#the whole titan reveal brings with it a lot of tropes and ideas that absolutely destroy me personally | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

leapingtitan · 5 years

Text

Thoughts on Chapter 114

I have to say that I’ve been looking forward to this chapter for almost 3 years. Zeke being my favorite character, his past is something I’ve been wanting to see all this time. And Isayama delivered just on time.

There are a few points to point out in regards to this, but this may very well be my favorite snk chapter, at least for the time being. It has basically all of the things that make me love snk as a whole. Main lore revelations, displays of how fucked up the world is and of course, Zeke Jaeger as a character and the revelation of what he has been trying to do all along.

Zeke’s past is, to say the least, screwed up. Grisha and Dina’s behavior towards him was very much what we expected it to be. It was hinted, but seeing it from Zeke’s eyes was just drenching. Those two didn’t really care about Zeke as a child and used him for their purposes in acquiring the Founding Titan. All in the process, they forgot that he is just a child and placed enormous stress on him. As Xaver stated, it didn’t even look like he wanted to become a warrior himself, at least not until much later.

Tom Xaver is the “Mysterious Man” from the character guidebook who was briefly mentioned at the end of last chapter. Although it was speculated to be the case because of his armband, getting the confirmation that he the source of both the Beast Titan’s powers that Zeke ended up acquiring later on and the glasses with Zeke seem to have personal value to Zeke for the obvious reason that is him and Xaver’s relationship.

Xaver, in any case, was an interesting character on his own. His manifestation of the Beast Titan’s powers was apparently deemed unfitting for Marley’s typical usage of their power, that is invading other countries and making use of the sheer force that is the Titan shifting ability. Although I’m curious to know how exactly Xaver’s Beast Titan was “useless” in that regard. Remember when Magath was analyzing each of the Titans in the first half of the Marley arc? It seems that the thing that Beast Titans have in common is being slightly taller than the others that are not the Colossal Titan.

Since Xaver was already a baseball player who seemingly had quite a bit of free time to practice the sport, my guess is his Beast Titan did not have the physical features that Zeke’s does. In this case, the abnormally long arms which would provide massive momentum and throwing strength.

But regardless, Tom Xaver chooses to dedicate the remainder of his life to being a Titan Researcher. This was personally an enjoyable aspect of his character to me, as the Titan Chemistry Research Society that has been mentioned since the Basement reveal hasn’t really gotten any direct exposition, so seeing a direct member of it was nice.

Anyway, Zeke isn’t doing that well as a warrior and Tom Xaver is not fit for combat, so the two naturally spend a lot of time together. It ultimately leads to Xaver being the one to suggest Zeke betraying his parents after he overhears that Marley is on their trail. In a way, this ultimately sheds light to Zeke’s further developments.

He betrayed his parents to save his own life plus that of his grandparents, and it wasn’t until later when he found the resolve as an Eldian Restorationist on his own. Thus, I truly believe in what he told Kiyomi. His parents being cruel and inconsiderate of him aside, Zeke may or may not have come to his own conclusion that they would only bring Eldia down.

It isn’t until Zeke’s later years that we find out about a certain reveal which I quite appreciated. Eldians, “Subjects of Ymir” are biological extensions of the Founding Titan’s biology itself. That’s just the way of saying that they’re all connected to the Coordinate in the middle, where the Founding Titan is. As Zeke’s Beast Titan can trasnform those marked to his own Coordinate, his Titan via spinal fluid, we can assume that, should the Founding Titan decide to do so, can mass-transform Eldians in the same fashion as the it’s connected to all of them by default. On top of that, Xaver theorizes that it possesses the ability to alter their biological structure to the point of completely eradicating an epidemic.

This theory is what brings us to the main reveal this chapter, Zeke’s plan which we have been theorizing about for a long time now. To use the Founding Titan’s powers to sterilize every Eldian and wait for the last generation to die either by natural or non-natural means. With that, even if one of the 9 Titans remains, once they reach the 13 year point, the power wouldn’t have anyone to transfer to. Thus, ending the “cursed history” just like he said he would.

Before I elaborate on that, Tom reveals to Zeke that he himself wishes he never would have been born due to the stuff that happened with his wife. Truly cruel, and you can see that until the end they remain on the same page. The father/son moment they had as well was quite touching but very tragic, just like the rest of the chapter for the most part.

