#...but that doesn't justify using that story of abuse to go 'look!!! these MENTALLY ILL people are SO dangerous and bad!!!!!!!' | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

aoki553 · 2 months

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i like makoto too but its... interesting, to say the least, that you feel the need to explain away and justify his actions and treatment of his sister instead of just... discussing them or explaining how you think he is mentally and/or how he can make up for his actions... regardless of his theoretical mental illness and trauma, hes STILL responsible for his own actions, and his sister never deserved to be treated that way.

long post ahead sorry about it

eh i'm trying my best to not justify him. i've just been so attached to the character and he means a lot to me so him being disregarded as a creepy siscon just bothers me yk? and i made my own posts and analysis of his mental illness i suspected... i just try to not correct or confront people about it whenver they do talk about him. that scares me lol

the thing is... he can't make up for his actions? he's a comedic relief siscon character that doesn't get any depth nor character development throughout the series. what could he possibly do to redeem himself without us having to write fanfiction about it? yes, i like to imagine him being a better brother, getting help for his disorder and issues. but that's just my interpretation of a flawed and underwritten character. and a lot of it is influenced by makokuu. but canon doesn't help much here.

he's not great, but he would've had more redeeming qualities if he wasn't a one joke character. i can't really do much about it but make up my own scenarios and stories on how he could be a good brother while acknowledging he's not a great person.

kokomi doesn't deserve to be stalked and makoto being so jealous and protective of her in his disturbed ways. i agree. but some people make him out to be some sort of sexual abuser in this scenario, which he isnt. we see domestic teruhashi siblings only what 3 times? maybe 2 more if we count them going to the movies together and on christmas... id love to see more scenarios of them just being siblings. but no. most of the scenes with him were written to be an exaggerated siscon trope. to be funny...

yes he is responsible for his actions, but he does need help. the help everyone is aware he shouldve gotten long ago before his obsession morphed his perception of whats acceptable for him to do to someone he loves and cares about. but what can we do about it when we never get to see him get better?

but at the same time i simply cannot think of him as the fanon "GUYS HE WANTS TO DO DIRTY STUFF TO HER KILL THAT PERVERT" anymore. despite his nonexisting depth, im doing my best to explore his character as much as i can.

😔 yeah, i apologize for rambling or getting defensive whenever someone gives an opinion on that one boy i have an unhealthy attachment to.

i'm likely this way due to being harassed before back when i had to pretend like i only like a purified version of makoto to not have my safety threatened. i take this stuff too personally sometimes and feel genuinely threatened, apologies. a doxxing attempt over an anime boy and opinions can fuck someone up for years yk? :(

i do love this character dearly and i know i'm getting enough weird looks in the fandom for it, its even worse when my autistic ass can't explain themselves properly, my bad..

hope this long rambling session cleared some stuff up, heres a wholesome terusibs moment <3

#ask #i almost cried writing this sorry #i am not good with being confronted but im doing my best #alex rambles #saiki kusuo no ψ nan #saiki kusuo no psi nan #saiki k #makoto teruhashi #teruhashi makoto

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traumasurvivorshelpingsurvivors · 2 years

