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smartzelda · 5 months ago

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Sorry guys I gotta speak my truth on this one

I'm not kidding when I say that I think that blaming shit media literacy from fans on shipping/shippers avoids the actual root of the problem to throw people you can easily throw under the bus (simply because it's not unpopular to consider people who post about ships or ship characters in media as having lesser or derivative tastes by default)

And here's why.

I think when you blame people who are "shippers" or "consume media through shipping lenses", the true root of it all is a mindset problem.

In actually, putting on shipping lenses can be helpful when trying to analyze a piece of media. When analyzing media you're supposed to approach it through a number of mindsets and put on different lenses (both to deepen your personal understanding of the media, and to pick it apart and see what you can find there (whether intentional or not on the author's part)), and different ships can be some of those lenses

When it comes to ships between main characters (for those who are genuinely willing to see what the narrative is showing with their relationship and what it's doing), there are times when analyzing it from a shipping lens may be helpful. As someone from KH fandom, I have seen people come to deeper understandings and pick canon apart in the process of analyzing a relationship that is genuinely integral to the story (platonic or not). I've also seen people get into rarepairs of characters who barely interact or who just suffer little screen time, and I've seen them come to better understandings of those side characters and how they potentially fit into the world of the media simply because people are now focusing on these characters and how they fit into the narrative.

Frankly, I resent the idea that the only way to truly objectively analyze a piece of media is by turning off the part of your brain that gets excited over relationships and individual characters. Don't get me wrong, that is a way to approach a piece of media and a valid one at that, but the truth is that we cannot be free of bias.

For instance, I was watching House MD with my parents circa last year. At some point I started heavily tuning into what was going on with House and Wilson's relationship. My parents, on the other hand, were largely watching casually. They're not thinking of character relationships or getting heavily invested in most characters, they're watching because they like watching. One of them in particular did try to analyze things that were happening in the show as they happened. However, when it came to the scene late in the series where House threw out Dominika's letter approving her American citizenship, my parents could understand that he was doing that because he didn't want her to leave, but not much beyond that. I ended up explaining to them that House's fake marriage for Dominika was an explicit parallel to when Wilson was living with House in the early seasons. Both situations started with House being none too happy about it but ultimately letting them stay, spending a considerable amount of effort getting them to leave/getting this situation to be finally over so he didn't have to deal with it anymore, and then by the time a piece of news comes through that would mean the person in question actually leaves, House hides this news as long as he can. Because he doesn't actually want them to leave and has grown attached. And by doing this he became a self fulfilling prophecy. By reacting to the truth of Wilson and Dominika leaving him the way he does, he seals his fate and they ultimately leave anyways. Maybe I ship Hilson, but becoming open to how their relationship was handled allowed me to transition to doing character studies and recognizing patterns/parallels that I wouldn't have noticed if I didn't particularly care about the characters or their relationship.

Likewise, I've seen mutuals complain about how people who don't like or don't care about certain characters often overlook these characters (what they're actually like and their place in the narrative), while the mutuals in question (by default) are able to come to deeper understanding of what the writers/story is trying to do because they care about this funky guy

You can't eradicate bias when you're engaging in media analysis, but you can consciously put on a range of lenses and observe the media through different povs with the goal of understanding the media better or bolstering your reading of it. And those lenses/povs can include focusing on specific relationships or the perpective of certain characters

And this is why I say it's actually a mindset problem. Shippers and people who have this one blorbo they like a lot aren't inherently terrible "fandom brained individuals" who are the root of media analysis problems. The problem only arises when people's readings/analysis of a piece of media are inherently restrictive/narrow and self centered. Your problem is with people who view a piece of media through a ship they like but don't keep an open mind about it, and whose "media analysis"/views on canon cannot be split from fanon and their comfortability levels. These are the people whose "media analysis" starts and ends with justifying their fanon as canon, whose views on media revolve around sorting characters and relationships into categories they personally enjoy rather than trying to understand what's going on.

Here's another example.

