#Another factor is that this show doesnt treat its characters with respect which leads to like | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

groundramon · 7 years

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I’ve been thinking abt that one Sonic Boom scene I reblogged and i applied it to some other things I’ve been thinking about and

I never, ever want my stories/tv shows to be known as “that show that has gay characters in it” or “that show with a black lead/a lot of main characters of color”

Dont get me wrong, I’ll shove in LGBT+ characters into every nook and cranny of my shows that the network allows me to, I’ll try to show as many cultures and races as I can (in a respectful/educated way though, so I have a lot of research to do <D), but I dont want my projects to be known for that. I dont want my projects to get outrageously popular because I included a trans character.

Because all I’m doing is treating these things as though they’re the norm. I’m not doing it for brownie points, although I guess I’m doing it to give minority kids characters that they can relate to more. But that’s only half of it; the other half or so is just...rounding out the score. Making the hollywood catalog of characters a little closer to real-world numbers, even if at the end of the day im hardly making a dent in the years of homophobia, transphobia, racism, and sexism that this industry has built itself upon (just like all of American tbh but anyways)

I want my projects to be successful, dont get me wrong. I want people to be able to enjoy the representation on my shows as well. But I dont want to be given a free pass to write a shitty show because of it. And I ESPECIALLY dont want people calling people who dislike my show a homophobe or a transphobe by default.

I dont want to ride off the coattails of people who were braver than me and have gone through more than me. Quite frankly, another reason I dont want my shows to be know as “that show with the gay guy” is because that...that sounds suspiciously like I’m profiting off of other people’s struggles. I guess I’m trans so it doesnt really apply there but I still almost feel like I’m just using LGBT+ identities as some kind of stepping stone to promote my own show. Like how companies use allyship to promote their own brand. Even if the people behind the company really do care about LGBT+ people (which theyre probably 95% at least indifferent about it, if they dont actually care) the company doesnt. And a show is just as soulless as a company; a show cannot be an ally for LGBT+ rights, it can only advocate for them or use them to further its own agenda. Just because I’m trans and an LGBT+ advocate doesnt mean shit in the context of the show.

But like, I cant control how other people see my stories, so if that happens then whatever. If people say I’m profiting off of LGBT+ identities, then that’s their problem. All I’m going to do is insist that people should look beyond the themes i present and the representation I enjoy putting into my stories, and actually look at the shows themselves for what they are. If people dont then fine, they can enjoy my shows however they want to. I cant police how people enjoy my content. But I, for one, will always tell you that I want my stories to be critiqued and judged for what they are, factoring out the fact that i show some “progressive” tendencies in my writing.

Highlighting the fact that I have a black gay character is just counterproductive to the idea of normalizing these things. Saying “oh yeah, my show is so progressive, we love showing all things LGBT+ and being as diverse as possible! Keep watching to see more gay characters along the way!” is just...counterproductive.

I cant tell you how mad I get when people treat “oh, we have a black character!” as progressive. Like I happened to be in the room one time when my mom had The Bachelorette on and I heard the announcer say “we are proud to announce our first black Bachelorette, [insert her name here]!” and I was immediately filled with rage. Oh WOW, I’m so happy that in 2017, you’ve FINALLY had a black Bachelorette. It’d be one thing if you just happened not to have a black bachelorette until then (I believe the female suitors in The Bachelor have been black in the past? so I’d be willing to choc it up to coincidence) but the fact that you ANNOUNCED it like it was some kind of great act of progressiveness just proves that you actually ARE bigoted racists. (It also doesnt help that one of her suitors that was announced when they said that said to her “I’ve heard once you go black, you never go back” and she just laughed awkwardly and?? oh my god i hate reality tv, not because its dumb but because of shit like this)

And the thing is, you can enjoy something with LGBT+ themes without solely liking it for said LGBT+ themes. It’s purely coincidence that 3/4 of my favorite shows (LOK, SU, and GF - the only one that doesnt have them is ATLA which...kind of makes sense given that its older, but LOK did it later and was the first to do it as far as kids shows are concerned sooo) happen to have gay relationships in them. Like I certainly appreciate that Asami and Korra are bisexual (both because lesbians and because of that twist ending for the love triangle bullshit, lmao), I certainly appreciate that the alien race in SU is technically made up of lesbians (or pan girls? either way, still lesbians), but that’s not why I like either. In fact, it’s far from why I like either; I dont know if it even factors into my love for either show, but i know it doesnt significantly. I would still like either show just as much were it not for the gay themes. And that’s what I want my stories to be. Sure you can appreciate the representation (and god help me do it right/respectfully), but I want you to like it without that, too. Because otherwise...I’m just profiting off of other people’s struggles, and you dont sincerely like my work for what it is.

My primary goal is to create a good story with enjoyable characters that you can relate to. Part of creating enjoyable characters is exploring all sides that humanity has to offer (within reason) - but that’s only one small aspect of one half of my goal. And I really hope that shows in my work, and that people can appreciate the show(s) for what they actually are, not just because it agrees with their political morals.

#stormy speaks #that first sentence tho #i bet its really great out of context #*talks about homophobia and racism and starts it out with mentioning Sonic Boom* good

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