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ZeStriderOfDunedain

Ze Strider

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joined 2022 September 06 04:34:38 UTC

There Is Always Hope


				
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ZeStriderOfDunedain


								
								
									
								
								

								

								
								
								

								
							
					
 
				


				
Ze Strider

				
				
				

				

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					joined 2022 September 06 04:34:38 UTC
				


				
					

					
There Is Always Hope



				

				

				

				

				

					

					

					
					
					

					
User ID: 812


					
					
					
				

			


					

						
					



		

	

 











			
			

			
			

			




	


		

			
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				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 9, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I peeped at the big canadian subs and predictably, any discussion regarding the killer's identity is being actively moderated. And the removed threads did acknowledge the bit of nuance you reference. Of course, now that it's confirmed they belong to an inconvenient demographic, I doubt we'd see much institutional bipartisan appetite for any exhaustive scrutiny. Because now the victims aren't just dead kids, but we gotta protect the kids transitioning. This individual reportedly surpassed Elliot Rodger in terms of casualties, yet it seems unlikely that we will witness a comparable level of sustained analysis of their background, motivations, or formative influences.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 9, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Indeed I'd admit quite shamelessly I don't much care about "ethics in journalism" as much as I do about gatekeeping male hobbies ("core" gaming is still male dominated). There’s a basic principle of cultural reciprocity that seems to go only one way. If it would be unreasonable for me to enter kdrama forums and demand that it pivot toward Bayformers style hyper CGI excess and calibrate to the male gaze, then it’s equally unreasonable to expect male dominated hobby spaces to continually reorient themselves around themes that were never their core appeal.


Different subcultures form around different aesthetic and narrative preferences. Why should I pretend to be fascinated by female empowerment arcs, resistance narratives, or the deconstruction of heteronormativity, as if these tropes haven't been endlessly recycled and widely represented across mainstream media for decades? Personally, the "appeal" around "strong independent women heroes" always felt like artificially imposed social pressure rather than organic interest. Star Wars was also a fundamentally boys' IP, and feminists/woke activists seek to rewrite that. Boys loved Star Wars because it centred on what boys disproportionately enjoy: spacefaring civilisation, starcrafts, galactic battles, trench runs, lightsaber combats, training hierarchies, rivalry, sacrifice, and a classical male hero growing into responsibility and status. The latter part is being treated as a cardinal sin now.


Call it contrarian instinct, but I deliberately steer clear of works that centre on what have become fashionable ideological tropes, regardless of how critically acclaimed or “well executed” they may be. I would rather watch a badly choreographed, mid budget action film unapologetically featuring charismatic leads and glamorous, attractive women for 12 hours than engage with prestige projects framed as culturally virtuous “queer literature”. Like, I do not care how technically refined Brokeback Mountain may be or what stellar performances the leads put on or how many awards it won, it simply does not align with the thematic and narrative sensibilities I personally value.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 9, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Media overage is usually propelled by some combination of proximity, audience relevance, and narrative traction. Geography definitely matters, but also US newsrooms are abuzz right now with domestic political drama and Epstein. They prioritise what their core audience clicks on. If a story is distant, developing, and not generating engagement, it gets less oxygen. There’s also caution around the first 24 hours, especially when details about the shooter's identity or motive are unclear, because misreporting early permanently damages your credibility.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 26, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I checked reddit, and the dominant line is basically "Epstein was an extremely popular socialite, taking photos with him or crossing paths socially doesn’t mean someone fucked underage girls". Certainly. But I can't overlook how carefully that nuance is defended when the figure in question is a progressive. Anti zionists used to flex that no one on "their side" was connected to Epstein. It's the same crowd that insists on interrogating power, thinks they’re anti establishment because they dislike the old elites, whilst being perfectly obedient to the new ones. Skepticism becomes “conspiracy,” inquiry becomes “smearing,” but only when the subject sits on the correct ideological shelf.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Are you making a general observation or are you saying you got that vibe from my post? I agree that Star Wars hype was peak when it used to be "events". But hype can only exist when you're waiting for something, that is why neither Star Wars nor Marvel are as bulletproof anymore.


But also yes, I do draw the line there. Why wouldn't I object to something that I was the target audience for being turned into someone's ideological mouthpiece ragging me about all the things wrong with me, all the reasons why my supposed privileges hurt women and minorities, and that I should step back for my betters?


