#are now going to be voiced by actors who are the actual ethnicities of those characters

[pinkrangersarah]

rvb final season announcement and rwby volume 10 storyboards

camp camp season 5

[littlemissmaples]

🎂PICK A CAKE!🎂 II Who is your fs? + General Messages ( this second part wasn't intentional, kinda just happened lol)

Pile 1: 💚

• Your fs is very, very, very "segsy" I hear, haha (I was asked to spell it that way) they're giving me this very calming energy about them. They say "that's my mind baby" they're very flirtatious and could either be black, mixed or middle eastern, perhaps Arabic. This is more of my ethnic pile. I do sense there's the chance one of them has a beard–

Ooooh wait, one of them? Is there 2? Here I'm getting more of a masculine energy here so could it be you're not sure who your fs is and you're just debating what it is that you want? That's alright. I don't think that you're battling between 2 people, I think you're battling between 2 versions of yourself and 2 different ideals. What it is that you want and you think that you need. Or perhaps you might have a misunderstanding of what the kind of guy you want is. I'm getting some of you are in a relationship right now and you feel like things just don't connect. "You're a princess" for some of you, your father treats you well, listen to them because it's true when they say that you deserve better. Or perhaps you're involved in an arranged marriage, I feel that you still have the chance to step away from this it doesn't matter how far along you've been in this game, speak up now or forever hold your peace...

Anyways, I feel that your type is "the bad guy" maybe you like older guys or you currently like an older guy. If not I'm getting some of you, the person that you like is your fs but you're too stuck in your mind, waiting to be saved to realize it, that they're more than happy to develop something with you but while you dont have to take the lead, it's important to take the initiative and let yourself be known, let yourself say that you're interested, it's okay to let yourself be "saved" and pulled away from all of this but only if you tell them, otherwise they're going to keep on sitting back on their motorbike, completely unaware of your feelings. For a lot of you, you already know this person but they havent realized their feelings yet. Spark that initial light and set it all ablaze, they'll follow along and take care of the rest. But you have to communicate, they assume their silence is "self-respect" and they dont see you as a damsel in distress, reflect for sometime and see how you would like to go about all of this.

But in short terms who is your fs??

A guy that you already know that is somehow always on your mind even if you dont think about him much or hold heavy romantic feelings for him at the moment.

But just know this If you need it, he wants me to tell you: "I think about you too." For some of you "I think about THAT" too" perhaps a moment happened between the both of you. Be attentive and careful yes, but ultimately, at the end of this game we call life we all die. So follow your heart, choose your own path and cause a little chaos if you have to. But most of all, make sure you have fun 💛

I'm sorry if I didnt answer your question, but this is what's coming in.

Pile 2: 🧡

• Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god! Wow! Jeez, your first impression of this guy is going to be bizarre is not jaw dropping. They almost feel like they're a celebrity! If they're not a celebrity I feel like they're like a celebrity-look-a-like, they have a very similar face, tone of voice, even a matter of walking as someone that you like. This might be a singer/song-writter, actor for some or even a YouTube. I'm getting they might be in college and they could be white, I keep seeing Timothee Chalamet in my head but I'm getting he's more of a Tom Holland kind of guy, while your fs looks exactly how you want, he is a little bit more of the masculine kind. And for those of you who are a masc energy reading this I get the sense that, much like my fem readers I get the feeling maybe some of you actually want that "spiderman" type of love or a Tom Holland and Zendaya kind of scene about the two of you. I feel like you might, but I'm also getting that you need to not let yourself fall in a daydream too much, not because you wont have this but because you shouldn't reduce your partners and future romantic relationships into just this. I get the feeling that for some of you, your fs isn't who or how you think they are but they have traits of how believe they could be and what it is that you envision them like. But you should be flexible with this, just a little bit, I promise you'll have your dream come true but for many of you, he may sound a bit "manlier" perhaps you wanted him to have softer, more delicate features and he does but those traits dont encapsulate him entirely and for my fems, perhaps she may not be as tall as you like and maybe she might not hold traits like Zendaya but she's definitely gonna be your type. This energy Is just now coming in but some of you may be lgbt, have many types or simply are poly. That's great! But the same messages apply to you, you'll have your dream! You can have your cake and eat it too! But you have to step back for a minute and reflect for something, who are you? What kind of life do you want? Who do you want to be with? Why? Why not? I'm not saying tear yourself into parts but I'm really getting some of you ( I'm hearing "us" some of you dont separate yourselves from a group and see yourselves as individual persons in society and instead as a "unit" while is great, you are more than that) succumb yourselves to a lot of subcultures or reality just societal ideals of what you believe your life should look like. Take inspiration and make your own life worth living and stop looking at everybody else's as the "perfect guide book" to follow. There is no perfect anything and it's incredibly harmful to yourself and others to believe that there is, you dont know why people are the way they are or what happens behind closed doors. Follow your own path and make something beautiful out of you, even if it resembles somebody else's or looks completely different. Some of you need to come out the closet, haha, (once you feel safe and comfortable to do so of course). I'm been pulling in many directions in this pile so I'm going to cut it here. Know that you are okay and that the path you seek will find you but you need to let yourself realize that you're a unique individual with a mind of their own, let yourself have fun on the path that you walk on and choose if you want this one or not. You can get on an off of it as many times as you want and even choose a new one as many times as you like.

In short words, who is your fs? For some of you, you dont want a future spouse, you just want a life partner and a friend a you will find that, you will find the people who match you and fall into the right place. – For others of you, know that your future spouse is currently looking for you and they are exactly as you envision, if not better. The only thing about them is that you might have a couple traits off such as their nose or skin tone and perhaps ethnicity. They might have some "imperfections" as well that you might not think of, maybe they have braces and for some of you I'm hearing "knee surgery" so it's likely one of them has had an injury and either has a scar they're worried about or they have a slight subtle awkwardness to their walk. Dont worry so much about this, some of you overthink about these imperfections and for many of you I'm getting they're not even there and you're just anxious, I promise you'll be okay, haha. The universe knows your heart and it is good and full of love and that love will go into the right hands. You'll be alright, now go rest your pretty head, some of yall have been up all night 💤💤

Pile 3: 💜

• Wow. I cant even tap into your energy, I just tapped immediately into theirs. This personal is serious, this person means BUSINESS maybe even HAVE a business. They're not playing, they seriously want a commitment. I'm getting that they're a "hot mess" but they may just be very passionate. Much like pile 1 this personal may be black, if male brown skin, tall, tall, tall~ and very endearing gentle eyes. If she's a woman then by LORD she's gorgeous, likely darkskin, clear skin, lip gloss and possibly Christian, she takes her faith very seriously but as serious as she may be or come off she's actually so silly and goofy and just the sweetest soul to have around. She wont play about you. This won't apply to all of you but for some of you this person might be mixed and freckled or a red head, possibly a July Leo (or this might just be you) though this is for a few of you so take only what resonates. Your fs is very well read and well spoken, they're very educated although I'm getting for some of them they never went to college, for a few of you though they already have their masters or are on their way of getting it. They might have a similar background to you and or have the same political beliefs. Honestly what I'm getting from this is almost like a "background check" kind of vibe haha, they're like handing me a clip board and having me be your middle man and "vet" for them, I feel like you might be "hard to approach" or you dont just let ANYBODY in your energy like that, you dont just give anyone YOUR time of day and they're aware of that so they're not playing ANY games and getting straight to it and letting you know straight away why they are a great candidate for being your one and only partner. Although I am getting that they are kind of "flawed", not flawed as in bad but flawed as in, they come off as perfect but I believe you may somehow see through it, that while they are very confident and self sufficient and honestly, very, very, very remarkable, reliable and most of all loyal and dependable, they genuinely are a great catch..while you know all this you also know how they seem to be missing a piece of themselves, theres a loneliness in this and it's very gentle, very tender and childlike. They're very mature but ultimately, they just want love. They want love at it's rawest, purest form, they want to be infatuated with you, by you, lost in you, they want to crave you and admire you and receive at least fraction of that same love as well if possible. They're are a hopeless romantic and altho they may not show it at first I feel like you'll get that first wall to crumble without much effort, the rest of it will simply just dissolve the moment you're finally with them. This person wants something serious and if it applies for some of you even marriage and children or both. But even if you dont want this, it doesn't matter because they only see you and not a check list of things to cross out. They want to share something true with you and see how it blossoms into something beautiful.

This one has heavyyyyy 18+ messages in them, it was hard to hold back from typing them but for a lot of you before you go off doing the do with this person know that they are INTOXICATINGGGGG and soooooooo irresistible and they treat you sooooo so good so WRAP IT UP!!! BECAUSE THE TWO OF YOU HAVE VERY MATCHING ENERGIES AND ARE VERY VERY FERTILE SO IF YOURE NOT USING SOME KIND OF CONTRACEPTION (birth control, condom etc) YOU  W I L L  HAVE BABIES!!! 🍼👶🍼👶😭😭

Safe sex = Great sex, take care now✌

(I'm being so serious, wrap it up, some of yall dont listen, I get the heat of the moment might be fun or take you in but babies are a serious 18 year long commitment and if you're not ready for that please don't be hard headed and keep you and your partner safe. Thanks!! That's all bye! 💛💛💛)

[velvette-hussle]

VELVETTE’S BLACK-CODING & THE HH FANDOM’S RACISM

A lot of y’all (and especially the ones of you that will cry about how ‘not racist’ you are without having actually unpacked any of your racism, and who are more scared of being called racist than actually being racist) are so viscerally against even the mere headcanon— let alone active canonical race-coding of Velvette being black, and I’m so over that shit.

Y’all will fight tooth and nail when a show has one barely purposefully black character — out of an already predominantly white cast of characters & more non-black poc characters than there are black ones (who have speaking roles, most notably) — to deny (black) fans the ability to celebrate and actively acknowledge that character and their race. Especially if y’all can’t ignore that character, or if before you realized they were black/black-coded you liked them.

⚠︎ I wrote this out of pure utter frustration and anger so I’m going to cuss and I sound fairly mean and angry so do with that what you will. ⚠︎

P.S. — This isn’t necessarily meant to be educational; I’m allowed to be angry without having to teach y’all how racism works while crying over my phone (because, yes, I am an emotional bitch) for free.

Some of you people are truly insidious. We get half of a bone tossed to us (because Velvette’s demon form is still dark grey which gives the audience a lot of plausible deniability when it comes to not accepting that she’s black) and everyone is still trying to snatch that half a bone out of our mouths despite the fact that y’all are eating good. It would be embarrassing if you bitches had any shame about your anti-blackness, but y’all don’t.

Then all the little pussyfooting-ass bench sitters can sit around talking about how they don’t care either way, they just don’t think everything should be focused on race (which is what y’all always say, but if people didn’t care ‘too much’ about rights and how a lack there of for minority groups seeps into everything including our entertainment media most of you wouldn’t have the rights or entertainment you do now - these things are systematic so you have to attack and address the racism everywhere, not just in the areas y’all find it more appropriate/appealing to be hit with that reality in) - but fuck it if real people are actively being exposed to the fandom’s racism though, right? Or how they just prefer Velvette white (while explaining away her afro as her just having been a curly haired ginger in her human life so that’s not actual evidence towards her being black-coded or over-emphasizing that she’s WHITE British as if black British people are some nonexistent group) and they don’t see how that should be labeled as them being racist when it’s “just a preference”; but why does the sheer idea of Velvette being black repulse you in such a way in the first place?

