fuck ryan murphy

river and payton weren't hetero | they/them

[thepolipayton]

there are so many things wrong with season 2 but one of the many fucked up things of this season by far is the fact that river and payton weren't attracted to each other like "that". ryan murphy really queerbaited us into the show by introducing river and payton as a thing in the trailers, killed river off extremely early on, and then in the second series literally says river wasn't even gay or bi and that payton wasn't attracted to him in that way and tried to play it off as them being touch starved and depressed which presents an extremely dangerous thought process to younger queer kids who are questioning ESPECIALLY those who have mental health problems. it's completely valid for someone to experiment in teenage years and be like hey I think I'm straight, if it had been presented in that way it wouldn't have been an issue. but they knowingly presented these characters as queer and then ripped them away whilst still profiting from making them seem bi.

I also KNOW at some point on the politicians instagram they had a promo picture that had astrid, payton and river and labelled them as bisexual, however it is now deleted so I can't get the proof but I am still digging because I know it exists. they constantly focus their advertising as the show being so lgbtq+ inclusive, when the majority of the characters they are advertising as that aren't actually canonly those things. the fact that I'm having to say these straight characters are being presented as queer as advertising says enough

fuck ryan murphy and fuck his biphobic queerbaiting ass

[thepolipayton]

@valeeriee i couldnt find the clip for you, but a basic rundown of the scene is that astrid and payton are sat in his dorm talking about how astrid doesn't remember the threesome, how the threesome never actually happened because astrid got jealous, payton cried, then they talked about how payton and river didnt actually have feelings for each other (despite everything that happened in season 1) and that river wasn't bi he just liked to be close to people. if im wrong someone correct me, it's been a while since I saw the scene. also if anyone has the clip that would also be helpful! hope this helps 🥰

[yoinkz-deactivated20210122]

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN SERBIA?

TL;DR: we’re living under a dictatorship. people are currently protesting the deaths caused by decisions the government made while prioritising the election over human lives. mainstream news are making it seem like the protesters are hooligans who are protesting new safety measures and not the dictatorship they refuse to even acknowledge.

THE LEAD-UP

here’s a brief list of things that caused the people to protest:

the elections have been rigged since the moment aleksandar vučić became president. not even in a relatively subtle way like in the usa (gerrymandering), but by literally replacing sacks of voting papers with ones that are voting for sns (srpska narodna stranka, the president’s party)

we were lied to about when the first covid-19 case appeared in serbia. the government withheld information from us because it benefited them.

also, about a week before the lockdown, the president made fun of the virus, encouraging people to “go shop in milano if they want”. when the situation got serious, he shifted the blame to the people.

hospitals all around the country were and still are severely underfunded. they’re reusing masks, don’t have enough space for all the patients, and the tests we’re still given aren’t accurate.

the lockdown was lifted prematurely because of the parliamentary elections. if you look up “serbia covid19 cases” on google, you’ll see that the second wave started around june 21st, which is when the election was.

right after the election was over, the government set extreme safety measures, including: police enforced lockdown fri-sun, an attempt to force all belgrade students out of their dorms during exam season, etc.

THE PROTESTS

last night (july 7th), there was a huge unorganized protest outside of the belgrade parliament building.

as expected, the police turned it into a violent protest. they used tear gas 26 times, attacked people who weren’t even protesting, and used unnecessary force against those who were. a man was choked the same way george floyd was.

only n1 (cnn’s channel) actually informed people that this was happening, and their website was down all night last night. every other network was airing their usual program, since they’re controlled by the government.

the people got into the parliament building a few times, but were ultimately forced out violently by the police.

there were protests in other cities too, but they weren’t as large.

rts (the most watched channel in the country) is putting all the blame on the protesters and making it seem as if they’re protesting the new safety measures, and not the dictatorship of aleksandar vučić.

every other international news source is pretty much doing the same.

WHAT NOW?

the protests will continue. in case they’re successful, there will be another election, one that won’t put only sns members in the parliament (they make up more than 70% as of right now).

in case they’re not successful, we’ll be expecting a change of the constitution that will state that there’s no limit to how many terms a president can have. we’ll live under complete dictatorship.

the most you, outside of serbia, can do is share correct information and spread awareness about what’s happening.

reblog and share this post, share other posts (on instagram especially) made by serbian people, call out false information when you see it. i’m begging blm activists for their help especially - we did all we can to support you and now we need the favour returned.