We come to the current point in time where Zeke detonates the thunderspear in his abdomen in hopes to escape his confinement and get rid of Levi. Both of them have been opposing forces since the Return to Shiganshina arc but they both ended up making the same mistake over and over again: Underestimating each other. Levi didn’t think Zeke would do anything under his watch in the forest and didn’t think he would actually detonate himself either. Meanwhile, Zeke has underestimated Levi an equal number of times as well.

But regardless, he did it. I don’t believe that Zeke is dead because let’s be real here, he has quite a lot of plot armor and killing him after revealing his goal to euthanize the Eldian race would be anti-climatic and would render the entire chapter pointless. Levi, on the other hand, has to die sooner or later. I’m not saying I’m “happy” though I personally never hold personal bias and attachment with characters outside of ironic and meme reasons. If a character dies, they die. That’s it. I’ve been reading snk for almost 5 years and I’ve gotten used to it at this point.

With that said Levi could potentially come back later depending on how fast he heals but my prediction is, someone will find him and he’s going to have his last words. When the big boom happens, it seems to be raining. Atmospherically that seems an appropriate end for him, whenever someone finds him. As for Zeke, seems like Levi was lying. He did close his limbs from the explosion from what we can see though it’s nothing he can’t regenerate. His neck seems in tact and it looks like he’s gotten used to physical pain at this point. Honestly, it’s tragic.

Lastly we come to what I believe is the most important lead we have this chapter. Folks,

Zeke and Eren are not on the same side.

Although we can question Eren’s mental state and motives for the past 20 chapters, let’s just keep in kind that this is Eren who has ALWAYS fought for freedom. The one who possesses the Attack Titan, at that. Now, do you really believe that his idea of “Freedom” is for his own race to go extinct?

Personally, I think he may have tricked Zeke, but at the end, I believe the two to have entirely different motives and are not going to be the dynamic duo of this final arc.

The biggest reason why I think that is an interview that Isayama held a few years ago when he was asked about Zeke. This is not a direct quote, but Isayama says something along the lines of

“When coming up with Zeke’s character, I wanted to follow a main common trope that the main character, in this case Eren, needs an opposite. In this case, Zeke is the type of brotherly existence to Eren but is ultimately the kind of character the protagonist strives not to become.”

In other words, Eren and Zeke both wish for Eldia’s salvation. However, they have different ideas. Zeke wishes for the extinction of the Eldian race, while Eren likely wishes for Eldia to overcome its oppression even if it means absolute genocide against the rest of the world.

This is why I believe that the “Final Battle” will involve the infiltrating Marleyan warriors, the fleet fighting off against the remainder of the Survey Corps, while Eren deals with Zeke.

Logically speaking, Zeke has no reason to activate the rumbling, but what needs to be elaborated on is that Eren is the one who decides what the outcome of the usage of the Founding Titan’s powers are, not Zeke. I definitely believe the two will duke it out, but before that we are going to get the next thing I’ve been waiting for which is their long-awaited reunion. And no, the airship doesn’t count.

Overall, like I said this may very well be my favorite snk chapter for now. Don’t have much else to say except it’s very solid and I look forward to seeing the rest, as usual.

#snk 114 #snk spoilers #zeke jaeger #tom xaver #levi ackerman #eren jaeger #snk meta

102 notes · View notes

briangroth27 · 5 years

Text

Godzilla: King of the Monsters Review

Godzilla: King of the Monsters is a significant step up from 2014's Godzilla, the first installment in Legendary's kaiju-focused Monsterverse. I thought the pacing of the first movie was too slow, that it had too much focus on the human characters and not nearly enough Godzilla, and I was disappointed in its monster battles where Godzilla and the Muto squared off...after stepping behind a skyscraper. This film fixed the monster problem in a big way and these humans felt like they fit into the plot better, even if there was still something off about them to me. There’s still some room for improvement, but King of the Monsters is a kaiju-sized step in the right direction and it’s absolutely worth seeing for your giant monster fix!

Full Spoilers...