Like everyone will accept Vaggie’s, roughly Valentino’s and even Carmilla’s coding as some form of ethnically Latino because they speak Spanish and because their voice actors are Latino of some sort, but when the same type of evidence gets brought up for Velvette’s black-coding (her VA being a black woman, her hair being in an Afro, the type of British accent she has sounding like it took inspiration from predominantly black British areas - though definitely less so than a character like ATSV!Hobie Brown, and the audition sheet for her character allegedly specifying that she was to be a black woman even) all of a sudden coding doesn’t exist, because y’all said so I guess. It’s the same fans of the show too that will whip out Alastor’s being black biracial to brandish it like a fucking weapon against those who call out Medrano for her racism and misrepresentation/demonization of vodou and voodoo in order to absolve her of any culpability or fault that will then turn around and deny the hell out of Velvette being black, and ain’t that just a bitch? Fandom has a racism problem (and me saying this is NOT new) but despite y’all thinking your radical because of some of the shows you watch and characters you like y’all are so obsessed with keeping the status quo in tact that every time someone points out a fandom’s racism it somehow manages to keep getting swept under the rug every time.

Regardless, Alastor’s alleged page in Medrano’s Pitch Bible says he could be ‘Any Ethnicity’ which was then retroactively changed for poor accountability reasons (but most everyone takes even that retroactive change as gospel and acknowledges that, as he is now, Alastor is biracial), but when Velvette’s alleged page in the Pitch Bible explicitly states that she’s a ‘black woman’ (and that hasn’t been redacted)

now everyone spontaneously doesn’t care about treating Medrano’s words like they’re the word of God and Velvette’s race is in the “eye of the beholder” or some shit. At this point just admit that you guys are racist and can’t stand the idea of having to regularly see, having genuine enjoyment for and interest in, or having an attraction to a black character. Y’all are so transparent in your anti-blackness, but too cowardly to admit it, that it’s almost painful.

Velvette’s coding (especially before you hear her voice, see who her VA is, and see her character’s appearance in s1ep8 where she’s depicted with textured hair) is not great, and I’d be remiss not to acknowledge that. She’s got the same skin tone color-coding problem as the other black - and only supposedly black - characters where she’s somewhere between a medium to dark grey in lieu of just making her brown skinned (which I get is because she’s a demon, but still), and in general there’s just enough not going on to make her black-coding more explicit that all the ‘I don’t really see her as black’ people can have a field day, and that makes arguing her blackness a necessity because you have to provide a whole bunch of evidence before people concede defeat or call you some backhanded insult that’s almost a slur before blocking you. That’s the reality and it sucks, but I am glad that there is at least things we can point to and that (even though not the best established/depicted) Velvette is supposed to be black.

All this to say, VELVETTE IS A BLACK BRITISH WOMAN (just black-coded or otherwise) and you can certainly argue about it, but I will not be responding; I have better shit to do.🫶🏾

The one thing about fandom and fan spaces - and just any media I consume for joy, period - that has always stayed consistent is the racism (and especially the anti-blackness & misogynoir). I can never escape that shit and I hate you people for it, I really do. Y’all’s favorite phrases to hit black people with are either ‘it’s not that deep’ (which it is, because your fandom preferences and reactions likely channel into how you vote, for instance, and how you regard the real life human beings in front of you’s worth at a given moment; I’ve seen it, because the same way that y’all take in misinformation about irrelevant shit like HH & HB is the same way y’all take misinformation and run with it when we’re discussing real life instances of oppression & discrimination) and that ‘be the ones to give black characters attention/make your own black character & predominantly black media’ bullshit. News flash though, a couple of black people in every fandom cannot cure the levels of systemic racism that’s sunk into you all like a fucking disease, but that so many people are just totally fine repping. If you’re “tired” of hearing black people complain about racism don’t you think black people are tired of feeling it? Of never being able to escape the effects of it? Of dealing with it? We hate this shit (at its most extreme it gets us killed and at it’s tamest it ensures we have less enjoyment & feel less welcomed in a given space), but if we can’t enter a physical or digital space without being hit by racism and anti-blackness then neither will you bitches. Also - because I’m looking back at this & can’t help but edit - I fully understand the desire other black people have to go into entertainment/fandom spaces and not have to think about racism, and so we’ll ignore the racism we do see (and sometimes even push back against its existence & downplay its harm), but ignoring the problem doesn’t fix anything. So while I also feel that desire and the majority of my stuff (especially my posts and creative endeavors) that’s aimed at black people is “escapist” or just not “trauma porn” to some extent, there is a point where I have to deviate and bring the shitty side of reality back into focus. So yeah.

P.S. — I kept saying alleged to the Pitch Bible because I didn’t trace the Bible pages all the way down to some official Vivziepop page, but you certainly can if you want to.

And here’s the full Pitch Bible page if you want it:

It also fucks over the people that want to insist Velvette stay Vox and Valentino’s ‘daughter’ figure despite Velvette’s redesign and characterization in season one of HH— and her age.

If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading (if you actually read the whole thing that as, but if not then whatever)!🩷

[baxterstockmanisthecenterfold]

Thoughts on the Baxter being black or white discourse?

Funny you send this ask anon because I won't lie to you I was LITERALLY Planning on making this post on my own one day when I got the time to. But uhhhh looks like you just sped up that process so let's just get down to it then.

First starting with a history lesson. All starting and going way back to 1984 when Baxter was born. (Well. In our world at least. Cus in actual comic continuity he was born in 1948.)

After the first issue of TMNT was a success, Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird of course got to work making another comic so it can be an official series. And when you have a new hero or heroes, you gotta have more villains for them to fight. And that second big baddie happened to be Baxter.

We can see here in this image above us that during his designing phase, Baxter funny enough had 2 different designs. One white design & one Black one. Showing us that it actually would have been an either or decision with how he would have ended up as. But of course, the 2 men obviously settled on the black one

And for a good couple of years that's just how it always was. At least until the 87 cartoon came out & we were re-introduced to Baxter looking noticeably different..

Baxter in his first outside comic book appearance had been one of the first of many POC characters to have been whitewashed (those unaware, whitewashing is when a character of a certain ethnicity/race is portrayed or designed as a Caucasian). And the reason for this massive change is STILL, to this day is a bit of a mystery. Like you & many suspected, why not go up to Kevin & Peter themselves & ask them why this happened? Or if they even had a role in it? From every source I could find & the only answer I really got was that Kevin & Peter had no idea why they changed him either! BUT they actually didn't really mind or care because if we go back to Baxter's concept art, he was ALMOST Going to be white anyway so if anything the show just made their "what if" choice a reality. At the end of the day, they didn't really care & I don't blame them since Baxter's race wasn't really a key part of his character. But I'll get to that in a minute.

Another consistent answer or rumor I hear about this change is because the showrunners didn't want the risk of being labeled as "racist". Because Baxter's role in the first cartoon was simply a "Weak subservient henchman who constantly refers to his boss as "Master" ".

*winces teeth* yeaaaaa I can kinda see what they mean by that looking bad..

But hang on now, then what about Bebop?

Before his mutation, he was noticeably black & he was turned into a pig that's ordered around & takes tons of verbal & physical abuse from his master and even called him that once yet nobody's batted an eye about that??? (Plus said Master is Asian Soo)

Well my personal best guess on why Bebop is overlooked could be for the following reasons:

He's a mutant. Yes he started off as a human being. But for the rest of the entire series aside from 2 instances to my knowledge, he's a mutant warthog. And not exactly a brown one either.. So for people starting off watching TMNT, they probably have no idea he was human or even black for that matter.

Some people don't even know he's black! Again. I imagine most people's first introduction to him was from a random episode & they never saw what he looked like as a human. And it's not like his voice actor was convincing of being otherwise either. Barry Gordon is obviously not African-American nor did he sound like one like most modern non black voice actors. In fact Bebop's voice is far from it. As a black person who has grown up in multiple areas of NY. Including the bad parts where thugs like Bebop reside. I can say. I have never once met or even heard another black person talk or sound the way he does.

Oddly enough, Bebop has actually been whitewashed himself two times. In the Archie comics & even in one of his first action figures to which again I personally chalk this up to people just not knowing he was black

3. And finally last. Rocksteady. Bebop is just tweedleDee of TweedleDumb. Rocksteady is his just as stupid best friend & are rarely to almost never seen separated from each other. So he's given the same treatment as Bebop & written just as much the same. You can't really tell the difference between the two. Or I can't really since I don't know or care much about their 80s counterparts. They're pretty much the same character. Henchman/Comic relief goons not really meant to be taken or thought of that seriously. And it's because of these reasons why I think Bebop is pardoned from receiving racial backlash. He's just a funny mutant goon & like Baxter, being black's not really a big key part of his character. Which again. I'll get to.

Back to Baxter. Whether it was because of avoiding backlash, or because they wanted to give his mirage concept art a chance, or they just wanted to cash in on Back to the Future.

Baxter Stockman was now a white man & that was just the way it was for a VERY VERY long time.

In fact, I came across at least 5 80s & 90s kids that GENUINELY Thought Baxter was ALWAYS a white guy. The damage had already been done that severely until 2001 teased what would eventually be the 2003 series & Baxter had at long last returned to his true African-American roots.

And it's been the go-to norm ever since (with a few occasional slip ups)

But it's because of these slip ups that a little bit of controversy started regarding Baxter's race. Especially with the possibility of turning him white again in a random adaptation. Most people prefer it while others are strongly against it especially on account of the fact that TMNT completely lacks black characters to which, they are not wrong about. At all!

Aside from Baxter & Bebop. The only black characters in TMNT we had for the longest was Angel & Xever (He's Afro-Brazillian before you idiots come at me) & it's opened up a pretty collar tugging realization the only black characters in TMNT all seem to be bad guys. It's honestly no wonder why people want to make more original ones like Sunita from Rise & make April Black like said Rise & Mutant Mayhem. April herself actually falling into this similar category as Baxter because she's actually had a bounce back & forth from being black & white in the mirage comics. (But I am not going to get into that because that whole thing is honestly ITS OWN Very confusing can of worms that literally anybody else can cover if they want to)

From what I've seen & gathered, Baxter remaining black is a big deal for most people because it branches out the black diversity in the TMNT mythos & it's just a core part of his character. Which I'm finally going to get to.

The thing is... It's really not.

Yes Baxter Stockman is an African-American man. But. That's not ALL he is. He's a super genius, he's intimidating, he's only looking out for himself, he doesn't care how much stronger or powerful you may be than him, he'll find a way to take you out or use you for his own benefits. Any piece of technology in his hands equals horrible news! He's your textbook definition of an evil genius! He just HAPPENS to be black! It doesn't matter what color he is, Baxter Stockman will always be Baxter Stockman. I feel like he would have been the same character regardless if Kevin & Peter DID go with his white design way back in 1984! Realistically, what difference would it have made?

In every single adaptation that Baxter's appeared in, in every single story focused on him, where he himself is the main character: His race has never ONCE been brought up.