It's rather ironic catering to the demographic most invested in an IP is treated as a moral failing, while displacing that audience is framed as progress. Male heroism can no longer be celebrated without extensive ideological throat clearing to reassure female empowerment, even as young men continue to shoulder the bulk of society’s dangerous, sacrificial labor in the real world.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
No bulverism, an entire racket of elites being run out of business by the very thing they hope to replace us with is certainly the most poetic revenge ever (and quite cyberpunk IMO). End of Hollywood and celebrity culture, I genuinely think society will be better off for it.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Honestly? I've never really had a soft spot for female action heroes. I say this being a comic book nerd who did actually enjoy Storm, Wanda and Barbara Gordon's arcs in Lifedeath, House of M and Oracle: Year One respectively. But female power was not something I found "fascinating", it certainly hasn't been a novelty for as long as I've lived. It always felt like artificially imposed social pressure rather than organic interest. Also never liked the idea - long before it became an industry mandate - of established male led action franchises handing over the symbolic and narrative center to a female successor either, well before that became an industry mandate. I noped out of TFA once that bait and switch happened, way before TLJ (in)famously dialled it up to 11. Now we can certainly argue which trilogy probably handled narrative execution, pacing, directorial vision, dialogue beats, subplots and cinematography better than the other.


But none of these "safe critiques" address the foundational rewrite at the heart of the Sequels, that Star Wars was a boys' IP. Boys loved it because it centred on what boys disproportionately enjoy: spacefaring civilisation, starcrafts, galactic battles, trench runs, lightsaber combats, training hierarchies, rivalry, sacrifice, and a classical male hero growing into responsibility and status. The Original Trilogy understood what young boys (their prime audience) aspired to be, that is why it is so timeless. Over a decade into the culture shift that's thoroughly penalised every instance of male heroism and ambition as "moral crimes" to be corrected, I think it's totally fair to just sit back, crack a beer and say, "I'm tired, boss".


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Well that is some cope, and I'm guilty of huffing it myself. Yup, that's also the most assured way to get faithful adaptations to your favourite novels! As a bonus, you also get to kneecap a multibillion dollar empire in the process, and AI, the apparent bane of all human workers, will be the sole culprit. A very delicious thought for sure.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
So it is official. After nearly 14 years as President of Lucasfilm, Kathleen Kennedy has stepped down. Nope, not bait this time. Dave Filoni is taking over.


In the Deadline interview, KK reiterates that she wouldn't change anything:




The lows are that you’ve got a very, very small percentage of the fan base that has enormous expectations and basically they want to continue to see pretty much the same thing. And if you’re not going to do that, then you know going in that you’re going to disappoint them. I’m not sure there’s anything you can do about that, because you can’t please everybody. All you can do is try to tell good stories and try to stick to the essence of what George created,” she said. “He embedded incredible values into Star Wars… the whole idea of hope and fun and entertainment."




But does anybody care anymore? This isn't even a twinkle in culture war discourse, KiA's response was total indifference. Despite Iger's comments a few years ago saying that "creators at Disney should entertain first, message second", I haven't seen them walk the walk. Within Star Wars itself, what immediately followed those statements was the wokest Star Wars to date, which got cancelled just one month after the finale aired due to low viewership.


While everyone was memeing about where the bodies were buried, how does anybody even expect to fix the IP at this point? Every year since Rise of Skywalker, they've been dropping a new season of a new live action show like candies. Star Wars ceased to be an "event" anymore. Sequel merchandise don't sell as well as the classics. But does it mean Star Wars is dead in the water? Probably not, Andor season 2 debuted with record viewership numbers. I guess, Star Wars fans are still more forgiving than most people think! Even if the IP may not be as bulletproof as it was during the Clone Wars era. I don't see the "Force is Female" direction being reversed for sure.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 5, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Also, men who do have the most capacity to inflict damaging violence - taller, stronger, richer (easier to get away with it) - are ironically the most desired. "Short king" is still a backhanded "compliment". The evolutionary desire for superior genetics offset the fear of potential violence, I suppose.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 5, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Also the word "woman" comes from the Old English word, wífmon. Literally, "wife man," or transliterated as, "wifely person." The word wíf denoted female, reflecting the female social role.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of December 29, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
One thing I find interesting about these threads is how the speed itself became part of the legitimacy. Whether real or perceived, “matter of hours” is doing a ton of heavy work here. In modern geopolitics, swift action reads as competence, and slow process as decay. A very post-Iraq, post-Afghanistan inversion where success isn’t measured by institutions built, but by how little time the public has to think about such quagmires. By this logic, it's not even about Venezuela itself. You just need to believe that disorder is contagious and that someone finally hit the off switch. Really shows how much the bar for persuasion has shifted from ideals to outcomes, or at least the perception of outcomes.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of December 29, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


I am not sure what a DiCaprio or Clooney would be if they were waiting tables in LA unable to find work.




