when you want to be a good ally, but are afraid of overstepping.

jessie gender / @jessiegender1
ro ramdin / @roramdin
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[@JaeDuh]

The Hays Code is definitely why we have so many queer coded villains. It ended in the late '60s I believe but it was just so big of a literary tool, for lack of a better word, I guess people kept using it.

[@littlemisstfc]

HIM is just one of those characters where I feel neutral towards to, as an LGBTQ+ person. While HIM is one of the gay coded characters I like by due to their confidence and charisma, at the same time, they are not good representation because they are a product of their time. I’m glad that there have since been great LGBTQ+ characters that manage to feel like real people, not caricatures. Great video about the subject, Captain. ✨💞✨

[@Neku628]

What are your feelings about the devil from Cow and Chicken?

[@androgynousenby]

I 100% agree. When I first saw HIM I was looking up what their pronouns were (I’m still not sure) because they reminded me of Grell Sutcliff from Black Butler, who’s my favorite character from that show. She’s also very confident about herself, but she’s mostly used as the butt of a joke without having much agency in the story. She’s a trans woman who’s constantly misgendered, made fun of, and had her first appearance to establish her as an antagonist have a really transphobic reason behind it (I’m not going to get into details due to it being very violent, but basically, she’s a grim reaper who killed women because she was jealous of them). Despite the author saying multiple times that Grell is a woman, the fan base fought with anyone who said she was trans and used she/her pronouns (although they’ve gotten a lot better now with less than a handful of people I see misgendering her, which is mostly by accident). I watched Powerpuff Girls on HBO Max recently and when I saw HIM, all I could think about was the discourse surrounding Grell and how she was treated in the show and by the fan base. The Black Butler fan base has a saying for Grell that I think applies to HIM as well: Horrible representation, but we still love them because they’re a fun, charismatic character

[@purpleclaws202]

@@androgynousenby HIM obviously uses he/him lol

[@purpleclaws202]

@@androgynousenby also Black Butler is terribly written I'm so sorry to your edgy 14 year old self

[@jourdonpatron212]

I have to disagree with one point you made in the video. I have Indian in my family and I think everything you said about Ravi and Bajeet was completely accurate. You're allowed to speak how Disney treats certain characters regardless of race. As long as you're not being racist or overtly offensive, they have no right to police what you say.

[@unseenmolee]

friendly reminder that trans ppl are not a monolith and we all will have different opinions and thoughts on everything. there are conservative trans ppl, theres trans ppl that are indifferent to politics, and theres trans ppl like me that spend way too much time on the internet ranting abt this shit. but i just want to remind everyone that listening to one trans person is just that; listening to ONE trans person. we are all individual ppl with our own experiences and thoughts

[@irregularpearl08]

I’m trans and HIM is actually one of the characters that helped me realize my transness. HIM is one of my fave characters, but I'm sure I'd have criticism if I re-watched it. I do wonder if the mixed opinions are partly generational. For many older queer people (I'm millennial) villainous characters like HIM were our only representation, so we might be less off-put by them. For Gen Z, they’re getting queer heroes and complex queer characters, so maybe they’re less afraid to expect better. I'm in the camp of, I like having queer villains, but I don't like when that's all we're allowed to be.

[@pinkpunther]

I grew up overweight and I loved Ursula because I often flocked villains because they were outcasts and I identified with them in that sense.

[@devontamosley4487]

I'm gonna be honest, I like HIM. He's a great villain. But unfortunately, he's a villain for the WRONG reasons. I'm always an ally for the LGBT+ community, and I'm willing to listen and learn from them so I won't overstep their boundaries. Another trans woman is Luxeria. She has a KZbin channel where she does go full depth about the LGBT+ community, mostly the trans community and do commentary videos on reality TV shows. She's very hilarious and intelligent.

[@grenalien]

she's a stunning woman on the game🎉

[@purpleclaws202]

I hate when "allies" try to decide things for us. No. HIM is not offensive and we live him. A lot of drag queens do and a lot of people draw Him

[@devontamosley4487]

@@purpleclaws202 I'm not trying to decide things for you guys. I know they are LGBT people who love HIM and don't find him offensive, but you do have to take in consideration that they are other LGBT people who do find HIM offensive. Yeah, I get that you like HIM and he doesn't offends you, and that's fine. That's your opinion. But my LGBT friend likes HIM too, but they do admit that they find HIM offensive to them. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. If you like HIM and you don't find him offensive, cool, that's your opinion. But if anyone LGBT person finds HIM, at least be considerate to why HIM offends them rather than being dismissive to them. That just my and my LGBT friend's opinions. Again, I don't wanna overstep LGBT people's boundaries.