Not a SINGLE TIME has him being a black man affected his life, development or any other aspect of his livelihood. Of all 20 interactions that Baxter has appeared in. Not ONCE. did he ever bring up being black. Nor did somebody else bring up that he's black. Not a single time, has that ever been a focus or key part of his story. For the same reason why any other characters like him or not like him haven't. The same reason why Dr. Robotnik/Eggman being white isn't brought up or focused on, or why Medic (TF2) being German isn't focused on, or even Willem Viceroy iii (Randy Cunningham) being a black scientist himself isn't even touched on! Their races aren't their characters, it just happens to be a fact about them! And the same should go for Baxter! Especially when you take in & remember the fact that he was almost never gonna be black in the first place.

Now I'm not saying that you shouldn't care about him being black or white, or that him being black shouldn't matter to you. I know from experience that we see ourselves in some fictional characters, good guy or bad guy. Especially if they share the same skin color as you. I probably wouldn't have latched onto Baxter like I did if it wasn't for him reminding me of my then afro wearing, nerdy 12 year old self at the time, but I know he's more than just his race & that's what I do want the fans to see when it comes to talking about him.

Now because I know I'll get this question either later on or in the comments of this post I will answer it beforehand.

Do I like Baxter better as a black person or a white person?

And to be completely & Brutally honest with all of you: . . . I genuinely don't mind either or. 🤷🏿‍♀️

I honest to God. Don't mind what Baxter looks like. I WILL admit, I do heavily prefer he be black. But if he happens to be white, then I don't mind it tbh. To me. When it comes to an adaptation of Baxter Stockman. The only thing that really matters to me is how he's written. As long as he's written well I don't mind or care at all what color he is. But again. I would prefer him black, still either or is fine by me.

What about you guys tho? I'm genuinely curious/interested about how YOU 🫵��� prefer he look like? Do you guys like him better being black? Or white? Can be any reason why. Could be cus you relate more, or you grew up with him being that way. Just as long as it's a reason. Be fun to discuss 🤗

[virtuouswhitehatorganization]

Professor Nasir (Villainous Oc)

Name: Nadeem Nasir

Age: Same Age As Omega Nuclear

Residence: Atom City/Rutherford Springs

Sexuality: Straight

Occupation: Nuclear Physicist

Headcanon Voice Actor: Kumail Ali Nanjiani (English); Noé Velázquez Pedroza (Spanish)

Relatives: Dipa Nasir (mother); Arif Nasir (father); Karan Nasir (older brother); Neha Nasir (sister in law); Manish Nasir (nephew); Nazia Nasir (niece)

Ethnicity: Pakistani-American

DOB: December 2nd

Personality: A brilliant man who strives to use his ability to benefit mankind with the knowledge of nuclear energy. He is a man of science and has great respect for it. He often has great respect for his fellow scientists and often looks at other works for inspiration, even if they might be from those stamped as villains. He is a very loyal and close companion of Omega who would do anything for his dear friend. He will go to any length to defend him from someone who feels will do him harm which turned out to be Miss Heed. At first he was very much okay with her, but then turned on her after she used his friend and brainwashed him as well. He also as a result has diminished respect for PEACE for covering up everything that happened with Heed. He sometimes gets kidnapped by villains and has become nonchalant he treats it as just another thing to deal with while being a scientist in a superhero world. In fact, he becomes nonchalant to the shenanigans of superheroing due to being around them that most things don't phase him. Background: He and Omega Nuclear go back to their college years where they were roommates. They then became good friends that stuck together after that. They both signed up to work for peace with him as a nuclear physicist and Omega as a superhero. He would use his knowledge of nuclear energy to help his friend further contain his powers, fight crime, and finding new ways to harness it for PEACE's use. However trouble came in the form of Miss Heed, who he at first was fine with being his friend's partner until he noticed his friend was acting not himself and even more his arch nemesis decided to turn a new leaf with no prior hint he ever want to become good. For a long while he also noticed his friend wasn't really contacting him as he used to, so he became more and more suspicious of what was happening to him and questioned Heed. This resulted in him being brainwashed by her and becoming one of her kidnapped scientists who work on her formula. He would be held captive in Cosmopolitus until he was unbrainwashed by washing her kiss Flug on screen. He returned back with his old friend who he was thankful was no longer being used by Miss Heed but now had a big distrust of PEACE.

* He knows Urdu and English. Also is studying Arabic.

* He knows Green Rod and Meagan. He actually done interviews with her on certain stories focusing on nuclear research in Rutherford Springs/Atom City.

* He's a practicing Muslim.

* Omega in defended him from bigots who picked on him for his religious and racial status.

* He also helped Omega when it came to many of his classes.

* He will be the best man at his wedding and also his children's godfather.

* He helped with making Omega's costume with the other PEACE scientists.

* He wants to study more about Coyote and his gang's mutation and wonders if other people can be mutated. This also causes him to study Coyote and Green Rod's children since they managed to be born nuclear mutants like their father.

* He's very environmentally conscious and wants to spread nuclear energy as a good energy alternative.

* He, Green Rod, and Meagan will eventually uncover how Coyote and his gang got mutated.

* He admires Dr. Adler and is interested in his disappearance.

* He's also studied Penumbra's work even if she's designated a villainess.

* He has met Mecha Max and her mother on occasion.

* He is working on an nuclear energy source project that he wants to plan to use for humanity's benefit, but will be targeted by villains who want it themselves and PEACE themselves will try to refit it into a dangerous weapon.

* He's also the target of villains who have an eye for kidnapping scientists for their projects.

* His father and his older brother are professors at Rutherford Spring/Atom City's community college. Green Rod has taken both of their classes. His children even go to her mother's daycare.

Created through https://picrew.me/en/image_maker/249262

[nartml]

Fame and the responsibility that it carries.

A very common response to criticism aimed at celebrities and influencers (and generally people with a wide audience and a big platform) regarding their silence and inaction is "oh come on, they're just a singer. They're just doing their job, do you really want them to represent you? Celebrities don't have to be activists, or always be politically correct, just let them do their job and leave them in peace"

And honestly, I can understand this mindset. I actually get annoyed at the hate some actors/actresses get for the smallest slip up. Like, let them do what they became famous for and don't bother with anything else.

But then there's the part in me, that wants to say "with great power comes great responsibility". And damn it's cliche, but it does. It really does.

When you're as famous as some of these people are, when you're as rich as some of these people are, when you're as beloved as some of these people are; you have so much influence, it's dizzying. And in this world at least, influence is power.

Take Taylor Swift, for example (this post isn't necessarily geared towards her. just using her as an example). She's officially a billionaire, if you didn't know. How much do you want to bet that if she were to say something along the lines of "if you truly love me, jump off your balcony", we'd have a minimum of three people with severe injuries on our hands the very next day.

Do you understand the power in that? Having such a wide and dedicated, obsessed fanbase? It's terrifying, and also the reason why she should utilize it for something good.

Like raising awareness for the BLM or the LGBTQ community. Say a word or two about how abortions are banned in the US, how the lack of gun control is abhorrent.

Maybe a thing or two about the fucking genocide going on? Her voice, along with every other celebrity with even a fraction of her fame, matters more. The masses are willing to hear it.

Does it suck? Yes. Yes, it does suck knowing that our puny ass voices will never be loud enough or compelling enough to make people care.

But for fuck's sake, when so many people idolize you, don't you have to take some responsibility? Educate yourself on a thing or two about, say, the world's political climate. Or at the very least, speak out on the bare minimum, things you claim to support but never publicly defend.

Did you sign up for this when that one role you played blew up overnight and suddenly you have millions of fans? Probably not. Maybe you just wanted to sing, dance, act, perform, or whatever job you do that gave you this power.

Tough shit. Because now, you have a minimum of ten thousand people genuinely clinging to everything you say, holding their breath while listening to your word as gospel, and you need to be careful.

And listen here, of course celebrities are humans too. They deserve their privacy, and if they don't want the spotlight, they're well within their right to disappear.

Even so, even if you've disappeared off the face of the earth and you barely ever appear publicly, your voice still matters more than mine. It will reach more people than mine ever will.

But especially for those who, for whatever reason, choose to keep making appearances, going to interviews, hosting parties and starting new brands in order to make more of that sweet cash while still claiming that you love us so then I hope you're ready to sit down and buckle up, because I'm expecting for you to do something useful with your public image for once in your life.

Not everyone has to be an activist, but you know what would be damn cool? If you, the one with the millions both in fans and in cash, the one with the farthest reach and the loudest voice, were one.

(And goddamn it, it's not even that much activism to turn your camera on and show your support towards the victims of an ethnic cleansing. A genocide. A war crime and a damn massacre)

[potatoes83]

Dailywire Article

Hmm, now why might that be?

Understand that I grew up with Garfield... We're focusing on that because I have no idea what Furiosa is. I love Garfield. But I am 41 years old. And Garfield came out into syndication in the funny papers in 1978, meaning some of the lingering references, much like in the series Cathy, which came out two years earlier, were already dated as I was growing up. Tropes about dating and feminism, dieting, and so on, were very much a product of their time, and did not at all remain contemporary as the years went on.

There was also the animated series Garfield and Friends, done well before CGI had taken over all things animation, which first aired in 1988 and rolled through 1994. Basically my young childhood; that would have taken me from kindergarten to sixth grade or so. And there are people my age out there, quite a few of them, who have kids already in high school; we are now separated by nearly an entire generation.

Simply put, kids these days did not grow up with Garfield. At least, not in the iteration that made him a household name. They don't read the funny papers, nor did they grow up doing so. They are not clamoring to, and are in fact probably quite confused as to why they would want to see a generic computer generated blob who has an inexplicable penchant for lasagna. 20 years ago, you could have maybe pulled this off on the nostalgia train, packing theatres with 20 somethings out for a laugh, but for those of us who grew up with this universe, it's like the news of Happy Gilmore 2. We are not joyfully looking forward to reliving our youth, but rather mourning the desperate search for more money and actors' need for relevance which is turning a beloved vignette of our past into the next embarassing box office flop. For crying out loud, Adam Sandler is pushing sixty! What's next, Billy Madison 2? After his successful prostate surgery, Billy decides that life is short, so he's gonna go for his bachelors degree???

So my point is... hollywood has utterly pumped the last pump of running out of ideas. Everything remotely good has been sequeled, prequeled, and rebooted to death; the dead horse has been beaten into a fine powder. And this has been going on for some time, several years now, one bust after another. I used to love going to the movies, but I couldn't even tell you what this year's alleged blockbuster hits are supposed to be.

I touched on this before, either on here or my seldom-updated LJ, people turn to entertainment to be entertained. Not to be lectured to, not to be given a social justice lesson. They want to see actors who fit the role, not an academy award-pandering grab bag of ethnic and sexual checkboxes. Especially when you're dealing with an established universe, where things like race, gender, how people's voices sound, are already familiar to the legacy audience. Having Garfield played by, oh hell I don't know, Queen Latifah let's say, it's going to ruffle some feathers. Not because Queen Latifah is a bad actress, but because that's not what Garfield sounds like. That's not who Garfield is. And I'm not saying they did that in this case, I don't really care to look, it's an issue that is indicative of the problems with Hollywood today. Maybe Jon is a closeted gay, his lack of ability to get the ladies stems from his latent crush on his next door neighbor. Maybe Nermal is a transsexual, he thinks he's actually a cute female puppy instead of a kitten. And on it goes.