They'd clean up. Again, the rules that apply to you and me don't really apply to DiCaprio. I know the whole "she's over 25" memes, but remember his character in Titanic was a poor artist. Asian and South Asian men have the least luck in dating, but very successful careers. Their culture rewards grindmaxxing, and neglects social and dating skills. Tylor Chase is a Hollywood tragedy. I don't know what I'd do at that stage. I come from wealth, graduated with zero debt, got enough money in my savings and a steady of stream of rental revenue to retire today and still afford expensive holidays twice a year. I have a great job that'll probably hit 6 figures before I turn 30. My last relationship was during college. Running on 4 years with zero play.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of December 29, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I have this Indian friend, lives in Mumbai. He's been putting himself out there (on and off) for 6 years, and gets ghosted and stood up constantly. Twice he met his dates' friends, passed their vibe check, and got shafted anyway. His last one turned into a  "relationship" with this girl coming out of a bad breakup. So bro was just her unpaid therapist for 8 months, before she flaked and went back to her douchy ex.


Bonus point: the ex is a Tatebro.


Fascinating to see this stuff go global.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of December 29, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I believe the 3rd category would be "omegas", they don't belong anywhere. But good looking chads can be deadbeats and still get laid. Job and money are only offset by good genetics.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of December 22, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
People only start noticing things from around the time they became politically aware. See how many people think America is especially more polarised now that it's gonna have Civil War 2. The gender pay gap myth has also been explained by economists since at least the 80s, the fact that we're still having that conversation is surreal.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of December 22, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Said it before, will say it again. It's not uniquely Western or even Christian. An Indian Army general echoed the same thing nearly verbatim in 1988. Psychology calls it Martyr complex. I don't think wokeness is anything that sophisticated. It only works specifically for the interests of women, blacks, muslims and LGBT over men, straights and whites. The "oppression" bit is just moral cover for that fact. The biggest beneficiaries of DEI are white women, irregardless of income brackets. Western society and IMO human nature tend to be very gynocentric, that is why we care so much about issues that affect women, and causes that they care about generally.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of December 22, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
To add on to @gattsuru's reply, it's much more an issue of networking and reputation than any commitment to wokeness. The Warhorse community mod claimed the MC was straight in KCD1 due to resource constraints. Then Vavra himself admitted they "avoided accusations of sexism" by having the gay scenes, despite posturing as a lifelong chudler himself. But taken into full context, you get a clear picture: not a single creator, even the most accomplished, most influential ones on the planet can escape it anymore. You either pander to the woke, or you don't get to make big budget entertainment. You also get blacklisted from casting agencies, performance capture facilities, award shows, voice acting guilds, and get dropped by your publisher. Not to mention bogus allegations (see Chris Avellone, Alex Afriasiabi, Alec Holowka, Ashraf Ismail, etc etc). All this matters a lot. Above a certain project size, they made sure you can't do woke-free games in the west anymore. Only games developed and/or published by eastern companies can afford it these days. I'm curious to see how the Yakuza 3 Teruyuki Kagawa controversy pans out, the loudest calls for his removal seem to come from the west mostly.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of December 22, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Woke isn't strictly oppression olympics, that would imply they have equitable empathy for all subaltern classes. It's specifically about furthering the interests of women, blacks, muslims and LGBT, at the expense of the male, white, straight, Christian demographics. The "oppression" bit is just a moral cover. Things like sexism and bigotry garner more engagement than the far more impactful class politics. Woke will always favour an upper class black girl over a homeless white man.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of December 22, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Yeah I'd suspect most people who play female characters are straight men as well. The actual "female gamer" demographic is likely much smaller than most would admit.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of December 22, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I've heard that of Expedition 33, but I'm very vary of the sequel syndrome which most "unwoke" western IPs end up becoming. Everyone's excited for Blood of Dawnwalker, which is going to be a saga, and that alone has killed off most of my hope for it.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of December 22, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
IIRC wasn't Cyberpunk the first RPG to do the body type shtick? The Chromebooks do mention that tech is fully capable of swapping out male and female sexual organs, but the intent behind that line was to demonstrate the ascent of body mod technology rather than an LGBT allegory. Sure you could rationalise this as appropriate for the setting, but this still reflects real world 21st century politics which was absent in older cyberpunk literature. Now every RPG has done away with male/female binaries.


