#bad representation

[nekropsii]

“Bad Representation” is actually a topic I’m really passionate about and interested in, I could talk about it for ages. The way people handle “Bad Representation” as a concept is genuinely fascinating, too, so this is both an analytical fascination and an anthropological one.

For clarity, I thoroughly do believe there is such thing as “Bad Representation”, especially when it comes to expressions of pure bigotry from the person doing the representing… But I personally think everyone’s bar for what counts as “Bad Representation” is set a little bit too strictly, has no real account for capitalistic and/or historical restrictions - For Example: Language and common understanding of queer identity being far different in the 1950’s than it is now, and Studio Meddling - and also, interestingly, tends to take no account for the opinion of those getting “represented”, or the idea of individual satisfaction.

There’s been many, many times where a character is objectively pretty bad representation by modern standards, but discussion surrounding it takes no account for the concept of Resonance. Sometimes a character is not “Good Representation” as an objective concept, but they are relatable, likable, and quite fun to watch. I’ve seen quite a few instances of people talking down to the mentally ill or disabled for enjoying a Slasher in part because of their disorder/disability, or queer people for enjoying Hays Code villains. Sometimes a character isn’t written kindly, or isn’t written well, but they really resonate with you… And that counts for something.

One of my favorite characters - one who has helped me come to terms with my cPTSD and OSDD - is a representation of PTSD + DID that is objectively not very good. He’s basically a Vietnam War veteran, who gets an Alter in the middle of the war that is basically a self defensive Murder Mode. It’s literally the PTSD from The War and Evil Alter cliche, but there’s just some aspects that really hit for me, like the fact that he’s considered the nicest, kindest person in the cast, and the alter is portrayed clearly as being in constant self defense mode, thinking he’s still in the middle of the war, and also being quite silly. There’s several details I view as being done pretty well, a whole arc about him grappling with his mental health in a way I find quite fascinating and visceral, and I enjoy him quite a lot! But many would agree that he’s “Bad Representation” because of the War PTSD and Evil Alter tropes. Even I agree that those things kinda suck, but that’s not stopping the fact that this character has meant a lot to me, and that I really would not be the same level of okay with myself if I hadn’t discovered this character.

I’ve caught flack for this. I’ve seen many other people latch onto a character who is not executed very well because they find them personally relatable, or are using them to figure some things out about themselves, and also catch flack for it because the character is not “Good Representation” for a group as a whole. No account for Resonance, no account for Individual Experience. It’s a fascinating lack of a sense of nuance.

I think people have forgotten - or perhaps do not realize - that criticizing a base concept, or base execution of a concept, is different from criticizing individual experience. It’s like the difference between criticizing the makeup industry vs. criticizing someone’s personal choice to wear makeup. It is good to point out when something is written or executed poorly, but you do not know the reason why that one individual disabled person enjoys a poorly written character who shares their disability. I would even say that they probably know more than you do that it’s written badly, because they have lived that character’s disability and you likely have not. I think you should maybe step off if a blind person really likes Terezi or something. You do not need to patronize them by telling them that she isn’t “Good Representation” because her quirk isn’t screenreader friendly, and that her blindness has a magical workaround. I think they already know that these are facts about her that are true. They like her for a reason, and that reason is Resonance.

#homestuck #media analysis #disability #representation #bad representation #good representation #nekro.pdf #nekro.txt

[hiemalice]

I hope everyone fangirling over tom holland’s new series The Crowded Room remembers that you are getting this cost at the lives of real fucking people living with DID. You are watching a romanticization of a man who threw the DID community under the bus by winning a case of “my alter did it” which people have spent decades fighting against. You are letting the man who turned the serial killer alter into reality, who turned this disorder’s stigma REAL.

I hope you know that while you’re excited for you celebrity crush’s new series, we are getting mocked and harassed by citizens and medical fields alike. That we are getting driven to suicide and being murdered because of the fearmongering. This is the cost that comes with it.

You have blood on your hands.

#tom holland #the crowded room #bad representation #mental health #mental illness #tcr #did osdd #dissociative identity disorder #jason isaacs #zendaya #tomdaya

[forestglassanimals]

it's so weird but I feel more represented in fucked up queer shows (often with queerbaiting) than in "normal" queer shows like Heartstopper.

