Tired of Being a Token

[@scratchpapergames9351]

As a Lebanese/Polish man, I've never been able to enjoy a book or a movie, because I've never seen one featuring a Lebanese/Polish man of any kind. Clearly the world hates me and wants to deliberately make me sad with their oppression.

[@aurenkleige]

I identify as a phonebooth and I have never seen a phonebooth be the star of a TV Show or a Movie. This is the definition of oppression.

[@voidwyrm57]

In fact the actress Jenna Dewan is Lebanese/polish on her father side. So you could watch one of her movies or series. Wait... forget all of that, she was in Supergirl

[@ShadowSaberBaroxio]

What about the Matrix? Phoneboothes got multiple important scenes in that movie! Course, then Hollywood sorta phased them out in the sequels.

[@scratchpapergames9351]

@@voidwyrm57 Also, she's a woman(though don't ask me to define that).

[@scratchpapergames9351]

@@aurenkleige Our communities should join forces to destroy someone's livelihood.

[@maxis2k]

As a writer, I actually write stories with a lot of diverse characters. Because that's what I know. I grew up in an area that was well over 50% Hispanic and most of my friends weren't white. But see, because I'm a *shock* white male, when I try to share my stories with people (writing groups, contests), I always get the same stupid replies. "You can't write these types of characters because you're not [x] race." So let me get this straight. I can only write stories about white men? But if I do that, then you chastise me for only writing white men. See the stupid catch 22 here? And most of the characters I write are based on friends I have. So you're not only saying my writing is invalid based on MY race, but invalidating my friends, who aren't white? Sounds kinda...racist. This stupid ideology is actually hurting diversity, not helping it. But then, that's what I'd expect from people who obsess over race and sex.

[@BradLad56]

It's poison. Poison to storytelling as a whole. People of any ethnicity should be able to create whatever story they want. That's the whole point of having creative freedom. The argument of you can't create this story because you're not whatever is so asinine and limiting. Imagination should never have limits put on it because of immutable characteristics that creators had no control over.

[@bankasai3120]

I don't know where you grew up but..., ya I grew up there too. In the exact same case. White dude. Hispanic neighborhood, judged for speakin on any topic if not said from a 'white' perspective.

[@andresanguianozuniga6798]

Gooooooood point.

[@SaturdayParker]

You know thats interesting I'm black but grew up in California so I was always surrounded by Asian and Mexican people and that influenced my writing. In fact, I thought because Iwas already blackin real I would write myself as mexican.

[@kamsi8880]

kp

[@oldmanjim2376]

Finn would have been a better main character than Mary Sue Rey.

[@emilturangi7145]

Just create a mod for Doom 3, name it "Raylo slayer" and you have a brand new game)))

[@therealmaizing5328]

Finn had so much potential and they wasted it with bad writing.

[@zxyatiywariii8]

I had such high hopes for Finn! He could've had a fascinating character arc, so much potential. And I've been comatose, so when Finn woke up, I knew rather how he would feel -- not even knowing whether Rey was still alive or not. I was excited to see how this potentially dramatic moment would play out. Instead, Ruin Johnson turned Finn into a virtual minstrel-show stereotype charicature seeking cheap and leadenly-not-funny "joke". 🤦🏾‍♀️

[@skinnysnorlax1876]

Yup. John Boyega easily has the charisma to carry a franchise like that. I honestly like the scenes with him and Rey. When she had someone to work off of, she had potential. Separating them so early was a huge mistake, which Rian just doubled down on tbh.

[@chulritti]

Yup

[@TheCucuyo9779]

I NEVER understood the representation argument. When I was a kid, not one of my favorite characters looked like me in any way. Yugi, Goku, Optimus Prime, Axl, the list goes on, not one of them shares anything in common with me. But I related to these characters for what they went through, and thus what they represented. That's a HUMAN thing, something everyone can relate to. And it's actually really scary that, more and more, people are incapable of connecting to fiction because the characters "don't look like them."

[@starspeculation]

@Rick O'Shay The percentage of gays in fiction is actually higher than the percentage of gays in real life. I can appreciate a good gay character, but some of these people out here dont seem like they'll be satisfied until every work of fiction has a gay couple in it.

[@royallison5307]

@Rick O'Shay They forget that entertainment is a form of escapeism, a distraction from everyday life.

[@CptnCardboard]

I so agree with you. I'm Hispanic and I have never understood this desire to see "people that look like me" on screen. It comes across to me as a shallow, tribalistic mindset. Why should a character's skin color influence my admiration for that character? If I wouldn't judge a person in real life for the color of their skin, why would I ever do it for a fictional person? Just because they'll superficially resemble me somewhat? How vapid.

[@awesomemcawesomeson5138]

Captain Cardboard this is exactly my take on this whole thing. I couldn’t agree with u more.

[@kyratheninja3187]

I feel the same way

[@geekybugle4241]

By their logic the only Comic that should have ever interested me was Chanoc, since the hero was of Mayan descent like me. I should never have bought (because I liked it) Apollo & Midnighter because both are white gay men, and I'm neither of those. The same goes for all the female characters I like and admire like Cassandra Caine (the comic book version), WW, Ororo (prior to SJWMarvel), etc. Es puro y vil racismo y sexismo.

[@Hinatachan360]

I'm half Nigerian and half Japanese. My favorite Star Wars characters are Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa. Neither one is Blasian but that doesn't stop me from enjoying their characters.

[@TSPH1992]

Exacto

[@ComicsMATTER]

The difficulty of following all of their accumulating rules is your best point. I never considered that.

[@leafyishereisdumbnameakath4259]

yeah. love ur stuff too

[@MrGreenAKAguci00]

Yeah, One can never be woke enough... They will fuck each other up.

[@sailorcentrist5077]

My only problem with the branching out part is that SJWs don't want white authors to branch out. They think it's cultural appropriation for someone who isn't the same skin color as them to write stories based on different ethnicities. So unless a Black, Asian, gay, etc author writes that sort of thing it's not going to happen.

[@jdjdraw]

This^

[@TSPH1992]

Aye

[@rockinHurley777]

They complain about racism? They're being racist right back

[@LoavesofBread]

Next level tokenism would be scriptwriters giving 10% to a "POC" to use their name to avoid backlash.

[@oblivionreaper3530]

I agree with your point but just one thing, MOST SJWs are actually white and a woman so all the "cultural appropriation" issues are from people not of the "culture" they are "supporting".

[@Saint_Jiub]

I'm sick of narcissistic humans wanting multi colored humans in sci fi, more aliens is real diversity.

[@Rakshiir]

As some guy pointed out: That also happens in fantasy, if they write a green skinned race of females suddenly to be black. You destroy not only the immersion for fans of the material, but kill the fantasy at the same time. Well done.

[@lordlammi1562]

Amen.

[@monotoneguy7279]

I miss those days where race doesn't even cross our minds Edit: My statement is within the context of the video, I never said racism doesn't exist. Please connect the dots.

[@Cre8Lounge]

What days?

[@lordnoir7245]

Those days never existed...

[@OneEyedCloud01]

Those days really didn't exist. You may not have experienced it somewhere, but you could wwsily find the exact opposite a few hundred miles away.

[@Indubidably0]

Those days never existed. Only white people the past 50 years have been so naive as to believe otherwise.

[@AKSourGod]

😂😂😂😂😂 And what was the time period for “those days” ? What bubble world do you live in?

[@jeffgrey2746]

I saw an interview with one of the creators for the Princess and the frog, he said that when they tried to include things in the movie that they thought black people would enjoy they were scorned for thinking that all black people liked those things, so when they removed those things they were then scorned for not including anything that black people would like. He said that they could literally do no right. Maybe that’s why people avoid it.

[@cheeseburger12]

Killing Star Wars and Star Trek is pretty much killing sci-fi. I mean, sure they still will make some sci-fi movies. But those are the big gateways for normals into sci-fi. It shrinks the market. Too bad.

[@tardigrade8019]

@Pub Thumpin yup, the creators made everything out of passion, not for their wallets

[@DirkPiddlemark]

The hell it is. They were never that good and were always targeted for mass audiences, the normies.

[@Raycheetah]

Once upon a time, the Western was the King of genres. Then, owing to a variety of factors, the Western fell off in popularity. Sure, there have been individual Western movies since, but nothing like the scope of the old days. It could happen to Fantasy and Sci Fi, too. Ready for some new genre to rise in their place? Or perhaps even the decline of cinema, in general? A hundred and twenty years or so is a very long time for an entertainment medium to remain static, and the writing is already on the wall for the auditorium theater experience. ='[.]'=

[@adumbedgyname7158]

Science fiction usually explores deep thoughts and concepts. Can't have too many of the gentiles, I mean people, thinking too many deep thoughts.

[@TheMegawingzero]

@@DirkPiddlemark unfortunately, people need a big brand to associate with a product. For example, if Pepsi and Coke replace there primary drinks with bottled piss and when customer rightly complained called them entitled. What do you think is going to happen? A. Customer switch to a smaller brand. Or B. Abandon drinking soda all together.