[thepolipayton]

okay so since I haven't seen a lot of people talking about it, let's talk about the ✨ ableism ✨ in season 2

before I start I'm not angry at the actor for andrew, I'm sure he's lovely and I dont have a problem with him. I am literally thrilled that there are more disabled actors out there getting jobs. my problem is the way the character was written by (I'm presuming) abled people

I'm disabled! I hated the "rep" we got. it's cool to see disabled characters where we have lives outside of our disabilities because SURPRISE we do. but the ONE disabled character we got, was a fucking creepy misogynistic dickhead. on the one hand yes it's cool to have a disabled character, and yes it's cool that the character isn't treated like an infant, and yes disabled people can be dicks regardless of their disability. but on the other hand, why is the disabled character the one with these qualities

the best thing I can think to compare it to is if yall remember that weird heathers reboot where they made the heathers queer, trans, fat, biracial, etc. yes it's cool to have rep, and yes those groups of people can be dicks regardless. but we all knew instantly "hey this is really fucked up that the queer, biracial, fat people are the enemies against the het white couple and are treated as bad people". so why is it that the one disabled character we get, who also isn't white, is the one that creeps on the white girl to the point of possibly being a stalker. do you guys see why that is so fucked up. ESPECIALLY when the main characters get away with so much shit, but they focus on this one character who is being disgusting. like it literally was not necessary to make him a creep, what did it add to the plot apart from letting you mention infinity a couple of times

the second part is the fucking straws SHUT UP ABOUT THE FUCKING STRAWS JUST SAY YOU DIDN'T DO ACTUAL RESEARCH ON GLOBAL WARMING AND MOVE ON. there's a whole seperate rant in there about how they constantly blamed individual people for global warming without mentioning cooperations, but lets be honest ryan probably didnt want to upset his rich friends.

if you aren't aware, many, many disabled people have spoken up about the way trying to mass ban plastic straws is fucked up for people with disabilities who rely on straws for food or drink. some of us can't hold up cups, or eat food without it being pureed or blended, and some medications are taken by straw. I know sometimes straws have been my lifeline, they were for several months very recently. without straws we lose so much of our independence and it can actually be more dangerous to use things like spoons sometimes. imagine you easily burn and you're just trying to eat some soup but oh fuck now it's all down you and you have burns that are painful because you didnt have access to a straw. straws in general are so important to people with disabilities and sometimes plastic straws are the only straws we're able to use. paper straws fall apart too easily which isn't good for long time use, or things such as tea or coffee, or when you're on a budget and have to keep replacing them. not to mention they don't bend and are actually a choking hazard. metal straws can get extremely cold which can be painful when you're sensitive to that, they can damage your teeth and most importantly they need to be sterilized (I cant spell it I know) after each use which isn't practical for someone with disabilities, and again they don't bend. bamboo, glass and acrylic all have injury risks as well as being more expensive. compostable straws don't exactly work well when you're at high risk of having allergic reactions (which can kill you, or cost you a lot in medical fees) as well as you would need to be able to compost them safely. if plastic straws, most people's only option, were mass banned we would have to buy them for a high price, carry them around or request them specifically from wherever we were eating. that alone is inconvenient and most of the time embarrassing, but it would also add to the disgusting stigma around disabilities. you already make us do so much when we just want to go out of the house, the more things you add for us to have to remember the more likely it is that we're going to be put in a bad situation where we forget something important but hey at least we have the fucking straws. not to mention that even if businesses were required to have plastic straws what the fuck makes you think theyd comply when they cant even get ramps and door measurements right.

please do research into how the straw issue affects people with disabilities. you should be pressuring companies into looking for disabled friendly AND environmentally friendly options. not taking away something many need to survive.

and yet the politician still continues to focus on this issue despite so many speaking up about it. season 1? okay sure, there hadn't been that many people speaking up about it before they'd begun filming so maybe that can maybe be excused. so no one on that team has heard about someone speaking up? not a single one? and if not then you're telling me that not a single person could have literally just gone to google and done a bit of research and not have found one of the hundreds of disabled people who have been trying to say dont fucking do this. or on the other hand if they've done all the appropriate research needed to be able to accurately portray a politician fighting against global warming, then why haven't they stumbled across this. doesn't seem like very thorough research to me. this isn't a teen on tiktok trying to do their part and genuinely not knowing, these are people who have access to this kind of research but have neglected to do so. it's very clear to me that the writers and directors are just trying to make a shallow grab at being woke, and failing fucking miserably

I know this is very messy and all over the place, but it comes from a place of anger and exhaustion of having to keep having this conversation over and over again. this is barely scratching the surface of the ableism and ignorance present in the politician, but I'm really hoping that it can help some of you see why disabled people are so pissed off with this season. fuck ryan murphy

