#but it causes genuine issues that filmmakers just don't want to look at or really introspect on

[navree]

Lowkey hate race swapping sometimes. Now hear me out!

I don't mind when people race swap chatacters I just hate it when changing their race would totally change the entire story or have a lot of implications to the story.

I don't mind when fictional charcater race are changed but I hate it when they change a characters race who are suppose to be a certain race for a reason. When they chnage those types of characters a lot of time it changes the narrative of the story and their actions.

Same with historical show or documentaries. If this real life figure was another than they were we would have completely different story on our hands. Like please open a history book.

Listen, when it comes to fictional characters "racebending" means nothing to me unless it's whitewashing (Titans casting a white actor to play Dick Grayson and the MCU casting a white actress to play Wanda Maximoff when they are both literally canonically Romani both ethnically and culturally is my villain origin story) because fiction is fiction, and honestly you can tweak a story to make a character's journey adapt to the new inclusion of them being a member of a minority class so long as you're talented enough. Most writers aren't, and that's why a lot of "oh we made X character a POC in this adaptation" moves tend to ring hollow, but it is possible.

But I have a genuine bone to pick when it's about history.

For one, it's just such a lazy move. "Oh we made Bess of Hardwick Chinese!" fantastic but you do know that Chinese people existed in the late 16th century right? Like, China was a country with a lot of people in it and a thriving culture and way of life and plenty of influential people living there. Why aren't we telling stories about a Chinese woman living in that time period, it's not like that period of Chinese history was dull or as if no one ever mattered or nothing ever happened there. Like, for God's sake, it's just a way of showing that you aren't actually interested in learning about other parts of the world, or decentering Western history, specifically European history, as the only history worth learning about, you just want brownie points for being diverse without actually putting in the work to learn about the vibrant world that existed outside of Europe for the vast majority of human history, aka doing anything to actually explore different non-Western narratives and how the world moved outside of the European bubble.

For two, like you said, a lot of the time "racebending" doesn't really include attempts to accommodate how the history would change. Bridgerton is a wish fulfillment fantasy show so I don't often care about how it deals with history (even tho I do think the Charlotte was black theory is complete bunk and I refuse to engage with people who think it's real) but its whole "and now England is desegregated" thing falls very flat when you remember how involved England was in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, how reliant it was on slave labor, how invested it was in capturing and buying and selling slaves, including the royals. It puts a lot of onus on characters that they've made POC without doing any of the work, and oftentimes deals in a lot of harmful stereotypes. This was seen most egregiously in the 2021 Anne Boleyn show that cast Jodie Turner-Smith as Anne. @duchessofferia discussed this much better than I will, but relying on the same old lazy tropes that have defined Anne Boleyn with a black woman playing her turned into genuinely harmful racial representation. Having Anne be sexually aggressive and domineering and harsh in her mannerisms, especially when compared to Jane Seymour, isn't new, but having a black woman be looming over a small white woman and being sexually aggressive with her feeds into harmful stereotypes about black women and their femininity, and by having George Boleyn also be black, painting him as a sexual deviant and adding a plot where he abandons his responsibilities as a father turns him into the "absent black baby daddy" trope that still does a lot of harm to black men today. Not to mention, changing George Boleyn's race but keeping the rumor about Jane Boleyn lying on the stand to incriminate him turns a "wife turns against her husband for unknown reasons" story into a "white woman accuses a black man of sexual inpropriety that his society would frown on for the purpose of getting him executed by the state" story, which has a long and incredibly dark history in the United States (it's basically the Scottsboro Boys but Renaissance now). I mean, it's basically my primary issue with Hamilton, that the show really wants to capitalize on the whole "America then as told by America now" thing without delving into what it means to have literal slaveowners portrayed by black men and to have the character of Thomas fucking Jefferson call Sally Hemmings by a pet name in that show without any introspection into the fact that she wasn't his girlfriend but, you know, a woman he full on owned and repeatedly raped. It's all surface level and generally causes a lot more problems by refusing to alter the history to deal with these new changes, because it's history and you can't really alter it without creating a host of problems.

With Cleopatra specifically, I mentioned it before but the Ptolemies were total fuckups and literal colonizers in and of themselves, and turning them from a Macedonian dynasty into actual people of color for some kind of narrative (like there aren't any other important women of color in history, or even that time period) while not attempting to even examine the history of that dynasty and that queen in particular doesn't sit right. Like, congratulations, you've now created a story where a woman of color's most important contributions in life were her relationships with white men who held significantly more power than her and over her country, and fucked up to such a degree that her country wouldn't even be considered its own country until the 1950s. How absolutely groundbreaking. Next you're gonna tell me it's subversive to paint Livia Drusilla as a scheming, conniving bitch who manipulated everyone around her, instead of a sexist and tired trope that exists only to demonize one of the few women of actual importance in Augustan Rome because she was half a decade older than her husband and was able to keep her own power after he died. It's not just a lack of intellectual curiosity or good storytelling, but a fundamental misunderstanding of why people want to see stories about people of color, and how Hollywood itself thinks so little of their audience that they think we'll be content with a simple coat of "hey this person's a minority now!" paint over a subject without any attempt to really look into things or understand why the world works the way it does or how these people shaped their lives or the lives of those around them, never mind the new messages you're sending now with these changes.