[@purpleclaws202]

@@devontamosley4487 I appreciate it but please don't speak for us. Many of us love HIM and queer coded villains.

[@devontamosley4487]

@@purpleclaws202 Understandable, my apologies. I'm not trying to overstep you guys' boundaries. I know people have mixed opinions about HIM, and I just wanna be neutral by hearing from both sides.

[@lauren6509]

Him is the OG baddie. Him can be whoever you want him to be. I'm not gay but I loved that demonic lobster in thigh high leather boots. Only thing I won't budge on is G3 MH Frankie. They're confirmed ENBY so I say they/them. If you upset people you upset them. That's the point in dialogue. It's one thing to be mean and nasty like JK it's another of you're expressing an opinion with no intention of harm.

[@purpleclaws202]

I'm gay and I say hes fine. Most of gays think he's fine

[@aloevera3317]

As a trans woman of color, I love how HIM is one of the greatest villians of the PPG and I love his design, but I don't like how HIM is clearly queer-coded and is a villian. I slightly view HIM as more of a drag queen than trans, but even that's a stretch. I don't exactly view HIM as human, but a demon who chooses to look somewhat harmless, but that brings up another problem of the dehumanization of queer-coded characters and how irl harmless queer people are demonized. The whole character is a mixed bag for me and not super enjoyable to see.

[@crystalfoxxie85]

I have a cartoon idea in mind and a number of the main cast are PoC and LGBTQ+ but I'm straight, cis, pale as hell and just wanna make my homies happy. Honestly, if I ever got greenlit for a show somehow, I'd come to you, Sumn' cheaux and anyone else you can think of for the writer's room that should be giving input. I know what I want to do with the story and where I want it to go, but at the moment the characters are very flexible with only the basic characteristics like dynamics and personality, and even those are very loose.

[@0905Db]

I like the idea of putting actual poc and lgbtq+ people in the writers room, we need more of that!

[@jk_282]

I actually have an idea for something like that do, with the same casting ideas for like a comic that I would want to turn into an animated series, tho personal identity wise, from what I know I only fall under the poc and neurodivergent sphere, so I sort of have the same issue as you lol. Don’t know about the lgbtq sphere yet tho, but I still wanna try it. The writers room idea with people from all different backgrounds is a beyond great idea. But yeah back to the main topic, I’d say if you wanna make the cartoon go for it. I’d say it’s best to try while at least trying to put your best foot forward then not do anything at all and miss out on a cool opportunity that could mean a lot to a lot of people as well as yourself, at least in my opinion

[@jourdonpatron212]

Him is a great villain. The writers said him was just flamboyant villian but he's clearly gaycoded. I grew up thinking him was a girl.

[@andiflores4638]

Me too I thought him was a girl

[@kordeliiius9821]

I think one thing that gets overlooked in the queer-coded villain discussion is that the phenomenon stems from the lingering effects of the Hayes code. In the case of Disney, gay designers and animators used villains as a mode of expressing themselves in a way that wouldn't receive backlash. It still kinda sucks that this is the box they were pushed into by social and business pressures, but it serves as a reminder of how things used to be. And the art they were able to make regardless remains top-notch 👌 Don't know how much of this applies to Him if at all tho. Also the point about white aces made me laugh, I've heard some of us can be pretty mean, I'm just yet to come across it in the wild 😂 I'm def willing to learn more about that

[@chickennuggie4089]

Another fantastic video from another fantastic youtuber 🧡 thanks Harri

[@Ninjacatmuffin]

Honestly, your comment on white aces in 4:50 ish is valid; the community (at least the more chatty accounts I see on Twitter and KZbin) has had many an issue with infighting and disagreements between certain ace subgroups...and I say this as a white aroace person. I get that our (meaning aces in general here) experiences get dismissed a lot, but I find that people get touchy whenever someone talks about ace experiences as a result of that. I appreciated this video overall since there's a lot of nuance in allyship and making sure to listen vs talk over people. (And making sure to be respectful and listening when you do talk about experiences that aren't part of your lived ones) Edit: The statement made on 22:30 on representation in media being personal and subjective hit me hard. I know that my life experiences color how I view certain themes and characterizations in media. It makes sense that it's true for most people too. (It goes with the "no group is a monolith" point where not everyone in a group is going to agree on everything) Around 25:00 - Oh, that one is personal. I'm autistic as well and also despise the r slur (and also I'm glad that your friend said that because I ran into the same argument).

