Could it be said that this is a pattern or that someone who comes to this conclusion is exaggerating?
For example, in many animes the characters are Asian and right-wingers don’t seem to mind. Maybe because most of the characters appear to be white, or because many Japanese animes have an actual cast of white characters. They don’t seem to mind if in a fictional world all the characters are white or Asian, but on the other hand they would mind if in the fictional world all the characters were black or had dark skin. Is this really a fact or an exaggeration?
Every single right leaning person I know LOVES several movies and shows that have main characters that aren’t white men.
The boondocks, blade series, basically anything Morgan Freeman or Samuel L Jackson have done, Lando, Morpheus and uncle Phil off the top of my head.
I am aware there are the super racist far right guys that probably can’t even watch Scooby Doo because the dog is brown, but the grand majority of “right wing” people aren’t white supremacists that lose their shit if a character isn’t white in their movies and shows. Even if that’s what some people here might tell you is the case.
No one cares who the lead is in a good show. It’s been popular to blame racism/sexism for shitty shows for a while. It’s easy to find a couple tweets and turn a handful of assholes into the face of criticism.
“Every time” is certainly an exaggeration. Just off the top of my head in a minute:
- The Dragon Prince - nobody gave a damn.
- Star Wars [pick any of several releases] - we’ve had various people of color, both human and alien, as protagonists. I don’t remember much of a fuss over that in particular.
- Various MCU things - Brave New World just came out, again featuring Mackie as Wilson - taking the place of the stereotypically WASP Steve Rogers, no less.
- Hazbin Hotel: Vaggie is heavily coded as latina.
- Mobile Suit Gundam: Witch From Mercury - okay, not a non-white lead, but the first Gundam series with a female lead, and a lesbian romance front and center. Once again, no attack.
If I looked around further, I’m sure I could find more. All of these have variously been critiqued for writing, characterization, or pacing, but failed to draw attacks based on the ethnicity (or orientation) of their protagonists.
Is this kind of attack a thing that happens? Absolutely. Is it “every time”? No. I’d suggest it’s more often when a series goes out of its way to bludgeon the audience with a message related to it, or tries to sell a newcomer as a superior replacement for a legacy character, that people can get riled up.
For every single piece of corporate media, you can find someone on the internet saying something bad about it.
Different aspects will invite different types of people.
For example, casting a non-white person as Snow white, that’ll invite everyone with a pair of eyes to ask why? Or for another example, giving Lara Croft smaller boobs will invite the gooners to say something. Modern Star Trek will invite old trek fans. I can go on.
Most corporate media these days is made by lefty companies like Disney, so you’ll see more of those kinds of criticism.
Whether or not it’s legitimate criticism is up to you though.
Lefty Companies
Disney
If Disney was an actual left company it would be a worker co-op. It is not.
Okay. Rainbow capitalism if you will.
deep space 9 had a black lead and it came out 40 years ago
I wasn’t calling new trek woke. Just different from old trek.
“Political Correctness”, “Social Justice Warrior”, “Woke”, “Diversity, Equality, Inclusivity”; the shit-for-brains bigots will always try to make their hatred seem reasonable and just. Don’t be fooled!
It’s because their entire identity is based on culture wars and politics. But those of us who are well adjusted, who gives a shit what color/orientation a protagonist is, as long as the plot has actually substance and the entire purpose of the story isn’t virtue signaling.
In a country so morally corrupt as the US, virtue signaling is necessary, as are instructions in shampoo bottles.
And constantly forcing a particular set of values/viewpoints down everyone’s throats is exactly how we ended up in the situation we are in now. Promoting equity and inclusion is great and the right direction for society, but forcing people (especially conservatives) to turn on a dime is going to yield resistance, and taking it over the top is how people like Trump get elected. That is the culture war aspect even moderates don’t care for, the constant drum banging. If we keep the ante up for slow and consistent change, we’d be much further ahead than via social force. You catch more bees with honey, and it would take generations to effectively breed the excess amount of hate out of American society.
You don’t use honey with immoral people. Being right wing is incompatible with common decency, period.
I’m sorry I’ve been dragging them into the theater and making them play games they don’t want to play, it’s my fault
