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PaperclipPerfector  5d ago (text post)   18471 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of October 19, 2026

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I'm having a hard time even picturing how to write a story with characters whose goals don't involve other characters. All the classic male characters of literature and pop culture have goals involving other characters. John Rambo, Huck Finn, Frodo, the A Team. In the X-Files, Mulder's motivation involves his sister while Scully is more abstractly motivated.

Yes. I thought through some characters of my own, and while many seemed like their goals weren't pointing at specific other people, there's always the possibility of asking "but is that really what they want?" Sure, it looks like they're devoted to this mission, but maybe they just care about that mission in the first place to make their father-figure proud... You can always dig down to whatever interpretation satisfies your criterion and stop there.

I just feel like most of these tests or rules are disingenuous. One thing that really stuck with me was how it's misogynistic for a woman's death to motivate a man ("Women In Refrigerators") and it's misogynistic for a man's death to motivate a woman (because now her motives revolve around a man.) (Same-sex couples put in the same situation are "Bury Your Gays.")

So what's the takeaway, then? Are slices of the human experience to be put off-limits to art to satisfy vindictive score-keepers? That's a sucker's game: a grievance can always be found.

So what's the takeaway, then? Are slices of the human experience to be put off-limits to art to satisfy vindictive score-keepers? That's a sucker's game: a grievance can always be found.

As has been said before, “If freedom entails responsibility, most people don’t want to have anything to do with it.” They’ll argue for their privileges more than they ever will their rights, but there are no rights without duties and there are no duties without rights.

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