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TW: abuse ( physical, emotional ), dissociation, depersonalization and other things of those sorts Hey mods, hope life's treating y'all well. Ig I just need to vent and some validation is needed. I'm sorry this is so long. Context; The entirety of my step-family is just, plain abusive. Step-mom with BPD basically is enabled and excused from everything. She stopped going to therapy & meds because she believes she doesn't need them, when she clearly does and her episodes/outbursts are quite literally violent tantrums. Fam just accepts it bc I think they're all just desensitized to it all now. Tells everyone I'm ableist when I stand up against her abuse. One vague memory I have of when I realized when this was not normal was when a cousin's friend came over ( joint family ) and I had a black eye from being beaten. The friend asked me what had happened & I just replied I talked back. When she told me that her parents did not do that to her it kinda clicked that the things that were taking place don't usually happen to others. I think I was 12 around that time? Since stepmom takes her anger on almost everyone, whenever it's on my cousins, my step-sister especially, they're always coming to me to misplace it on me since I'm only assuming it's bc im not biologically related to them. All of us are around the same age group, 15-17. Step mom does never gets violent with them, she's just verbally abusive. For me it's a whole another story. It's like torture, only way I can describe it. However about 2 months ago my step sister & i got into a huge argument after she defended one of my step mom's violent meltdowns. This did not end up well & by the end I was just hurt pretty badly. My sister is an HS athlete so she's actually way huge than me. I don't remember what happened, but I was just fading in & out of consciousness by then. I'm at a friend's place now, for a while. Family won't tell me anything about what happened. Recently I've been having heavy dissociative episodes and whenever I do snap out I barely remember anything. And it's long, like hours. I'm think I just get triggered by the most minute things these days. My friend & her roommate have noticed this & tell me that I look very lost for long periods of time and my replies to anything are very dry. They know I have some situations at home but don't know of the abuse. They're concerned about me but I can't tell them anything. I simply cannot trust anyone with it considering CPS has failed me multiple times. I find it ironic that when you are in a trauma-fueling environment, all you want is for someone to see your suffering and end it. But when you're somehow away from it all you want is to isolate yourself bc of shame & nobody understanding how it feels. I'm once again so, so sorry this is so long, it might be a chore to read. Mods, I truly appreciate the work you do. Take care. - Suzue.

Hi Suzue,

As someone with BPD I think its important to understand that while BPD may influence her behavior it is ultimately independent of her BPD that she is abusive. Conflating untreated BPD with abusive tendencies is a stigma that BPD has along with other personality disorders. For someone to justify abusing others transcends mental illness, it is a choice one makes, generally speaking.

That being said, of course there are people out there who have BPD and are abusive at the same time, and unfortunately your stepmom is one of those people. It sounds like you may have symptoms of a dissociative or traumatic disorder as a result.

I understand not wanting to risk telling people, but I think that as long as you intimately trust the person you want to tell and explain to them how delicate the situation is, it may feel healing to hear a friend weigh in or offer validation or support. You definitely don't deserve to feel alone in this.

While your stepmom definitely needs to go back to therapy, I think you could use therapy as well. Of course it's not always accessible or affordable, but someone who knows what they're talking about can use their professional-level knowledge to help you manage your dissociation and potential trauma. I think you deserve the help and the space you need to heal from this.

I hope I could help. We're here for you if you need anything.

-Bun

#mod bun #abuse #child abuse #trauma talks #trauma details #suzue

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errmeeipotato · 3 years

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Why Rika and V deserve nothing. Rant/analysis

Spoilers for Saeran AE, Saeyoung secret endings and every route.

There is a lot to unpack here and I don't know if all of this is how Cheritz handle these two or it was for the story sake, but they did a terrible job and let me tell you why.

We are forced to forgive these two at least in three routes, and have literally no redeemable qualities whatsoever. We just have to look past all the crap they did and brush it off by saying it's ok, it's bad situations not bad people (I'm looking at you Zen). And the worst thing is that we are villanized for not wanting to forgive them (V's after ending, Seven AE, Saeran AE) but let's get more in depth.

Rika

We know she was abused when she was a child I get that, but that doesn't justify anything she has ever done.

She abused V

We see it pretty much in Saeran route and AE, Seven Secret Endings, V's route and AE. Since the beginning she was manipulative towards him and even assaulted him physically.

Blinded V

She hit V and cause corneal damage so he can prove how much he loves her. And we see she takes as a joke (Saeran AE) and has little to no remorse (Seven AE).

Killed Saeyong and Saeran's mother.

It was an accident, sure, but she did everything to hide what she did and make it look like the mother killed herself.

Lied to Saeyoung

She told him Saeran was safe and happy, when in fact she was abusing him in Mint Eye.

Abused Saeran

She verbally abused Saeran into believing he was worthless and he couldn't exist without her, split his personality in two, brainwash him into believe Saeyoung didn't love him, drugged him with the elixir, tortured him into fear and submission, chained and hit him (Saeran AE)

Kidnapped MC

She tricked MC and got her in Mint Eye, torture and brainwash her to the point she can't even talk (Ray bad relationship ending), locking her up in the basement dungeon (Seven after ending), getting MC into her apartment with a bomb (every other route), separate Saeran/Saeyoung from her.