Hannibal represents me better than Heartstopper.

I love fucked up queer relationships. I love queer villains. I love Izzy and his mental problems in ofmd, I love Nandor and Guillermo in wwdits and fuck... I even love this fucking homophobic shit like Dean and Castiel.

I don't know, maybe the problem is me. I get bored watching shows like Heartstopper. I mean, my life is more "fucked up queer villian" than "healthy queer relationship" so...

Is it even okay? Or we all just so traumatized?

If you have any thought about this I'll like you to share btw

(This is not a hate post. I don't think Heartstopper is a bad show. It's just my feelings towards queer media with healthy relationships being kinda boring lol)

#not a hate post #just thoughts #lgbtq community #lgbtq representation #lgbt+ #lgbt+ community #lgbtqia #queer rep in media #bad representation #good representation #supernatural #our flag means death #izzy hands #nandermo #what we do in the shadows #hearstopper #queer villains #homophobia #lgbtq #representation #gay

[ballsalsda]

Why havent i seen anyone talk about how fucking bad the ADHD rep in pjo is

#actually adhd #adhd #adhd representation #bad representation #like im familiar with the phrase “bad rep is better than no rep at all” but honestly it wouldve been better if he just didnt give percy ADHD #pjo series #pjo #percy pjo #percy jackon and the olympians #percy jackson #mind you i only read 3 books and lost interest like a 4th of the way through the 4th book but ive seen enough #rick riordan

[kvasskingg-sez-booyah]

Autistics in tv: good at math, becomes a scientist and cures cancer, but oh no their bad at social interactions and get overwhelmed easily!

Me: I'm bad at all of those things but boy i sure do love club penguin!

#club penguin #actually autistic #99% of my hyperfixations are useless #bad representation

[cray-cray-anime]

thomas asstruc gives off classism vibes (and much more other bad vibes)

Not only cos of the whole every poor fam got great life/fam while rich kids don't in the show

But like how he will not take criticism from anyone and noone can write better cos they just wouldn't get doing work with "all these editorial constraints" and he's a professional (his words basically)

And honestly bad writing one thing, it another to enforce in your writing shitty things and act shitty to even the slightest criticism no matter how respectful and polite

So yeah I'd honestly suggest not watching, let ratings go down, i could really care less how it can get any worse (or better meaning they wasted like half the seasons)

The show had enough seasons many shows would kill for and crew are killing it but in the bad way

#cray-cray-anime post #anti thomas astruc #thomas asstruc #mlb critical #mlb salt #immaturity of Thomas astruc #iota #classism #classist #the disrespect #miraculous #miraculous ladybug #miraculous tales of ladybug and chat noir #stop watching #even if its hate watching #writing issues #bad representation #miraculous critical #mlb writing critical

[lachiennearoo]

J'ai trouvé un vieux mème que j'ai fait quand j'étais encore sur twitter

Tenez. Prenez-le

#meme humor #transgender #homophobia #internalized homophobia #japanese culture #enstars #arashi #arashi enstars #arashi narukami #this is gonna be controversial #i can just smell it #hot take #boiling hot take #unpopular take #gay rights #homosexuality #gay pride #gay men #bad representation #cultural barriers #cultural differences

[gildeddlily]

side characters ONly can be gay!!11!1! yep

I could write an essay about the way Marvel is just the reflection of how mass media deals with the queer representation "problem" nowadays

(I should study for my exam but fuck it I have time)

first of all, how many queer characters actually are part of mcu's big ass cast?

Searching on the internet they'll tell you about twenty- but it's enough to read who is queer to understand that they only care about seeming all woke and you know, kind and allies and all that good shit, but the truth is that if you're queer you'll get no more than five minutes of screen time

Loki is a bisexual genderfluid god, it's canon in the comics and in the shows/film, but does he actually acts on it? like, does he ever talk about the men he had a thing with? does he talk about his gender identity? no. and you know what, I don't want a long speech about feeling accepted and finding your place in the world and understanding yourself, I'd be ok with him being like "yk what, i feel like cunt today" and poof tom hiddleston is no more man.

we have a two second shot were he's labeled as genderfluid. that's it. he has a love story arc with his female alternative version.

like saying the bar can't get lower- all the time there's a man at his side, and they're so queer coded guys. they are so fucking queer coded. they'd have all the potential to be a good couple, and they prob could since Loki is canonically attracted to males too! but no.

let's choose the female you over the dilf grabbing your waist and telling you that you're more, that you matter and have a chance to be good.

can Loki count as representation? maybe.

it's shitty representation, tho.

then there's America.