The only thing Hollywood has done in the last decade is destroy beloved characters and franchises, while shoving over engineered diversity and flash in the pan social justice messages down the audience's throats. And I think people are tired of being disappointed. Ultimately, to sum it up, Hollywood is telling the people what they want, instead of asking or listening to them. And that is not a winning formula. Who, for example, was sitting and lamenting that a comic strip cat from the 80s hasn't been put on the big screen as the must-see memorial weekend blockbuster??? Oh right. Nobody. 🥔

[nemesis-the-first]

Pantheon: a review

I finished watching Pantheon. I have mixed feelings about it. Some of it made me laugh (evil Steve Jobs as the villain, knock-off Motoko Kusanagi and other Ghost in the Shell references). Some of it had issues.

I'll start with the good. The premise is that people can be permanently uploaded into a virtual space. An uploaded person is called a UI (Uploaded Intelligence). They are vulnerable to the same things as any data is; they can be deleted, they can be attacked by viruses, they need beefy data centers, etc. But also, they have digital superpowers to be anywhere a network can reach and hack anything and everything. It was all developed by big tech companies hoping to enslave their best employees into UIs so they can keep working forever, and quickly extends to militaries using UI operatives. The whole thing has intense "don't invent the torment nexus" vibes.

The main characters are teenagers who speed-run a series of well-known moral dilemmas and philosophical conundrums. For example, is a UI still human? If a single UI is to have control over the rest with god-like powers, how do you choose the right one? How do you balance the rights of UIs and embodied humans? And there is also geopolitics, corporate scheming, and people with their own agendas.

The show totally nailed techbro idol worship (Evil Steve Jobs) and software tech culture in general. What transpires in the show seems like Elon Musk's wet dream of "extending the reach of human consciousness" or whatever, in a fantasy world where his employees actually like him and he is a uniquely talented engineer instead of an idiot, and of course in the scenario where he wins instead of those meddling kids.

Most of the core cast are programmers, with a quant thrown in the mix as well. There are two humanities/arts characters featured as spouses. Despite having diversity in ethnic backgrounds, there is almost no diversity of life experience. Nearly everyone is in a tech social circle. I am not saying this as a criticism, as it makes sense for the story.

Now for the things I didn't like.

The animation felt lifeless and I struggled to watch with my full attention. I mostly watched it while doing chores or sewing. It was easy to follow even while doing other things. I've seen plenty of Japanese anime where they take lots of animation shortcuts and everyone looks lively, so I don't know what went wrong here.

The voice acting was good for the main cast, but many of the side and minor characters were terrible. They sounded like actors doing voices for a kids show. We had Israeli characters with French accents, siblings with wildly different accents, random foreign accents. Like what was going on??? Was it the same four actors doing every side character's voice like in Skyrim?? Did they just guess what accent they should use without looking it up?

There were also numerous stereotypes that felt totally out of place in a modern show. There was the unpopular overweight girl who did everyone's homework for money and was always shown eating. The mother of the main character was extremely bitchy in season 1 and felt like every bitchy TV mother I've seen before. In Norway, everyone only eats salmon??

Out of the characters, I liked Caspian, MIST, Lori, and David, and maybe Chanda, but I found most of the others unlikeable or inconsistent. Maddie and Ellen both undergo jarring changes of behaviour that make little sense in the story's context, such as being very open-minded and then suddenly not, and vice-versa. Waxman was kind of a piece of shit with a friendly face. Maybe I'm missing something, but Pope's motivation in season 2 was totally unexplained and made no sense at all.

Letting go of the human form is a feature of being a UI and this is emphasized numerous times throughout the show, yet most UIs seem to choose human or humanoid forms. Lori was one of the few who regularly ditched her human form unless she was interacting with humans. The fight scenes could've been way more interesting, but mostly they were just blasting each other with fake plasma projectiles or whatever.

Finally (and I know I shouldn't do this), let's take a look at the feasibility of uploading people en masse. The techbros claim that uploading everyone and maintaining them as digital beings is easier on the environment than having billions of embodied humans. It's shown early in the show that a UI needs a massive data center to run at full capacity. We know what it takes to increase computing power: energy, minerals, rare earths, etc. Crypto mining uses insane amounts of energy, and LLMs and other AI tools use tons of energy as well. On the other hand, it's totally in line with the techbro mentality that infinitely energy-efficient hardware and clean energy will magically solve everything so they can profit forever. They simply do not understand the laws of thermodynamics.

Another thing that bothered me was that the UIs were not decentralised. It's possible to pinpoint their location on a network, which makes no sense if they are based in physical data centers.

The show is definitely worth watching if you are into cyberpunk and near-future sci-fi. It's based on short stories by Ken Liu, who has won Hugo and Nebula awards. I'm very curious to read them now and compare with the show.

Overall, the concept and plot were super interesting. The areas it fell down on are probably not deal-breakers for most viewers, though I really wish they would've done better on the stereotypes.

[soul-dwelling-not]

Not like I'm one to talk, as I have criticized casting choices--but some of you are way too hard on which voices are cast.

Not actors--voices.

Not stunting casting--that shit always needs to be condemned: stop casting non-talent on-camera-only hacks who can't act with their voices.

When I say "voices," I mean "voices," as in, "This voice doesn't fit this character." Congratulations, you have an opinion--now we can have a conversation.

The talk about which voice to use, to me, is a satisfying conversation only if we are talking about roads not taken, alternatives. Again, not alternative choices for which actor to cast (except, again, when it comes to stunt casting: always cast the best voice with the best acting for the role, not some famous name to slap onto the poster). No, I mean alternative choices in which voice to use, and that means the criticism has just as much, if not more, to do with the direction than the casting, especially if you think the actor is suited for the role but was using a voice that didn't suit the character.

One time I heard someone say that they could not get into an animated film because the big burly muscular character sounded like an actor only pretending to be big and muscular.

... ... ...You do know Mel Blanc wasn't a rabbit, right?

But he managed to play Bugs Bunny.

So why do you think a smaller, scrawnier person can't play a big, muscular person? Isn't that kind of fucked up, to say that the competitive acting industry, where it is hard enough to get on-camera work if you don't have the quote-unquote "correct" look, should now also tell people behind the microphone in voice acting, "Sorry, but you don't look like the character, so we can't cast you." (I am not talking about casting by identity: I'll get to this later, but you need to cast actors who are the gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, ability, and so on, of the characters they are playing.)

"Your example is silly! That's not the same thing! Mel Blanc wasn't playing Bugs Bunny, he was playing what is practically a New Yorker in a rabbit's body!"

Mel Blanc was born and raised in the San Francisco and Portland areas before making his living in Los Angeles. True, his father was from New York, but if we're going to split hairs (avoiding the pun), then why should you cast him in the role when he has zero direct experience as a legitimate New Yorker?

I'm not talking about (the very necessary) casting of actors who are of the identity or community they are playing: that is as much about good casting and having an actor with that lived experience as it is responding to decades of regressive casting choices that denied equity and gave a leg-up to certain actors and a road block to others--we need more characters in fiction who are from diverse identities in terms of, but not limited to, race, gender, sexuality, nationality, religion, ethnicity, and ability, and that means we need actors who share those identities because those actors, who already meet the expectations and talent to be in this work, are the least often cast in those roles made for them or even the least often cast in general because of intentional or just structural racism, sexism, and other forms of discrimination.

What I'm talking about is this: if you have a character that should be menacing, and you have your own personal take that it didn't work for you, great, that's your opinion--we now can have that conversation. What would have made that character sound more menacing? Are they too high-pitched? Well, now we get to discuss why casting choices are made and what expectations we bring to them: why does it have to be low-pitched to be menacing? Could high-pitched or just, whatever the term is, middle-pitched still work? Or are they just not a good actor? Or did they not read the lines with the emphasis where you would have put them? See, all of this is an excellent conversations to actually dig into why something does or doesn't work: it's about the effect it produced and what choices led to that effect. But something dismissive as, "They don't sound menacing," by itself is not a compelling argument, and "They don't sound like a muscular person" is even more asinine.

[tallmantall]

#JamesDonaldson On #MentalHealth – Advocates Address The Factors Contributing To The Spike In #SuicideRates Among #Black #Men

Maurice noted that there is evidence that his inability to express his inner turmoil is something that some other #Black #men who have struggled with #suicidalideation have experienced Neighborhood Wellness Foundation, hosting a healing circle in Sacramento, CA. By Aldon Thomas Stiles, California #Black Media Last year, #America mourned the tragic #suicides of two #Black #men who were celebrated for their exceptional talents and renowned for their achievements in the entertainment world and their links to Hollywood. The first was #Stephen“tWitch”Boss, a co-executive producer and guest DJ on the Ellen DeGeneres Show. The second was Ian Alexander Jr., who was the son of Academy Award-winning actress #ReginaKing. Away from national headlines, tens of thousands of families across the #UnitedStates are grieving over loved ones who took their own lives – with men outnumbering #women four to one as states across the country – including California – report alarming #suicide rates every year. Among #Black #Americans, #suicide is having a unique impact on #Black #men. This fact is well-known to Etienne Maurice, the founder and CEO of WalkGood LA, a community wellness-focused organization based in Los Angeles and led by #Black and Brown individuals. “When I was going through my psychosis and I was manic, I did have #suicidalthoughts. I never thought I was going to actually commit to doing it, but the thought was scary enough,” Maurice told California #Black Media (CBM) at his #Black men’s healing circle event in Los Angeles, titled YouGood. The high-profile #suicides deaths of Boss and Alexander and the rising suicide rate among #Black #men – while tragic and unsettling – are not surprising to Jamal Averett, an actor and attendee at YouGood, who told CBM many #Black #men are “screaming inside.” Data from the California #MentalHealthServices Oversight and Accountability Commission, indicates that the #suiciderate for #Black individuals in California rose by 31.1% between 2010 and 2019, a substantial increase when compared to other #ethnic groups. “I think in order for us to really get those rates down, we have to build community with other #Black #men,” Averett said. YouGood brought in 181 #Black #men to participate in guided yoga, meditation, journaling and exercises designed to encourage expressing their feelings. One of the goals of the event was to challenge the #stigma of emotional vulnerability among #Black #men. “Growing up, we’re always taught to hold it in. Just be tough,” Averett said. The organizers stated that another significant objective of this monthly event is to create a safe and supportive community for #Black #men, who have been conditioned to exhibit stoicism from a young age, to initiate the process of healing from the historical and daily traumas they have experienced. #James Donaldson notes:Welcome to the “next chapter” of my life… being a voice and an advocate for #mentalhealthawarenessandsuicideprevention, especially pertaining to our younger generation of students and student-athletes.Getting men to speak up and reach out for help and assistance is one of my passions. Us men need to not suffer in silence or drown our sorrows in alcohol, hang out at bars and strip joints, or get involved with drug use.Having gone through a recent bout of #depression and #suicidalthoughts myself, I realize now, that I can make a huge difference in the lives of so many by sharing my story, and by sharing various resources I come across as I work in this space.  #http://bit.ly/JamesMentalHealthArticleFind out more about the work I do on my 501c3 non-profit foundationwebsite www.yourgiftoflife.org                            Order your copy of James Donaldson's latest book,#CelebratingYourGiftofLife:From The Verge of Suicide to a Life of Purpose and Joy www.celebratingyourgiftoflife.com Maurice explained how #traumas, left unchecked, can take hold of someone’s life and spiral out of their control. “I’d be in bed and be arguing with my mom, because I didn’t want to get out of bed,” Maurice said, sharing memories of interactions with his mother, the actress Sheryl Lee Ralph of Moesha and Abbott Elementary fame. “And I didn’t know why because I wasn’t that person — my mom never raised me to be that person, and she didn’t know me to be that person. So, it can be frustrating on all levels.” Maurice noted that there is evidence that his inability to express his inner turmoil is something that some other #Black #men who have struggled with #suicidalideation have experienced. “I didn’t even have a language for #mentalhealth. I think what drove me to that point was not having control,” Maurice said. Rodrego A. Byerly is the President and CEO of EVITARUS, California’s only #Black-owned-and-led public opinion and market research firm. He echoed Maurice’s point. “There are a number of contributing factors I would point to, first and foremost a need for greater education and resources at our fingertips for how to cope with stress in all of its forms in life,” Byerly said. What makes this crisis unusual and alarming is that the #suicide rates for non-#Hispanic #White people decreased by 4.5% between 2019 and 2020, while the rate for non-#Hispanic #Black people increased by 4% according to a #CentersforDiseaseControlandPrevention (#CDC) report. Shakari Byerly, Managing Partner and Principal Researcher at EVITARUS, pointed to racism and social unrest as a potential explanation for this phenomenon. “Everyday discrimination is associated with higher rates of depressive symptoms, and also what’s called #suicideideation, which are thoughts or contemplations of #suicide,” Ms. Byerly said. “I think also the fact that #depression and #anxiety are gateways to #suicideideation as well.” Dr. Kristee Haggins, Executive Director of Safe #Black Space, said that while disproportionate violence targeting #Black people is not a new occurrence, the level of exposure to incidents of anti-#Black violence has increased. “There’s this heightened view again, because it was splashed all across the media,” Haggins explained. Maurice told CBM that repeated, highly publicized murders of #Black #men – specifically the murder of Ahmaud Arbery – is what inspired him to build his organization, stating that he started WalkGood to “fight for #Black lives.” The #Black #transgender community is also witnessing a surge in #suicidalrates and this population has also been subjected to heightened levels of violence and hate crimes. Rhonda Smith, Executive Director of the California #Black Health Network, statewide organization committed to promoting health equity for #AfricanAmericans and #Black Immigrants, advises those struggling with #suicidalideation to reach out to people close to them, utilize resources in the community, such as churches, and call #988 if they are experiencing a crisis. Smith – as well as Maurice and Averett – assured those who are dealing with #depression and desperation that although you might feel otherwise, you are not alone. Read the full article