Making a deal with Saeran/Saeyoung father and agency

Rika is gonna "save them" by having them prisoner in V's house, and if one of them calls the deal off the other is going to report everything to the media/law, however by the end of Saeran AE the agency is down and Saejoong turns him in and she gets away with everything she did. EVERYTHING.

Cult leader

She made a whole ass cult and abused/tortured hundreds of people not only that she had the audacity of trying to drug an entire concert hall of people with the elixir mixed in the wine.

Almost got Saeran killed

Either Saejoong beats him to death or he dies in the Mint Eye's explotion.

Stabbed V

She got SO mad because V wanted to rescue MC from Mint Eye so she just stab him, luckly Seven and Vanderwood took him to the hospital.

Lied to Yoosung and the rest of the RFA

We know how heartbroken was Yoosung, and probably in their routes they'll never know she's alive and doing all of this crap.

And yet with all of this we have to forgive and forget everything she has done, god forbid you have a little sense of justice and want her to pay for everything because you are pushed to believe you're the bad guy for wanting justice for everyone she damage. Even her parents knew her suicide has a hoax. But V has a lot to do with all of this.

Oh boii I've been reading how many people think Cheritz did him dirty in Saeyoung/Saeran and his own AE. But no, hear me out, he has no personality other than Rika, he's bland, and his route had no character development or any hint of romance with MC I don't think he needed a route. Also he is a big part of the problem.

Enables Rika's behavior

He knew about Mint Eye, Saeran and he didn't do anything until everything got out of his hands. He even agreed and planned the deal with Saejoong and not just that in the bad ending 1 (saeran ae) he uses the twins for his new collection, he lets Rika Chain Saeran (day 3) and guess what, he does nothing.

Got Saeyoung in danger

He was the one who took Saeyoung to the agency in hopes to "save him" however Saeyoung was in constant danger, and he never got a peaceful life, yet V would constantly exploit him. And almost gets killed by the agency

Worsen Rika's mental health

He just tried to solve everything with love, no just, no. Rika didn't need love like the sun she needed fucking therapy. He abuse her by neglecting her needs.

Hiding everything

He hide everything about Mint Eye and Saeran, he told everyone Rika comited suicide so no one ask about her, he knew why MC got in the RFA and he just brush it out and called a divine sign, he knew what happend with the twins mother and just swiped under the rug

Lied to the RFA

Not just with Rika's death, Saeran and Saeyoung situation, his wereabouts and his eye condition

Betrayed the RFA

He made Jumin and Mr. Han resign from the company, he put to sleep the rest of the RFA in the conference room so he can kidnap Saeran and made a deal with Saejoong and the agency.

Overall I don't think these two deserve a redemption arc and/or forgiveness yet Cheritz shove that into out throats. Thinking that forgiving the person that hurt you helps you heal, in some cases it does but not this one. They handle this whole story poorly by label the cruelty and lack of responsability with mental illness

Let me know what you think and do 't let this flop

#mystic messenger #choi saeyoung #choi saeran #kim yoosung #kang jaehee #han jumin #mystic messenger jihyun #mystic messenger v #mystic messenger rika #saeran after ending #v after ending #saeyoungmysticmessenger #cheritz #mysme #dont let this flop

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imasimpforstevengrant · 4 years

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Why do we like this clown so much?

Change the "we" for "I" and you get an usual tag I use whenever I post my content in Tumblr. And it sounds funny at first but whenever you start diving into that phrase, the deeper it becomes. So, I finally have decided to share my thoughts about this strange but wholesome attraction to this deeply flawed character. It's not something I usually do since I don't know how to write down my feelings properly and also in english so please forgive any typos (I'm from Chile so don't be surprised lol).

So...Why do we like this clown so much?

Why was it that a character precisely designed to scare and to disgust the fuck out of us ended up unchaining a series of feelings that shouldn't have taken place in a beginning?