[@Grawuar]

"I want to see myself on the screen" displays a horrendous lack of imagination and even some level of egoism to me. Does this person watch any movie and is not entertained nor interested in characters that don't look like them? How limiting.

[@Michae89]

It's also a terrible generalisation. Is the skin color all there is to a person? Even in just visual traits there's so much more than that. I'm a white dude but I look nothing like most of the actors that play in movies. We don't have the same build, nor the same tone, nor the same hair color, hair length, facial hair, height eye color or age. Does this really matter? For example I can watch the Joker and feel for the character altough I'm not like Arthur in any way except for my race. I can do that because hil plight is well written and well shown in the movie, that's all. And also I can understand where he comes from, even pity him a bit and still regard his actions as bad. Nuance just doesn't exist with these people.

[@Grawuar]

@@Michae89 You're right. People are so much more that their looks. And even if they look similar, they may have totally different backgrounds; heck, even in one small country there are franctions that feel distinguished from one another (I know, coming from such a country). Seeing a race, color, culture, wealth instead of a specific human being in front of you is small minded to me. I'm a redheaded white woman and still very much like Black Panther for example, his dignity, loyalty, strenght and humility. Those are the traits that are inspiring and universal.

[@GeneralProfessor]

@Sench And his closing statement confirms it, where he basically says that if he can't get what he wants then the whole thing deserves to be destroyed.

[@Rakshiir]

If you write a good character, be it game or in a movie, people will watch it. At least, on the large scale. Sure, you will always have some people with issues, but the majority - thats your audience you need to adress - will look at it. I remember something like Mass Effect 1-3 - I played as male and female shep. Why? Both had some differences, but both where really cool to play with. I loved the shit out of Alien, where the main character is a women, something I as a male cannot identify with, but it was a great movie with a great main character. You can go ahead and write a character with the idea of being a women, black, gay, or whatever, and make it good. But I personally like the idea more to write a good character, and no matter what it is after that, it will always be interesting.

[@ldmt1995]

I'm surprised he didn't follow with "They must be named Darnell be 5'6 everyone must love him and I'm basically asking that I want to be casted into every movie"

[@jasonrobertson9618]

Something else to consider: accusations of appropriation. If I write a book and I add a black character, assuming I manage to do a good enough job to avoid the first hurdle of tokenism, then I could still get told I shouldn't be writing about the 'lived experiences' of another race. Especially if the story involves anything remotely akin to issues that race faced in the real world, ie racism, xenophobia, slavery.

[@devildavin]

your damned if you do damned if you don't. ive already seen how that goes, you got a black character but "well their not black enough" or "your erasing their blackness" and if you leave out POC your racist so what are you suppose to do, people demand this diversity but when you give it, not good enough. shit there is that one writer, white woman who made a story about Mexican people trying to escape the Drug cartels. people were pissed about it so what is a creator expected to do, there is this damn near impossible tight rope you have to cross and you get only one shot and if you fall off your instantly racist

[@ScottRuggels]

It's the regressive lefts power play:divide and and make you and them fight. Identity politics is a short term play for power. But people know about it and mostly walk away from it. Communities like the North side of Houston are based on income not race and people are welcome if they can afford and maintain their house. I saw no overt racism there and the neighborhoods organized and looked after each other after the hurricane. The left want authoritarian power and hate the white culture of the US, and this was the most effective way of damaging it.

[@mssophiad03]

You can't win

[@jasonrobertson9618]

@Mista Scott I don't want to go anywhere near that topic even. For example I'm just trying to create a video game, strategic space combat sorta thing, and when it comes to creating the characters and dialog I get super paranoid about anything to do with race and culture. I don't want to come off as making a statement one way or the other on today's culture... and there are people who would take insult with even that.

[@bluedragon8417]

Yeah that the thing that people who believe in diversity and cultural appropriation. When in truth is just culturally sharing and they want to create a purity test. SInce that how it goes historical. It leads to book burning and destroying cultural things due to not being pure enough. That and it also ignores you can go out and talk to people who hav experience these things. Like what they do for republic commando. They when and talk to real life special forces units. TO learn how a commando squad would act and than use that knowledge they learn and apply it to their video game. So they are denying human compassion, denying the idea people can talk to each other and learn from each other. By throwing this bs around.

[@InfernosReaper]

One thing that bugs me about people asking for "inclusion" or "diversity" and whining when the world doesn't cater to their desires is that chances are, by now, what they want already exists. They just don't look for it. For example, on the Death Battle video about Static vs zappy Spiderman, I had this discussion with a dude. He was complaining about how there weren't any black heroes when he was growing up and I was "dude, how old are you? There have been black super heroes in comics for decades, some of which were actually really good." It just turns out he didn't know about these things, because he didn't look beyond the surface of comic book culture as a kid and as an adult just couldn't be bothered to. He didn't know Static had been around since the 90s. The first he'd heard of it was the early 2000s cartoon. It's kinda like all those people who went on about Black Panther being the first black super hero movie, despite the existence of Spawn, Blankman, Meteor Man, Steel, the Blade trilogy, etc. These weren't even small time movies with obscure actors. They had solid talent from the era. Even Steel had some solid acting talent involved, even if it's overshadowed by Shaq's not so great acting.

[@MysteriousTomJenkins]

That bugs me too. Comics have a lot of female, PoC and LGBT characters that people could follow and demand to be used more but the representation crowd is just like "We want black Superman" instead of asking for Icon or Blue Marvel or they're like "We want gay Peter Parker" instead of asking for Wiccan and Hulkling. These types of characters exist, and stuff like the MCU has proven they can make obscure and unknown shit work. They made a super hero group with two green aliens, a talking tree and a talking raccoon a household name, they can fucking do it with actual human characters, hell they already did with Iron Man who is probably one of the most popular super heroes ever these days yet before the MCU only comic fans would know about him. The representation crowd both seems too lazy to actually look up the characters they want or they just want 'diverse' versions of the popular white/straight/cis/male character. Its why I really don't care much about their arguments.

[@MysteriousTomJenkins]

@evan achter I've watched that exact video and it annoyed me but what annoyed me more is all the people trying to justify it. "She's a master martial artist, she caught him off guard, he still weighs the same as a human his size" And all of that doesn't matter when you can easily move planets and move and react faster than the speed of light. In the real world skill and martial arts could likely help take down a bigger foe but we are talking about a normal human woman fighting black Superman, there is no way in hell any amount of training or skill lets you catch someone with that power level off guard and force them on the ground. People will just come up with any excuse to justify a bullshit moment.

[@MysteriousTomJenkins]

@@emberfist8347 Yeah, besides Icon and Blue Marvel, they could also do a Steel Movie, do it better than it was in the past. The very first Captain America movie was garbage but the MCU made a better one so DC could likely make a better Steel movie and have their black, Superman like character. He was already in that animated movie so people should at least be familiar with him by now.

[@bluedragon8417]

That is a very good point. Now while today certain heroes might no longer be as good as they used to. Captain Marvel or are being written by Bendis or some other questionable writer. For comics do have some have issues today with questionable writing. Yet often there is a character they want, but are just simply to lazy to look it or say ask some friends. For heck, i know people who read different things from me or enjoy other different media than what i normally read. So i can go and ask them, hey you have any good of x genre you can show me? Since heck there is a big demand for strong females, whatever they mean by strong. Since strong i think of someone who can punch a hole in a wall. Yet if they mean well written, which is not always the case, since i see people say Rey is a strong female character and that is the biggest bs ever. Rey doesn't even hold a candle to the Major from ghost in the shell. Heck Rey is worst than countless gundam female characters. Just pick a random gundam female character and odds are they are better than Rey. Which is something that bugs me, is that low effort characters get praise as these awesome amazing things, when not only are there characters but in the case of Rey. It questionable if she is even a character in the first place and not a plot device. Like why is Rey being praised, when so many better characters were created long ago, were before she existed? @MysteriousTomJenkins Someone say fights? I do love me some fights. Which yeah what you bring up is what can be rather annoying when talking about a fight. When people don't understand power levels or just treat all action as lol stupid random nonsense. Even when there is a lot of smart action like drifters, jojo and hawkwood where the character often win by being able to out think their foe. Which when it comes to power levels. Now some sort of it does depend on the setting. Since in dragon ball, a weaker character can indeed harm a much stronger character, if they catch them off guard. For if a character has not power up or has lower their power level, like turning off super sayian. They are much weaker and far more open to attack. Yet in cases where endurance is more of a passive ability. Which i do believe applies to this case. Yeah, there is only so much stronger a foe can be than you in terms of endurance before your punches do jack to them or should logically do jack if not worst, harm yourself by trying to punch them due to having very tough skin that is like plate mail vs a normal human hand. So yeah, even if a character is a master martial artist or caught them off guard. It really doesn't mean much, if they lack the power to harm them. To use something from real life. A person wearing plate armor vs someone armed with a sword. If that person just swings the sword at the person wearing plate mail, odds are the sword won't do jack and it will just break. For if they wanted to do any real damage with that sword, they would have to aim for the gaps. Something the plate mail user, won't make it easy for them to do so. So even if a character does have a weak spot or weakness, they should be well aware of it and be able to protect it somehow. Since fights do have logic to them and that something way to many people forget. That fights should flow logically and not be random powers pull out of the rear bs. For it hard to enjoy a fight, if a character suddenly does something that goes against the logic of their setting, by doing something they should logically not be able to do. Be it gaining a new ability or harming a foe that is so much tougher than them, they should logically be unable to harm them or worst, have their own body broken from trying to. Honestly, i believe some people need to just learn the basics about actions. Basic simple things can make or break a fight.