Ultimately, it doesn't really matter. There's a lot that can fuck up with historical representation in media, and representation of people of color in media in general can always be so incredibly fucked that giving people anything is oftentimes a win in and of itself. But I honestly think that focusing on the same Euro-centric stories and just switching around Pantone skin swatches to do the bare minimum is lazy and insulting. You want me to care about historical stories about people of color? Great, give me historical stories about actual people of color. Let me hear more about ethnic Egyptians, about their lives and their culture and how they influenced history, not ahistorical trash that causes more trouble than its worth and certainly isn't doing anything new or interesting with the subject.

[thaleleah]

omg tal i am all ears babe 🩷 rant away! wtf did this pos do to your mom? 😡

the universe be trying to keep your mind at peace 🌎 ✨

what i love about james cameron, is how in avatar 2, he put in titanic references! i loved that! the avatar films do take a long time don't they? 😂 because the first one was in 2009 and the second in 2022 - which is like 13 years - something to do with perfecting the cgi, right? that's so cool tho.

oh shit there's drama? is it like those trolls who cause shit because the fandom ages up characters or something? cause i've seen a lot of those in the peter parker/spider-man fandom. cause if that's the case... they literally need to go outside and touch some grass. i'm so glad you didn't have to deal with that shit too much. that's actually so disappointing tho, because this is a safe place to escape to and get a break from the outside world! like these people need to go focus on actual real world issues that's actually going on and not focus on literal fiction 🤦🏻‍♀️

thankfully i haven't seen any hate or toxic drama going in the tbosbas and billy the kid fandom 🤞🏻 don't let those haters get to you tal, and enjoy doing what you love to do 🩷

Some people write some good Spider fics since you're a Jack Champion fan 👀

you know what? i'm actually interested in seeing what a spider smut would look like 🤭 have you written for him? i would so read it! i was on the ethan landry train in 2023, so it'd be nice to switch up to spider!

i loveee you moreee 🥰 how's writing going?

- 🍯🐝

It really is but I'm still angry about it so I'm gonna tell you anyway lolll (Below the cut at the end)

James Cameron is one of my favorite people!! He's so creative and such an inspiration when it comes creativity and storytelling cause Titanic has always been one of my favorite movies too (and that he was a part of creating Aliens and Alita: Battle Angel). But also how much he's contributed as a whole in terms of newer tech is so crazy. I'm like 99% confident that he helped develop his own submarine that he uses to deep sea dive and he pilots it himself, plus all the underwater filmmaking tech that he created and helped develop to film underwater scenes. He's just a genuinely cool dude.

(Except when he's killing off my favorite character in Avatar 2. That wasn't cool 😭)

Yessssss that's exactly what the drama is! I'm so glad you get it cause I'm so tired about hearing the same argument over and over and over again. Just let people read and write what they want - it's all fiction anyway. It's not real. People are responsible for their own media consumption. Writers can write what they want as long as they have the appropriate tags on it. If someone reads the tags and still reads or interacts anyway, that's on them. Use the block button if you don't like something 🤷🏻‍♀️

Eeeeee I have written for him actually! I think I have 2 fics out for him and I have a few ideas still waiting to be written. My tumblr is @tallulah477. My fics for Avatar are usually shorter than the ones I've been posting here for TBOSAS and BTK tho just so you know. I can also give you other recs/accounts that write for him if you're interested.

Writing is going pretty good! I'm hoping to finish up the Avatar fic I'm working on so that way tomorrow I can focus on Godless Part 2.

How's your day going, babes?

OKAY SO --

CW:// Vent

It was my mom's birthday last weekend and I wasn't able to go visit her. My stepdad's brother and his wife went up there for the long weekend though which is both fine and bad cause my mom adores her sister-in-law but my stepdad's brother is also a POS (everyone in their family is tbh) so having them over always drains her. Plus they always bring their two dogs which I think is very unfair because (1) my mom doesn't really like dogs and these ones are super rowdy and annoying (i like dogs don't, get me wrong, but...yikes), (2) my mom has two cats so they have to stay in her bedroom while the dogs get to run free which I think also isn't very fair, and (3) the dogs always end up using the bathroom inside the house every. single. time. and my mom is the one who ends up having to clean it. So they're there and she has to play "host". The brothers spent the whole weekend making jokes and comments at their wives expenses (you know, like assholes) and they didn't do anything special for her birthday. She had to tend to my stepdad and his family the entire weekend. Naturally, she was exhausted when they left and that same day my stepdad was already on her to clean the house. Like, fuck off.