I thought this movie walked the line between Godzilla the horror monster and Godzilla the hero fairly well. I haven't seen much of the original series, but I have seen the first film and the analysis of it I’ve seen from others framing Godzilla as the embodiment of residual radioactive horrors from the United States' bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (as well as later atomic testing) is a sobering take on the character (and my preferred one). There could absolutely be context I'm missing from the movies following that one, but Godzilla as a hero or an indifferent but ultimately positive force feels less important, definitely less relevant, and—especially in a remake made by Americans—could be construed as a whitewash (or at least a conveniently forgetful sidestep) of the atrocities we've committed (though I don’t believe that was the filmmakers’ intention at all). That said, this film does remind us that Godzilla was awakened by atomic testing and the Titans are returning in part because of what humanity has done to the planet. So, that culpability’s kind of still there, but it's not nearly as pointed or hard-hitting and it’s far more generalized into a “we’re all to blame for killing the planet” message instead of “we did something specifically evil and the effects are still wreaking havoc on innocent people.” Regardless, Godzilla's (TJ Storm) reemergence being a truly positive reaction to our negative impact on the planet doesn't entirely work for me: where it fell apart for me was when the movie agreed large numbers of people had to die to save the world. Yes, there is a line when the number of deaths becomes a bad thing to most of the characters, but Godzilla accidentally kills innocents too and the solution is to let more die? This is especially puzzling coming from Vera Farmiga's Dr. Emma Russell, who started her quest to understand the Titans because of the death of her son (Tyler Crumley)...so her resolution, the reason for her son’s death that she was looking for, is that more kids should die so everyone else can live? I can’t connect those dots and I just don’t buy that these huge creatures lumbering around and sometimes fighting is going to result in anything but more death (not every city can be evacuated like Boston was).

While the humans do affect the plot (waking the Titans, saving Godzilla, luring Ghidorah (Jason Liles, Alan Maxson, and Richard Dorton) and the others to Boston), it's weird that humanity has no part to play in the grand scheme of saving the planet, no redemption to earn, no way to out-think our extinction and create a better future for ourselves: we just have to sit back and let the kaiju remake the world. It's certainly daring to let the humans be so inconsequential, but I wonder if treating us like children whose toys are taken away while the "adults" fix everything is the best way forward. It certainly sets things up for a whole new world order that we’ve never seen though! It should definitely be interesting to explore this dynamic in future installments: what does the social structure of the planet look like with the Titans roaming around “in charge?” Unfortunately, the logistics of the Titans saving the Earth falter a bit for me: shouldn't the radiation they give off that rejuvenates the Earth also make those areas uninhabitable for a long time? And/or does it create new, potentially dangerous mutated creatures there? If they hadn't made a big deal out of the radiation in Godzilla's hollow Earth kingdom (which was a cool idea and very well-rendered; that was totally Atlantis, right??), the casual radiation they give off wouldn’t have bothered me since it would've just been part of the movie's pseudo-science. But since they made that level of radiation a thing, I would’ve liked at least a line or two explaining why the rest of it is safe. Godzilla’s atomic breath should also be a problem to anyone in the vicinity, right? Yet no one bothers to mention dangers potentially associated with the near-misses they all have. Oh well; it’s a movie about giant prehistoric monsters and while that’s not a free pass to forego internal consistency, fluctuating radiation levels are not enough to break my suspension of disbelief or my enjoyment.

Reimagining the kaiju in this movie as the ancient Titans is an absolutely clever idea! They definitely feel mythic and the movie does a great job of staging enormous creatures in beautiful surroundings with a lot of scope to craft iconic imagery. Their shared origin was a simple, easy way to tie all these creatures (plus semi-unrelated giant monsters like King Kong) together. The impact of the fights between monsters and the near-inescapable feel of their attacks on humans were visceral moments and these animals truly felt dangerous throughout the movie. The CGI was great and the creature choreography was solid too. They found a wide variety of landscapes to plunder and spreading the Titans out around the planet was a cool way to truly make this a worldwide phenomenon and global event. While I would've preferred less shaky-cam, those kaiju battles were some seriously crowd-pleasing moments that made seeing this on the big screen worth it. The creatures’ disparate abilities also helped to keep each fight/attack fresh.