Let's take a look at the background: Joaquin Phoenix was cast as Arthur Fleck/Joker in 2018. The first image of him as the aforementioned character revealed a deeply disturbed man. We knew the plot. A man driven to insanity after a brutal history of abuse, creating concern in people if the upcoming film would inspire real life violence. Incel violence and mass shootings, more specifically.

(the image in question)

As 2019 arrives, the two trailers generated so much hype that media needed to fuel its concern about it. Since it wasn't your typical comic book film, media basically bombed our minds making us believe this film was going to be a total disaster, an excuse to cause harm to others among other nonsense, as if the film would justify everything Arthur would do in the film, eventually. As the release date is closer, the film receives thunderous applause and unanimous praise from critics. At this, fans rejoiced and expressed impatience to watch the film.

October 5th.

People left the theaters amazed, shocked and genuinely moved by the inhuman treatment Arthur received in the film. The fear media tried so desperately to infuse in us with all the incel bullshit and such turned out to awake one of the most positive, best feelings in humans:

E M P A T H Y

The word that so gloriously cleared away any dark thoughts or actions not only proves media was wrong but it turned out to ridicule it in way nobody will forget: Hundreds of people advocating for mental illness, calling out to the kindness that could change a person's bad day and questioning how politicians and rich people are indifferent to social problems proved how much as a society we have changed in comparison with the one shown in the film.

However, since we are on Tumblr, I'll get straight to the point and try to explain why the fuck does this clown has us dying out of love and compassion (and lust).

I. Background.

As nurturing as we women are for a biological matter, we see a man deprived of a good job, is on seven different medications, working like a slave to sustain his ill mother, putting aside his own health and well-being to look for her, struggling to make his dream of being a comedian despite everyone stepping on him, underpaid and treated like a freak for a disorder he did not ask to suffer, which makes it impossible to be indifferent to all the horrible ordeal that eventually will reach the limit of what he can tolerate without going insane. It is impossible to not say or think, at least, that someone (even if it's just one person) should stand for him just as it is impossible not to feel the need to throw ourselves at him to shield him from people who hurt him or simply offer him our shoulder whenever he has had a bad day, specially when he learns he was sexually assaulted by his step father.

This horrid behaviour terrifies newer generations because they get a taste of what being a social outcast was like more than thirty years ago in comparison with today, where there's more acceptance and treatment for mentally ill people like Arthur. We see in him someone who could have been saved with a proper education and emotional support instead of descending into madness as a criminal. Others simply saw themselves being treated like him at some point in their lives and couldn't help but put themselves in his shoes.

II. Personality.

TRUTH BE TOLD:

There's something called "attraction by proximity". It is the explanation to the eventual love you feel whenever someone doesn't catch your eye at first terms of physical attraction but his/her personality does attract you. This happens to be the base of this situation. His shyness, introverted nature, tenderness and innocent desire to make people laugh and put on a happy face awake some kind of tenderness we cannot resist. This combined with the gloomy background increases our understanding (but not justifying) of the bad decisions he'll eventually take during the course of the film. This traces a line of harsh, almost hurtful contrast of the violence he shows later on the film. Once again, it is not justified in any way but it is certainly understandable.

III. Appearance.

Arthur Fleck is unconventionally attractive.

This happens to be a plus for most women. He is out of the male beauty standards (no abs, not too muscly or particularly tall), which makes him even more unique. It is precisely the fact that he's not a model one of the reasons women love him. He could easily be your man next door or your colleague or the guy you always see but never dare to talk for fear to bother him Because it's about proximity. Arthur looks like your common neighbour. He's not meant to be your typical desirable male protagonist at all.

... And yet.

Jesus Christ, he's so fucking hot I can't even---

It's not about how beautiful his green eyes are, his long slender fingers, his hair or his smile only. It's the charm behind it.

Another "magnet point" is the way he dresses. I know he's impoverished and his wardrobe tend to be repetitive but it is so unpretentious, so simple that is hard to not fall for. The modesty of the shirts, ironed trousers reminds us of a mature man deeply withdrawn into himself, love starved and longing to be seen and loved by others, like a war veteran who still fights the most important war: with himself. Is someone who needs to be listened and understood.

