This weekly roundup thread is intended for all culture war posts. 'Culture war' is vaguely defined, but it basically means controversial issues that fall along set tribal lines. Arguments over culture war issues generate a lot of heat and little light, and few deeply entrenched people ever change their minds. This thread is for voicing opinions and analyzing the state of the discussion while trying to optimize for light over heat.
Optimistically, we think that engaging with people you disagree with is worth your time, and so is being nice! Pessimistically, there are many dynamics that can lead discussions on Culture War topics to become unproductive. There's a human tendency to divide along tribal lines, praising your ingroup and vilifying your outgroup - and if you think you find it easy to criticize your ingroup, then it may be that your outgroup is not who you think it is. Extremists with opposing positions can feed off each other, highlighting each other's worst points to justify their own angry rhetoric, which becomes in turn a new example of bad behavior for the other side to highlight.
We would like to avoid these negative dynamics. Accordingly, we ask that you do not use this thread for waging the Culture War. Examples of waging the Culture War:
-
Shaming.
-
Attempting to 'build consensus' or enforce ideological conformity.
-
Making sweeping generalizations to vilify a group you dislike.
-
Recruiting for a cause.
-
Posting links that could be summarized as 'Boo outgroup!' Basically, if your content is 'Can you believe what Those People did this week?' then you should either refrain from posting, or do some very patient work to contextualize and/or steel-man the relevant viewpoint.
In general, you should argue to understand, not to win. This thread is not territory to be claimed by one group or another; indeed, the aim is to have many different viewpoints represented here. Thus, we also ask that you follow some guidelines:
-
Speak plainly. Avoid sarcasm and mockery. When disagreeing with someone, state your objections explicitly.
-
Be as precise and charitable as you can. Don't paraphrase unflatteringly.
-
Don't imply that someone said something they did not say, even if you think it follows from what they said.
-
Write like everyone is reading and you want them to be included in the discussion.
On an ad hoc basis, the mods will try to compile a list of the best posts/comments from the previous week, posted in Quality Contribution threads and archived at /r/TheThread. You may nominate a comment for this list by clicking on 'report' at the bottom of the post and typing 'Actually a quality contribution' as the report reason.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
The racial angle has only started getting weaponized over the last decade or so. IMO, your observations are more so a coincidence than malice.
In old Hollywood, the MC HAD to be white. This meant that any alternate race had to be cast in a supporting role. Now, every artist loves contrast and race is the laziest way to add contrast. So the white man was the hero, and the "sidekick who inherited it all" ended up being of some other race.
If you try to make every important character white, then you get the Hangover or 21 Jumpstreet. Movies where each white person can only be differentiated by making them lean very heavily into a stereotype, to the point of caricature. 21 jumpstreet - The fat ugly guy and the stupid jock. Hangover - The wierdo nerd, the chad and the vanilla. Seems tired in comedy, but practically impossible to pull off in a serious genre.
It certainly became more malicious as time went on. The hero was an LA liberal. So what other types of "white" are there. LA hates republicans, so you couldn't have someone who signaled republican. As republican started meaning rural-blue-collar-christian, there weren't a lot of white stereotypes to play into. So you start getting situations where the other race is the inheritor. Now ofc, the racial dynamics are explicit policy in the woke era. But, that's a more recent phenomenon.
One thing I wondered when writing my post is how much of this emerges organically from growing restrictions on what Hollywood will do. The recent diversity requirements for Oscars, for example, mean visible racial diversity has to be high on your casting list priorities (unless your story focuses on non-straight-white-men, apparently?). But that will influence the ways characters interact, and even the way they're written (Sam Jackson's Nick Fury started out as a badass, but in Secret Invasion he has been reduced to a man obsessed with racism, to the point of complaining about riding on segregated trains that would not have existed within his fictional lifetime, and demanding a black military officer (who may have been replaced by a shapeshifting alien, but--) help him as a show of solidarity against old, white politicians).
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link