[millenniumproductions]

As someone who had been watching since the beginning of the series, I actually ENJOYED it (I still do but ever since I saw the episode where Bloodmoon just killed Earth, I've lost some of that emotional connection). It showed that some people still had love for Security Breach despite how broken it was. And this was probably before RUIN and Help Wanted 2 were even thought about by Steel Wool.

I will admit that some of the characters' personalities are kind of bad, but there ARE still some good qualities that they have, just like a real person would considering all of the trauma they each go through.

And I honestly blame the writers for some of the mischaracterization of the characters, and now they're are just using the characters to slander their own fans, like they do to the people who actually enjoy Bloodmoon.

(Seriously, they used Solar's voice actor to compare Bloodmoon to Jeffrey. F*CKING. Dahmer. Who IS a REAL PERSON and is actually a f*cked up person, while Bloodmoon is just a FNAF OC who happens to be like a modern day vampire, like from Vampire: The Masquerade.)

About the VR models: It's VRCHAT. You can't expect EVERY model to be clean as hell, and the Glamrocks and Sun and Moon are the ones that are basically just sort of copied from the original game.

While I understand that SOME of the non-canon FNAF characters can be unnecessary, like Trash Can Man, The Fangirl (which I now believe was another attempt from the writers to slander the fans), some of the OTHERS actually are important, like Eclipse (the OG before RUIN happened), Lunar, Bloodmoon (the OG), Killcode, The Creator, Earth, Ruin Eclipse, and the Astrals.

Earth isn't a black character because the animatronics DON'T. HAVE. ETHNICITIES. They're not like us humans who can't choose what skin color we're born with.

Don't... F*CKING... Compare Lunar to one of those d*mn Loli Shotas.

The animatronics don't have actual ages like us humans either, so it's possible that Lunar just ACTS like a kid (which is also referred to as Age Regression, which is actually a way to cope with certain kinds of trauma) but is still just as aware as an adult would normally be.

About Monty: I actually LIKE Monty in the Sun and Moon Show. And THAT'S a surprise since I like Glamrock Freddy a lot more in the CANON FNAF. So, in a way, it's like the two have swapped popularities for me.

About Old Moon (Moon before he was reset): I will admit I didn't like Old Moon at ALL in the beginning, but he did get SOME redemption before he died, so he got a bit of my respect back.

While I understand that VRCHAT has some... QUESTIONABLE people on it... I've actually met some people on there who are pretty normal and cool.

I do KIND OF agree that the plot has become a bit stale. But that's mostly because of the writers trying to make some characters as UNREDEEMABLE as possible and they care WAY TOO MUCH about what the fans think.

I DO agree that some of the fans can be a bit creepy since some of them have ships like Eclipse/Lunar (Yes, it's actually a thing and I F*CKING hate it), and I can agree that some fans are a bit TOO obsessed with the Bloodmoon Backup (which I've dubbed the "Blooders"), but there are still some normal fans out there that have made some good stuff like fanart, animatics, and animations.

And the Sun/Moon ship... I think some people accidentally confuse it with the ship from the ORIGINAL Security Breach.

(By the way, I AM a Sun x Moon shipper outside of the SAMS community, but I'm able to differentiate between the two.)

I genuinely wanna know why a lot of people seem to like the sun and moon show cause I could not sit through one full episode of that it was the lamest, stupidest shit ever

(I watched different episodes but could not finish one of them I kept trying different ones like "ok maybe this gets better??" cause I like to give things the benefit of the doubt before a genuine critique but spoiler alert, it didn't get better)

-They miss-characterize the fuck out of the canon characters

-The vr models look goofy as hell

-The non-canon characters are so awful and feel like useless fillers (especially earth and bloodmoon, they serve minimal plot purpose)

-Earth is a black character voice acted and played by a white woman (which is pretty weird, they couldn't have casted a black woman to play a black woman?? and before anyone says "earth isn't black" look at her skin tone and hair texture now be honest with yourself)

-Lunar is basically a loli (shota??) since it's been mentioned he's the same age as Eclipse yet he's short and acts like a child

-They mis-characterized monty and moon SO BAD (and sun but it was less noticeable)

-it's vr chat which that alone is a good enough reason to not fw tsams cause vr chat is like a breeding ground for discord mods

-The plot sucks, a 12 year old could have done better than those grown adults

-also so many of the fans are so weird?? In the show sun and moon are like depicted as brothers but then people turn around and ship them, it's weird

idk if it's just me over-analyzing but I cannot be the only person that finds this show unbearable, I feel like the only reason it's popular is because sun and moon fans are really desperate for content since their time in security breach (both the game and dlc) was so limited

this is a genuine opinion I'm not trying to hate on the show (I am) but I really have nothing positive to say about it and I need to know if it's just me cause I notice so many people like this shit show and the lame ass characters for whatever reason, if you have stuff to prove anything I said wrong and I mean like genuinely explain why (not just "you're wrong 😡😡" and giving no reason) then feel free because I'm genuinely curious about the hype for tsams

[palestinianliberator]

To be Palestinian is exhausting

You will not find a single Palestinian who hasn’t had to endure all of the following and more:

Constantly having to prove our existence

[This is going to be a tremendously long post, but I implore you to read through what you can]

Constantly having to educate everyone around us on our history and people while we continue to be slaughtered

Constantly having to combat Israeli propaganda and dehumanization campaigns against us

Constantly having to combat liberal propaganda from those who simply cannot understand the pain and damage they are doing

Constantly having to defend ourselves from the overwhelming forces that stand in our way, from the Israeli forces to the global institutions that help support it to the structures in the US that mean that any Palestinian who dares speak out risk both their lives and livelihood

Constantly in fear of whether or not you’ll end up on another “list” as a result of daring to speak out

Constantly having to do it all again as soon as we’re back on the news

Constantly having to answer for all other Palestinians in a way that nobody else is expected to

Constantly being seen as the “crazy one” when trying to share your narrative, having to defend against an endless barrage of accusations of antisemitism

Constantly being put into situations by bad-faith actors who attempt to engage in “debate” or “discussion” or “dialogue” with talking points that demean and duhamanize you, all while being expected to maintain a smile and cool composure while someone literally debates to your face your own existence or how “actually it’s YOUR people’s fault you’re being slaughtered! Israel isn’t the bad guy here!”

Constantly being forced to choose between engaging in bad-faith debates framed in a way to make you look like the unreasonable bad guy while the person implicitly defending your ethnic cleansing is made to look like the “rational good guy” or looking after your own mental health, knowing that even refusing these “invitations” is itself a mark against you and your people

Constantly being told that you’re too “biased”, too “close”, too “emotional” about the literal slaughter of your people to be seen as a valid source, while Israelis and complete outsiders are given all the space they want to speak for us endlessly

Constantly seeing people being actively mislead and wondering if you have the capacity to reach out to them and attempt to share your narrative with them, knowing that if you don’t, they’re going to go on to propagate the same lies justifying your ethnic cleansing

Constantly having to combat GENUINE censorship throughout the media, social media, and society itself. It’s a fact proven by former Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube employees that Palestinian voices have their reach censored in a way no one else does, which is why it’s so important to amplify and actively share Palestinian voices rather than just liking or indicating support

Constantly being told you don’t know your own history by people who’ve educated themselves on Youtube and Wikipedia despite having lived the reality yourself and dedicating your entire life to studying every single aspect of it

Constantly seeing those who have the courage to stand alongside you being shut down with accusations of antisemitism and seeing them lose their courage to stand by you out of fear of their own image and livelihood and having to rush to their defense as well

Constantly having to see photos of your people, sometimes even people you know, maimed, injured, murdered, or burned to ash by Israeli aggression but knowing you have a duty to share what’s happening and must stomach the images to show the world the true extent of the suffering we endure

Constantly having to worry not just for your own safety, but the safety of your family and loved ones who can be punished or targeted because of things you yourself say

Constantly wondering who you can actually trust, from new friends and acquaintances to professors to even other Palestinians because we’ve been so heavily infiltrated by Israeli intelligence looking to blackmail Palestinians using anything from their sexual orientation or even made up “evidence” meant to ruin their lives

Constantly having your heart sink every notification you get wondering if it’s news that a loved one has been killed

Constantly seeing the corpses of loved ones shared on social media and reliving the trauma all over again, yet again knowing that you WANT the world to see what’s happening

Constantly seeing the effects this has on your own family and feeling helpless to do anything

