Another Comics Beat writer advocates for something already overwhelmingly prevalent in modern showbiz
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power draws on current and past cartoons with similar structures and messaging, including My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Bravest Warriors, and even Steven Universe and Adventure Time. The show features both a diverse cast of characters and a diverse cast of voice actors, as well as canon queer representation and a wide array of body types, shapes and sizes. The series explores the dynamics of friendship, family, rivalry and romance through several lenses and provides a cohesive, compelling storyline that involves all of these elements without tokenizing any of them.All presented, no doubt, in a positive light without even any questions on whether obesity in the form of Spinnerella is healthy. That's what happens when you have all these obesity advocates obsessed with degrading society today, especially degrading women. The problem with allegedly diverse casting is that, from what I know, it may not include white men, if at all. Heck, why wouldn't I be shocked if it doesn't include many alien species, knowing how these PC-plagued sci-fi products today have all but pushed out a lot of alien-style characters for the sake of allegedly "human" ones who represent the leftist social justice agenda?
The propagandist goes on to argue that the cartoon's homosexual/lesbian subtext might be too subtle, advocating for more:
Here’s the thing: in 2018, LGBTQ representation in pop culture should be a given. It should be common to see queer characters in queer romances in comics, books, TV shows, movies and more — but somehow, it’s not. And even when it is common, the representation isn’t always very good. So when LGBTQ creators like Noelle Stevenson — the executive producer and showrunner for DreamWorks/Netflix’s She-Ra and the Princesses of Power — step into positions of power in this medium, we put a lot of pressure on them to deliver the kind of content we want.I'm sure that, despite the dumb act, the writer knows utterly well today's entertainment scene is flooded with crap like that. Just look at the recent Iceman comic that denigrated an established character and whose writers insulted Lee/Kirby after all the hard work they did. The first commenter said:
AHAHAHAHA.Yep, right down to the failure to pan those companies who go miles out of their way to turn established heterosexual characters inside out for the sake of this crap. The post itself gets worse:
What… you’re joking right? Its actually waaaaay over represented right now. Its in almost EVERY show or movie or comic universe. This is just delusional at this point.
But it’s not just subtext — at least, not wholly. She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, much like Adventure Time and Steven Universe before it, doesn’t shy away from introducing romance, however innocent, into the lives of its teenage characters. Glimmer undergoes a crisis when Bow goes to the ball with new friend Perfuma; Mermista has a bizarre love-hate relationship with Captain Seahawk. And then there are Netossa and Spinnarella, whose relationship is defined by constant touching and one carefully placed usage of the pet-name “Darling.” However, as pointed out by Hypable writer Donya Abramo, these two were the butt of the joke in their most involved episode, which not only altered how she viewed the character Bow (who cracks wise about their princess powers), but also how she interacted with the overall queer-positive aspects of the show.What's overlooked in this whole mess is that, for a show supposedly aimed at children, this isn't exactly something suitable, or whether parents will approve if they realize what the clowns who put this together are up to. Also notice how one of the "reviewers" cited uses that apparent insult "cis", implying contempt for heterosexuals, which isn't helpful either. The way the Netossa/Spinnerella part is described makes it sound creepier than it could be, and that's no improvement either.
In an email exchange with Abramo, she expanded on her comments from her review: “While I was watching, I knew that for a general, cishet audience, [Netossa and Spinnarella’s] relationship wouldn’t be explicit enough for everyone to simply get it,” Abramo said. “That’s not a unique phenomenon. We’ve seen it across several animated shows, most recently with Marceline and Princess Bubblegum in Adventure Time [who had years of build-up before they finally kissed in the series finale]…. It took an explicit Bubbleline kiss for everyone to accept it as being more than a close friendship.”
Abramo added that for her, as a queer woman, this kind of queer-coding is “enough for [her] and will be enough — to an extent — for fandom spaces. But outside of that, there’s enough wiggle-room for an audience to assume friendship, above anything else. And that sucks. Changing that default [heteronormative assumption of straightness] is never going to be an easy thing. Not until LGBTQIA+ individuals are represented equally across the entire spectrum.”So now it's clear what this dumb posting was intended for. Not advocacy for entertainment, but rather, political-style propaganda. Even though, again, today's showbiz scene is stuffed with such nonsense, to the point where fewer go to the movies anymore. It gets worse:
Because She-Ra and the Princesses of Power is a children’s show, there are some — like commenters on Franich’s EW review of the show — who think that discussing sexuality in the series at all is harmful. But here’s the thing: it’s only when we’re talking about queer sexuality that these kinds of defenses fall into place. Infant onesies say phrases like “heartbreaker” and little girls are taught that if boys pull their hair or tease them, it’s because they have a crush — which not only reinforces heterosexuality, but normalizes sexual harassment and physical abuse.The lies and exaggerations told by these disgusting victimologists is stupefying. It makes no difference what the age, hair-pulling, which is certainly offensive, is NOT an act of "love". No less offensive is the evident attack on heterosexuality by a segregationist who must think all heterosexuals are evil, and doesn't think women are as capable of pulling acts of reprehensible violence against other women as men are, or even against men themselves.
To normalize queerness across the spectrum, for all ages, it has to be present. It has to be talked about in the same way that heterosexuality is present and talked about. Queer-coding may be enough for Abramo and for some parts of the She-Ra fandom, but frankly, it isn’t enough. Explicit confirmation of queerness is utterly necessary. In She-Ra, queerness is absolutely present, though admittedly Abramo has a point: because the first season of the show relies mostly on subtext and doesn’t, for example, show two princesses kissing, there are plenty of viewers who will assume that queer audiences are making things up or twisting them to fit our own narrative. That includes the relationship between Catra and Adora.Sometimes they do make things up, and sometimes they don't. But for now, what matters is that the writer, tragically, is not only normalizing homosexuality, she's also advocating for indoctrinating young children with the same. And then they wonder why a lot of this stuff doesn't sell well? On which note, if it's really such a big deal, they should make their own damn cartoons for the advocacy and not be so lacking faith in their ability to promote it well.