[@TheRisky9]

Even if these minority characters are a small drop in a big bucket, you can encourage creators to do what Paul Dini did and flesh them out.

[@ddaman7854]

I genuinely have never cared that "I don't see myself" on screen, in comic books, in the books I read or the games I play... I am not Hispanic Irish , but my favourite Spiderman is Miguel O'hara I am not 5ft 3 and Canadian or do I smoke a "stogie", but Wolverine is my favourite comic book character. I could go on... point is, I have never consumed a piece of media and thought to myself "If only this character was same colour/sex or race as me" I don't understand that mentality, where does it stop? Do you carry it over to the people who you associate with? Do you think to yourself that you need more friends who look like you? ... I don't know...I'm just talking here.

[@liljenborg2517]

Two of my favorite stories growing up were Call It Courage, and Watership Down, and I am neither Polynesian nor a rabbit. But I do know what it's like to grow up and survive in a hostile world. My favorite book was Taran Wanderer and I ain't Welsh. But, I know what it's like to wonder who I am and if I have some sort of destiny and know, deep down, that I have to make my own destiny. My favorite comic book character is Daredevil, but I'm not blind (the only blind kid I knew hated Daredevil, because he couldn't see the art and comics don't Braille well). My kids grew up with me reading Redwall books to them and watching the Lion King (over and over and over . . . ) yet none of them are animals. My granddaughter loves Paw Patrol, Bolt, Superwings, and Dora yet she isn't a dog, a plane or Hispanic. Good characters are good characters no matter what race, sex, or even species, they are. You, the reader/watcher/audience, want to see them overcome the obstacles they face in the story, because something about the challenges they face touch you and the challenges you face.

[@TheRisky9]

My favorite video game characters are Solid Snake, Garalt of Rivia, and Senua. Snake is a white man. Solid Snake and Garalt are white males and Senua has severe psychosis. None of these people I should connect with, but I love them.

[@jeangentry6656]

errybody asleep on Miguel, it's always Miles, Miles, MILES. Can mah boi get SOME recognition here?

[@Batman88878]

I understand the impact on KIDS when it comes to seeing people who look like them onscreen. As a 5 year-old, when I 1st watched MMPR, I immediately wanted to be Zack: he was a cool black kid who knew martial arts. When Hey Arnold! came on, my brother & I dug Gerald. BUT at the same time, I wanted to be a Ninja Turtle, but I wasn't a ninja or a Turtle. I've always admired Batman, a *gasp* rich, white male! He's been one of my inspirations in my formative years. Superman is my 2nd favorite fictional character, & I could NEVER play Clark Kent in a live-action movie or show. Like someone else said, "Diversity is neither good nor bad. It just is." The media should treat it as such. Don't try to force it, but also (unless being historically accurate), don't try to avoid it. Let it unfold naturally, & we'll all be better for it.

[@LordEmperorBoss]

I like games where you can be your own character, but that’s it. I like the idea of interacting with characters, not actually replacing them.

[@Icanonlycountto4]

I'm a writer and I know from Stephen King that writing a story for someone else is doomed from the start

[@sanitarycockroach9038]

I really don't care about skin color, I want good characters. For example, in the new Star Wars trilogy, I was devastated in how Finn ended up. He had an amazing basic character setup and I was invested in his development, and Disney, Johnson, Abrams and Kennedy did him dirty. I was really bummed about it, not because of Finn's color, but his character destruction.

[@zxyatiywariii8]

Omg me too!! I can't stand how they treated Finn. He had such a fascinating story and he could've been a complex and amazing character. I've been comatose myself, so I was really excited to see how Finn would react when he woke up, not even knowing if Rey was still alive. But Ruin Johnson turned all Finn's potential into a tacky stupid minstrel-show sort of "joke".🤦🏾‍♀️ The whole audience groaned, in our theater, and I literally face-palmed.

[@matthewreyes5951]

@Elwood Blues Morris Yeah, sorry, this is basically nonsense with very little to support it. Fin is a shitty character that could have been something but never was, that's all.

[@matthewreyes5951]

@Hayden TCEM No. I can't even say Fin had potential in the Force Awakens. Maybe as an idea on the drawing board, but he was broken from the start and one of the worst parts of the 7th movie. J.J Abrams gave nobody any potential.

[@raccoon9469]

I'm the author of a YA Fantasy novel and I've had some very upset people reach out to me expressing how much they love the story but can't recommend it because of the lack of diversity. I'm a white dude who wrote about a bunch of white people and it never occurred to me to inject diversity because I was just writing what I wanted without thinking about it. I DO want to appeal to as many people as possible and it breaks my heart that one of the people who contacted me could recite plot points and wanted to talk about the trailing plot threads left for the next books, but they felt bad because I didn't have anyone with a physical appearance to them and no character to reflect their life. Since it's high fantasy with its own world, I CAN add multicultural aspects to the story and plan on it in the future to appeal to as wide an audience as I can and let everyone have fun with it on the most base level. That being said, they have to be characters, no tokens, no 2d bullshit characters that are an insult to the people they are supposed to represent. Long story short, your video hit close to home and thanks for the alternate viewpoint.

[@Rainbowhawk1993]

Mind giving me a link to your book on Goodreads? I’m having a Fantasy book fever.

[@raccoon9469]

@@Rainbowhawk1993 Sure thing man. Here it is over on Goodreads www.goodreads.com/book/show/49547030-queen-of-ghouls?from_search=true&qid=B8iFXgWV6I&rank=1. It's also free on Amazon until tomorrow (Started a giveaway on Friday to celebrate the new cover!) www.amazon.com/Queen-Ghouls-Wildervale-Grimoire-Book-ebook/dp/B07YF1VBZW/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=queen+of+ghouls&qid=1581345252&sr=8-1

[@deadaccount2968]

@@raccoon9469 This is just a thought, but you could base the next book in a different culture of your world. That way you don't have to mesh stuff that doesn't work.

[@raccoon9469]

@@deadaccount2968 Thanks for the suggestion! That's kinda sorta what I'm doing currently. Book 1 took place in a very limited location, focused more on character building and establishing some lore rules. Book 2 has the characters moving into a more diverse area (specifically the trade hub of the country) where I can really expand on how big the world is and how many cultures are there.

[@EndoScorpion]

"I'm sick of not seeing myself on the screen" Just a suggestion but maybe get into an acting career and you'll be one step closer to making it happen?! Although, is it really you if you're portraying someone else?

[@GeneralTantzu]

I never understand this argument. Even if Conan The Barbarian is white, he is literally nothing like me, even if we share a skin color.

[@Cre8Lounge]

Producing is where its at, not the talent

[@anandkhorana7033]

The problem with going into acting, or even writing, is that for people who don't see themselves on film, we are shot down with the "majority of America is white, so I don't know if this will sell" quote a lot. It's just a personal experience I had when I went to pursue filmmaking and acting in Hollywood from a third world country. JSG is right that people usually tend to write what they know, the problem comes in that they aren't interested in knowing about what others know. That's the real problem here. Instead of blaming white people, we should actually be asking that they listen to us and ask for a chance, instead of forcing them into playing identity politics. No one, white or not, likes to be guilt tripped. That said, I personally think that just because a country is majority white shouldn't deter studios from making films about other ethnicities or give them a chance. I live in Thailand, and most of the films in our theatres are Western films starring white folks. Yet, I have never seen a Thai film be shown in an American theatre. This might just have to do with the fact that a lot of Americans still live under the impression that they never have to leave their country because it's still somehow a greater country than others based on it's currency's power or military might alone. The problem is slightly more nuanced than just "y'all bigots". Now, I'm sure there are studio execs who are racist (I've met a few of them in some of my pitch meetings), and that they deter other international artists from making it in the industry, but that's a problem that can't be actively solved instantly. Also, just leaving this here, but I'm not one of those people who NEED to see themselves in films or other media. In fact, I rather not based on race alone. I like seeing characters with the same values as me or opposite of me, regardless of race and culture.

[@WorgenGrrl]

But it's sooooooo much easier to whine and complain.

[@Muck006]

I'd rather suggest ... "why are you going to the movie if not to ESCAPE FROM BEING / SEEING YOURSELF?" It is escapism and shouldnt be "a copy of reality".