AND OF COURSE WHAT'S NOT TO LIKE ABOUT IT?

He's also brought back the old gentleman outfit, white shirts, red/yellow vest, red suit and elegant dancing moves and the retro style of the film boosts this attractiveness.

People keep comparing him with the previous interpretation of Joker (Leto's) whose costume appealed to young women with a tattooed, gangster, mumble rapper crazy-guy wannabe which didn't connect with the audiences (young people in general). This supposedly was to match or even have a sexy, tormented and desirable villain like Marvel's Loki. We all know how that story ended but it's the link for the next point below.

IV. Transformation

This is a particularly strong point considering how much we loved to watch the process of this weak, powerless, forgotten caterpillar into a beautiful and visible butterfly that will gracefully stir its wings for everyone to see its colours.

When Arthur transitions to the Joker, it's so cathartic to see taking revenge on those who wronged him (even when we're not supposed to root for him) like seeing his shyness fading away into a vivid confidence when dancing half naked in the bathroom, or witnessing him making way to make his name known to people in Murray Franklin's Show:

Adding to this newly gained confidence, there's another turn on: the way he walks.

At the beginning, his pace is hunched and limping, displaying his submission to violence, which makes the viewer more satisfied to see his broken yet beautiful soul turning the past pain of his existence into art: he lets music guide his moves as a way to tell the world he's a new man by cutting most of the sick, evil roots that harmed him, that he's invincible, that no one can stop him. Watching this cathartic display of euphoria was the most iconic scene in the film, following his speech at the TV and the inevitable meltdown that caused Murray's death.

Going to further appreciation, even his clown make up is beautiful. Why? Simple. The combination of colours, shapes and the intimidating glare just embellishes even more the character.

The dark blue triangles in his expressive eyes makes the light green colour to highlight, specially in dark backgrounds, giving the impression he's piercing your soul whenever he stares directly at the camera. Same can be said about the red smile and emerald green hair. They boost an already intimidating look.

The cold and warm colours paint a picture of a man full of intense emotions, mirroring it in a simple yet masterful artistic way.

Another interesting point is the way Joker dresses. Usually we had almost every single live adaption of this character in purple coat, hat, etc. But this particular version is not following any comic, which gives more freedom to creativity and once again, out of the standards of what we could have expected.

Red is a colour related to passion, action, love, strength, motivation and excitement. As for yellow, it indicates freshness, happiness and enlightenment and finally, green. Green is renewal, growth and regeneration. Colours that represent a new stage in his life, a mirthful chapter at last. We finally get to see our battered, always humiliated protagonist (or hero) descending into madness, but finally free from his repressed man who held his soul captive like a bird to fly away, to never come back. An insanity that despite being his downfall, turned out to be his ticket to freedom as he walks to the light in Arkham Asylum dancing at the end.

Ladies and gentlemen: behold the film nobody asked... But the film we fucking deserved.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk

❤️💚💛

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m0th-punk · 3 years

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This is something that's been on my mind for a long time. Long ramble under the cut

TL;DR: Grazer-razor has some of the worst black and white mentality I've ever seen and I can tell he has never critically examined his biases a day in his life.

Because I'm a terrible little gremlin who can't leave well enough alone, I've been reading these posts

Ignoring the absolute stupidity of these statements (I'm pretty sure the lack of rainbow logos is because in many middle eastern countries, homosexuality is a crime and these companies just want to make money. But I'mnot going into the nuances and implications of rainbow capitalism today.), something stood out to me.

Does Grazer... genuinely think nobody has ever criticized the Muslim faith? That we all ignore the homophobia present within the religion just because they're a minority? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've seen even some of the most staunch leftists criticize things like their horrible treatment of homosexuality or the rampant sexism often sanctioned by radicals. Even other Muslims, especially women and lgbt+ Muslims, have been critical of these things.

It wouldn't shock me if Grazer believedthat anyone who supports Muslims believes they can do no wrong. After all, he thinks any criticism of Christianity is hatred, and dismisses any harmful things Christians do as not being "real" Christianity in a classic case of the "No True Scotsman" fallacy.