Here we have a fictional ship we'll call uhhhh...Blanebin. this fictional ship I made up on the spot for characters that don't exist named Blane and Corbin

Person A is super into Blanebin. They're part of the main cast of characters and canonically childhood best friends, so person A (as much as they enjoy fanart and fic) is also enjoying analyzing how narratively important to each other they are. Recently, Corbin started dating another character in canon, but Person A is enjoying watching how Blane is reacting to this. "Is this potentially a tell that Blane is jealous or is having complicated feelings about this? What if he was, how would that contextualize his behavior this season? Here's what I think based on how Blane dealt with explicit jealousy last season in a different situation". It's not impossible that person A is still missing further understanding due to their obsession with Blanebin, but at the end of the day this obsession has allowed them to start picking through the characters both in and outside this relationship. It has allowed them to see potential subtext and theorize on what might happen next with these characters' relationship. Not to mention that with addition of Corbin dating someone else, instead of trying to erase this fact or state that Corbin canonically isn't into that person, Person A is trying to factor in how Corbin's current dating life affects his relationship with Blane (irregardless on personal views on the nature of Corbin's relationship with the person he's dating).

Person B is also super into Blanebin. They really enjoy fanart and fic of the characters, love obsessing over their moments together, and just feel like there's really something between the characters. To person B, every moment between them is just further proof that the writers are ship teasing them. But Corbin getting together with someone else this season? Oh that pissed person B off. They cannot believe that even though Corbin and Blane are CLEARLY gay for each other the writers had Corbin get with someone else this season. Perhaps, they think, it was even a decision specifically made to spite fans. How evil of the writers to tease a perfectly good ship and then have them not get together first? They must have been just doing those teases to get views from Blanebin shippers those scoundrels. To Person B, since Corbin started dating someone when he obviously has some chemistry with Blane (even though the series is far from over) means that Blanebin can never get together now and Corbin x person he's dating is ruining Blanebin by existing. In fact, they think, this is terrible writing for Corbin to be dating someone else because they don't like that relationship and don't see the point. Obviously if the writers were good then Corbin would have started dating Blane instead because this was supposed to be the Blanebin show.

Person C despises Blanebin. Don't get them wrong, they've always enjoyed the character's childhood friendship, but they actually have always thought Blane would have been better off with Victoria. They have a lot of moments too! But they're tired of seeing people ship Blanebin. Corbin just got together with someone else, so obviously that's not gonna work out. Plus Corbin and Blane totally has always given person C bro vibes. In fact, person C thinks, sure Corbin and Blane have a close friendship, but people shouldn't be shipping them. Person C likes Blanetoria and Blanetoria can't be canon if Corbin is in the way of it. So Person C likes to read Blanebin as siblings anyways. Sure they're canonically friends, but obviously their friendship turned into brotherhood. This means that nothing can be in the way of Blanetoria and Corbin can keep dating the person he's already canonically dating. Actually, now Blanebin just straight up makes Person C uncomfortable. Don't the pesky shippers understand that Blanebin are sibling coded because they're childhood best friends and that they're important to each other because they're brothers? It's obvious to anyone with eyes.

Sure, ships are involved here, but is the root of this problem shipping? Character A isn't as knowledgeable of other characters in the plot due to this lens they're using, but at the end of the day they're dedicated to analysis. Their love of the characters is pushing them beyond what they like or dislike to try to understand what might be happening through their lens. Not perfect, but they are slowly broadening their horizons. But Person B and C's problems here are their restrictiveness. What is or should be canon to them is tantamount to what they personally like or find comfortable. Is person C actually analyzing the this fake show when they decide to "read" Blanebin as basically canonically siblings (and this all of their moments are totally a bro thing) just because they don't like Blanebin and the idea of them getting together over Blanetoria makes them uncomfortable? Is person B actually analyzing this fake show when their "analysis" of Blanebin goes only as far as asserting it's being ship teased and deciding anything short of canonizing Blanebin is a targeted attack or "bad writing" because it's not what they wanted personally to happen?