[@PunxsutawneyDave]

I always felt like when someone said they wanted to see "themselves" on screen they were specifically talking about their skin or sex. Not their character. Green Lantern is one of my favorite DC heroes because the concept of absolute willpower is so cool to me. I didn't need John Stewart so I could see myself as a GL. Did the portrayal of John Stewart in the Justice League animated series make me love the character? Hell yes! But I didn't need a black GL to like the GL Corps. In the debate between Kirk and Picard I always took Kirk. He kicked asses took names and then had a green space babe waiting for loving. I didn't need Sisko to want to be a Starfleet captain. Is Sisko my new favorite captain? Hell yes! Having him is better than not having him but I didn't need him for my imagination to flourish.

[@Michae89]

Yep. The animated Justice League's John Stewart is my favourite version of Green Lantern despite that I look nothing like him. You don't need to look the same to get into the character, you only need good writing.

[@Ashoka...232]

Alright, I respect your opinion but Picard is obviously the better choice.

[@TheRisky9]

Sisko was the best. He was so relatable. All he wants is to raise his son. That's it.

[@Soridan]

You mean I should relate to a character's emotions, aspirations, and challenges instead of their looks and sexuality? What an exquisitely peculiar notion!

[@Soridan]

@Team Plasma Unofficial Come now, a furry stepping on a lego piece surely evokes a twinge of sympathetic pain in you before your schadenfreude kicks in. Their thirst for the red rocket or similar degeneracy doesn't have to come into play. I know that the internet provides a skewed view but even furries have more going on for them than 24/7 yiffing. If you can relate to basic human emotions or needs then you can relate to furfags too on some level. Doesn't mean you have to like them.

[@Soridan]

@Rick O'Shay Funny how you instantly went to righteous virtue signaling over pedos, as if not thinking about child molesting caused you physical pain. Take a course in reading comprehension, mate. Nobody advocated for representation of zoophiles or pedophiles.

[@Soridan]

Team Plasma Unofficial None of that was brought up in this comment thread, you pearl-clutching double dingus. Barging into a discussion and sperging about unrelated stuff just because one can not contain their holy crusade is like that child who can't shut up about the latest epic meme they found on reddit.

[@asain3586]

Lol you all got rekt by op

[@zamirewilson7424]

Sorcery I say!! SORCERY!! 😅

[@jacobwiren8142]

He says what he wants, then says he doesn't want it, then asserts that he's fine with the establishment falling? typical...

[@NotMyRealName6]

Elder Scrolls, in its _first_ game, explained how there are dark-skinned people in its world. In Arena and Daggerfall, you select your home province instead of selecting your race directly. It's a very simple thing that establishes how diverse the land of Tamriel is, without feeling at all forced. Bear in mind Arena's story was little more than tossing you into the game world without much explanation, so it's even more impressive they went so far as to show that the different races come from different regions, thus explaining why you see so many. And in the later games, you do in fact see mostly the race that's native to that area. Morrowind: Mostly dark elves Oblivion: Mostly Imperials Skyrim: Mostly Nords Also, every race on this planet, including Europeans, were indigenous people at some point, all races have subjugated and oppressed others, and _been_ subjugated and oppressed by others at some point.

[@Archone666]

@evan achter Yes, but the options aren't always as extensive as people would like. (Which can include anything from "can only play a specific gender" to "can't have a tail AND wings.") OTOH, every single option and choice given in a game has to be coded in. That takes work. Skin tone is EASILY handled, but gender is a little tougher (Especially if there's voice acting involved), and then once you start changing up their body shape, you run into all KINDS of problems. Everything from clipping to issues with animation...

[@Archone666]

@evan achter Yeah, but I prefer the fantasy and scifi genres... I'm not interested in playing yet another WWII shooter. I already know how the plot ends. :p

[@beerme2096]

Facts

[@TheRisky9]

"I'm sick of not seeing myself onscreen." First off... what? Dude, you must think really highly of yourself. I personally wouldn't want to see myself on screen. My life consists of going to my modest job, coming home and cleaning, taking a bath and then playing video games. Not exactly movie material. In fact, if I relate to anyone, it's Napoleon Dynamite. That movie's entire theme was literally what your life would look like if it was actually made in a movie. Hell, that's what most people's life would look like if it was made into a movie! Yes, there are white women in movies, but based on what I described up there, do I look like Wonder Woman? In fact I look less like Wonder Woman since I hit my 30's. I see Wonder Woman kicking ass and I'm just like, "No, no. I'm fine sitting here with my bag of popcorn." I think what it really is is that some people just can't handle the idea that they are just, well, just people. They aren't good at many things and exceptional at nothing. They don't stand out. They're trying to justify that they don't feel exceptional because they aren't represented. And it's not just skin color. "There's no fat people." "There's no gay people." "Why aren't Furries ever shown as anything other than weird in things?" Well, you want to know how not to feel invisible? Grow the hell up! Stop worrying about pop culture. Stop looking for society to validate you and take on some damn responsibility! And even if you do have a job, great. Stop hating it. Find out what you can learn from it. Plan the next step in your life. I think one of the most profound memes I ever read was one that stated "We need to stop looking for escapism. Instead, we need to build a life that we don't feel we need to escape from." Even the Bible says it. Paul stated: When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. Now, this doesn't mean you have to start hating fandoms, because you're adult now. Only that it occupies the right place in your life. These SJWs are pretending like it's life or death if something doesn't look like them. Well, trust me. You're not going to die because Superman isn't black.

[@insertname1667]

@TheRisky9 yeah fucking hell I never see myself in movies because if I had the choice on doing something stupidly dangerous like taking on an evil empire or saving a princess from a dragon, I'm going to choose the choice that's less dangerous to me and simply go back to doing what ever mundane job I'd have in such a setting.

[@peposo7]

He should stream himself. then view, and review himself. How many selfies has he done already? Wanna see you in space? Become an astronaut, or learn how to insert yourself with special effects editor software. I've seen ppl insert themselves on tv.

[@gusthewiseone3247]

Mel Gibson directed a movie about the Aztec, if I remember right it did well at the box office. It was all about non Europeans . The only white guys in it were only seen for 10 seconds, maybe. In fact, if I remember you never really see a white man up close. Only at a distance, with them wandering around on a beach somewhere. But I could be wrong. Studios don't take risks, very often. That is why all shows follow a pattern,

[@cosuinofdeath]

Gus The wise one that movie was a trip good asf

[@cosuinofdeath]

Rick O'Shay I am jaguar paw

[@stevenbrown1225]

Wonderful movie. What ever you think about Gibson that film was great.

[@Legendary_Detective-Wobbuffet]

The problem I see is two things: people being lazy and not telling stories they want to see, but instead messing with existing work. And journalism replacing fiction.

[@generalstaal7075]

I will never let journalism overtake fiction as long as live.

[@Legendary_Detective-Wobbuffet]

@@generalstaal7075 it's very close to happening, so you have a lot of ground to retake. Look up the "best SciFi" lists, and search "storytelling is dead" for instance, to see how it's pretty much dead as we speak. Authors and artists everywhere are actually advising the next generation to "not become an artist," while abandoning their careers. Sorry, I was about to rant full out. Forgive me.

[@warrenrohr]

Excellent points about manga and anime. I love manga and anime and I don’t give a shit that I’m not Japanese and never have since I was a kid reading and watching Japanese media.

[@MEEZLEMONSTER]

You sir, with this logical, rational discourse on a difficult topic, have earned a sub. Excelsior...

[@generalstaal7075]

I like how proper this comment reads.

[@soktherat777]

Damn KZbin algorithm hit this video hard. Didn't show up in my subs until a few minutes ago, but was apparently uploaded 8 hours ago and I have the bell ticked.

[@sanjidandelion]

It was on private initially

[@kyushirokun]

I got the notification, but when I clicked it said video was private. I'm guessing some parts of this had to be edited to please the KZbin gods...

[@styles1clash362]

Same her

[@starsiegeplayer]

Same

[@blankpage9277]

It was private.

[@campbellsoup93]

I'll never understand the people who say they can't relate to a character unless that character looks like them. I'm not a Chinese Woman but I can relate to Mulan not wanting to be told what she's supposed to be and how she's supposed to live her life. I can relate to her wanting to protect her family. If the only way you can relate to a character or feel anything for a work is if they have the same skin colour or gender identity or sexual preference then that means that the ONLY identifier you have for yourself is that one thing. That's a personal problem that YOU need to sort out. It doesn't mean the people who create things have to change every damn thing just to cater to your lack of self identity.

[@WretchinWilson]

I'm Generation X. I'm in the minority. I've never felt like a Token or like I needed representation. But I had a privileged* upbrining: two parents, military brat, exposed to all kinds of people from all over the country/world. I don't get this animosity toward sci-fi and fantasy, either. Growing up, those genres might have been the only places you could see "representation." Again, maybe I'm privileged. My favorites stories in the world come from Star Trek, X-Men, and Quantum Leap. Those shows do nothing but represent and demonstrate empathy, compassion, tolerance and communication. *By privileged, I mean LUCKY. I had no say whatsover over my gender, skin color, ancestry or geographical location (the Deep South). I'm thankful for all of it and I've never, ever felt like I got the short end of the stick. And I don't think my parents would even entertain the idea of teaching me that.

[@batstoast3560]

I know this has nothing to do with your comment but QUANTUM LEAP FTW.