[thepolipayton]

there are so many things wrong with season 2 but one of the many fucked up things of this season by far is the fact that river and payton weren't attracted to each other like "that". ryan murphy really queerbaited us into the show by introducing river and payton as a thing in the trailers, killed river off extremely early on, and then in the second series literally says river wasn't even gay or bi and that payton wasn't attracted to him in that way and tried to play it off as them being touch starved and depressed which presents an extremely dangerous thought process to younger queer kids who are questioning ESPECIALLY those who have mental health problems. it's completely valid for someone to experiment in teenage years and be like hey I think I'm straight, if it had been presented in that way it wouldn't have been an issue. but they knowingly presented these characters as queer and then ripped them away whilst still profiting from making them seem bi.

I also KNOW at some point on the politicians instagram they had a promo picture that had astrid, payton and river and labelled them as bisexual, however it is now deleted so I can't get the proof but I am still digging because I know it exists. they constantly focus their advertising as the show being so lgbtq+ inclusive, when the majority of the characters they are advertising as that aren't actually canonly those things. the fact that I'm having to say these straight characters are being presented as queer as advertising says enough

fuck ryan murphy and fuck his biphobic queerbaiting ass

[thepolipayton]

@theman-themyth-themoth hi! everyone can interpret that differently, but if you look through the politician tag you'll see where my line of thought is and why both astrid and payton claiming that river only wanted to be close to them and he wasn't bi or gay is seen as biphobic to me personally

as for the other stuff there's a lot! I recently posted about the ableism in the politican, but there was also issues with the portrayal of global warming activists, misogyny, biphobia outside of payton and river, homophobia, the batshit crazy plot, pedophilia, teacher/student relationships, racism and god so much more that I can't remember from the top of my head. yes the politician is meant to be morally ambiguous but there's a difference between the characters having weird morals, and the writers being disgusting

I hope this helped a bit :)

[thepolipayton]

okay so since I haven't seen a lot of people talking about it, let's talk about the ✨ ableism ✨ in season 2

before I start I'm not angry at the actor for andrew, I'm sure he's lovely and I dont have a problem with him. I am literally thrilled that there are more disabled actors out there getting jobs. my problem is the way the character was written by (I'm presuming) abled people

I'm disabled! I hated the "rep" we got. it's cool to see disabled characters where we have lives outside of our disabilities because SURPRISE we do. but the ONE disabled character we got, was a fucking creepy misogynistic dickhead. on the one hand yes it's cool to have a disabled character, and yes it's cool that the character isn't treated like an infant, and yes disabled people can be dicks regardless of their disability. but on the other hand, why is the disabled character the one with these qualities

the best thing I can think to compare it to is if yall remember that weird heathers reboot where they made the heathers queer, trans, fat, biracial, etc. yes it's cool to have rep, and yes those groups of people can be dicks regardless. but we all knew instantly "hey this is really fucked up that the queer, biracial, fat people are the enemies against the het white couple and are treated as bad people". so why is it that the one disabled character we get, who also isn't white, is the one that creeps on the white girl to the point of possibly being a stalker. do you guys see why that is so fucked up. ESPECIALLY when the main characters get away with so much shit, but they focus on this one character who is being disgusting. like it literally was not necessary to make him a creep, what did it add to the plot apart from letting you mention infinity a couple of times

the second part is the fucking straws SHUT UP ABOUT THE FUCKING STRAWS JUST SAY YOU DIDN'T DO ACTUAL RESEARCH ON GLOBAL WARMING AND MOVE ON. there's a whole seperate rant in there about how they constantly blamed individual people for global warming without mentioning cooperations, but lets be honest ryan probably didnt want to upset his rich friends.