Like I said, I think they walk the line between Godzilla as a hero and as a monster pretty well—as reasons to fight the other monsters “to protect us” go, they gave Godzilla good ones—but I didn't need them to essentially make him Jesus, dying and resurrecting to save us all. I did like that they incorporated the way they killed Godzilla in the original movie—an "oxygen destroyer" deployed in the ocean—and Dr. Serizawa’s (Ken Watanabe) sacrifice to bring him back totally worked for that character's devotion and dedication in this version. However, the savior trope didn't land for me and the "Godzilla's gonna explode!" countdown also came off as a little less threatening than it was intended (and that's more radiation that apparently doesn't matter unless you're at ground zero), but it didn’t hurt the final battle for me. Mothra was very cool; she was my favorite kaiju in the movie. Her abilities were the most intriguing (and the ones that would seem to make the most sense to jumpstart the Earth's rebirth, since she also helps stabilize Godzilla) and I was sorry to see her die. I hope that the reports in the credits of another Mothra egg are true, but is it possible Godzilla laid that egg and it's the offspring of the two of them instead (Mothra did rain some sort of energy down on him at one point)? It’s probably a Mothra twin, though, to reflect that bit of the Mothra mythology that’s also represented here by the twin Monarch scientists played by Zhang Ziyi (Doctors Ilene and Ling Chen). Either way, I liked Godzilla and Mothra’s bond/relationship and thought it was totally believable. Ghidorah was suitably imposing and scary; he was a more than worthy opponent for Godzilla and the reveal that he was an alien instead of a native of Earth felt totally natural to the story, so the inclusion of aliens on top of everything else was easy to roll with. I don't need to see him again like the post-credits scene implies, but maybe he'll be rebuilt into a cyborg next time. Rodan (Jason Liles) was cool in short bursts, but ultimately his attacks were limited and I feel like we saw all we need to from him. I was disappointed he survived (it definitely looked like Mothra stabbing his heart killed him!) and Godzilla's glare at the end didn't feel like enough of a reaction to Rodan killing Mothra at all. I would've also liked the other kaiju that show up in Boston to do more than just walk around, even if they didn’t end up fighting Godzilla or Ghidorah, but ultimately their lack of action and involvement didn't hurt those sequences for me.

I wanted more from the humans script-wise and couldn't figure out what was missing at first. I've finally landed on the idea that a lot of them feel like they exist mainly as their plots ("must help Godzilla," "must kill Godzilla," “must save family,” etc.), but I wanted to know more about their lives, hopes, and interests outside of these goals (is there any hope for whatever they wanted to do with their lives in the worlds Emma and Monarch are trying to create?). Kyle Chandler (Dr. Mark Russell), Vera Farmiga, Ken Watanabe, and Millie Bobby Brown (Madison Russell) are all very strong actors and do good work with what they’re given here, but I thought the writing left them all with one big goal that overrode everything else about them (though we see a bit of Mark outside of Monarch). There also wasn’t much room in the writing to explore the character growth they did get as their opinions on the Titans evolved over the course of the film. Things like Emma accepting the death of more kids and (like my sister pointed out) Madison’s concern for her mom at the beginning vs. her going along with the “kidnapping” plan could’ve used more explanation in the script instead of feeling like we’d missed beats to set up plot twists. Perhaps the cool stuff Madison got to do, like going rogue and calming the Titans down via the Orca device while bringing them to a deserted city, could’ve been grounded in a third viewpoint on the “monsters will save us/kill us” discussion to further illuminate her character and tie the struggle to save the planet to real life a little bit more closely. They could’ve framed her as the embodiment of the younger generation, looking at the options offered by the adults and finding a new way forward that didn’t involve killing the Titans or handing the planet over to them; maybe they could’ve worked out a partnership of some kind so humans could have a hand in helping to save themselves (especially given the Orca was a communication device). Still, characters in a lot of movies lose detail in service of the plot, so at first I didn't know why it felt so odd here. I now think it’s because these humans are also so inconsequential on the grander scale of saving the Earth that their lack of personal lives left me with very little to connect with even on a “Yeah! Humanity can turn it around!” level. Doesn’t knowing what kind of life they’re fighting for make for a more compelling and complete struggle than simply fighting to survive? If we can’t save the world without relinquishing control to giant monsters, what does that say about our chances of dealing with the perils facing our real world? Regardless, all of these humans were more engaging and entertaining than the ones in the first movie, whom I can barely remember (and the returning ones seemed to fit this film’s more bombastic tone better). I hope the survivors get to come back in the next one!

While it feels like I’m being hard on this, I did enjoy it and it's very entertaining; a massive improvement from Legendary’s first Godzilla! They could still stand to give the humans more depth beyond what’s needed for the plot, but this cinematic universe seems to be evolving in the right direction even if I don't agree with the conclusions it's coming to about the fate of the world and who can save it. Ultimately, it seems they learned all the right lessons from Kong: Skull Island and this is a fun rapid-fire journey through the original Godzilla series in a modern (though not as pointed) context. I'll definitely watch King Kong vs. Godzilla—the original was one of my favorite movies as a kid—but I'm not sure how that will feel different from this one since the news reports during the credits indicate it's just another challenge between alphas. Will Kong be the hero in that one, as in the original (they do mention that Godzilla's on humanity’s side..."for now")? I can't see either of them dying; will their battle lead to Mecha-Godzilla instead? Will Mecha-Ghidorah appear to help fight Godzilla? Maybe adding human-created cybernetics to the story will be a good way for people to take a bigger role in saving the world, unless they want to knock us down again by having our technology distort the Titans and their natural function on the planet in some manner. Those are all questions for later though; in the meantime, if you're looking for a giant monster mash, Godzilla is king!