[@pknerdchimera]

Also agree as a white aro?ace person. The amount of discourse and everything makes it admittedly tiring to witness, Its. Yeah.... (Mostly for clarity- Only reason I put question mark is because Im on the aro spectrum but idk fully where. Words hard.)

[@lauren6509]

There's so much infighting within communities it's crazy. If it's not black people infighting its the poor folks infighting, gen z infighting, etc. I'm not an Ally (hot take I know) because us liberals can be mean to each other. So I make sure to nurture my individual relationships, within different communities, donate to mutual aid funds, and I vote for progressive candidates.

[@Neku628]

0:55 You could totally pull off a Shego cosplay right about now, you have the green background.

[@MsJellyCookie]

Ooh ever since last vid I was WAITING on this vid! I'm so interested in your thoughts! On another note thanks for all the content lately Captain, appreciate all the effort you're putting in. ❤

[@yobpinky1972]

Thanks for making this video since it speaks to me personally. I’m transmasc and pan, and personally identify with lots of queer villains because they are very open and self confident in their genders and sexuality even if it’s coded. I do know tho that a lot of villains are homophobic and transphobic caricatures, and they are very prevalent in all mediums. I did not grow up with PPG so I don’t know much about HIM, but I grew up with queer Disney villains and others like Starscream from Transformers. I do see queer villains as something I have the right to reclaim, but I know that not everyone will choose to. No one should be pushing queer people to one side or the other. I think that representation should be balanced with lots of great queer heroes and antiheroes but also some queer villains. It’s great to see an authentic spectrum. One show that does this really well imo is Helluva Boss, which is on youtube. Thanks again for being an epic ally to our community tho!

[@suspiciousstar7547]

I actually enjoy HIM. He's not only one of the most powerful villains within the show but the biggest threat to the protagonists throughout the series. He's cunning, manipulative, mischievous, and basically doing what a demon does best. I'm glad that they never really pointed him out to be horrible because of his flamboyancy but because of his actions.

[@tarnished3405]

I think an important part of being an ally is realizing when certain conversations are specific to certain people within a certain group and how their voices provide more credence. In my opinion, Him is definitely a gay cis male stereotype; he is camp, high-pitched voice, crossdresser, somewhat implied to be a predator, and fem. And personally, among gay men specifically, I do not see much noise about how "problematic" he is (besides the obvious optics of having a villain with all those stereotypical, homophobic traits). Though I do understand how people could view him as more of a trans stereotype (homophobic/transphobic stereotypes have gender non conformity in common), I do think the show writers make it more clear that he is male. He has facial hair, shirtless, how he himself does not mind being called he/him (as far as I know), his name standing for "His Infernal Majesty," and the before mentioned stereotypes. Although these traits do not automatically him a cis male gay, I would say it is pretty obvious when acknowledging how normative media portrayal of marginalized characters where back then (and even now), especially when comparing Him to other similar gay coded characters. On a final, and somewhat unrelated note, I do think that the most important part of being an ally is not making snap judgements and actually assess the situation yourself and not follow whatever random person but look at the reasoning and compare and contrast. But also recognize that there are some aspects of a situation where you need to pick a side in and other times where one does not need to broadcast your opinion as an outsider. For example, with the character of Him, I do think that it is important to critique the context and stereotypical traits that he has because it has demonstrable negative impact with how people see gays, and gay men, especially; however, I do think certain aspects of his character, like his gender non conformity (especially with femininity), should not be painted with a broad stroke around how it is a "negative portrayal" just b/c he is fem and gay-coded, since there are many people who identify with Him and see him as an icon, while others would be quite uncomfortable. Basically, when talking about issues within a different marginalized group, realize that you have blind spots and need different knowledgeable perspectives, and recognize the actual important points that should be talked about, especially ones that cause REAL WORLD IMPACT.

