I treasure a memory of explaining herd immunity to an anti-vaxxer (this was long before the current pandemic) who was making some outrageous claims and getting thanked by a by-reader who said they had finally understood and see now why vaccines are important. Usually you don’t get the feedback, but in al, things (public) internet there are more readers than actively engage.
This is somewhat encouraging to hear, especially in this late phase of the pandemic. A lot of videos out there explain the concept really well, but it is very unlikely that an anti-vaxxer will go out of their way to click on a video titled "HERD IMMUNITY AND VACCINES" or some such.
And on that same topic, perhaps there's a much larger portion of people who simply decided to put down their tablets/turn off their computers after they read the bunny comic because it took a LOT of energy for me to unpack all this when I first read it. At least, I saw firsthand what went down in the instagram comment section when it was first released and most of it was praise. And even I had to sit down and think about it for six hours before I could make like three incoherent tweets about it. It's weird thinking how far we've gotten in this discussion since then.
I think that reaction you mention derives from the fact that you –sadly– live what they are criticising. I've found myself reacting the same way when somebody wanted to explain to me why 'I don't care that you love another man as long as whatever you do you do it in private' is homophobic to the core. But, in order for them to win other people over, people that are oblivious, they have to start at the basics. The most basic of basics. They have to educate people, so they cannot asume for their audience to have any literacy in the matters they talk about.
Yeah, you got it down pretty much. Sometimes, like now, people who watch those videos end up with pretty meaningful understandings of the topics, too! Not flawless, perhaps, but a more sympathetic one coming from a video that was very well researched. I believe they even cite their sources for further reading, so while it shouldn't be your only source on these issues, it's a good place to start?
And I do think heteronormativity/outright homophobia is a half-decent analogue in discussions in internet communities where gender/sexuality is frequently discussed. It's still not perfect, but at least you've gotten somewhere from there.
Re: your small gush over SU, I'm very happy for the way they're portrayed in the cartoon. Far too many shows do the exact thing you've talked about, made out LGBTQ+ people to be the "weird" ones. Even ones for kids. I don't think I have a way to watch it at the moment, but I'll try to find one!
I don't have many things to add to this today, though! Words have flown from my brain, but thank you for understanding.
yes, Klaus is one of the very few medias outside of scandinavia that depicts saami people!! they got a young saami girl from tromsø who does not at all speak english to play márgu, which is honestly adorable and fantastic.
...
and yep, hannu does indeed say the R-slur. i reread the comic sometime last year, partially through the physical copy and partially through the online version, as was honestly shocked to not only see it on print, but that nobody had pointed it out in the comment section. WELP!
Yes!! I loved Márgu in the movie and the way they included the language barrier was great in my opinion. The fact that they had a saami person voice it is also very good, since animated films as a medium don't even require it.
As for the R slur business, and all the other potentially offensive jokes in aRTD, I don't think we have any ability to go back and change it now (and Minna isn't quite in the business of doing that kind of thing on her own, as we know), but it's good to go back and be able to see that it's not helpful to make such jokes. I read through the first few pages just now, and a fat joke is literally just there Immediately
i really relate to having a difficult relationship with SSSS - it feels like for years, my relationship with it has been facebook status 'it's complicated' as i've tried to reconnect to it, find the parts within it that were and still are important to me, parts that have brought me joy, only to get dissappointed by something in it or its creator afterwards. i think the thing that made it most difficult to enjoy SSSS fully, however, was how HARD it was to bring up these topics before.
Absolutely, I think most SSSS fans who've had conflicting or downright negative feelings about the bunny comic have gotten on board with this feeling now, even if they were pretty alright with SSSS prior to it. And missed the offensive things Minna has said. I wasn't there for incidents you mentioned (which is probably why I'm able to be here without much discomfort today), but this place feels like it's gotten significantly better. No, the comic itself is not going to suddenly become Diverse and Inclusive. In fact, we know now that it's about to reach its end because the creator has taken a sharp turn in the opposite direction. And yes, talking about this kind of thing is incredibly exhausting and it's unfortunate that a lot of people like you have become distant from the fandom because of how hard it is to bring up. A lot of people right now might also be feeling a similar kind of guilt, too. But like the example that
Jitter brought up, these conversations might have a greater impact than you can see!
Urgh, I really don't have much to add, I just think it's good that there are people like you who've made active efforts to be empathetic, and if what drives others to do that is guilt for their past actions, then so be it. And I hope people like you do stay, somewhat, even if it is just for discussions about Hard Topics.
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In response to the comment by the
father of Minna:
1. Yes, Windy and Pyro are right, it misses the point.
2. The proof for this is that Minna's author's notes basically explained her entire reason/motive/reasoning behind the comic, and none of it mentions Uyghurs. The alternative explanation to this is that Minna is simply a bad writer who does not know how to write about social issues and, uh, human rights violations, but requiring Translators' Notes from her own father is another level of egregious.
3. Some Christians changing the bible to be slightly more inclusive is absolutely NOT acceptable as an analogy to this.
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There are various ways to discuss whether the author's intent should be taken into account when analyzing a story, but in this case we got an entire essay discussing the author's intent, and it was Not to help the Uyghurs. To me, it would make more sense if an author, especially a white author in one of the places with the highest standard of living, who cared about this issue used their platform to fundraise or spread information about it. Think about how many people would have become aware of it if Minna's thousands of twitter followers were linked to an article about it! Also, she has a gigantic Instagram following that could learn a lot, too! But if the bunny comic were actually about the Uyghurs, then I think my glasses prescription must be pretty severely out of date.