America's a lesbian, daughter of two lesbian women, and they were proud of it probably- if it weren't for the fact that America's there, she live the adventure, and she has a lgbtqia pin. a pin. all her identity is expressed in a pin.

one could say, but the film is not ab America and her non-male partner, is about the story yk?

then why does every fucking marvel film features a man and a woman being in a relationship?

i guess that when it's about man Tony Stark and woman Pepper Potts everything's ok, you can give all the minutes you want to their sweet relationship- but if they're queer I'm sorry, the best thing you'll have is a pin.

then a few gays out there.

random man in endgame missing his bf. random girl in hawkeye mentioning her wife (slay). that one sexy dora milaje who has a sexier gf. slay you too ig. that Eternals guy who kissed his bf on screen (first time ever, and they feel revolutionary. fucking 2021).

the only thing that can be saved is Thor 3/4 because of Taika Waititi. the queerness is something Taika did because he wanted to.

Ragnarok's about this dude, his bi brother, this guy who flirts with both of them and has orgies with all kind of beings, a lesbian valkyrie and a gay rock. Love and Thunder is about this guy, his bamf ill girlfriend, a lesbian valkyrie who's trying to find some girl to eat out, a gay rock that ends up having strange sex with his bf, and greek people fainting after seeing said guy's naked body. (and that weird moment between Thor and Peter? that was made to be gay guys)

while it's not perfect, it's one step above everything else.

Taika Waititi's film's queerness is not there for looking more inclusive, it's there because gay people are there, we actually exist dude, and they deserve their space, and they should have it.

and like Taika Waititi's said, the world will be healed when people will stop saying "oh you know that new marvel series? yes, there's a gay gal in there", when people will treat queer people like the people they actually are.

it's like walking around in a forest and being like "oh look, a tree!". we aren't a different species ffs

representation is good, and of course gay characters sometimes are gonna be just there on the side cheering on the main character- because that's how life goes. I'm the cheering-from-the-side girl queer friend to my straight friend, and mcu stories are told by straight people, so it's kinda natural that we're kinda useless.

the thing that really, really makes me want to cry our is how they're able to destroy any queer "lead" they put here for us, for me, and I'm starting to believe behind those scripts there are some seriously repressed gay dude who can only express themselves by writing those things.

like Steve and Bucky? the classic we're best friends and we totally didn't have sex?

or Bucky and Sam?

why was the chair scene necessary? If i see something like that happening to a woman and a man my first thought is "they're a thing", and it was the first thing I thought with Sam and Bucky too- but ofc people will tell us "y are you making everyone gay?" it's not my fault princess it's the writers'

or, again, Loki and Mobius?

"you can be good, just in case no one ever told you" WHAT THE HELL DUDE

and you know, those things can be said between two friends too, but people gets disperate. I get disperate, after watching hours upon hours of two guys eye-fucking each other and ending up being all "yeah bro i love you this is my girlfriend amy". so I wrote, I draw, I think about them being "hey dude, d'you want to be the amy to my myself?" because the alternity is writing a fic about a random man who says he misses his husband on a three second scene.

(in a fandom like good omens I don't have to worry about it. I have my queer besties, my fav lesbian couple, and a lot of representation.)

so.

mcu's representation is bad representation.

every time they write a queer characters they're all "you see that? we did that!" like they did something special- but they didn't.

they write gays for the straight, in order to feel better about themselves and make straight racist sexist homophobic ppl (the "I'm inclusive guys!!!" kind of person) watching it feel better ab themselves.

(I'm not gonna start talking about the fact that this entire post talks more than anything else about the way the mcu treats women, bc it's a rabbit hole I'm not ready to talk ab cause I've been jumping in it for too many years.)