[@seraphim108]

Oh my God yes I'm watching immediantly

[@theindigoboogeyman243]

As a non-binary drag king, HIM resonated with me at a very young age long before I figured out I was either of these things. He's by far my favorite Powerpuff Girls villain and that's saying something because there are so many great villains on that show. There was a point when I was early on in my pirating and I would specifically search for all of the HIM episodes of The Powerpuff Girls. Is he great queer representation? On a realistic level, I'd say probably not because of the points about him being the cartoonish flamboyant gay-coded villain that was originally an archetype created to demonize queer people, so I can understand why others in the queer community may find HIM offensive. And that's not to say that everyone who created these characters were creating them from hate, in fact some like Ursula came from a place of genuine appreciation. Maybe there was a similar case of Craig McCracken or someone else on the show creating HIM, idk. But I'd also argue that HIM and so many other animated villains in the same vein ended up becoming icons in spite of where they originated from. Their dramatic charisma, wit, and general unapologetic nature towards all who hate them resonated with the way a lot of queer folks strive to become in a world that largely forces us to either hide or face potential consequences of openly being ourselves. Hear us and fear us, bigots! We're not going anywhere!✊🏳‍🌈 At least, that's how I see HIM and other villains like him. If there's anything I love, it's appreciating the beauty in darkness.

[@hastypastry6353]

I really appreciate that this video basically indirectly platformed the most prominent perspectives on HIM coming from trans people.

[@vrubin]

A title for me specifically.

[@heatherlee2967]

Love the powderpuff girls content that's been coming up on your channel. Thank you for your work!

[@artastic_friend]

The way I see it, as a trans person myself, I see more controversial Characters like Him as a situation where some people feel that they can sorta reclaim the character in a way. While many people see how the character may be a harmful or disrespectful stereotype, some people like to take those characters and reclaim them to refuse the personal harm from those situations. I don't know if this is the case for everyone of course, but this is what I have noticed myself. I have never watched PPG myself though so I personally have no opinion on Him ^^

[@dannyphantom3090]

I mean I understand why you'd be uncomfortable talking about him but you should be able to speak your mind like the character is for everyone the community doesn't have some claim over him and like any other viewer if they don't like your opinion just don't watch the video I mean your not a trans woman. Not being disrespectful in anyway I love the pirate ship I just feel that anyone should be able to speak their minds as long as it's in a rspectful manner.

[@liallialcroc]

im autistic and a lesbian i love this video

[@tyjordanflophour]

As I see it, the thing that would make commentary out of bounds is a lack of care and experience. You clearly care about what you bring up, and something affecting how you perceive a marginalized group is a valid experience to share. I'd be more trusting of a non black &or cis person who has a frame of reference for racism & transphobia rather than a black&or trans person who was completely insulated from that discrimination. Their identity in this case doesn't directly equate to any complex or nuanced understanding that could provide much useful critique. Tl;dr: cap is cool & smart

[@ThatGreenMach1ne]

Kayla is so cool

[@JojoEditss]

I think your friend was reaching a little bit with the Lion King thing. black, red, and dark colors in general were always associated with evil and mischief.

[@harriyanna]

those were my friends words and i was listening to her.

[@imthebossmermaid3648]

Also, wouldn't everybody in The Lion King be Black as humans? It does, after all, take place in *Africa.*

[@barrett5195]

I want to know what you think about HIM :( I just wanted to say that your opinion really matters to me. Even if your opinion didn't matter you should be able to say it without people coming at you. People really need to chill, I'm sorry. I'm an extremely gnc bi male (I identified as trans before, as if you needed or anything d;lkajdsfklajdffd).

[@rubypanterra.]

❤❤

[@imthebossmermaid3648]