Constantly on alert for the FBI at your door as they often “visit” Palestinians who dare speak out, myself included on numerous occasions 

Constantly wondering if your advocacy for your people is going to result in the loss of your job, scholarship, license

Constantly being asked to “humanize” and “feel for” those who live their lives day in day out completely unfazed by your suffering despite living in a society that couldn’t even FUNCTION without our subjugation

Constantly being told “don’t blame regular Israelis, blame the government!!” as if the state itself wasn’t founded on our ethnic cleansing, as if it isn’t “normal Israelis” who make up the entirety of the Israeli Military and have actively brutalized you and your people

Seeing allies you fought for suddenly SILENT when it’s their time to speak up

Studying on a US campus where those SAME SOLDIERS WHO ENGAGED IN YOUR PERSECUTION AND ACTIVELY SERVED AS THE ENFORCERS OF YOUR OCCUPATION then re-enact the trauma against you and you’re meant to simply ignore the fact that THEY ARE THE SAME PEOPLE WHO MURDERED YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY, and not being allowed to even be ANGRY at that

Trying to navigate this half-life in the diaspora where it’s a struggle to connect with other Palestinians given the distance between us and yet not being able to connect with anyone around because, again, they simply can’t understand

Constantly being expected to simply give up your time to those who demand you answer them and debate your existence and narrative with them, who them take you blocking them for your own mental health as a “victory” to be lorded over you when you simply can’t take it anymore

Constantly having to EXPLAIN all of this because nobody but other Palestinians can truly understand just how pervasive, overwhelming, and incapacitating this unique form of exhaustion is

Constantly seeing your erasure and ethnic cleansing defended all over the media, all over social media, throughout your academic career, while those ENGAGED in your ethnic cleansing have the audacity to claim that the media is biased against THEM

Constantly on guard with everything you say and write, knowing that unlike those promoting our ethnic cleansing, we don’t have the luxury of making mistakes or getting lazy in our writing and advocacy. One mistaken source, mistaken information, being imperfect is enough to discredit your voice entirely

The crippling obligation you have to share the narrative of your people, knowing that so many people will view you as the spokesperson of your entire people, knowing how unfair it is, but also knowing that if you DON’T speak out, nobody will on your behalf, and even the most well-intentioned, involved allies can simply never understand how it all truly feels

Seeing the entire world stand by and do absolutely nothing while your people are slaughtered time and time again

Seeing your history misconstrued by people implicitly defending your ethnic cleansing and settler-colonialism

Knowing that our parents have been through this and more, seeing them have to go through this yet again while still being forced to go about their daily lives and given no time to mourn or recover

Not being able to even share our culture without being attacked for it

Knowing that so many of your friends and family won’t ever be able to return to their homeland while foreigners from around the globe are flown into Israel free because it’s their “birthright”

A “birthright” denied to even my own parents, born in Jerusalem yet unable to enter it

Having even self-proclaimed “allies” question Palestinian resistance, policing our tone, never /really/ understanding our pain and anger and how they themselves contribute to it

Screaming from the moment you can about what’s happening to us, desperately trying to get people to CARE, and having it often fall on deaf ears

Knowing that if you’re not the source of information for those genuinely seeking to learn, they may find themselves mislead by sources that claim to be fair and balanced while imprinting subtle lies about Palestine and Palestinians on those they engage with

Not even being able to find the energy and ability to respond to genuine messages of love and support, which are greatly appreciated, and feeling bad about it because you don’t want to seem like you’re not genuinely happy to hear it

Feeling a sense of overwhelming exhaustion in times like this while at the same time being unable to sleep

Seeing the effect all of this has had on your people, knowing your people have among the highest rates of depression on the planet and yet we’re all suffering together with no way to ease the pain

Being constantly exposed to the ways in which your people are erased and questioning if you have the energy or sanity left to deconstruct such aggression to help outsiders understand the severity of it all

Seeing allies suddenly call for “peace” when Palestinians are finally fed up enough to rise up and fight back against an overwhelming military force

I could go on, but in case you it’s not already clear, I’m tired and exhausted

Always wondering if any of this is even worth it when the world has ignored your slaughter and ethnic cleansing for nearly 8 decades, knowing that nobody is about to step in to help now.

Constantly wondering if any of this is even worth it, and then feeling inspired by fellow Palestinians, our resilience, the fact that despite ALL of this and more, we continue to fight.

Despite all of this, I would never even consider or entertain the thought of being born as anything other than Palestinian

[opinated-user]

Did you know that there apparently is this rule now that the voice actors and the characters they're voicing must be the same race otherwise the show or the movie won't be able to get some awards?

Just look at the cast and animated characters from Velma's show.

I heard about it when the VA for Mark from The Invincible told a story he was okay with voicing a white character but was told ''rules are rules'', and they changed Mark to be half Asian.

I get what they are trying to do. More chances for POCs. They don't want to come off as racist when a white person does a poor job of making an authentic accent or too stereotypical. But bringing up segregation? Just pick a voice actor that can do the accent and actually direct them. Also, accent thickness differs from person to person and from animated character to animated character. And ironically, by trying to be respectful, they dismissed Steven Yeun's opinion.

What if Samurai Jack will get the next season, a movie, or a reboot? Do they cast someone else than Phil LaMarr?

Also, it feels like a very USA issue. In Japan, most voice actors are Japanese Asian, in Poland, most VAs are Polish and white, in South Africa most VAs a natives too. Are those all countries racist now? People of different ethnicities won't just move to different countries to diversify the cast.

What would you do?

to tell you the truth, anon, i don't see anything wrong with anything you said. if the voice actor is first chosen and later the character's race changed to match theirs, then they're not really segregating anyone as much as just open an space for non-white character to exist in. if the best VA was a white guy then they would have kept mark as a white guy, but since the best person for the role turned out to be asian then it can be just a chance to give an asian superheroe for people to like. this is a standard on the industry btw. characters resembling the VA has been sort of a expected notion for a long time, especially if the VA is a well known person. sometimes that will give less han stellar results...

but it's nothing new and it doesn't apply only to race either. famously enough the genie from Aladdin had to go through a bunch of changes on it's animation to match Robin William's energy. it's not about "not coming off as racist because someone did a bad accent" (which brings the question, why would you hire them in the first place?), but trying to give POC representation and, arguably more important, jobs opportunities. if there is any issue i can see with that kind of casting is that they still hire mostly big celebrities who already had a name to bring attention, where there's many VA (white/POC) who go ignored and the ethnicity of the characters goes unexplored because the character wasn't written with any ethnicity in mind first, coming off as less authentic or relatable for people with certain cultural experiences. but even then, it doesn't inherently hurt the product. if a character is well written then they being of any particular race doesn't change it, just like a badly written character can't be saved just by being of any particular race. the last part of your message doesn't make much sense to me tbh. Japan is notoriously ethnocentrist and dark skinned actors have spoken about how difficult is for them to find a job at all so yes, the industry is in fact racist, not because they don't have more dark skinned characters but because they won't even let the actors to do their job no matter how talented they are. i don't know about poland but south africa has it's own set of issues that go beyond typecasting too.

[unwhitewashthebadbatch]

Disney Email Draft 2

(going under a cut because it's much longer. Here is the Google Doc link for anyone who would like to comment directly)

Reminder that we are encouraging critiques and comments regarding this email!

To Bob Iger, Kathleen Kennedy, Dave Filoni, Jennifer Corbett, and the creative team of Star Wars: The Bad Batch:

We hope this email finds you all well. We are fans of color, disabled fans, neurodivergent fans, and Jewish fans writing out of concern for the portrayal of our communities in the Disney+ series Star Wars: The Bad Batch. For several months now, we have been campaigning on social media to spread awareness about these concerns through #UnwhitewashTBB, a movement we began to raise awareness about the ways in which the series has poorly represented several minoritized groups of people.

Just like the creators of Star Wars: The Bad Batch, all of the creators of #UnwhitewashTBB grew up with Star Wars as the backbones of their childhoods, and for many of us, Star Wars: The Clone Wars was crucial to our development as artists, writers, creators, and lifelong Star Wars fans. We are all firm believers in the phrase “Star Wars is for everyone”, and we would like to see Disney support that message by hearing our plea.

As fans of color, as disabled fans, as neurodivergent fans, and as Jewish fans, we’ve seen ourselves on screen in both good and bad ways, but recently it has been more the latter than the former. One such reason is Star Wars: The Bad Batch, a show whose premise piqued many fans’ interest, but whose main cast has left an increasingly sour taste in the mouths of those who watched.

The series follows an elite squad of clone troopers who have named themselves The Bad Batch, due in part to their series of mutations that gives them an edge over regular clones on the battlefield. These mutations drastically altered the appearance of each of the members to a generally lighter, more Caucasian appearance--one that is inconsistent with how the original Jango Fett actor Temuera Morisson looks. Fans take issue with the implications in the writing and design of The Bad Batch: that in order to be elite, special, and better than one’s contemporaries--in order to have a story worth telling--one must also be white or as close as possible.

Merriam-Webster defines whitewashing as “to alter (something) in a way that favors, features, or caters to white people: such as to alter (an original story) by casting a white performer in a role based on a nonwhite person or fictional character” The #UnwhitewashTBB movement comes with two carrds explaining the grievances of the fans. A summary for each character is given below:

Sergeant Hunter, the leader, closely resembles Sylvester Stallone’s Rambo character, despite being a clone of a man of color. The importance of his character, the fatherliness he has with Omega, and his centrality to both their Season 7 appearance in The Clone Wars and the series itself sends the message that important people look

Wrecker is the demolitions expert, and he’s the only member of The Bad Batch with features similar to that of a Maori man’s, like Temuera Morrison/Jango Fett. He’s large with broad features, brown skin, and is a stereotype of men of color. His personality as first introduced to the audience was that of a loud, aggressive, impatient, slow man who called frequently for violence/destruction. He falls into the “Loveable Brute” trope, an observation that is supported by statements from supervising director Brad Rau and voice actor Dee Bradely Baker that Wrecker is like a little boy and has a heart of gold.

Crosshair is the sniper on the team, and he’s the most derisive of the “regs”--the regular clone troopers. Taken in conjunction with his appearance (inspired by Clint Eastwood), the various messages being sent by the writing and appearance of the other team members, and his comment about the regular troopers--the he and the Batch are superior and thus should join the Empire--his character pushes forth a message that there is superiority inherent in whitened or fully white features.

Tech, the technology specialist, has incredibly light skin and hair compared to the regular clones. His mutation made him a genius, with an IQ that outpaces that of any other clone in the Republic. Fans of color are upset that Tech’s genius mutation apparently also affected his skin color, as now this creates a direct link between intelligence and appearance/race. Contrast Tech with Wrecker, who is the exact opposite in every way, and this harm becomes only more apparent. In addition to this, many Autistic fans of The Bad Batch have noted that Tech, being “on the spectrum” (according to Dee Bradley Baker) is a popular stereotype of Autistic people: a nerdy-looking white man with a formal way of speaking who’s a genius but dismissive of others’ feelings. Baker also plays Tech with a British accent, further cementing the harmful message that intelligence is in some way connected to ethnicity.