Note how he didn't even respond to the first asks comments, just accused them of being me (because obviously any time someone sees his blog it's all my fault /s)

So it seems like in Grazer's mind, there are only two options when it comes to religion: Uncritically praise and defend everything a religion does no matter how heinous it is and justify it because it's done in a God's name, or condemn anyone who practices it as hateful terrorists. Because he doesn't see people doing the former for Christians, he automatically assumes that they're doing the latter, and vice versa for Muslims.

Also note how he gets mad when muslim faith is "respected" (again, homosexuality is criminalized in many of these areas) but then demands a secular children's show cater to his religion for the sake of his precious childhood.

(Also, can we just talk about the absolute fucking cruelty in this answer? There are people out there that had their childhoods ruined by abuse, illness, losing loved ones, homelessness, poverty, bullying, near-death experiences, having their countries torn apart by war, a shitty foster care system, teen pregnancies, and so many other things that can absolutely destroy a life. Grazer's was ruined by… *checks notes* a cartoon character supporting gay rights and a drag queen singing a cutesy children's song. So yeah, if that's the worst part of his childhood he's pretty damn lucky, and the fact that he has the gall to still complain absolutely makes him selfish and ignorant. It's disrespectful, plain and simple, and if he were truly a good Christian he'd have some compassion.)

Okay, so Grazer has some weird "rules for me but not for thee" shit when it comes to religion. This isn't news. Where am I going with this?

Well, turns out he has this opinion about more than just religion. Know how I know this? His response to ESRB ratings and trigger warnings.

So it seems like Grazer sees the ESRB as some sort of moral compass, in a way. Something being rated E or E10 means it's pure and good and wholly unproblematic, while anything higher means it's evil and disgusting and he can't even look at it.

This is further confirmed by this post, where he flat-out states he sees the ESRB as deeming what things are and are not morally acceptable.

Now Grazer, I'm gonna explain this as best as I can, because it seems like you don't quite understand this. Read very carefully.

This is not the purpose of the ESRB rating system.

I repeat, this is NOT the purpose of the ESRB rating system.

The ESRB does not decide on what is and is not morally correct. It simply says "This game contains these topics, and as such is most suitable for people in this age group.". That's it. It's a guideline, not a rule.

Let's take cartoon violence, for instance. It's a very common warning the ESRB puts on games. Almost every game from Mario to Sonic to Crash Bandicoot and even Monster Tale has this warning. These games are all rated E for everyone. Does this mean those games are promoting violence to children, or claiming things like Bowser kidnapping Peach or Pinstripe trying to gun down Crash are perfectly okay and morally correct? Of course not. It's simply saying that these games contain mild, non-graphic violence, but most children should be able to handle seeing it.

On the other side of the coin, let's take a look at the warnings for nudity and sexual themes. Most games that contain these topics are rated T at the lowest and AO at the highest. This obviously isn't saying that nudity and sex are inherently bad or evil. All it's saying is that these topics are best handled by adults (And, regardless of morality, it is illegal to distribute sexual content to minors unless it's meant to be educational, like a health class textbook).

A few extra points:

. Games can be rated different things in different countries. Different countries have different regulations. Do you know why the blood in Danganronpa is pink? It's because in Japan, games with excessive amounts of blood and gore are given a Z rating (Japan's equivalent to an AO rating). They got around this by making the blood pink, securing the game its desired M rating. Meanwhile here in America, Mortal Kombat is allowed to show as many graphic, brutal deaths as it wants and still receive an M rating.

. ESRB ratings are not legally enforceable. I was so convinced as a 16 year old that the employees at gamestop would try to card me or something when I was picking up a copy of Bayonetta, and I was surprised when they simply rang me up in two seconds, no questions asked. It doesn't happen. For fuck's sake, one of the first games I ever played, at the tender age of four, was Soul Edge. A T rated game. The only instance ESRB ratings are legally enforced is in the case of AO ratings, as these games often contain incredibly graphic violenceor sexual content. If this outrage is coming from the idea that certain ratings will keep younger people from playing these games from a legal standpoint, don't worry. A nine year old is not gonna get arrested for playing Among Us. Just don't buy them GTA San Andreas or Leisure Suit Larry and everything will be fine.