(sorry anon ily)

10/20 edit: valkyrie is bi my bad🧎‍♀️

#lgbtqia representation #lgbtq community #queer #marvel #i hate marvel #mcu #mcu loki #loki season 2 #america chavez #bucky barnes #mobius #lokius #sam wilson #bad representation #they make me so mad

[sanrielle]

I know there's still much to be desired from how autism is currently portrayed in media, but I just had whiplash watching something from the early 2000s.

Among the things characters said were:

"People with autism can't lie. They're physically incapable of it." -said by a cop after doing "research"

"[Autistic teenage boy] is lucky, since he can't feel anything." -regarding feeling emotional pain after witnessing his parents' murder

#autism #autism in media #bad representation

[ronancecats]

I just have to rant about one of my pet peeves with Ronance fic writers (mostly the Wattpad ones) This is not about anyone in particular, or their writing styles, or their headcanons. I know I don't have to read something that I don't like, and I don't, but I have noticed this a lot more whenever I venture onto Wattpad and I want to point it out.

Many of the Ronance fics on Wattpad have Robin acting like a complete toddler. And I'm not talking about the autistic Robin fics, I LOVE those and think most of them have great autistic rep. But as someone who HAS autism, writing Robin acting like a complete toddler 24/7 is just not it.

Like taking a character that already is an AMAZING autistic representation, and then making them act like how everyone sees autistic people is just icky to me.

And I KNOW every single person who writes Robin like that doesn't mean it in a hurtful way. And I KNOW that I could just not read those fics, it's just hard when it's EVERYWHERE and so normalized on a specific platform.

And again, I know most of the people who DO write Robin that way are younger and most likely don't know a lot about autism, but autism in characters like Robin, doesn't make them act like a child all the time.

And what I mean by "acting like a child" is they make Robin COMPLETELY clueless and codependent all the time. They make it to where she can't get through a simple conversation, even on a good day. And it's like- that's NOT what autism is!

Now, don't get me wrong, I don't attack the people who write her this way, I usually just click off the story or ignore it, but I've seen this SO MUCH. Not just with Robin either, so many other heavily autistic-coded characters get written like this in fics and it's just annoying at this point. Especially having autism myself and an autistic brother.

I know complaining about WATTPAD having a bad representation of different mental issues and illnesses isn't anything new, but I still want to complain about it because the last time I brought this up people called me rude and hateful.

Am I the only one feeling like this or have other people noticed and are bothered by it too? I just want to know if I'm not alone on my annoyance with Wattpad 😭😭

#ronance #robin buckley #autistic robin buckley #bad representation

[he-screm]

This is just me going on a rant, so feel free to ignore me

When i first heard vyn was a psychologist, i was so excited. My dad was a psychologist, and ive always had an interest in psychology. This, in addition to his character design and personality, gaurenteed that hed be my favorite character.

But some of what he says… makes me want to just quit the game. For example, I recently got mended heart. In it, theres a deaf kid being bullied and ostracized by his peers and teacher. In the beginning, vyn is talking about the kid being broken and ill, and I thought this was a test for the MC or some shit, seeing her empathy in action. But no! After the problem is resolved, they still talk about the kid getting ‘treatment’, which is a pretty ablist thing say.

Theres other instances, such as vyn talking about curing autism, but this is the one thats fresh on my mind. Its so frustrating, because this could have been an amazing opportunity to show good representation!

I know that China isnt as open to mental health discussions as the west, but it still sucks. I just wanna love the hot mystery man without having to worry about each story having some ablist message

#tears of themis #themis #rant #vynn #vyn tears of themis #vyn richter #tears of themis rant #cw ablism #ablism #life sucks #psychology #representation matters #bad representation #vent

[wiedzmin-rudi]

queer villains and the death of media literacy

#queer #queer villains #queer characters #queerness #transgender #media #media literacy #rowan ellis #video essay #lgbtq #representation #good representation #bad representation #Youtube

[paloma-ascends-into-hellfire]

”bad rep is better than no rep-“

no not always. like i recently read a book with a salvadoran character and i was so excited because i’d never seen a character from my country. but this character… was an undocumented immigrant… escaping gang violence and poverty…

not that that doesn’t happen but a) most salvadoran immigrants left el salvador during the civil war. like back in the 70s/80s.