[@KnightoftheRose98]

You make some good points. The best being about people who write what they know. One thing I feel you missed was that when a writer tells a story about something they're not (I.e. race, gender, sexuality) they will often get crapped on for doing it. Imagine how the world would react if Scorcese told a crime story about a black or Hispanic gang in Los Angeles ghettos?

[@nobodyimportant5140]

I agree with the point of diversity falling apart when it doesn’t fit the setting. I was left scratching my head when I saw the first Fantastic Beasts movie and saw the president of MACUSA was a black woman. Considering race relations and gender roles in America during the 1920s, it kind of doesn’t make a lot of sense that a black woman would have that kind of power. Unless Rowling wants to go on twitter and make some kind of retcon about how the American wizarding community is more “openminded” than the “no-maj” community.

[@masc6287]

I think it's because the wizarding world has historically been more knowledgable and connected with the international world since ancient times as they have the magic and ability to travel tremendous distances since before the Middle Ages. Plus I think it is because they are united under the idea of magical people and "no-maj/muggles" being two ethnically different groups so they have united under the idea of magical supremacy instead of race supremacy. Plus they must have obtained sexual equality earlier than muggles as magic is a very big equaliser that gives men and women equal power in regards to having the same magical abilities as there are historic magic figures from both sexes.

[@SLiMmcl]

@@masc6287 So what about the slaves that the magic community still has even to modern day? (People like Dobby and such) I have a feeling she just put that crap in there lol

[@davidh.4944]

I'm reminded of the way Terry Pratchett described it: "Racism was not a problem on the Discworld, because-what with trolls and dwarfs and so on-speciesism was more interesting. Black and white lived in perfect harmony and ganged up on green."

[@Nemo12417]

That isn't AS dumb as the rest of the Fantastic Beasts series. See, rule number 1 of racism is that there are no rules, at least none that will be followed consistently. In the early days of the United States, Irish people and Catholics were not considered equal to Anglo Saxon Protestants. They were, however, treated somewhat better in the South due to the fact that there was another ethnic group that could be even lower than them. Then you have the Slavic people, who were considered almost as bad as Jews by the Nazi Party. Today, most white nationalists don't hate Slavs that much. Heck, there are some hyper nationalists in Israel (including one of Netanyahu's relatives) who don't think the Nazis were THAT bad, mainly whenever they were going after people who weren't Jewish. So I could imagine a scenario where the existence of people with magic forming a community together means that ethnicity would be supplanted by magic as a racist's criteria for being a full person.

[@MrBrendanRizzo]

Nobody Important I’m pretty sure that, based on what Rowling said on Pottermore, that the isolation of America’s wizards IS the justification for a black woman having political power in the 1920s. But there is one other thing you overlooked that proves the character isn’t just made black for SJW pandering: she’s a massive bitch. Her attitude made her easily my least-liked character in that movie, especially considering the spoilery events that happened at the end. (I know that they had to happen or else there would be a continuity problem with the main HP series, but it still a massive Kick the Dog moment.) This makes it highly unlikely she was added just for diversity, since the only characters SJWs like have no flaws. Besides, if the Death Eaters in the main series only care about one’s blood status and not race (like Malfoy being friends with Blaise) then I don’t think projecting that into the past is that much of a problem, since Death Eaters are the least likely to abandon prejudices, implying they never had that one at the start.

[@tensaantares]

11:08 "I would rather them destroy this stuff..." Enough said, it's quite revealing. I said to a friend that certain people in Hollywood are basically going, "You like this? I'm gonna Phuq it up!" and then name call anyone who criticize them with valid opinions, because evidently there is no such thing as valid opinions; (Exhibits ABC: SW sequel trilogy) They CAN'T create anything new, only destroy what is/was popular/iconic. Hell, for sort of comedic effect, although ironic considering Dark Fate... *insert T2 scene with Sarah going off on Dyson about creating death and destruction* What will they destroy next? Maybe after losing enough billions of dollars they'll get a clue. Because apparently it doesn't help to be constructive...SOME business...

[@thelocustswarm6793]

About the "no-black people" argument in Tolkien books: the trillogy mentions the lands of Harad and Umbar, which population had different skin colour then the people of Gondor, Rohan and Arnor, making them look more middle-eastern and Far Harad, which was a large desert, east of Harad, which HAD black-skinned tribes living there. It's not so much that there are only white poeple in this setting, it's just the setting focues on lands inhabitet predominantly by these people. Same thing in Witcher: books and games focus on Northern kingdoms, which are predominantly white, but there are lands with people of different ethnicity and skin colour, like Zerrikania (inhabited by black folks), Hakland and Ofir (mentioned in books and shown in Witcher 3, which are of arabic persuasion).

[@admirekashiri9879]

Far Harad has half trolls not black people.

[@admirekashiri9879]

And its Zangvebar where black people are from in the Witcher Universe.

[@WastelandSeven]

What's ironic, is that I'd be fine with black protagonists in sci-fi. So long as its well written and well acted I don't care. I was cool with (the original) Lando Calrissian I honestly never even gave his skin color a second thought. I LOVE Blade. Give me a character I can cheer for, and I don't care what color they are. I was rooting (pun intended) for Groot in Guardians of the Galaxy. We're not even of the same genus and I loved the character.

[@DeetotheDubs]

10 seconds in and I hit the like button out of respect. Good points all around. I wish more people had the same level of common sense. Sucks to see this platform screwing you over. This is the kind of content that should be shared more often, not buried under a BS algorithm.

[@gabrielcorvis]

I've been working on a fusion of East Asian and traditional D&D setting since 2006. In an effort NOT to do another Oriental Adventures or Legend of the Five Rings where everything is pretty much based around feudal Japan, I spent these last nearly 20 years researching everything I could find. It centers mainly on Imperial China with different fantasy races reflecting different East Asian cultures, as well as being socially divided along the lines of Yin and Yang. Humans of Yang are closer to Han Chinese, humans of Yin are close to Japanese, for instance. The dwarves are a warrior society with Korean overtones. Elves reflect a fusion of Heian Japan and Vietnam. I have various classes and sub-classes reflective of different historical jobs in both China and Japan. I've studied and researched and tweaked to try to get things as non-stereotypical of these cultures as possible. Down to the minutest details. Down to researching floor plans of historical government buildings of Imperial China. I'm basically ready to go to print with the book....and it IS a book. All I need is interior art. The reason I'm saying this is because I agree that not all fantasy needs to be based on Tolkien's original model of medieval Europe. Which is what D&D was based off of. Which is what most fantasy is, in turn, based off of. Like I said, I agree with you wholeheartedly. I even have had an Egyptian style setting in mind for nearly as long as the East Asian one. That being said, this is where that idea gets sticky in today's political climate. I'm a straight, white man. I'm a straight, white man who wants to write books about cultures that are outside of his own. One, in particular, coming from Africa. In the past few weeks, I have literally seen white authors nope out on books that were DONE, basically just going through a final edit, because the woke mobs decided their skin wasn't the right tone to write about cultures that were outside their own. Calling it "racist" and "cultural appropriation" because they were white. These authors folded. Now I, personally, have absolutely NO intention of folding, myself. I'll write whatever the fuck I want to write and anyone that has a problem with that can take that giant stick they have up their collective ass and go fuck themselves with it. However, not all people are as stubborn or as lovably irascible as me. Especially not publishers. These days, it's just going to be that much more difficult for, especially the predominantly white fantasy authors, to branch out that way and actually write about cultures outside of the standard model.

[@darkdwarf007]

This can't go on forever. Wokeness is driving western society to the boiling point, and it is only the question of when at this point. Wish you luck with your book, man, your work sounds incredibly interesting

[@Sana-tan-00]

I've never agreed with someone more, brother. I dont go onto these videos expecting to agree with everything, but I didnt hear anything I thought was wrong. Keep up the good work.

[@samiamtheman7379]

"Media was always political." Technically, that's true. However, it wasn't always so one-sided and in your face about it. There were times when it actually made you think and didn't give you an answer as to which side in an issue was right. Taking Star Trek as an example, there was a Next Gen episode where a unisex species occasionally gets a few members who believe they're of a biological sex. It's treated as a mental illness, but by the end the member of the species it focuses on agrees to go through psychiatric therapy in order to be fixed. It's not explicitly said whether or not this is just a legitimate realization that the person was wrong about the gender dysphoria or if it was societal conditioning. That's for you to decide.

[@MysteriousTomJenkins]

I agree with this 100%. This is what people seem to miss, they see that older things had some political messages and just go "Its the same as now" but what we have now is as you said, one sided. Its very clear who they want you to agree with, what stance they expect you to have and all that and they add it in so lazily that it just hurts the entire product. I was watching a video that was critiquing a Marvel comic due to the fact that the person in the video saw Jane Foster convincing Death itself not to die was dumb but the dumber moment to me was the sudden and random comment about health care a character brought up. The characters came in contact with a supernatural creature and were discussing how to deal with it and suddenly a character just brings up free health care as they kill it, seemed completely out of nowhere for me. This kind of thing is different from how they did it in the past and that is the issues people have but somehow this doesn't come across so people just go "The old stuff was political too, idiot", not like your type of political...