Check out more of my reviews, opinions, and original short stories here!

0 notes

pankopop · 7 years

Text

Sono Chi No Sodomy

Renegotiating Gender Politics of Anime and the Complex Queerness of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure

Now, I’ll be the first to admit I’m a dumb baby newcomer to anime. And I’m not gonna pretend that I have any authority at all here. I think letsplayer Arin Hanson once tweeted about “The Weeb” being like chicken pox – you’ll be okay if you get it early but if you contract it in your twenties you’re basically doomed.

When I was 13 I never let my sister off the hook for being into Inuyasha. One day, I walked into the anime club at my highschool and just belly laughed at the dorks who dared to enjoy things. I’m a recovering fuckhead, and boy do I feel bad about the assholey things I thought and said.

The sneerishness stemmed from this idea that ALL anime was sexist, racist, and sexually obsessed with underage girls. To me, the entire country of Japan was ideologically written off as an ethical dystopia. That was when I still thought of myself as a real hard manly masculine boy, with long hair and motorhead on loop loud enough to drown out any opinions but Lemmy’s. I had things to prove! Boycott Japan! I’m very insecure!

Of course, things have changed (I hope). It took me many years of hurting and deriding really wonderful people to come to terms with how fucked up my thinking was. Studio Ghibli flicks became something to share with my partner, and then I happened to sit in on a pal watching subbed Attack on Titan. I had realized how much incredible stuff, how many fantastic worlds I was missing out on. How I didn’t need to worry about authentically being my true analog self if I was just fucking enjoying something.

***

When I first heard of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, it was through the tweets and tumblr posts of femmes and queer folk. That should have been a tell…

I had previously looked into the entirety of the Fatal Fury anime films because of cartoonist/roadwarrior/bisontaur Coelasquid waxed on about the pretty bara boys. That was kinda my first introduction to enjoyably dumb thousand-punch-a-second anime, but I was more interested by the way in which Coelasquid read into the schlock, seeing more complex narratives and richer characters than at face value. I began to see this blatantly masculine-centric misogynist text as more complex than what was intended.

Fragile and Close to the Edge were cornerstones in my musical childhood, so the roundabout meme (playing on the first couple series’ “to be continued” sepia freeze frame) was enough to get me interested. Also, I had just finished One Punch Man, and that left a big ol’ fist-shaped hole in my heart, so I was down for some new hyper weeb fighty fights.

Eventually I took it upon myself to find some Jojo episodes, starting S1E1. I got about six episodes in, and kinda lost interest. I think I got to about the episodes that involved the warriors devout to Mary queen of Scots. I can’t remember exactly why I fell off the wagon (anime Queen Mary really spoke to me). I probably had shit to do, and life gets in the way. Excuses excuses.

It was around this time that Lego Bionicle had received its half-hearted and ultimately futile reboot. By way of a 4chan /toy/ thread I came across the tumblr bionicle fandom, and then was redirected to someone’s twitter which had some fireemoji 100emoji fireemoji shitposts. She also posted jojo stuff non-stop. Which was cool. I didn’t mind not “getting it”; it was all so absurd that it was kinda just a joy to have on the feed.

It also piqued my interest as to why someone so into a weird niche robo-tiki fandom would be into this big boy barafest. In Bionicle, there were very few female characters. The extant few were actually pretty well written, but this left a big population of masculine heroes with a fandom hungry to ship romance into. I remember one person posting “If they didn’t want bionicle to be so gay, then why did they write men almost exclusively?”

“Alright”, I thought. “If they’re on the same wavelength regarding avatar-but-robots, Jojo might be cool.”

So I picked up where I left off, and was hopelessly hooked. I finished part 1, was admittedly chuffed by some pretty fun plot twists, and I absolutely got into Joseph Joestar in the part 2. The outfits, posing, and artistic obsession with lips, hips, and eyes were all so decadent, and the absolute disregard for toning it down really got me into the series.

