I would caution you against jumping into the mud with the pigs, but I'd have to give myself that advice too :D
As usual I think you thread the needle deftly here. I think fandoms and the corporations making art have a really weird relationship these days. It's starting to look ritualistic and performative in a lot of ways and I'm feeling more cynical and dumbfounded by the absurdity of it.
I don't know that you'd go that far with your view on it, but I think your instinct to pause and really think through exactly what you're objecting to is a good challenge. I would suspect that most people are caught up in some performative thing and the paper-thinness of their criticisms would dissolve under that kind of self-inspection (don't call me naive, call me an optimist!).
As ever, I appreciate your voice on this stuff. I think we need more creators picking through this stuff thoughtfully, so if you're ever wondering whether to write that post or make that video, my vote is "yes."
To start where you finished: I’ll keep that in mind next time because I do hesitate to “jump into the mud” for my own sanity.
That said, you’re right when you say that most of these arguments are so thin that if they are actually met with a thoughtful pause or skillful rebuttal they fall apart. The person making it will typically either reveal their true, and in this case ugly, feelings or they will simply disengage and try to find someone who’s more quick to anger.
While I won’t try to think for mega corporations I will say this: I’m not sure that these moves to be more inclusive are disingenuous, I just think they are late. And because they are late, and largely successful, it “feels” like a money grab.
To your point about corporations making art, they aren’t. Artists who have to answer to corporate power structures are making art in very constrained ways. Sometimes as a result it misses the mark. As for the shows I mentioned, HoTD and RoP, I don’t think they are missing the mark at all. Which is ultimately why I chimed in. As a fan of both IPs I feel like these two shows have been tremendously faithful to the source material in the ways that count.
Man, I wrote a beautiful treatise to clarify my thoughts here, clicked something else by mistake, and now it's gone! Haha.
TL;DR was yeah, I think my point on "corporations" sounded more blunt and cynical than I intended. I have fairly old-fashioned suspicions about corporations and incentives and art all mixing together, but there's nothing new there in my perspective that hasn't been said before.
You can welcome the outcome of diverse casting choices as a net positive regardless of your hang-ups with corporate motives, was more or less my main point.
I also agree that if you're running to your nearest review site to bomb a show that hasn't even come out yet, or to harangue an actor like Moses Ingram off Instagram, you're a deeply unhealthy person and need to take a pause. Racism certainly plays a factor for some number of them (but I hope most of them are just losers and there are not as many racists as some fear).
As far as the performative relationship thing, I just wish it felt like there was more going in our discourse than, "we have to all defend this show or movie now whether or not we even like it because it's under seige by assholes online."
I blame the assholes for dragging us down there, but I also think the adults play into the cycle in unwitting and unhelpful ways. This is such cool technology to engage with creators and other fans, and I wish it rewarded higher-quality dialogue.
Hopefully that made some more sense of my initial comment :)
I would caution you against jumping into the mud with the pigs, but I'd have to give myself that advice too :D
As usual I think you thread the needle deftly here. I think fandoms and the corporations making art have a really weird relationship these days. It's starting to look ritualistic and performative in a lot of ways and I'm feeling more cynical and dumbfounded by the absurdity of it.
I don't know that you'd go that far with your view on it, but I think your instinct to pause and really think through exactly what you're objecting to is a good challenge. I would suspect that most people are caught up in some performative thing and the paper-thinness of their criticisms would dissolve under that kind of self-inspection (don't call me naive, call me an optimist!).
As ever, I appreciate your voice on this stuff. I think we need more creators picking through this stuff thoughtfully, so if you're ever wondering whether to write that post or make that video, my vote is "yes."
To start where you finished: I’ll keep that in mind next time because I do hesitate to “jump into the mud” for my own sanity.
That said, you’re right when you say that most of these arguments are so thin that if they are actually met with a thoughtful pause or skillful rebuttal they fall apart. The person making it will typically either reveal their true, and in this case ugly, feelings or they will simply disengage and try to find someone who’s more quick to anger.
While I won’t try to think for mega corporations I will say this: I’m not sure that these moves to be more inclusive are disingenuous, I just think they are late. And because they are late, and largely successful, it “feels” like a money grab.
To your point about corporations making art, they aren’t. Artists who have to answer to corporate power structures are making art in very constrained ways. Sometimes as a result it misses the mark. As for the shows I mentioned, HoTD and RoP, I don’t think they are missing the mark at all. Which is ultimately why I chimed in. As a fan of both IPs I feel like these two shows have been tremendously faithful to the source material in the ways that count.
As always, I appreciate you!
JL
Man, I wrote a beautiful treatise to clarify my thoughts here, clicked something else by mistake, and now it's gone! Haha.
TL;DR was yeah, I think my point on "corporations" sounded more blunt and cynical than I intended. I have fairly old-fashioned suspicions about corporations and incentives and art all mixing together, but there's nothing new there in my perspective that hasn't been said before.
You can welcome the outcome of diverse casting choices as a net positive regardless of your hang-ups with corporate motives, was more or less my main point.
I also agree that if you're running to your nearest review site to bomb a show that hasn't even come out yet, or to harangue an actor like Moses Ingram off Instagram, you're a deeply unhealthy person and need to take a pause. Racism certainly plays a factor for some number of them (but I hope most of them are just losers and there are not as many racists as some fear).
As far as the performative relationship thing, I just wish it felt like there was more going in our discourse than, "we have to all defend this show or movie now whether or not we even like it because it's under seige by assholes online."
I blame the assholes for dragging us down there, but I also think the adults play into the cycle in unwitting and unhelpful ways. This is such cool technology to engage with creators and other fans, and I wish it rewarded higher-quality dialogue.
Hopefully that made some more sense of my initial comment :)