AND THEN my mom has a special set up in her basement for the cats with tons of toys and shelves and other stuff that she made for them to play with or on. Apparently while my mom and her sister-in-law were out, someone let the dogs down in the basement and they marked their territory all over everything (if you get what I mean). Both methods of "marking their territory" were used and not a single thing down there was left un-destroyed or un-marked. She was furious and when she tried to rant about it to my stepdad, this motherfucker gets angry that she's "shit talking" his family and says "you better shut your mouth unless you want to start a fight". So she couldn't even be upset about it. And no, he didn't help clean it up.

This man has a death wish, I swear.

//End Vent

[hamliet]

(SPOILER THE LAST JEDI) I don't know if you're going to answer something about the movie, but I'll send it anyway. I read the post about your opinion and respect it, but it does not bother you when Kylo say to Rey "You came from nothing, you're nothing". I mean, this don't sound abusive to you? He's trying to manipulate her here, don't seem that he really cares about her. Besides that in the end he was literally trying to kill her. There's no way they can get together at the end after this.

I do answer asks about the film!

I mean, idk. Does what Mr. Darcy says to Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice sound abusive to you?

Mr. Darcy: Miss Elizabeth. I have struggled in vain and can bear it no longer. These past months have been a torment. I came to Rosings only to see you. I have fought against judgement, my family’s expectation, inferiority of your birth, my rank. I will put them aside and ask you to end my agony.

Elizabeth Bennet: I don’t understand.

Mr. Darcy: I love you. Most ardently. Please do me the honor of accepting my hand.

Elizabeth Bennet: Sir, I appreciate the struggle you have been through, and I am very sorry to have caused you pain. It was unconsciously done.

Mr. Darcy: Is this your reply?

Elizabeth Bennet: Yes, sir.

Mr. Darcy: Are you… Are you laughing at me?

Elizabeth Bennet: No.

Mr. Darcy: Are you rejecting me?

Elizabeth Bennet: I’m sure that the feelings which, as you’ve told me have hindered your regard, will help you in overcoming it.

Mr. Darcy: Might I ask why, with so little endeavor at civility, I am thus repulsed?

Elizabeth Bennet: And I might as well inquire why, with so evident a design of insulting me, you chose to tell me that you liked me against your better judgment. If I was uncivil, then that is some excuse. But I have other reasons, you know I have.

Kylo Ren is not so subtly coded as a Byronic hero, and in true Byronic romance novel fashion, he makes a proposal (which yes was a marriage proposal) that Rey (rightfully!) rejects. Go Rey. But what he says to Rey is exactly what Darcy says to Elizabeth. Exactly. You’re nobody, I’m somebody, but I love you so let’s get married. And Rey, just like Lizzy, says hell no you bastard. But Byronic romances don’t tend to continue to stay that way. 

One of my pet peeves about tumblr is that people on it misuse the word abuse. And if you’re going to use that word you better be damn sure it actually applies, and I’m saying this as an abuse survivor, and that is something I would rather not discuss further or frankly have disclosed at all. Look, I get that that can trigger some people, and I cannot fault them for that. If this line reminds you of something an abuser said, I’m genuinely sorry someone said that to you and that was so wrong of them. You don’t have to like Kylo Ren or Reylo and there is nothing wrong with not liking either of them. But just because something triggers you does not mean that it was the filmmakers’ intent. The context is not the same, unless you too were a person with a Force Bond who just fought for your lives together but have also hurt each other in the past . Rey does not stay with him, being like well, I guess I am nobody, let’s stay. She very clearly tells him what he said is unacceptable. Which, to be clear: it absolutely was.

Also, at the end of the film? Kylo is engaged in a frankly embarrassing temper tantrum. I don’t believe he meant much of what he said and Luke even calls him on that, telling him Luke was not the last Jedi and he’d see him around. Context. Matters. 

Look, I said in my review that I am not sure the odds of Kylo surviving the trilogy look great. But yes, I do expect them to “get together” in some fashion even if it’s not, like, riding happily into the sunset. Their characters are inextricably intertwined. But even if they don’t? That doesn’t make this abusive. Being wrong and mean is not necessarily equivalent to domestic abuse.

(Anon, I’m sorry if I sound really harsh. But misusing the term ‘abuse’ is one of my pet peeves because it is a personal issue for me, and it isn’t one I want to discuss further.)