[@calemr]

Doctor Who is a Massive example of this. It's always had political messages. But it wasn't until Chinballs that we had every episode include the doctor turning to the screen and saying something along the lines of "Hey! Hey you, the viewer! Pollution is bad! Did you know pollution is bad!? I bet you're too fucking stupid to understand that the message of this episode was about how pollution is bad!"

[@insulttothehumanrace3807]

And as with many of these, look at Star Wars. There were some political messages in those movies, yes, particularly in the prequels. But there, the politics were used as props to help tell the story. (anti-capitalist stuff in the prequels used to show how the Republic fell and the Empire rose) In the sequels, the story is the prop for the politics. (particularly Canto Bight, which halts the story to have a rant about the "evils" of capitalism)

[@deespaeth8180]

@@calemr Yup! Thats why I quit watching. I don't know who the hell Whitaker is, she damn sure Ain't the Doctor!

[@jorgemigueltavares6041]

Want fiction about women/minorities/lgtb/whatever? Then sit down, think of an original character/setting, and start writing. Don't recycle existing content into something catering to you when it's already for someone else. *BE ORIGINAL.*

[@TSPH1992]

This. If it ain't broke don't fix it

[@gasterblaster9817]

It’s a real shame collectivism is anathema to originality

[@kittenbursworthy9613]

I have a lot of issues with Steven Universe but I will always give them a point when it comes to the fact that the creators wanted all of this progressive shit in a show and made their own instead of harassing the crew of an already existing property.

[@generalstaal7075]

When George Lucas couldn't get the right effects for his story he founded Industrial Light and Magic. If you need something the world doesn't have, make it yourself.

[@drsiege3434]

I'm Nigerian and my friends and I grew up seeing ourselves in all sorts of characters from comics, manga and action movies. It wouldn't have mattered one whit if they'd been black. What we cared about was that they were well written and had human experiences and triumphs we could relate to. A perfect example is Peter Parker. I don't think Miles Morales can ever have the same appeal even though he's black.

[@thawindyking2740]

As a comic author myself, I'll say I make stories who have black and brown main characters because I want to create mai characters who look like me, my family, and my culture. That said, those aspects have nothing to do with my story and never are more important than the story itself. The comic I'm writing now has solely black and latino main characters because those are the characters I wanted to see and the cultures I wanted to reflect, but beyond that there's no politics in the story. They just happen to live on a continent that's blends African, Latino, and Asian culture so the population look predominantly like that. I'm all for wanting to see characters that look like you, I grew up on Static Shock so it felt good, so long as it doesn't eclipse the story or the depth of the world/characters

[@kittenbursworthy9613]

That’s great, just how you should make a character. My gf doesn’t make comics but she writes short stories, and in them some characters are also LGBT and Latino because that is something she also wants to reflect, no political messages or pointing out who is what just for the sake of it. Hopefully people like you and her will help save the state of media.

[@thawindyking2740]

@@kittenbursworthy9613 Thank you! I greatly appreciate that, definitely striving to change the comic/anime world like never before with my publishing company and collective. I've never been against representation nor against having empowering messages in work. I do want to make stories that focus on black/brown characters and create a platform for my people to tell their stories and uplift them. But this is done without saying "black black black". I'll simply show them through creative worlds and deep memorable characters that happen to be black. I'd rather show people "black people and our culture is fucking dope, here I'll show you through storytelling" instead of "like us cause we black...no that's it"

[@thawindyking2740]

@Maxx Kroes Thank you fam! The continent in my comic is inspired by the idea of "what if Africa & South America were one continent" because those are the things I really like. I'm black with Mesoamerican roots and I happened to think the folklore is badass and interesting. I think if people knew about they might be fascinated and interested in it on their own time so I started writing. If I want to write white/middle eastern/etc characters, I'll write a story where they are supposed to be in. But I'll never stop writing what I love bcuz truthfully I just wanna make dope ass shit 😂

[@1313fina]

I don't read stories, watch movies and shows, or play video games because of the characters' physical appearances. I do all these things because of the morals and values they teach me. Because of the different realities they can transport me to. My life is dreary and difficult enough to slog through, I don't need to see a mirror image of it in my entertainment.

[@styles1clash362]

Great video!!! You really made your point near the end and while it wasn't the purpose of your point, it really reaffirmed why ideas like CG and Fandom Menace are important.

[@merrylderrickson3147]

Bro, your cogency and argumentation are next level. Combine that with your refreshing honesty and devastatingly funny critique of socio-political influence and it’s impact in pop culture make it a certainty you will blow up very soon. Keep up the awesome work man.

[@cocokolah8567]

Give them an inch and they'll take a mile. In the movie "Goodfellas" the one black dude (Stacks, played by Samuel L. Jackson) gets whacked by the mob halfway through the movie. I'd be willing to bet that if that was made today, it would cause outrage... regardless that Stack's murder was based on a true story.

[@MysteriousTomJenkins]

I remember seeing outrage on that movie based around Freddy Mercury where someone was upset that he died because he was LGBT...except he did die in real life and its based on his life story so of course he'd die in the movie. Unfortunately you are correct, it would cause outrage regardless of the fact that its based on real life.

[@hot_coldman]

Tldr; Make. Your. Own. If it doesn't succeed you have no one to blame but you.

[@ThibautVDP]

i like how Star Trek Discovery is shortened to STD. though i'd rather have an STD than that show.

[@brettleisy356]

I had high hopes for the show, I didnt mind the main character being black or female, actually liked that idea, HATED how they completely re-wrote the cannon and the tech levels were just completely out of time line. then the whole SJW narratives being pushed through the whole thing.

[@paulwoida8249]

I really like how you support your points of view in all of your videos. You will agree and disagree with other people, but you always support your positions with facts and examples. Rarely do you ever try to support your positions by using emotions ( i.e. "I feel this way so you have to do things the way I want them done."). Nicely done.

[@Kraiglyndor]

This video reminds me of the Static Shock episode where Static goes to Africa and meets another black superhero, Anansi the Spider, and ends up looking up to him because there aren’t many black superheroes. Static’s told by Anansi that there are many heroes to look up to, but the fact that there is someone else like him to look up to is still a huge deal. Another part earlier in the episode was how he wasn’t a minority in Africa and his friend couldn’t properly appreciate being normal instead of a minority, having always been normal. Static Shock S3E3 “Static in Africa” for those who want to check it out, as it’s a much better showing of why representation is important (from 17 years ago, no less).

[@songweretson]

My friend and I have a character who was originally created to be black... But we realized we couldn't do anything because we were both walking on eggshells around him. So we made him American of Slavic descent, and it became a LOT easier for us to develop him. We had to write what we know. It wasn't a matter of prejudice, just writing what we know.

[@Sungura_Kaiser]

This reminds me of this one time I got into a debate with a guy who wanted a black member of the Dragon Team in Dragon Ball and I as a black guy was like... Dafuq?

[@Sungura_Kaiser]

Knowing that guy, he'd say Popo doesn't count. Lol

[@truthblade01]

......Its Japanese.....

[@SpookyTGhost]

@@truthblade01 yeah and half of them are fuckin' aliens. . .

[@theanimationcluster7995]

What about Piccolo? I thought we gave him an honorary black card already

[@emptyblue6530]

@@theanimationcluster7995 on all levels but pigment, Piccolo is black

[@deespaeth8180]

Thank you ! I completely agree with almost everything you said. I used to love Storm from the X-Men back when Claremont, Byrne, and Cockrum were doing them. Also loved Kitty Pryde, Nightcrawler, and the Beast. I'm not black, Jewish, or a man. But I still loved those characters and love re reading those old stories. I was introduced to and particularly enjoyed Anansi , Mr. Jackel, Mr. Ibis, and Bellequis when I read Neil Gainman's American Gods. And, also watched the series. But, I digress . Anansi's boys was good too. I love folklore and mythology, so the introduction of those characters was very enjoyable for me.

[@madarpauser2133]

What is this "peoples wanting to see themselves on the big screen" stuff? It's sounds kinda shallow. 🤨🤨🤨

[@kittenbursworthy9613]

Right? Imagine saying you can’t empathize with someone because they aren’t gay or a woman or whatever. In any context other than media characters, people around you would tell you you’re a self-centered piece of shit.

[@Nemesis0921]

It is.....they can only like or relate to something that looks like them.

[@rpgodfree9379]

*Another example of the perfect being the enemy of the good: "If I can't have what I want then nobody can have what they want." It's all or nothing with these people.*

[@CMan-x7k]

I feel like that when people want to see "themselves" on the big screen are very insecure about themselves.

[@amassing]

I understand the point you were making but it's worth noting that the British army in WW1 included huge numbers of soldiers from all across the Empire including the Caribbean, Africa and especially India. They would likely have been in their own separate battalions, not mixed in with native British troops but they did fight and die on the western front alongside them. I only mention it because in this particular case their contribution has been consistently overlooked in the dramatic portrayals of WW1 over the years. There has been a conscious effort in recent years in the UK to increase awareness of this and ensure that their contribution does not go unrecognised.