Simultaneously, I was watching Steven Universe and absolutely adoring the story for its inclusive, positive social activist platform and it’s kindness. Each episode basically became my time for cry. I was also finishing up a cultural anthropology degree that would sustain that allowed me to unpack all the self-loathing I had as a teenager. I came out of that degree a kinder, more open minded person.

I was in a mire of anti-bigotted pink futurism. So why the fuck was I so into this show about big muscular boys punching big muscular boys? Well for one I started realizing things about myself but ALSO:

In some sense, the absence of women as plot characters had left the shipping possibilities open. As previously mentioned: all men, all gay. I noticed hard aesthetic resemblance to hyperbutch homo-ero british and American schlock portraits of the 60’s and 70’s. In many ways, yes, it is a male power fantasy. But in other ways it is absolutely a bergerian spectacle of pecks and soft lips and sad eyes and thighs and midriff and chiseled V. It’s an animated pinup mag.

I saw more porn of the characters than battle portraits. The fanart knew what was up. The fanfiction was dripping. Jojo is so sexually charged, and more importantly, sexually charged for a specific audience.

Now you could probably write a paper drawing a lineage from Charles Atlas through the dark ages of comics and into jojo, but I feel that’s more of an artist-centric industry perspective. The fact that Jojo sits comfortably in Shonen Jump, with a reader base insistently for boys, raises some exciting questions. I mean, it’s definitely not classically bishounen - there’s no accessible femme softness playing into romantic hetero dating scenario.

I think what, in the very least, feels revolutionary about Jojo is its unapologetic, unspoken, and hard sexualization of male forms. There’s really not a lot of actual fighting going on - so much frame time is spent ogling these tight bodies. You know this sexuality is for someone, and that someone is heckin’ queer and/or heckin’ female.

Furthermore, this powerful sexual decadence is fairly uncommon for non-hetero male eyes. It’s cruder and far more raw than your average bit of media meant to titillate boy-lovers. I can really only think of Magic Mike XXL as an equivalent.

This isn’t what your average dudebro wants to be. There are examples of male power fantasy you could point to, but deep down you know: jojo is for the loins of the spectator. There’s something incredibly subversive about putting the power of sexual spectatorship in the hands of women and queer folk. Tailoring to that spectatorship.

Yeah okay. That could just build off of the cliché of the big beefy hunks that naughty suburban blondes get flustered over after their 4th glass of white wine. But hear me out: Jojo’s not at all getting his beautiful body out of this queer reading.

For example: there’s a theme of piercing in Jojo. Bits of wood and shrapnel in bodies, the Pillar Men’s betrothals to Joseph (which y’know, gg ez), Dio’s obsession with fingering people’s necks… etc. Unlike the invincible bulletproof armour-bodies of Superman, Goku, etc etc, these bodies are fleshy and soft. They are vulnerable, even if the character himself is stoic enough to tough it out.

Men’s bodies, in the patriarchal scheme of things, are not supposed to do that. They should be hard, to pierce the bodies of the subjugated (read emasculated/females) that defy them. But here we are, Araki, with the men who can be penetrated, curiously burning gender roles and expectations with violence in a very violent narrative. Far from subtle, sure, but it’s nothing to ignore.

If the Jojoboys were really just a heteronormative eye candy for thirsty women, I don’t feel like male penetration would have been as pervasive. The male would be doing the penetrating, but no real males would be penetrated, especially not the protagonists.

To build on that, the garish, revealing fashion doesn’t point to male power. There are no massive pauldrons or chestplates, everything is laid bare, sensuous and exposed. These adjectives tend not to be associated with hegemonic masculinities. Nor is the world of textiles and high fashion seen as a socially acceptable male venture, as much as a trivially feminine pastime. There is genderfuckage abound in this hard boy cartoon.

***

I overheard someone talking about how they tried watching Jojo and they couldn’t understand for the life of them why any self-respecting femιnist would be into this mess of tropes. I’m not gonna argue against that. The whole argument for Jojo as a progressive show sounds like someone covering their ideological ass. I’m in no way suggesting that Jojo does the same work for femιnism that shows like Steven Universe and Avatar/Korra might be doing.

The point I’m trying to bring home is that I came of age thinking that anime was inherently sexist. That idea came from a whole lot of not listening to the people who were actually experiencing real sexism. Especially in those incredible cultural circumstances where the distinctions between content creator and content interpreter become blurred, it’s always worth it to investigate what identities, intentions, and libidos are involved. Something that seems like run-of-the-mill propaganda might actually be backfiring in a more progressive direction than media with actual progressive intentions.

3 notes · View notes