Omega is the newest member of The Bad Batch. Despite being a pure Jango clone, she’s come out looking nothing like Boba Fett--she has lighter skin than he does, as well as blonde hair. Fans are concerned about the connection between genetic purity and light skin/blonde hair, as this is directly harmful to the people of color who don’t sport those features.

Echo is the ARC Trooper of the team, but many fans--disabled fans especially--fear that his series of disabilities have reduced him to the “droid sidekick”. Echo does not have a prosthetic, instead sporting a scomp-arm attachment that allows him to plug into computers but would otherwise hinder him greatly in daily tasks. He rarely is the focus of an episode, and the series has not given him as much attention as it has given characters like Hunter and Omega. Disabled fans worry about the lack of attention given to his medical trauma, and fans of color note that his skin color goes beyond what a brown man who’s been without sunlight for a few months would look like.

The issues do not stop here. Asian fans noticed and were harmed by a Tiananmen Square parallel in 1x10, “Common Ground”--a recreation that was led by an Eastern Asian-coded woman. Jewish fans are hurt by the antisemitic stereotype in Cid the broker, a greedy lizard woman who speaks with an accent commonly associated with New York Jews--and who is played by Jewish actress Rhea Perlman. Black fans were harmed by the whitewashing in Saw Gererra and the one other Black character in The Bad Batch being a Black woman who works for the Empire and burns civilians alive.

The full analyses can be found in the official #UnwhitewashTBB carrd: unwhitewashthebadbatch.carrd.co. We respectfully ask that you read this carrd and give a public statement in response to these criticisms.

Our movement has only gained traction since its inception on March 30th, 2021. A few months later, we wrote and released an open letter on Change.org to be signed by supporters of #UnwhitewashTBB, and every day it gains new signatures and draws nearer to the next milestone. A survey we released over a month ago has received over 1,100 responses and also continues to climb. The latter displays a range of opinions regarding The Bad Batch, but one sentiment stands out: Hunter, Crosshair, Tech, Wrecker, Omega, and Echo are written in stereotypical and actively harmful ways. Respondents were shocked at outdated portrayals of Autism, sickened by antisemitic stereotypes, and confused at how, in this current social and political climate, a family-friendly corporation like Disney could greenlight a series that sends a message that is the complete opposite of “Star Wars is for Everyone”. Some sample responses are below:

“I would just like to elaborate on the ableism aspect. As a amputee myself, I don’t like how Echo’s trauma has been ignored. The whole reason he is with the BB is because of what he went through. Losing one limb, never mind multiple, it’s extremely difficult. They made it seem like just because his prosthetic can be of use on missions, that means he isn’t grieving the loss of his actual hand. There is no healing or evolution. It also feels wrong to only address the fact that echo uses prosthetics for the sake of hacking into machinery. Prosthetics are so personal and become a real part of who you are as a person.” - Respondent 130

“...I can't believe Star Wars is still doing this, and that an entire team of animators with a huge budget can't get skin tone right. I didn't even know the clones were supposed to have a NZ Māori accent until a friend told me. That's a big deal, since I live in NZ and hear it every day…” - Respondent 209

“As someone who is neurodivergent myself, Tech and Wrecker just. sting, you know? in a “is that really what you think of us” kind of way. I grew up in an environment where intersectional equality was heavily discussed, and I can still miss things. Having Jewish friends does not mean that Cid’s antisemitic implications can’t go right over my head until someone points them out (thank you).” - Respondent 87

“As a fan of color, its irritating and painful to watch and be brushed off as "lighting issues" and see justifications made by white fans and producers...It also feels very bad to me that TCW spent 7 seasons with several arcs emphasizing that the clones were all as individual as a 'normal' person, but then undo all that with TBB, which centers a group of "special" clones (who are suspiciously white) and have them treat the "regs" as a homogeneous group who are lesser than them, and then expect us to find it within ourselves to put that aside to enjoy the MCs. The way the treat "regs" is very offputting and it made me dislike them since their introduction...Star Wars is no stranger to racist and antisemitic media, but I must say, the blantancy of Sid, a greedy lizard who essentially financially enslaves the protaganists, being Jewish-coded and being protrayed by a Jewish voice actress is really next-level even for Star Wars. As a Jewish fan, it really grates on me.” - Respondent 40

“I’m disabled and autistic, and the ableism is appalling to watch. Watching Echo be treated as subhuman for needing machinery to survive makes me feel like having implants to keep my spine from breaking itself would have me be the pitied member of any group. I am disgusted by the blatant antisemitism, as a fair number of my friends are Jewish and it hurts me to think that people can so easily hate others based on internalized stereotypes. Me and my friends have also critically analyzed the fact that, despite being clones of a character portrayed by Temuera Morrison, for some reason the bad batch look nothing like him in any way. No resemblance in any way: just a bunch of someone’s badly worked characters fraught with disgusting writing decisions and design choices that make no sense. It makes me angry to think that the writers for this show, and to an extent any modern writer, would believe that using harmful tropes to make a story is acceptable and someone brings in profit. I tried to watch it out of fact that my family likes Star Wars and we all grew up watching it, but all of these unhealthy assumptions and terrible choices in terms of writing and design leave a bitter and nauseating feeling.” - Respondent 605

In the survey, various questions were asked about fans’ feelings about The Bad Batch. Before reading the carrd, 34.7% of fans answered that writing was their least favorite aspect of the series, with the next being the main characters. Elaborations in the following free write made clear that the whitewashing and stereotypical writing were huge factors of these opinions. One a 1 to 5 satisfaction scale, 68.1% of respondents rated their satisfaction at a 3 or lower--again, due to the whitewashing and other issues respondents perceived in The Bad Batch. When asked to analyze pre-post carrd-reading feelings regarding the above issues, every category saw a marked increase in awareness of the issue at hand. The perceived prominence of the whitewashing went from 81.3% to 91.4% in respondents. The awareness of ableism jumped almost 30%, from 52.6% to 84.4%. The majority of respondents (59%) were not aware of the antisemitism in the series, but after reading the carrd, that statistic flipped to 80.5%, a near 60% increase from the original 26.7%. Regarding the other racist issues, the respondents went from 63.1% to 83.7%.

Fans of color, neurodivergent fans, disabled fans, and Jewish fans have been waiting for the day where we can see ourselves on screen a level of attention and care that makes us feel even more at home in the Star Wars community . If Disney’s message is truly family-friendly, if Star Wars is for everyone, then Disney needs to support these views with not just words, but with actions. Resolve the racism in Star Wars: The Bad Batch, take out the antisemitism, and treat your nonwhite, disabled, and neurodivergent characters--and fans--with the respect and dignity they deserve.

This will not be a benefit solely to the fans who are asking to be represented properly. In today’s time, popular media is facing a reckoning; media that is inclusive of and respectful towards minoritized groups ends up with leagues more popularity, high ratings, and good reviews than those that don’t. A recent and prominent example is Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, a movie for which the inclusion of Asian-Americans at nearly all levels of production boosted its image and aided in its successful box office release. Black Panther is another prominent example--a movie spearheaded by Black people that completed its box office run at more than five times its initial budget in total revenue. The proper representation of people of color is a two-fold benefit.

Star Wars: The Bad Batch already has beautiful animation that reminds many longtime Star Wars: The Clone Wars fans of their childhood.

It is our hope that you will take our concerns as well as the concerns of others into account, and address the issues that we have outlined in order to better reflect the Walt Disney Company’s commitment to inclusive, diverse entertainment for audiences of all ages. Thank you for your attention to this issue.

Respectfully,

Fans of The Bad Batch

[tcm]

Reframing Films of the Past: An Interview with TCM Writers

All month long in March, TCM will be taking a look at a number of beloved classic films that have stood the test of time, but when viewed by contemporary standards, certain aspects of these films are troubling and problematic. During TCM’s Reframed: Classics in the Rearview Mirror programming, all five TCM hosts will appear on the network to discuss these issues, their historical and cultural context and how we can keep the legacy of great films alive for future generations.

Also joining in on this conversation are four TCM writers who were open enough to share their thoughts on their love of classic movies and watching troubling images of the past. Special thanks to Theresa Brown, Constance Cherise, Susan King and Kim Luperi for taking part in this conversation. Continue the conversation over on TCM’s Twitter.

What do you say to people who don’t like classics because they’re racist and sexist? 

KL: There are positive representations in classic Hollywood that I think would blow some peoples’ minds. I always love introducing people to new titles that challenge expectations. 

That said, anyone who broadly slaps a sexist or racist label on a large part of the medium’s history does a disservice to cinema and themselves. That mindset keeps them ignorant not only of some excellent movies and groundbreaking innovation but history itself. 

I think people need to remember that movies are a product of their time and they can reflect the society they were made into a variety of degrees - good, bad, politically, culturally, socially. That’s not to excuse racism or sexism; it needs to be recognized and called out as such for us to contend with it today. But it’s important for people who say they don’t like classics for those reasons to understand the historical context. In particular, we need to acknowledge that society has evolved - and what was deemed socially acceptable at times has, too, even if sexism and racism are always wrong - and we are applying a modern lens to these films that come with the benefit of decades worth of activism, growth and education.

SK: I totally agree K.L. For years I have been encouraging people to watch vintage movies who keep proclaiming they don’t like black-and-white films or silent films. For every Birth of a Nation (1915) there are beautiful dramas, wonderful comedies and delicious mysteries and film noirs. 

 These films that have racist and sexist elements shouldn’t be collectively swept under the rug, because as K.L. stated they shine a light on what society was like – both good and bad. 

CC: First off, fellow writers may I say, I think your work is amazing. I'm continually learning from the talent that is here, and I am humbled to be a part of this particular company. Similar to the prior answers, for every racist/sexist film the opposite exists. Personally, classic musicals attracted me due to their visual assault, creativity and their unmistakable triple-threat performances. While we cannot ignore racist stereotypes and sexism, there are films that simply are "fantasies of art." There is also a review of evolution. In 20 years, what we now deem as acceptable behavior/conversation will be thought of as outdated and will also require being put into "historical context."  What we collectively said/thought/did 20 years ago, we are currently either re-adjusting or reckoning with now, and that is a truth of life that will never change. We will always evolve.

TB: I would say to them they should consider the times the movie was made in. It was a whole different mindset back then. 

Are there movies that you love but are hesitant to recommend to others because of problematic elements in them? If so, which movies? 

TB: Yes, there are movies I’m hesitant to recommend. The big one, off the top of my head, would be Gone With the Wind (1939). The whole slavery thing is a bit of a sticky wicket for people, especially Black folks. Me, I love the movie. It is truly a monumental feat of filmmaking for 1939. I’m not saying I’m happy with the depiction of African Americans in that film. I recognize the issues. But when I look at a classic film, I suppose I find I have to compartmentalize things. I tend to gravitate on the humanity of a character I can relate to. 

KL: Synthetic Sin (1929), a long thought lost film, was found in the 2010s, and I saw it at Cinecon a few years ago. As a Colleen Moore fan, I thoroughly enjoyed most of it, but it contains a scene of her performing in blackface that doesn’t add anything to the plot. That decision brings the movie down in my memory, which is why I have trouble recommending it.

Also Smarty (1934), starring Warren William and Joan Blondell, is another movie I don’t recommend because it’s basically about spousal abuse played for comedy, and it did not age well for that reason.