[@Dolshadow]

Its weird cause I know he's saying "I'm just some guy" but sometimes it sounds like he's saying " I'm just some god" lol.

[@fenrir607]

Just Some Guy: I see no god out here, except for M E!

[@allantidgwell5624]

"What kind of stories do you want?" I want more series like Kassai and Leuk, The Longhouse Tales, The Storyteller... teach the legends of the whole world

[@beamstalk6475]

Star wars and star trek have had black characters since their inceptions

[@beamstalk6475]

@@emberfist8347 yes but Vader was not originally supposed to be Luke's father

[@whiterabbit75]

@@beamstalk6475 But, Vader was not black, either. _Dressed_ in black, but that's not really the same thing.

[@LordandsaverGarryBuecy]

As someone who is trying to write myself I loved hearing alot of what you had to say.

[@johnsnow04]

I never understood "characters need to look like me" argument. Growing up I loved Police Academy movies. My favorite character was Larvell. And I am not black. Many men favorite characters in Sci-Fi are Ripley and Sarah Connor. I can understand that it's maybe easier to connect if you have same gender or color of skin. But saying like it's an absolute need is ridiculous statement.

[@mayhemivory5730]

You've perfectly covered all the arguments I could come up with, very nice! More people need to see this, because apparently they can't come to logical conclusions themselves.

[@zeldaprincessgirl100]

I'm a brown skin Latina, i never really cared to see myself in movies or comics, all i care about is the story, characters actions and personalities, i don't even insert myself in my drawings, i give my characters their own personalities, how i think they would act. No entiendo, i don't get this entitled mentality. 😞

[@shahzadajan9792]

All well said by JSG. I agree with so much of his critique. I especially like his point that people now readily switch off from films being offered because they already distrust the franchise. Series like the excellent Mandalorian should be bigger than they are but they've been hurt by the excess wokeism across the franchise. But I have to push back and say that there were indeed many soldiers of the British Empire who fought on the front lines of the Allies. Over 4 million of them is one estimate - Hindus, Sikhs, Punjabi Muslims etc - as well as West African troops used as shock front line troops by the French. Indeed

[@JTeam45]

"Novelists, do it in one book!" Me, a novelist working on his 4th book of a series: "Shieeeet. But I got too much cool shit planned!"

[@grzegorzbrzeczyszczykiewic8954]

Well said. Two years have passed and it's still accurate and valid.

[@eViLPaCcc]

1:40 I hate to be THAT GUY, but this is innacurate. The Soviet Army had a huge number of women in their ranks, and not only as nurses. My grandgrandmother was a signalwoman (Ludmila Rubtsova, if anyone's bored enough to check). Then there were at least two women who rose to the Soviet Hero ranks - Mariya Oktyabrskaya (a driver of the t-34 tank that she actually payed to construct from her pocket) and my personal icon - Mariya Baida. She single-handedly killed 15 nazis in a skirmish, of which four she basically beat to death with her assault rifle. I can't say whether there were any women on the Western Front, however, and I don't disagree with your "story needs context" point, but it's better to set your facts straight before any possible debates with the other side so you wouldn't give these assholes more ammo to divert the conversation into "sexist this, racist that"

[@havwulfkikboot]

Also regiment 588

[@Timasion]

So....you're Just That Guy...... :P

[@GeneralTantzu]

Soviets wasted so much manpower thanks to the fact Stalin got rid of all the competent non-party military commanders, it isn't surprising they had to fill behind the lines support units with women.

[@Muck006]

@@GeneralTantzu Nah ... they were communists, where men and women were "workers" and "soldiers" and thus even the women got to fight.

[@GeneralTantzu]

@@Muck006 Sure, but they clearly had enough common sense to use men in the front line and women in back line support.

[@Sir_Gugharde_Wuglis]

‘Soooo insecure.... crraaaaaawwwwlllllinnng in muh skiiiinnnn... ‘

[@risso2309]

Thank you for clarifying this. I wanna be a writer and at times I wondered if the reason I made most characters white was because I was racist or something. Thank you for giving me peace of mind.

[@AKSourGod]

Valdet Paumi 😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@risso2309]

@@AKSourGod Not joking but I'm glad I could make you laugh.

[@AKSourGod]

Valdet Paumi 😂 If your books contain stereotypes of Black people or non whites, while painting your “mostly white character cast” as saintly and heroic, then that is what makes you a racist. Just having an all white cast doesn’t make you a racist. The way your all white cast of characters act and the themes of your books is what can make you a racist. I.e. Huckleberry Finn, or the Turner Diaries.

[@risso2309]

@@AKSourGod Oh well no worries there then.

[@sgtdroxie]

I agree with what you said in this video...I hate forced tokenism. There are a lot of black superheros sitting on the shelve getting dust...but instead of using them they need to make The Little Mermaid, Superman (Clark Kent), and Batwoman etc. Samuel Jackson is a good actor and a very professional actor...there is a reason why directors like to work with him and most audiences like to see him. I'm LGBT and I don't need to see myself in any entertainment. Everyone needs to grow the hell up. The funny thing is when they pander to the whiners...the whiners don't come out to support...and they lose the core fan base that did. But SJW's want to destroy everything!

[@sebastiank5934]

Words I have never spoken or thought. "I'm so tired of Denzel Washington movies."

[@melkermagnusson5070]

Omg you’’re usch a ”voice of reason” it’s so good to hear!! thank you for being you!!

[@sereksusvictar7888]

I agreed all the way up until you called for slow down of European Medieval fiction. Still my favorite genre and I can't get enough!

[@Neutral_Tired]

I have to agree with the JJ Abrams casting thing, I think that's how casting should always be, unless their race or gender is important to the character, just let anyone audition for the character and work from there

[@pauln5526]

Lots of great points most of which i agree with. Reminds me of when Batman was first created and they then created Robin thinking young boys would identify with him but in reality imagined they were Batman! Times change. I never wanted to see myself on screen. White actors were everywhere. In a way they were so generic that i could easily fantasize i was Captain Kirk. It didnt matter.

[@MustafaAlmosawi]

Not to be that ‘actually’ guy, but a largely untold story is that of Indian, sub-saharan African and Arab soldiers on the side of the British and French in the First World War. Those empires drew heavily on their colonies, and there was great debate about using them to kill Germans initially because it would break the mystique of European/White superiority. Really sad stuff, as their stories are all but shoved aside in the nationalist myth building that occurred afterwards. Al Jazeera has a great documentary about it called World War One through Arab eyes. Not decrying the point you’re making, but thought you might be interested to know.

[@viorp5267]

3:11 I am from Poland. A girl which was supposed to be an artist for a comic demanded a diverse cast of characters from me. People underestimate how much research you need to do to represent a culture you don't know. You can imagine how pissed I was after researching Jewish and Black culture for a fuckton of time and her just changing her mind on wanting to do it.

[@darthvaderginsburg4694]

Hey, they actually recommended your video!

[@florbfnarb7099]

“Because of identity politics, now anytime people see a black character, a female character, a gay character, they immediately assume its the Wokeness and they won’t touch it, and it spreads.” Sadly, this is the case. It’s a long-standing with employment and hiring. If your company bends over backwards to signal how progressive they are, it can be taken to the point it erodes trust, and when the current employees see a new hire that’s a racial or religious minority, a woman, or gay, it makes them wonder if they got the job BECAUSE of being a minority, a woman, or gay. It’s unfair to the minorities, women, and gay people hired on merit, but then it’s unfair to the employees to expect them to be willfully blind to their own company’s hiring practices. Same in comics. Maybe that writer with the story about the black lesbian isn’t trying to be woke, they just have a story to tell, maybe they ARE a black lesbian and are telling a story from their own lives, but it’s unfair to customers to expect them to pretend not to know how Marvel and DC are - to expect them to pretend to see the Emperor’s New Clothes.

[@chellismcelveen4402]

Yes! This! Like I make a good number of my OCs plus sized or unconventional mainly to avoid Same Face Syndrome as well as a way to work on improving my drawings. However, their weight doesn't make up their whole character. They're still people with thoughts and lives and powers that aren't connected to how fat or skinny they are. But I'm worried that some people might think I'm trying to enforce fat acceptance or defend obesity when that isn't the case at all.

[@aquariuskudo]

"Astrid the Devil" and "E.X.O The Legend of Wale Williams" are good examples of what he probably wants.

[@MDKcde]

"I wanna see myself on the screen" is a very similar effect some people have against animation. People can't take animation seriously because they can't empatise with a concept, only with what they can percieve as "real". I have the feeling they are the ones with a mental problem, I didn't dare to voice this when the only example I knew was about animation. But seeing it related to the race of the people in the screen makes me think they are the problem.

[@calemr]

How many people, male, female, straight, gay, white, black, Asian... All groups, can connect with and care about a character? There's black lesbians who love Superman, I'm sure. But SJWs are bigoted assholes, who can't feel empathy for people who look different, or have a different sexuality, then they project that on everyone is.