I think that the problem people ignore with problematic characters being reclaimed is that people mistake "member of an x minority likes this character" with "x character is good representation and not at all problematic". Which is insane because in a world in which minorities do not get enough representation, it is ofc not uncommon for said minorities to latch onto what little representation they have. Speaking for my own group, I love Tiana, and she is my favorite Disney Princess. I think she is definitely a good character, and is somewhat good representation, but she does ultimately fit into the Strong Black Woman trope, at least at first, and is also a frog for the majority of her movie. So she is not entirely good representation, but that doesn't stop me and many other princess-obsessed Black women/girls from loving her! The problem with Tiana isn't so much herself, but the fact that she has been the only Black Disney Princess for a long time until Asha came along, so us Black women didn't have any other princess to look at and see ourselves in. The fact that we love Tiana doesn't necessarily mean that she is good/perfect representation, nor does it stop us from asking for more. But as Tiana has for the longest while been the only Black princess we have, we sort of had to find the good in her and appreciate her even while recognizing that she could have and should have been handled a *lot* better. Likewise, I love Misa Amane even though she is heavily written with misogyny and her writers are sexist dingbats. But she is also one of the few female characters that I can muster up any love or care for in that trainwreck that is Death Note, plus, she is awesome, fun, and has a visually appealing and interesting design(I think she is why I have written so many goth chicks), so no duh, I love her. Doesn't mean I think she's a feminist character, though. Characters being loved by minority groups doesn't necessarily prove that they are good representation, but due to us having so little options to choose from(a white woman who doesn't like Ariel can always choose Belle or Cinderella or Merida instead, a man who doesn't like Light can instead like L, Mello, or Near), we often have no choice but to find the good in the characters that we do have, if that good is even there.

[@purpleclaws202]

Congratulations to the real world. Learn some thing or two.

[@purpleclaws202]

I'm not telling you how to feel about Tiana so please don't tell me as a gay man how to feel about HIM

[@imthebossmermaid3648]

@@purpleclaws202 Show me where I told you how to feel about HIM. Just because you reclaim HIM doesn't mean that every lgbt person needs to, just like not every fat person needs to like Ursula, you need to accept that. Sounds like you're the one who needs to learn some things or two about the real world. If you reclaim HIM then that's fine but stop acting like the character is objectively non-problematic and that any lgbt person who finds his portrayal harmful needs to shut up about it. Gay men aren't the only ones who get to reclaim HIM, anyone in the lgbt community can because ultimately his portrayal affects views on the lgbt community and gender non-conformity on a whole. You just sound mad that anyone could speak critically on his character even if they are a member of the lgbt community such as myself. Throughout this comment section I have seen you getting into arguments with people who speak critically about HIM and accusing them of speaking for you. Please stop that.

[@ecstasycalculus]

So, because I'm a white man and I want to be a good ally but I'm afraid of overstepping: would it be accurate to characterize Susie Carmichael as a magical negro?

[@RockSokki]

You want to repersent the character, as a black stereotype?....

[@ecstasycalculus]

@@RockSokki where do you get that from?

[@RockSokki]

​@@ecstasycalculus I got that from what you said yourself? Am i misunderstanding something? If so apologize,

[@ecstasycalculus]

@silent_thunderr6430 Of course I don't want to represent Susie as a black stereotype. What I'm asking is whether it would be accurate to describe how Susie was portrayed in All Grown Up as a magical negro.

[@RockSokki]

@@ecstasycalculus Oh, sorry then. It was my mistake, there should have been a way to at least rephrase that, You could have rephrase that better 😭

[@imthebossmermaid3648]

As an LGBT person, I think HIM definitely contributes to the demonization of gay people by queercoding them. I have heard lots of complaints from trans women that he is a transmisogynistic caricature too(a lot of gay male caricatures often end up being transmisogynistic ones as well, due to the view of trans women as just hyperfeminine cis gay men), and after listening to those women, I do have to agree that they have a point. Really though, HIM is just a problematic depiction of the queer community as a whole, and the fact that he is hard to pinpoint just makes him even more worrisome. I genuinely don't see anything wrong with other LGBT people reclaiming him, but to me, he is not a character to be reclaimed. At the same time, though, he is not a character to be shunned either. I neither love/like nor hate HIM, at most I am capable of looking at him critically while still respecting him as a character and his role in the story. The problem in my mind with a lot of the reclaiming of queercoded villains/caricatures is that this reclamation is often forced upon people who rightfully find the character harmful, with people forgetting that the character wasn't meant to be good representation in the first place. As well as people often reclaiming characters that aren't theirs to reclaim. Not talking specifically about HIM here, but a lot of trans women often complain about caricatures of trans women being reclaimed by transmasc/tme non-binary folks when their depiction is ultimately harmful to trans women. As a lesbian, I've noticed that sometimes harmful depictions of lesbian characters get reclaimed as "bi rep" when the characters are lesbophobic in nature and thus are to be read as lesbians, and only lesbians should get to reclaim them. So there's nothing wrong in my mind with people reclaiming HIM, but just don't force it onto other people and speak for all lgbt people as a monolith. Not everybody likes HIM, and that's okay. 😊