This is what I'm talking about. This is the mindset. Shipping isn't the problem. The problem is when people marry fanon and canon to the point where they have a vested interest in superimposing their fanon over canon as "a reading" and trying to make "collective decisions" on what is canon (or what canon is trying to say) based on what does or doesn't make them uncomfortable. The problem is people being restrictive and centering their own likes and dislikes in the conversation, so they can only interact with canon "analysis" wise by deciding what is canon or should be canon "as obviously agreed on by everyone". You can't simply claim you like media analysis. To be able to analyze media and bolster your views on any given canon, you must be open to looking at it through multiple povs, to studying characters without trying to pretend things you don't like don't exist or do like do exist. There is a balance that must be kept between trying to keep objectivity and putting on specific focus/bias based upon the lenses you're putting on. You have to be willing to try to figure out what a media is doing or saying, not saying you're trying to figure out what it's saying while in actuality trying to define the narrative around what people believe it's saying in ways that suit you.

Thank you for coming to my ted talk.

#fandom wank #on the flip side it really just doesn't all happen with shipping #doesn't this go the same way when someone hates a character so they brand them with terrible terms and act like they're terrible without #actually taking a second to analyze them simply because they dislike that character?#Hell I've seen people get really invested in platonic relationships on the fanon side‚ start labeling them as siblings because the idea of #people shipping them makes them uncomfortable‚ and then when new canon doesn't fulfill their hopes they still act like those characters #being siblings to each other is canon because it makes them uncomfortable if that's not true #I've seen people watch a trailer for a piece of media before it comes out‚ build up an entire story in their head based on that trailer #that they've designated as their perfect idea of how to handle concepts presented in the trailer‚ and then when canon doesn't end up going #that way they decide that it's bad writing simply on the grounds that this wasn't the story they wanted. so they unironically act like #writers can only be good writers if the writers play into their specific wants as the audience or things they as an audience member thinks #would be great #genuinely even if people turn off the ship side of their brain or the side that gets obsessed with characters they can still be one of those #people who acts like they love media analysis but ultimately are shit at it #I didn't put this in the body of the post cause it didn't really fit but I have to say this too #I think that 'There are multiple readings one can glean from a text and no reading is the 'true' one‚ and this is okay' and 'not every #reading is a valid one or a good one' are statements that can and should coexist #There is a difference between genuinely reading into a piece of media based on what is happening in it and purposely miscontruing and #twisting canon in a direction that contradicts text so you can then quell all criticism by saying that it's just 'a reading' and #'all readings are valid'#What I'm saying is that if you see a blue car‚ the way you get 'valid readings is people who are determining what shade of blue it is or #what it being a blue car means or the author's intent making the car blue or even speculation as to why it's blue and not potentially other #color. A case of an 'invalid reading' in this case is if someone pointed at the blue car‚ said it's canonically red and the author obviously #intended it to be red and it's canonically red‚ and then when people point out that the car is very much not canonically red (that you #can see it is a very clear shade of blue) this person doubled down and started saying that the 'haters' are being rude by implying that #their personal reading of the text is invalid (in other words 'no you can't get mad at me for saying the blue car is red because it's my #reading of the text and all readings are valid no matter what!')#anyways sorry for going off there #it just pisses me off when people repeat the argument that people who like certain things as fans are inherently unable to perform good #media analysis and are the root of fandom media illiteracy.

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leon-stupid-kennedy · 9 days ago

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why do you hate krauser? :/

I hate him for the reasons the audience is supposed to hate him. He's an evil person. He's a villain. He's unkind to Leon. If we get any kind of Operation Javier remake, I may see him in a different light –obviously Krauser's backstory and almost everything about Operation Javier is very, very different in the remake timeline and he very well could have a more sympathetic story– but from DSC, the picture painted is that Krauser is a deeply messed up person and always has been. He's hostile and talks down to Leon, who is actually his superior in that version of events, from the very start while Leon is nothing but kind to him and treats him as an equal even though he has no obligation to. Krauser starts understanding Javier's motivations and admiration for viruses before his arm is injured. The injury is part of why he seeks out Wesker wanting to be infected, but it's clear he was pretty nuts and disturbed even before the only traumatic part of Operation Javier happened to him and trauma isn't the sole reason he became a villain. His whole motivation before even meeting Leon is that he's a mercenary because he hates society and being normal and wants to spend every day of his life in battle just for the sake of battle, not caring about the who or why. There's a pretty good chance that Krauser would have ended up working for Wesker and/or Saddler eventually even if Operation Javier never happened, he never met Leon who told him about Wesker, he never got permanently injured, etc. simply because he was a gun for hire with no morals and he didn't care who was paying him or the motivations behind hiring him. He just wanted to fight.