Re religion, again I agree but honestly, not surprised. Most modern media have been repeating the same screeds about the "evils of religion" for decades. It's a high schooler's understanding of depth. Deus Ex was much more cerebral IMO.


Going OT I don't know if you've heard of the standalone Forgotten City or the Skyrim mod, but I was similarly asking myself how THIS could've won writer's guild awards? It was literally just Dark City. I suspect the social justice rhetoric crowbarred into the dialogues played no small part in that.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of December 22, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Yeah and when it DOES work, I suspect it's usually more MEN bought the game than usual, rather than increased female gamers. I still stand by my point though. I would suspect corporate push to get young boys to play with dolls has a similar angle. But there probably are heaps of people in marketing who do believe gendered preferences are a matter of "socialising".


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of December 22, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Is wokeness really retreating from nerd culture? The political winds may be shifting in the west, but our cultural institutions are still run by woke activists.


Tomb Raider Catalyst looks "safe horny", the new Star Wars game is apparently another female lead.


Witcher 4 is going all in on feminism vs patriarchy, which was already a central theme in the previous titles and books (conveniently ignored by nostalgic "chuds").


Expedition 33 is touted as an industry rebel and yet, suspiciously, it sold 2 million copies in 2 weeks, was hyped up across games journalism, astroturfed online AND locked in a Hollywood film deal before it even launched.... all the makings of an industry plant, funded by an "indie publisher" with a paltry $120M investment from Netease, by a studio of teams and partners from diverse backgrounds, cultures and perspectives, that "suddenly" went woke with the sequel like the bait and switch Sony catalogues.


Where Winds Meet's character creation gives you "body types" in English, but the Chinese version says male and female.


Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 was going to be the chud GOTY made by a pro-GG studio lead, yet it pinkwashes its two male leads and crowbarred an ahistorical Malian man into the main campaign.


GTA 6 is already putting the female lead front and centre, while the male lead looks like the sub. His writing and appearance is oriented to the female gaze, he looks like a billboard model unlike the "average looking" male leads of previous titles.


There's been a concerted effort to create a female fandom for all the male oriented IPs to expand their TAM, especially in gaming where the average budgets keep ballooning every year. The rationale is that male gamers (existing fandom) will remain loyal to the IP and get incalculated into feminism. But females need to be interested. So do away with the fratboy culture! Let HR screen the environment, kick out the milquetoast Gen X techbros and onboard woke millennial women. Accommodate all of their favourite social justice causes (BLM, LGBTQ). Fight the male gaze!


But men consistently remain gaming's biggest consumers. Despite the marketing push for the female leads in RPGs like AC Odyssey, Mass Effect and Cyberpunk heavily pushing the female leads into the marketing, the actual buyer demographic heavily prefer the male lead in all the games. Yet, people's tolerance levels keep going up as games get increasingly woke. In other words, some "tepidly woke" themes are ok because even "beloved classics" like Cyberpunk featured LGBT themes. Anti woke influencers and "trusted friends" promise up and down that condescending Malian and ahistorical synagogue in 15th century Bohemia was totally a creative decision, not ideological corruption. In 20 years, they'll be telling us that black Samurai lead in Japan is also perfectly acceptable.


The structural nature of the industry and investors expectations necessitates an indefinitely expanding fanbase. And the so called anti-wokes silently gaslight themselves so studios realised they can just make them happy by grifting away like Daniel Vavra.


In fact, I believe wokeness had its antecedents decades ago. I'm watching Star Trek DS9 right now. And when it's good, which is far from always, it's not good because it's racially diverse. If Sisko was white, it would not make the show any worse. In fact it would probably save you from bad preachy episodes like "Far Beyond The Stars". Set aside the nostalgia and compare it to the "woke" standards of the time, the "woke" creators of yesteryear fully back the "woke" creators of today.


We might be at least 40 years too late to expect a return to form (whatever that is). Maybe we'll simply just live with it like an amputated limb, occasionally recalling the good old times.


PS: Apologies if my post reads like a brain dump, I'm returning to TheMotte after a long hiatus.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of December 15, 2025
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
It's true that an income based breakdown of birth rates show a U curve, because middle class families want at least similar levels of economic stability for their kids that they enjoyed when they were kids. But corporate also wants to maximise output per worker despite stagnant salaries.