sorry for the lies and deception. it will happen again
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I do think Blazing Saddles handled its one depiction of native americans very poorly, and the full extent of its representation of chinese workers on the railroad is they were literally just there. not even one single speaking line. unclear if this is worse or better than the redface.
it's fucking phenomenal at lampooning antiblack racism though. extremely blatant, extremely funny satire, which is constantly and loudly saying "racism is the philosophy of the terminally stupid at best and morally depraved at worst, and we should all be pointing and laughing at them 24/7"
plus the main character is a heroic black man who has to navigate a whole lot of bullshit but is constantly smirking at the extraordinarily stupid racists and inviting the audience into the joke. the one heroic white character is a guy who was suicidally depressed until he met the protagonist and they just instantly became buds, and he's firmly in a supporting role the whole time and happy to be there. the protagonist saves the day with the help of his black friends from the railroad, and uses the position of power he was given to uplift not only those friends, but all the railroad workers of other minorities too, in an explicit show of solidarity.
anyone saying "Blazing Saddles is racist" had better be talking about its treatment of non-black minorities. it had better not be such superficial takes as "oh but they say the n-word all the time" or "they have nazis and the kkk in there!" because goddamn if that's the full extent of your critique I very seriously suggest you read up on media analysis. there is too much going over your head, you need to learn to recognize satire.
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purple hawke who, at malcolm's death, lost not only a father, a mentor, the single most stable and safe point in their world up until this moment. but also the only person in their life who would consistently, gleefully 'yes, and — ' them. the loss, in one fell swoop, of both a beloved parent and your sole willing — no, not only willing, enthusiastic — improv partner. truly, the most unkindest cut of all that the maker could have seen fit to deal. (there's always so much less laughter in the house, after malcolm's gone.)
and then after all the horrors of the blight and trying to make a new life in the shithole turned shithome of kirkwall....... they meet varric. and something that's been slumbering deep within their soul dries a tear of relief and joy and whispers 'oh we are so back'. and they are so right
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It's fascinating to me that for our modern (at least on European-influenced societies) thinking, the classical Roman way of life is so familiar. When you read about it, the rethoric of the speeches feels modern, a society based on contracts and laws and litigation, with public works, a state bureucracy and standing army and trade economy and even spectator sports, a concept of philosophy separated from religious dogma and tradition, with even a limited understanding of a government by 'the people' and 'citizenship', even the names all sound familiar even if in completely different contexts, and no wonder since they inspired our current politics.
This all in contrast to medieval feudalism, which is completely alien to me. A society created upon family connections and oaths of fealty and serfdom with no such thing as an overarching state, not even kingdoms were any more real than a title one person holds, and all held together completely, utterly, to an extent I cannot emphasize enough, by the institution of the Church and the Christian faith. In a way we just aren't used today in our secular world. I simply cannot overstate how everything, every single thing, was permeated by faith in the Medieval worldview and the Church which took its power from it, we have an understanding of it but I think people just don't realize it.
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Oda: Here’s my new character! He’s a cyborg (but only on the front) who is fueled by cola that he stores in a fridge in his stomach!
Also Oda: Indiscriminate violence against a population for the actions of a few is not justice, no matter what the actions of the few entail. A ruling government built on colonialism and violence has a vested interest in rewriting the historical narrative and will do anything to protect their own version of events. This includes atrocities against citizens, including their own, if it furthers their narrative. They will demonize the survivors and victims to make them seem like villains and terrorists, and lie to the world at large. It is our job to listen to the survivors, and make sure their stories are not forgotten or distorted.
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The trouble with TOS Spirk is that I know in my heart that Captain Kirk would use 'baby' as an endearment.
But I hate that endearment. So much.
And there aren't a lot of good alternatives, y'know? I do think he might say 'sweetheart', but that's the sort of endearment that's only used on special occasions. Like, if Spock is injured, he may do an "I've got you, sweetheart, it'll be alright,' type thing, but it wouldn't be frequent.
He might, might, use 'love', but even that's a bit of a stretch. I don't think he's really the sort to use 'beloved' or 'darling' or 'dear' (though that isn't to say that I haven't read some fantastic fic where he uses those endearments). AOS Kirk would use 'babe' (which is only very slightly better than 'baby') but TOS Kirk would not.
But Kirk would say 'baby'.
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