SK: Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961): Audrey Hepburn is my favorite actress and I love her Oscar-nominated performance as Holly. I adore Orangy as Cat, as well as George Peppard and Buddy Ebsen, who is wonderfully endearing. And of course, “Moon River” makes me cry whenever I hear it. But then I cringe and am practically nauseous every time Mickey Rooney pops up on screen with his disgusting stereotypical performance as Holly’s Japanese landlord Mr. Yunioshi. What was director Blake Edwards thinking casting him in this part? Perhaps because he’s such a caricature no Japanese actor wanted to play him, so he cast Rooney with whom he had worked within the 1950s. 

CC: I cannot necessarily state that I am in "love," but, a film that comes to mind would be Anna and the King of Siam (1946). It is an absolutely beautiful visual film. However, Rex Harrison as King Mongkut requires some explanation. 

Holiday Inn (1942), and the Abraham number...why??? Might I also add, there were many jaw-dropping, racist cartoons.

How did you learn to deal with the negative images of the past? 

KL: I often look at it as a learning experience. Negative images can provoke much-needed conversation (internally or with others) and for me, they often prompt my education in an area that I wasn’t well versed in. For instance, blackface is featured in some classic films, and its history is something I never knew much about. That said, seeing its use in movies prompted me to do some research, which led me first to TCM’s short documentary about blackface and Hollywood. I love how TCM strives to provide context and seeks to educate viewers on uncomfortable, contentious subjects so we can appreciate classic films while still acknowledging and understanding the history and the harmful stereotypes some perpetuated.

SK: It’s also been a learning experience for me. Though I started watching movies as a little girl in the late 1950s, thanks to TCM and Warner Archive I realized that a lot of films were taken out of circulation because of racist elements. TCM has not only screened a lot of these films but they have accompanied the movies with conversations exploring the stereotypes in the films.  

CC: As a Black woman, negative images of the past continue to be a lesson on how Blacks, as well as other minorities, were seen (and in some cases still are seen) through an accepted mainstream American lens. On one hand, it's true, during the depiction of these films the majority of Black Americans were truly relegated to servant roles, so it stands to reason that depictions of Black America would be within the same vein. What is triggering to me, are demeaning roles, and the constant exaggeration of the slow-minded stereotype, blackface. When you look at the glass ceiling that minority performers faced from those in power, the need for suppression and domination is transparent because art can be a powerful agent of change. I dealt with the negative images of the past by knowing and understanding that the depiction being given to me was someone else's narrative, of who they thought I was, not who I actually am.

TB: I’m not sure HOW I learned to deal with negative images. Again, I think it might go back to me compartmentalizing.

I don’t know if this is right or wrong…but I’ve always found myself identifying with the leads and their struggles. As a human being, I can certainly identify with losing a romantic partner, money troubles, losing a job…no matter the ethnicity.

In what ways have we evolved from the movies of the classic era?

KL: I think we are more socially and culturally conscious now when it comes to stories, diversity and representation on screen and behind the scenes, which is a step forward. That said, while there's been growth, there's still much work to be done.

SK: I think this year’s crop of awards contenders show how things have evolved with Da 5 Bloods, Soul, One Night in Miami, Minari, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The United States Vs. Billie Holiday, Judas and the Black Messiah and MLK/FBI. 

But we still have a long way to go. I’d love to see more Native American representation in feature films; more Asian-American and Latino stories. 

CC: There are minority artists, writers, producers, directors, actors with the increasing capacity to create through their own authentic voice, thereby affecting the world, and a measurable amount of them are women! Generally speaking, filmmakers (usually male) have held the voice of the minority narrative as well as the female narrative. I agree with both writers above in the thought that it is progress, and I also agree, more stories of diversified races are needed. 

TB: One important way we've evolved from the movies made in the classic era by being more inclusive in casting. 

Are there any deal-breakers for you when watching a movie, regardless of the era, that make it hard to watch? 

KL: Physical violence in romantic relationships that's played as comedy is pretty much a dealbreaker for me. I mentioned above that I don't recommend Smarty (1934) to people, because when I finally watched it recently, it. was. tough. The way their abuse was painted as part of their relationship just didn’t sit well with me.

SK: Extreme racist elements and just as KL states physical violence. 

Regarding extreme racist elements, D.W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation (1915) is just too horrific to watch. I was sickened when I saw it when I was in grad school at USC 44 years ago and it’s only gotten worse. And then there’s also Wonder Bar (1934), the pre-code Al Jolson movie that features the Busby Berkeley black minstrel number “Goin’ to Heaven on a Mule.” Disgusting.

I also agree with KL about physical violence in comedies and even dramas. I recently revisited Private Lives (1931) with Norma Shearer and Robert Montgomery based on Noel Coward’s hit play. I have fond memories of seeing Maggie Smith in person in the play when I was 20 in the play and less than fond memories of watching Joan Collins destroying Coward’s bon mots.  

But watching the movie again, you realized just how physically violent Amanda and Elyot’s relationship is-they are always talking about committing physical violence-”we were like two violent acids bubbling about in a nasty little matrimonial battle”; “certain women should be struck regularly, like gongs”-or constantly screaming and throwing things.  

There is nothing funny or romantic about this.

KL: I try to put Birth of a Nation out of my mind, but S.K. did remind me of it again, and movies featuring extreme racism at their core like that are also dealbreakers; I totally agree with her assessment. I understand the technological achievements, but I think in the long run, especially in how it helped revive the KKK, the social harm that film brought about outdoes its cinematic innovations.

CC: Like S.K., Wonder Bar immediately came to mind. Excessive acts of violence, such as in the film Natural Born Killers (1994). I walked out of the theatre while the film was still playing. I expected violence, but the gratuitousness was just too much for me. I also have an issue with physical abuse, towards women and children. This is not to say I would not feel the same way about a man. However, when males are involved, it tends to be a fight, an exchange of physical energy, generally speaking, when we see physical abuse it is perpetuated towards women and children.

TB: I have a couple of moments that pinch my heart when I watch a movie. It doesn’t mean I won’t watch the movie. It just means I roll my eyes…verrrrry hard.

-Blackface…that’s a little rough; especially when the time period OF the movie is the ‘30s or ‘40s film.

-Not giving the Black actors a real name to be called by in the film (Snowflake…Belvedere…Lightnin’). I mean, can’t they have a regular name like Debbie or Bob?

-When the actor can’t do the simplest of tasks, i.e. Butterfly McQueen answering the phone in Mildred Pierce (1945) and not knowing which end to speak into. What up with that?

Are there elements they got right that we still haven’t caught up to? 

KL: I don't know if the pre-Code era got sex right (and sensationalism was definitely something studios were going for) but in some ways, I feel that subject was treated as somewhat more accepted and natural back then. Of course, what was shown onscreen in the classic era was nowhere near the extent it is today, but the way the Production Code put a lid on sex (in addition to many other factors) once again made it into more of a taboo topic than it is or should be.

One thing I particularly hate in modern movies is gratuitous violence, and it perplexes and angers me how America weighs violence vs. sex in general through the modern ratings system: films are more likely to get a pass with violence, mostly landing in PG-13 territory and thus making them more socially acceptable, while sex, something natural, is shunned with strictly R ratings. Obviously, there are limits for both, but I think the general thinking there is backwards today.

CC: The elegance, the sophistication, the precision, the dialogue, the intelligence, the wit. The fashion! The layering of craftsmanship. We aren't fans of these films for fleeting reasons, we are fans because of their timeless qualities.

I'm going to sound like a sentimental sap here, ladies get ready. I think they got the institution of family right. Yes, I do lean towards MGM films, so I am coloring my opinion from that perspective. Even if a person hasn't experienced what would have been considered a "traditional family" there is something to be said about witnessing that example. Perhaps not so much of a father and a mother, but to witness a balanced, functioning, loving relationship. What it "looks like" when a father/mother/brother/sister etc. genuinely loves another family member.

I was part of the latch-key generation, and although my parents remained together, many of my friends' parents were divorced. Most won't admit it, but by the reaction to the documentary [Won't You Be My Neighbor?, 2018], the bulk of them went home, sat in front of the TV and watched Mr. Rogers tell them how special they were because their parents certainly were not. We don't know what can "be" unless we see it.

[virtuouswhitehatorganization]

Lucky Hand (Villainous Oc)

Name: Felice Chance 

Ethnicity: Caucasian 

DOB: March 17 

Headcannon Voice Actor: Analiz Sánchez (Spanish);  Jules Medcraft (English)

Sexuality: Straight

Occupation: Casino Worker; Supervillain; Henchwoman; Superheroine In Training (formerly)

Residence: Marin City ; Cointowne City (formerly) 

Relatives: Big Win/ Boone Chance (father); Eudora Chance (mother-deceased) 

Abilities: Her right hand can cause good luck while her left hand can cause bad luck 

Love Interest: King Cassino

Age: Same Age As G-Lo And Green Rod

Personality: She is very loyal and in love with King Cassino. She holds contempt towards her father for his abuse and PEACE for keeping his image clean. She wants to prove she has the making to be a villain and tries to show it. She still has a personal code against going against children and is very sensitive to those who went through domestic abuse. She gets mad when people praises her father for being such a great hero while she knows the truth. She is also pretty confident in her skills as a gamer and loves showing them off. She can be very whimsical and friendly towards those even if she has to fight with them. She still has the compassion of a hero, but also has to at times spare it since she's now dealing in the supervillain scene but can reserve for those she feels deserve it. She still is somewhat naive to the villain scene but gradually grows accustomed to it as King Cassino gradually guides her into it. 

Background: She was born in Cointowne City to the daughter of the town hero, Big Luck. Her father was respected and loved in the town, but behind doors he was an abusive asshole to his wife and child. Her father soon pressured her into living up to his expectations which caused her all kinds of stress until she snapped and decided to go to the Black Hat Institute where she enrolled and graduated. She went to Marin City where she met King Cassino and became one of his underlies and gradually becomes one of his favorite squeezes. 

* Her father's image was protected so people do not know he's a domestic abuser and PEACE would cover for him if she spoke up against him. 

* Her father was a cheater and often got away with it because no one could know for sure it was his powers. Also PEACE covered for him. 

* She was once in the PEACE hero academy. 

* Her father has the same powers as herself and she inherited it from him. 

* Her father is still working as a hero. 

* She often calls King Cassino "Daddy Cass". 

* She will later bear a son by King Cassino.

* She sometimes wears the sexy casino outfit. 

* King Cassino calls her the nickname "Baby Luck". 

* Cointowne City is known as a resort city with tons of casinos, hotels, and other resorts. 

* She uses her unlucky powers to sabotage rivals of her boss/lover. 

* She is considered a rookie level villain. 

* She also encountered many other sidekicks like G-Lo and Green Rod through superhero sidekick program but they weren't super close but people knew who her father was. 

* Her mom died as she graduated high school of a drug overdose due to trying to handle the abuse by her husband. 

* Her father often times used his powers to abuse his family. 

* She's left handed. 

* She has a mask she sometimes uses when she's on mission. 

* She learned her gaming skills from her father. 

* She never uses her powers to win games because she wants to win on her own skills. 

* Even before she left her dad, she often took tiny acts of rebellion against him under his nose. 

* Her father actually has been to King Cassino's place before and won big there.