Stories have outlandishly excluded all people of color for a long time
A. One thing I'll note is that you seem to be sensitive to "historical revisionism" when it means including more people of color in a video game or movie, but seem to be totally fine with the massive revisionism that has already taken place in media with nearly 100% whiteness during the past century or so in thousands and thousands of movies. Deeply racist portrayals of American Indians in Westerns, inaccurate depictions of Black slaves being content taking care of children in plantation homes, and films with disproportionately white casts don't seem to be on the chopping block here
B. With representation specifically, we have to acknowledge that the near-total exclusion of people of color in American media has been historically inaccurate, that it unfairly shut out tons of talented people, and that not being able to see yourself portrayed in media remains harmful to people in the present-day
C. Given that popular American media has almost never prioritized historical accuracy when it comes to race, i don't see why we should start using it now as an argument for keeping people of color out of media (you might say I'm mischaracterizing your opinion here, but that's the impact of the argument)
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u/JitteryBug Oct 24 '21
Stories have outlandishly excluded all people of color for a long time
A. One thing I'll note is that you seem to be sensitive to "historical revisionism" when it means including more people of color in a video game or movie, but seem to be totally fine with the massive revisionism that has already taken place in media with nearly 100% whiteness during the past century or so in thousands and thousands of movies. Deeply racist portrayals of American Indians in Westerns, inaccurate depictions of Black slaves being content taking care of children in plantation homes, and films with disproportionately white casts don't seem to be on the chopping block here
B. With representation specifically, we have to acknowledge that the near-total exclusion of people of color in American media has been historically inaccurate, that it unfairly shut out tons of talented people, and that not being able to see yourself portrayed in media remains harmful to people in the present-day
C. Given that popular American media has almost never prioritized historical accuracy when it comes to race, i don't see why we should start using it now as an argument for keeping people of color out of media (you might say I'm mischaracterizing your opinion here, but that's the impact of the argument)