if you aren't aware, many, many disabled people have spoken up about the way trying to mass ban plastic straws is fucked up for people with disabilities who rely on straws for food or drink. some of us can't hold up cups, or eat food without it being pureed or blended, and some medications are taken by straw. I know sometimes straws have been my lifeline, they were for several months very recently. without straws we lose so much of our independence and it can actually be more dangerous to use things like spoons sometimes. imagine you easily burn and you're just trying to eat some soup but oh fuck now it's all down you and you have burns that are painful because you didnt have access to a straw. straws in general are so important to people with disabilities and sometimes plastic straws are the only straws we're able to use. paper straws fall apart too easily which isn't good for long time use, or things such as tea or coffee, or when you're on a budget and have to keep replacing them. not to mention they don't bend and are actually a choking hazard. metal straws can get extremely cold which can be painful when you're sensitive to that, they can damage your teeth and most importantly they need to be sterilized (I cant spell it I know) after each use which isn't practical for someone with disabilities, and again they don't bend. bamboo, glass and acrylic all have injury risks as well as being more expensive. compostable straws don't exactly work well when you're at high risk of having allergic reactions (which can kill you, or cost you a lot in medical fees) as well as you would need to be able to compost them safely. if plastic straws, most people's only option, were mass banned we would have to buy them for a high price, carry them around or request them specifically from wherever we were eating. that alone is inconvenient and most of the time embarrassing, but it would also add to the disgusting stigma around disabilities. you already make us do so much when we just want to go out of the house, the more things you add for us to have to remember the more likely it is that we're going to be put in a bad situation where we forget something important but hey at least we have the fucking straws. not to mention that even if businesses were required to have plastic straws what the fuck makes you think theyd comply when they cant even get ramps and door measurements right.

please do research into how the straw issue affects people with disabilities. you should be pressuring companies into looking for disabled friendly AND environmentally friendly options. not taking away something many need to survive.

and yet the politician still continues to focus on this issue despite so many speaking up about it. season 1? okay sure, there hadn't been that many people speaking up about it before they'd begun filming so maybe that can maybe be excused. so no one on that team has heard about someone speaking up? not a single one? and if not then you're telling me that not a single person could have literally just gone to google and done a bit of research and not have found one of the hundreds of disabled people who have been trying to say dont fucking do this. or on the other hand if they've done all the appropriate research needed to be able to accurately portray a politician fighting against global warming, then why haven't they stumbled across this. doesn't seem like very thorough research to me. this isn't a teen on tiktok trying to do their part and genuinely not knowing, these are people who have access to this kind of research but have neglected to do so. it's very clear to me that the writers and directors are just trying to make a shallow grab at being woke, and failing fucking miserably

I know this is very messy and all over the place, but it comes from a place of anger and exhaustion of having to keep having this conversation over and over again. this is barely scratching the surface of the ableism and ignorance present in the politician, but I'm really hoping that it can help some of you see why disabled people are so pissed off with this season. fuck ryan murphy

[supervisorkenadams]

Ok as much as I adore The Politician, it really rubs me the wrong way the way queer characters are treated on this show

So while I have absolutely no problem with bi characters ending up in male/female relationships, the fact that all the queer women on this show ended up either with male love interests or single, especially with the fact that McAfee and Georgina both perpetuate the idea that bi-women with eventually leave the women they’re with to be with a guy is NOT a vibe

Plus I’m not gonna even start on whatever that “No Homo” bullshit thing was with Payton and River (probably some shitty ass biphobic way of rationalizing Payton and Alices little nuclear family by invalidating Payton’s only mlm relationship because CLEARLY he’s straight guys, he’s not gay, and there’s OBVIOUSLY no middle ground between the two)

I also really hate the way polyamorous relationships were depicted in season 2 as something that can never actually work out and no one will ever be genuinely happy unless they leave the polyam relationship to be in a “normal” relationship (adding to the list of biphobic shit this show did when they claimed that one of Dede’s partners was “basically gay” once they split up)

[cruxius]

fun game!! dont look at my about and guess these things based on how you perceive me:

age pronouns and gender zodiac sign romantic status eye color hobbies introverted / extroverted favorite season

[potato-dutchess]

I was kind of annoyed about Payton trying to ban plastic straws in season 1, but knew that the scene was probably filmed months before any disabled activists' words reached the show's creators.

But to have Payton double down on it in season 2 just really frustrates me. People have been very loud about how a lot of disabled people rely on plastic straws and that current straw alternatives can't be used. And this didn't reach any of the writers or producers?

And, if they really cared about the whole climate change theme they were going for this season, they'd realise that while individuals reducing their waste can help, it's only changes to big corporations that make a significant difference.

Idk, I'm just annoyed.

