unique criticism directed at Shane. It’s not something she reserves only for him. (Now IF it was I would completely understand!)
What bothers me is seeing people take a handful of comments, strip them of context, and then present a conclusion as though it’s an established fact. Making claims about Rachel’s feelings toward Shane with a level of certainty that I don’t think the available evidence supports.
You can absolutely argue that a particular comment rubbed you the wrong way. That’s a matter of opinion.
You can absolutely say, “I don’t like the way Rachel talks about Shane.” Or , “This comment made me uncomfortable.”
But “Rachel only calls Shane stupid and never says anything positive about him” is a factual claim. And if you’re making a factual claim, I think it’s fair to ask where that information came from, what evidence it’s based on, and why everyone else should accept it as true.
And before anyone says it, no, this isn’t me arguing Rachel can never be wrong or never fuck up.
I have my own critiques of her writing. There are things she’s written that I disagree with. There are things I think she could have handled better.
Part of what makes these conversations so frustrating, though, is that it’s difficult to have an actual discussion about those critiques when half of the criticism isn’t based in good faith.
Edit: Also if we’re going to criticize her, the critique should at least make sense! People use Rachel calling Shane stupid as evidence that she’s being racially insensitive. As I’ve said in another post, that critique doesn’t really make sense to me because “stupid” is not a stereotype that Asian men have ever historically faced. Now, if someone wants to make the argument that calling Shane stupid is ableist because Shane is autistic, that actually makes sense lol! It should be based on things that actually happened and stereotypes that actually exist, not just whatever accusation sounds the most serious.
(Also just to be clear I’m not saying Rachel can’t be racially insensitive- OBVIOUSLY NOT LOL! Just this isn’t a great example and like I said poor evidence ruins a good argument. Your critique needs to make sense!)
I (a black woman with ADHD who works with individuals with autism everyday) don’t think it’s ableist just because like I said previously, I think that’s a very normal way for a writer to talk (especially a writer from fandom) and she doesn’t only call Shane that. But like I said, I could understand that more if you legit think that’s true. But if it still rubs you the wrong way completely understand I’m just offering a different view cause I’m legitimately confused by a lot of this discourse.