So I would say that I both hate and love Krauser as a character. I think he's quite interesting and I'm glad that he exists. He's a very good counterpart to Leon, they're great foils for each other. But it's because he is the opposite of Leon. He's not at all kindhearted or selfless. He's not a good person and I can't even imagine the original version of Krauser having a redemption arc. I think that an Operation Javier remake could soften my opinion on him if it shows more backstory and motivations, if we can see that his villain arc was actually the result of tragedy and trauma. (Since, as I said, he appeared to be heading down the villain path even before Operation Javier in DSC, and the DSC version of Operation Javier is also extremely different from what's implied in RE4R, Krauser got his arm hurt but overall the mission was a success and no one died, it definitely wasn't a makes thinking "go find a fucked up guy to shoot you up with a virus so you can turn into a monster to get revenge" seem like a reasonable course of action level of traumatic.)

But ultimately we don't know how good or evil he was on the inside prior to Operation Javier in the remake. Maybe it truly was Operation Javier that sent him down the villain path, but maybe it's similar to the original DSC canon where he was already a little villainous and Operation Javier was just the final straw that tipped him over the edge into full blown working for an evil cult. We just don't know. So currently I see his character as an interesting but not all that sympathetic (or tragic) villain.

All this said I mean absolutely no hate towards people that are huge fans of him and see him in a different light. I personally find him very compelling and write about him a lot (if I truly hated-hated him, I wouldn't make so many gifs of him and write about him as much as I do), but ultimately I do just see him as a villain primarily and will occasionally make hyperbolic statements about hating him, like the tag that I know inspired this ask. I post a lot of Krauser content so I'm of course aware that I have followers who like him and genuinely didn't intend it as anything particularly inflammatory, I figured with the meme phrasing it wouldn't be taken too seriously and as just a general acknowledgement that Krauser is a villain who killed a character I love but is still fun to make content for, not an aggressive indictment of him. I use the phrasing all the time in non-serious contexts, if I wanted to seriously hate on Krauser I promise I would have used stronger words and a full rant instead of an offhand phrase in a single tag :)

And because I've already been falsely accused of hating 𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚘 on this blog once, I'll also tack on that I've literally written plenty of 𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚘 fanfiction myself. I have nothing against the ship or people who ship it. It's an interesting dynamic, (or rather dynamics, since DSC and RE4R 𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚘 have very different dynamics) just not a healthy dynamic imo. If you feel differently, that's totally fine, agree to disagree! I have no interest in fighting over anything like this or trying to sway people into agreeing with me. I just want to explain my own opinions, not declare that I'm correct and everyone else is wrong :) It's all subjective. I myself have a soft spot for a different villain who is also objectively awful, debatably worse than Krauser is, but I'm not going to try to force anyone to like him and think he deserves redemption, I'm not going to try to force anyone to think Krauser is a villain beyond redemption, we can all have different opinions and still be cool with each other I promise 👍

#i used a special font for 𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚘 so this post won't show up if you search for the name bc i truly don't want this blowing up #into any kind of argument or drama and this ship has already caused someone to try to pick a fight with me once #if you're genuinely interested in my opinions and thought process and want to ask questions in good faith while being civil im more than #happy to discuss things even if it ends in agreeing to disagree. but if you're going to be hostile and put words i didn't say in my mouth #then you will end up ignored/block bc i don't want to fight over shit. i like hearing other perspectives i like debate/discussions #i just don't like *fights*#also sigh i know this will still show up if ppl search krauser and could still invite some drama #but generally ship tags are going to be the riskiest as far as drama goes so censoring them does minimize the risk i think #and like im not blind to other characters faults and unfairly singling krauser out. it's just that if im talking abt krauser it makes no #sense to drag other characters into the discussion. like im not going to just randomly throw in oh yeah ada is also a mercenary who does #shitty things and leon probably does a lot of shitty things that the government orders him to bc it's off topic

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