Now, here's where it gets more hilarious:
Plus, there are hints that Bow may be transgender. I’m a cisgender woman, but when I watched the show (for the second time) with my non-binary partner, who was watching it for the first time, they commented a few times on Bow’s possible transness — especially in the episode “In the Shadows of Mystacor,” when Bow, Glimmer and Adora all go to the hot springs together. Although it would presumably be acceptable for a cisgender teen boy to go shirtless in the springs, Bow wears a top just like Glimmer and Adora. Specifically, the top looks like it could be a binder or something to mask top surgery scars.Wait, what, is she serious?!? I'm sure her partner is a woman too, or wouldn't be surprised if she was somebody who lacked self-respect to the point where she uses that nonsense defying biology and science to become a segregationist.
As the world of Etheria expands, will we meet other transgender and/or queer characters? Will we get to see these teens deal with their hormones? There are so many possibilities at hand; my only wish is to see this series embrace queerness in a way that is ultimately affirming to its audience, especially kids who may feel like they’re broken or weird.Translation: if they're homosexual, they're not weird or mental cases? Got it. Another commentor said:
This whole article is just grasping at straws here. Automatically, I got the “subtle” hint that Netossa & Spinderella were a couple. You didn’t even need to spell it out. Stop creating an issue with a series, when there is none. This is how good series end.And a "good" series this is not. It certainly isn't for children, and the writer should be ashamed of herself for promoting this for children. Besides, it's not like most parents literally want their children influenced even by heterosexual depictions until they're about 13. And another said:
She writes for The Mary Sue, what a shock.Based on Comics Beat's willingness to carry this kind of junk, it's clear they're heading down that path of unbearability. Man, what a gross, loathsome site they've become! Now, here's a really interesting comment:
This show sucks, sorry but its writing is horrid. And more LGBTQ rep on screen? Thats all there is right now. We are only 7 percent of the population. Even Im sick of seeing gays on tv!More like 1 percent, but anyway, this shows even gays and lesbians are getting bored with this idiocy, because try as the propagandists might, it's clear that's all they're produced for, pure agenda-pushing, and nothing meaningful at all. I wouldn't be surprised if nobody in movies and TV even protests drug abuse anymore. Bounding Into Comics said:
...it seems that though Netflix wanted a young target audience, the writing didn’t match those intentions. And we’re left with an SJW incarnation of She-Ra.One whose advocates have absolutely no shame in marketing it to children (albeit possibly mental adolescents) despite the unsuitability of the subject for that young an age, and they even have the gall to belittle parental values. That's practically all they're interested in, and it can only alienate parents in the end.
And if that's what Comics Beat sees as acceptable attitudes, no wonder they're a "news" site better avoided. This is exactly why nothing they say should be taken at face value.
Labels: animation, moonbat artists, moonbat writers, msm propaganda, politics
You honestly expect site like this to stupidly tell the truth at the expense at their fat paychecks?
Posted by Anonymous | 10:07 AM
What fat paychecks? The majority of people visiting the site work in publishing or are activism Those aren't fields that offer a lot of decent paying jobs . Somehow, everyone is able to keep up appearances.
http://www.comicsbeat.com/diversity-comic-con-a-more-focused-comics-experience-that-looks-to-the-future-of-the-industry/
No one dresses like they get their clothes from K-Mart so I'm assuming they are secretly being supported by trust fund money. Heidi 's life story is she was raised in a hippie commune and was somehow able to walk into college and career in publishing back in the 1990s. No one with that back story, even back in the 1990s, could walk into a professional career in media with (she claims her parents were Poor) and no discernible talent. Tellingly, one poster a long time ago claimed that hiring in publishing were snobs who discriminated against people who had grown up poor. Something doesn't add up.
Posted by Saber Tooth Tiger Mike | 9:56 PM
Heidi M got her start the old fashioned way, by writing a lot of unpaid articles for fanzines and barely paid articles for magazines like The Comics Journal. Once she got enough experience, she got slightly better paying work.
How does anyone know what work the people who visit the comics beat site do? I don't think they have hired any market research firms to do scientific surveys of the people who browse the site. If they have, please let us know; it would make interesting reading.
Posted by Anonymous | 7:37 PM
"Heidi M got her start the old fashioned way,"
She knew somebody and was able to work for nothing for a few years while crashing on couches.
She's an awful writer. She still seems to be working for close to nothing with all the other gentry folk during her periodic periods of employment. She has a lot of gaps in her employment industry for someone who has a lot of influence in the comics industry. Based on how she described herself,she is more like the comic industry's Anita Saarkesian than a writer or editor.
"I don't think they have hired any market research firms to do scientific surveys of the people who browse the site. If they have, please let us know; it would make interesting reading."
It's not very hard to figure out who's visiting the site especially since people use their real names in the comments section. She has banned a lot of people whom she doesn't know personally so I assume the people she allows to post in the comments section are collegues. No normal fan of comics would find any value in her site. It's for insiders, particularly those who have ties to academia.
Posted by Saber Tooth Tiger Mike | 3:31 PM
Eh, if you ask me, the major problem facing the new She-Ra cartoon is that the animation looks somewhat stiff to me.
Posted by Anonymous | 7:39 PM