and also… there were a bunch of well meaning people on goodreads going “i had no idea about the Central American Crisis/the situation in El Salvador!”

and that is harmful. because it makes latin america seem worse than it is. it ignores the beauty, like the waves hitting the rocks or coconut water in the dry season and the smell in the garden after a downpour and the warm rain and the vibrant sunsets and the smell of mango ripening. the smell of pupusas and the feeling of a snow cone on a hot day and swinging in a hammock on a warm, humid day. the feeling of your abuela braiding your hair and the smell of your aunt straightening hers. the rapid spanish and the shades of brown and white together and palm trees and kids playing fútbol barefoot in the streets and the sounds of wii video games and soccer and the price is right and big brother and jeopardy.

that is my el salvador. my country has its problems but it’s a lie to say that it’s ugly and ridden with gangs. latin america is beautiful. brown people and poor people are beautiful. indigeneity is beautiful. white supremacy is not.

#colonialism #colonization #el salvador #racism #white saviorism #white supremacy #bad rep #bad rep is better than no rep #no rep is better than bad rep #bad representation

[destinygoldenstar]

Dhar Mann Thinks ADHD People Are Stupid (They’re NOT Stupid)

So, a grown adult has ADHD. This is described by Dhar Mann as ‘childish and stupid’.

That’s an accusation that gets thrown around a lot by people. It’s not what ADHD is at all. 

ADHD is when people have a fixation on activity to stim their brains. They have a hard time paying attention, and they are quite impulsive.

Not once does that say that ANYONE with ADHD is automatically stupid. It just says they learn differently.

Now, in this video, Dhar Mann kinda seemed to try to please me by saying that ‘you don’t have to prove anything to anyone’. Which is true.

But that does leave me to show how he can’t prove that he knows how to write ADHD in a way that isn’t offensive or downright SHAMING people with it.

In the video: “Adult must go back to 5th grade”, there’s a man with ADHD, who is incredibly childish and acts like a toddler. He’s into ‘childish’ stuff, and he is, as the most defining character trait, stupid.

A boss at work calls him stupid, so he sends this man back to the 5th grade to prove that he is not stupid.

And because he’s an adult, EVERYONE looks down on him and calls him stupid. The kids call him stupid. The TEACHER calls him stupid. And even a random janitor calls him stupid and that he’s not even worth being a janitor himself.

“You don’t have to worry about this job. I passed the fifth grade.”

In the Dhar Mann universe, being a janitor is the ultimate low life. 

And guess what? The man with ADHD is actually portrayed as stupid. Stupid enough that he can’t pass a fifth grade test. Oh well I guess everyone was right about him.

Nobody calls them out anyway, as what would otherwise be a good message is essentially telling ADHD kids to just... give up. Give up on trying to be successful. 

‘You don’t have to prove anything to anyone’ becomes ‘You have nothing to prove. You have nothing to offer.’

And for the ADHD people who WANT to succeed? Yeah that’s very inconsiderate. 

Now, yes, in this video, they actually DO portray a way that people can learn in a different way. It’s the whole climax of the video that this grown man wins over kids in a game. He wins, so you think my point is invalidated, right?

No. He ended up not wanting to pass anyway, so clearly success wasn’t the message. It still stereotypes that ADHD people are only good for one thing. That’s that they can never grow up, fit into the adult mold, and come up with anything that isn’t childish. They are good for a kid’s play partner, and nothing else.

Again, ADHD people do not always act like children. They are not always children. The only thing that makes a child a child is their age. Factually. People with ADHD struggle a lot in school and work, and need to find their own routes to success. I can appreciate the effort Dhar Mann is trying to make with explaining that people with disabilities can find other ways to succeed in life. 

However, to explain something, you gotta understand something. I personally think this is bad ADHD representation.

#Dhar Mann #adhd #adhd awareness #bad messages #bad representation

[kashanaaa]

name one western film with good slavic representation

I’ll wait

#slavic #slavs #slavic representation #slovakia #slovak #bad representation #czech republic #slavs are not bad guys #slavic culture #bad slavic rep

[nezuko-demon-slayer]

Wait are we really celebrating multiple non human characters being nonbinary?

… What?

#rwby #y’all really accepting these scraps? #bad representation #rwde