[@Michae89]

I see the same discussion in regards to videogames. Some eople can't immerse themselves in a rpg for example when they can't make the character that looks like them. I always found it strange. For me the point of escapist fantasy is to forget that I'm a fat, ugly dude.

[@insertname1667]

@Michae I can somewhat understand that because a lot of people don't play video games to escape from themselves but rather their environment. Then you get people like me who tend to only play as the same sex as myself because I just generally like the way armour looks on my particular sex.

[@lokitus]

"Studios need to take the risk". You are truly precious. That's the real change we need, and that'll be a while.

[@830JJ]

Great points Guy! Honestly it really is about the perspective. There is afro-centric, asian-centric science fiction out there but its not as pronounced.

[@hbsupreme1499]

Brown people and other different groups fought the side of the British in ww1, example the Indian army since it was still under UK rule and was the place the gave the British crown an Imperial title.The British empire still had not reached its peak yet and still held a colonial empire. which would draw a multitude of other regions into the war.Not to mention women did fight in ww2 in the french resistance and the Russian army to make up for the heavy male loses.

[@brandoncady7043]

One of my favorite shows growing up was Static Shock. It never matter to me or was ever relevant that he was black and i was white. Before even that when i watch In Living Color, it was just funny. But no a days i can help but wonder at the presences of non-white characters in entertainment, questioning if it woke nonsense. Its damn annoying. I feel wokeness i working to undo all the good that has been done to bring people together and have us jist see each other as people.

[@simonbarnett8668]

Very well laid out and argued better than I could ever do JSG. You managed to solidify a lot of ideas I've seen/heard and thought myself into a perfect vid.

[@oldkinglog8209]

The people making these 'diversity' arguments are the same people that were complaining when Rami Malek (an Egyptian guy) was cast to play King Tut in "Night at the Museum". They were calling it whitewashing because King Tut (an Egyptian guy) wasn't black. 🤦‍♂️

[@SpookyTGhost]

I remember that foolishness

[@razorburn645]

Thank you for breaking down the comment and giving a thoughtful response.

[@inotaishu1]

I think I can add a few things to this: 1) Lord of the Rings is not based on Celtic Europe, but specifically Celtic/Anglo-Saxon England with a bit of scandinavian and greco-roman elements thrown into it (the orcs, elves, trolls, some elements of the gods etc.). If it were based on all of Celtic Europe it would look quite different. 2) There were women on the battlefield in World War II, as well as the air force and partisans, all in fighting positions. However, they were a very clear minority and not on the Western Front in Europe but on the Eastern Front and in a few cases in the Pacific War. But those will probably not be portrayed on screen by the english speaking media because the ones on the Eastern Front would show that the "evil evil communists" (or precisely the Soviets and the partisans) actually did most of the fighting against the Axis powers in Europe. And in the case of the Pacific War the only cases that I know were fighting against the Allied powers because from their perspective it was basically "these Brits, Americans, French and Dutch would never give us our freedom so lets try the Japanese and Germans instead", and that would be too uncomfortable for said countries either. 3) There were black and brown people in World War I; even in Europe, but in the latter case in very low numbers. Most of them were in Africa and India, thats it. 4) There were black and brown people fighting in Europe in World War II but they were also a minority and most of them were among the French troops and "Hollywood" is not interested in France in that way. Also, brown people were also among the Axis forces in Europe. Most were defectors from the captured French and British forces who did this for a variety of reasons, and one reason was "the British will not give us our freedom, lets try these other guys maybe that will work" and no North American or British producer would ever want to go anywhere near that topic. They are too cowardly for that. Which to me made the whole thing with the Master and the Nazis in Snowfall especially ridiculous. He wouldn't have needed some device to hide his look, just some paper that looks like it comes directly from Heinrich Himmler. 5) All these makers did not even branch out into non-Anglo cultures of Europe, especially not the slavic and hispanic regions, except if they copy Tolkien or some few outliers like some tales of the Brother's Grimm or whatever Disney adapted before the 2000s. For Hollywood it is mostly the Anglosphere and the Greco-Roman world, the rest can usually go fuck themselves. Just limiting it to all of Europe would already be too diverse for these people. 6) There actually were black people in China. I think you could find some as far back as the Tang Dynasty, however, those would either come there as or be slaves, and the majority (if not all of them) would be the latter as long as they remained in China. Plus, the Chinese (respectively Han people) would be quite racist towards them due to their dark skin and would probably regard them as natural born slaves or even animals. And that is something no Hollywood or SJW asshat would ever be comfortable or even be brave enough to tackle. Keep in mind, most of these assholes cannot even admit now that the European slave traders during the Atlantic slave trade got their "cargo" from African slave traders (the Roots remake seems to have been an exception) so no way would they want to portray that on screen.

[@AKSourGod]

inotaishu1 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾‼️

[@inotaishu1]

@@Calypsobubbelgum No problem.

[@Biostasis5x7]

I'm not disagreeing with your data, but the points 2, 3, 4 and 6 you made don't really hold any water against the points JSG is making here. Yes, a very small number of women fought in ww1 and ww2 on the western front. That doesn't mean the next call of duty game set in those time periods should feature only women. The proportionality of their contributions to the men in those conflicts, albeit at enormous personal sacrifice and risk of utter annhilation, is greatly overshadowed by their male counterparts. In a historical war film of either world war would be ridiculous if it showed entire battles being portrayed by entirely female armies. For the same reason, it would boggle the mind to have an entire ensemble and region of the Chinese Han dynasty be ruled by and ran by black people in a film. In both these cases, as you have pointed out, there is historical data that backs up these things happened. That doesn't mean that hollywood should go cramming ethnicities into films where historically these ethnicities were such a small percentage they might as well have not existed. This tokenism is obvious if the tables were reversed. Imagine how angry people would be if they made a new Shaka Zulu film and a third of his tribe where white. Historically speaking, there were white people in africa during the reign of Shaka Zulu, but it would be ridiculous to have half his tribe be white people.

[@RoninWerewolf1982]

#6 gives me an idea for a "Kung Fu Django" style story. An ex slave learns kung fu and kicks was and takes names, possibly going back and freeing the others where he escaped from. Some over the top fights and some non cringeworthy comedy and it almost writes itself. Too bad I can't write the script myself because I'm neither black not Chinese...

[@inotaishu1]

@@Biostasis5x7 I wrote that I could add something to his points, not that I disagreed with him. These points clearly showed how narrowminded these story writers are as what they wanted clearly existed and yet they rather chose tokens than the real stories. So your entire coment pretty much shot in the wrong directionf rom my POV.

[@CruderQuotient1]

Be the change you want to be. Create your own story if you feel underrepresented. It’ll be hard and take time, but every other creator had to go through the same thing

[@katthunter6561]

Thank you, JSG. You've sait exactly what I was saying, especially in light of the new Game of Thrones prequel has made one of the main characters- who has a PATERNITY plot point no less- black, and the apologists are bleating 'yes but he was a sailor, he could have had a mom from the Summer Isles where they ARE black!' it's just stupid. There are black people in that world, in the places that are hot where dark skin WOULD exist! There's nothing wrong with them making a new story in that part of the world, but instead they race swapped a guy who has blonde fucking hair. That kind of tokenism is just ridiculous

[@Jaedon1981]

And it's amazing that as much as they want change, they don't know what the end result looks like or how the process goes.

[@stephanc6138]

representation = lack of imagination

[@eliasaltenberg]

Raraymond Feist actually did a really good trilogy where he had a female lead and had a fantasy culture that was based on African and Japanese early history and culture. I think the books came out in the 90s so no idea why people say fantasy is all about white culture, also really great books and characters.

[@Smallpotato1965]

Western writers/filmmakers should make more stories set in Ancient China or use African folkore? But.. but...!! That would be.. (audible gasp)... Cultural Appropriation!!!!

[@SpookyTGhost]

But, butt! . . .We's got's a 'member muh CULTural ahproxymations!!

[@generalstaal7075]

Egad! Are you suggesting that Gengis Khan didn't actually look like John Wayne?!

[@admirekashiri9879]

Well not really if the creator and author pf the story is African or Chinese plus some studios are doing it already as we speak most people I've seen are happy about it.

[@sharavy6851]

Cultural apropriation is a neutral term. All it means is one culture adopting elements from another. Nothing inherently negative.

[@darkhighwayman1757]

Can I like a video twice. This is exactly what ive been thinking about movies, comics and what not for about 10 yrs.

[@thatguynobodylikes2541]

I'm genuinely curious Love to hear your opinion : what do you think about Afro samurai I don't mean anything by asking and I'm not gonna over analyze it, but I would like to know

[@juniorjunior5884]

I think the concept is extremely cool. Two headbands where one makes you 'god' and the other makes you god's contender is awesome. The style is nice too along with the music. I'd say the only problem I have with it (the anime at least) is that the story kinda chops too much to show Afro's past.

[@RotaAbyssian]

samesies, to an extent. I love the shit out of it, myself. I laughed my ass off at the Geta-Sneakers. Plus Ninja Ninja is just gold.

[@Jaedon1981]

I completely agree with you and your talking points, my brother.