. No two consumers are exactly alike. While one 13 year old may be perfectly fine with the jumpscares in Amnesia, another may be too scared to even go near the piano in Super Mario 64. That doesn't mean either of these games is rated incorrectly. The ESRB is there, once again, as a recommendation for the average consumer, and doesn't take individual experience into account. An individual experience is not their responsibility. It's also on parents (or you yourself!) To decide what the consumer can or can't handle.

"But Haley," I hear you say, "What if this piece of media DOES contain something morally bad?"

Well it's simple. You are allowed to like things AND still criticize the bad parts of it.

Hold on now, I'm not telling you that it's perfectly alright to enjoy things like Birth of a Nation or anything like that! Contrary to popular belief, there are some pieces of media that are truly too steeped in hatred and morally reprehensible things to be supported, even through a critical lense. The only merit things like that have is to serve as a warning: This is a terrible thing made for terrible reasons, and we should not allow it to happen again.

But outside of those rare circumstances, it's not so cut and dry.

Let's take a piece of media i actually enjoy, for instance, so you know I'm not a hypocrite: Persona 5.

Persona 5 is easily one of my favorite games in the Persona series. It does a lot of interesting stuff, the artstyle and soundtrack are (in my opinion) the best in the series, and overall it's very enjoyable for me.

But, like anything, it's not perfect. I'm incredibly uncomfortable with the hypocrisy the game has in regards to the sexualization of teenagers. While Kamoshida is rightfully condemned for his sexualization of teenage girls and Ann's persona awakening comes from rejecting this objectification, the game and story undermine it by not only putting Ann in a sexually revealing outfit, but also making light of Ryuji's sexual harassment by adult men (Allegedly Persona 5 Royal tries to fix this by making the men drag enthusiasts who think Ryuji would look good in drag and giving them more sympathetic personalities, but it's still really weird and hypocritical of the game to do this.). The teenage protagonist is also allowed the option to date adult women, including his teacher, and the game rarely if ever touches on the problems with this.

The game's homophobia also left a bad taste in my mouth. Aside from the aforementioned men who sexually harass Ryuji, the only other canon LGBT+ character is a bar owner who is either a drag queen or a trans woman (or both?). Sure, she's portrayed as being kind and protective of the protagonist, but there isn't much room to interact with her or learn more about her. On top of that, not only can the protagonist not romantically pursue his male friends (A feature that even the SECOND persona game had), he's not even allowed to give them gifts or platonically show affection towards them without the dialogue mocking him. The game that allows a teenage boy to date his teacher won't allow him to simply give his male friends a present.

And yet, despite those criticisms, I do still enjoy the game. I don't consider the game irredeemable garbage based on those poorly handled topics alone. And I also understand that for some people, those topics make them so uncomfortable that they don't want to play the game at all, and I completely respect that.

Criticizing the things you enjoy is not only normal, it's oftentimes healthy. Being able to step back and say "I like this thing, but I don't like the bad things it's done. This thing would be better if these issues were fixed." Sure, sometimes some people tend to complain a bit too much about the media they supposedly enjoy, but for the most part being able to acknowledge the bad with the good is a good skill to have.

Oh, wait, all of this means nothing because Grazer thinks that critically enjoying things is nothing more than an excuse to consume media he doesn't personally agree with. Okay then.

So if he can't even realize something as simple as "it's okay to criticize some parts of media that you otherwise enjoy", how can he be expected to look critically at a religion that he's been raised in and around all his life?

Soooo yeah, Grazer has some serious problems with black and white thinking that he refuses to acknowledge, further worsened by the fact that he's practically been brainwashed into believing that Christianity is the ultimate moral compass that everyone should follow. I understand that this tends to be an issue for neurodivergent people, but it's not an excuse for the actions he does that are related to these things (sending death threats to the ESRB, antagonizing others, etc.

#dirty napkin #long post

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