[thepolipayton]

Hello :-) I’ve said this to someone else but I took the Payton and Astrid scene as them reflecting their own insecurities. They both don’t think that River has feelings for them bc, how could he? (their thinking) And he’s not there to tell them his actual emotions. I also don’t think that Payton’s feelings weren’t real just because he says so, if you know what I mean? He “wanted to be close to him,” but it again seems like a misinterpretation based on personal insecurities and understanding.

hi! thanks for giving me your take, it's really appreciated and cool to see other perspectives!! personally I still firmly believe that the whole scene was ryan murphy trying to furiously backpedel, judging off his previous biphobia plus the fact that when you take it at face value your first thought is oh hes straight and honestly I don't think I want to even try give ryan some undeserved credit. I still think the whole thing is very biphobic and you should be cautious of giving the writers/ryan a free pass. even if this were the case it's like if you paint a red streak on the floor, your intention is that red can be associated with very calming things but in the end it still looks like blood on the floor

BUT it is very nice to see people having different perspectives on the show and being able to still enjoy payton/river without any of murphy's bullshit tarnishing that. thank you so much for taking the time to send me this ask 🥰

[thepolipayton]

there are so many things wrong with season 2 but one of the many fucked up things of this season by far is the fact that river and payton weren't attracted to each other like "that". ryan murphy really queerbaited us into the show by introducing river and payton as a thing in the trailers, killed river off extremely early on, and then in the second series literally says river wasn't even gay or bi and that payton wasn't attracted to him in that way and tried to play it off as them being touch starved and depressed which presents an extremely dangerous thought process to younger queer kids who are questioning ESPECIALLY those who have mental health problems. it's completely valid for someone to experiment in teenage years and be like hey I think I'm straight, if it had been presented in that way it wouldn't have been an issue. but they knowingly presented these characters as queer and then ripped them away whilst still profiting from making them seem bi.

I also KNOW at some point on the politicians instagram they had a promo picture that had astrid, payton and river and labelled them as bisexual, however it is now deleted so I can't get the proof but I am still digging because I know it exists. they constantly focus their advertising as the show being so lgbtq+ inclusive, when the majority of the characters they are advertising as that aren't actually canonly those things. the fact that I'm having to say these straight characters are being presented as queer as advertising says enough

fuck ryan murphy and fuck his biphobic queerbaiting ass

[ambsisnauseous]

[thepolipayton]

there are so many things wrong with season 2 but one of the many fucked up things of this season by far is the fact that river and payton weren't attracted to each other like "that". ryan murphy really queerbaited us into the show by introducing river and payton as a thing in the trailers, killed river off extremely early on, and then in the second series literally says river wasn't even gay or bi and that payton wasn't attracted to him in that way and tried to play it off as them being touch starved and depressed which presents an extremely dangerous thought process to younger queer kids who are questioning ESPECIALLY those who have mental health problems. it's completely valid for someone to experiment in teenage years and be like hey I think I'm straight, if it had been presented in that way it wouldn't have been an issue. but they knowingly presented these characters as queer and then ripped them away whilst still profiting from making them seem bi.

I also KNOW at some point on the politicians instagram they had a promo picture that had astrid, payton and river and labelled them as bisexual, however it is now deleted so I can't get the proof but I am still digging because I know it exists. they constantly focus their advertising as the show being so lgbtq+ inclusive, when the majority of the characters they are advertising as that aren't actually canonly those things. the fact that I'm having to say these straight characters are being presented as queer as advertising says enough

fuck ryan murphy and fuck his biphobic queerbaiting ass

[kylewalker-peters]

the politician could have literally just said river was bi like it’s very well established how much he loved payton and he was with astrid so like what was the point of specifically saying he wasn’t and that he just “liked to feel close with people”

[paytonthepolitician]

UNDERGROUND ROCK PAPER SCISSORS???

[thepolipayton]

since I'm being very openly honest and will provide a lot more deeper thoughts into what's going through my head later

what the fuck was happening in season 2 that was so fucking bad what the fuck

[paytonplatt]

IT FUCKING SUCKED

[thepolipayton]

IT DID!! WHAT HAPPENED HOW COULD IT HAVE GONE SO WRONG SO FAST

[paytonplatt]

AND THE CLIFFHANGER THEY ENDED ON MY G O D

[thepolipayton]

our expectations were so low AND Y E T

[thepolipayton]

since I'm being very openly honest and will provide a lot more deeper thoughts into what's going through my head later

what the fuck was happening in season 2 that was so fucking bad what the fuck

[paytonplatt]

IT FUCKING SUCKED

[thepolipayton]

IT DID!! WHAT HAPPENED HOW COULD IT HAVE GONE SO WRONG SO FAST

[thepolipayton]

since I'm being very openly honest and will provide a lot more deeper thoughts into what's going through my head later

what the fuck was happening in season 2 that was so fucking bad what the fuck

[thepolipayton]

what I've learnt most about what I wanted from the second season of the politician is that I really want to see ben platt play a gay starving artist type musician because god what I would pay to see THAT