#bad representation

[mad-not-disappointed]

spop fans: spop has such good representation!! it has so many diverse characters and represents different ethnicities so respectfully

meanwhile spop: has a "latina" character who is half-animal, extremely aggressive and unnecessarily sexualized by the show as well as the fandom

[technicallydelightfulpenguin]

I hate how Helltaker misrepresents the deadly sins, Cerberus, Baphomet and the hell and people praise it even though it's the same shit as Hazbin Brothel and Helluva Shit, while Hooray for Hell is a better representation of what is hell.

[hergrandplan]

Kinda (very) disappointed in 911 being another piece of media that chooses to villainize DID/dissociative identity disorder by creating a serial killer that has it, or something similar to it. Like... we're in 2025. Do better.

[1800naveen]

Me looking at those people who say that Mor and Helion are good LGBT representation:

Mor is just...a mess. I feel like Sarah put in that she was bi for that diversity point.

Helion, this is going to be a long one so buckle in. Let's start with the damn stereotypes. The trope of a bisexual character being promiscuous, flirting around, etc. That is what Helion is, Mor too. Imagine getting your representation but it's shit like this.

Another thing for Helion is him being hypersexual. A sexual stereotype when it comes to black people is that we're hypersexual people, being seductive, etc. For black men, it's often their body that's being sexualized and how they aren't loyal. For black women, there is the "Jezebel" stereotype which makes us seen as nymphos, that we have a appetite for sex. This started back during slavery times and was often used to justify the assault of black women (men as well).

"He is also very flirtatious and will do anything to have someone in his bed since he knows no one can say no to his beauty." Helion's wiki page.

Free my brothers and sisters from this women😔

Shout out to Emerie for being the only good representation in acotar. I hate the ship of Emerie and Mor so damn much. Do people think Emerie would be in a relationship with the woman who said that she put Nesta, her best friend, in the court of nightmares?? Where they abuse the women and Emerie has went through abuse before?!?

Feeling like Balalaika right now, I need a smoke😪 (If anyone is a fan of anime, watch black lagoon. It's a fire anime and the gifs originated from there. Watch it in dub, much better and more diverse too).

[moonlady101]

Tried to rewatch Rome HBO last night. Everything was fine until Attia and Octavia appeared on the scene. How? How is it possible to work on making the scenery and setting as accurate as possible, and then proceed to do such a terrible job at representing the female figures of the Republic? Where the fuck is Fulvia? Why the hell is Octavia asking for Pompey's death? Why is Attia in a relationship with Antony?

Seriously, is it really that hard to try and avoid sexualizing every single female character?

[nekropsii]

“Bad Representation” is actually a topic I’m really passionate about and interested in, I could talk about it for ages. The way people handle “Bad Representation” as a concept is genuinely fascinating, too, so this is both an analytical fascination and an anthropological one.

For clarity, I thoroughly do believe there is such thing as “Bad Representation”, especially when it comes to expressions of pure bigotry from the person doing the representing… But I personally think everyone’s bar for what counts as “Bad Representation” is set a little bit too strictly, has no real account for capitalistic and/or historical restrictions - For Example: Language and common understanding of queer identity being far different in the 1950’s than it is now, and Studio Meddling - and also, interestingly, tends to take no account for the opinion of those getting “represented”, or the idea of individual satisfaction.

There’s been many, many times where a character is objectively pretty bad representation by modern standards, but discussion surrounding it takes no account for the concept of Resonance. Sometimes a character is not “Good Representation” as an objective concept, but they are relatable, likable, and quite fun to watch. I’ve seen quite a few instances of people talking down to the mentally ill or disabled for enjoying a Slasher in part because of their disorder/disability, or queer people for enjoying Hays Code villains. Sometimes a character isn’t written kindly, or isn’t written well, but they really resonate with you… And that counts for something.

One of my favorite characters - one who has helped me come to terms with my cPTSD and OSDD - is a representation of PTSD + DID that is objectively not very good. He’s basically a Vietnam War veteran, who gets an Alter in the middle of the war that is basically a self defensive Murder Mode. It’s literally the PTSD from The War and Evil Alter cliche, but there’s just some aspects that really hit for me, like the fact that he’s considered the nicest, kindest person in the cast, and the alter is portrayed clearly as being in constant self defense mode, thinking he’s still in the middle of the war, and also being quite silly. There’s several details I view as being done pretty well, a whole arc about him grappling with his mental health in a way I find quite fascinating and visceral, and I enjoy him quite a lot! But many would agree that he’s “Bad Representation” because of the War PTSD and Evil Alter tropes. Even I agree that those things kinda suck, but that’s not stopping the fact that this character has meant a lot to me, and that I really would not be the same level of okay with myself if I hadn’t discovered this character.

I’ve caught flack for this. I’ve seen many other people latch onto a character who is not executed very well because they find them personally relatable, or are using them to figure some things out about themselves, and also catch flack for it because the character is not “Good Representation” for a group as a whole. No account for Resonance, no account for Individual Experience. It’s a fascinating lack of a sense of nuance.

I think people have forgotten - or perhaps do not realize - that criticizing a base concept, or base execution of a concept, is different from criticizing individual experience. It’s like the difference between criticizing the makeup industry vs. criticizing someone’s personal choice to wear makeup. It is good to point out when something is written or executed poorly, but you do not know the reason why that one individual disabled person enjoys a poorly written character who shares their disability. I would even say that they probably know more than you do that it’s written badly, because they have lived that character’s disability and you likely have not. I think you should maybe step off if a blind person really likes Terezi or something. You do not need to patronize them by telling them that she isn’t “Good Representation” because her quirk isn’t screenreader friendly, and that her blindness has a magical workaround. I think they already know that these are facts about her that are true. They like her for a reason, and that reason is Resonance.

[destinygoldenstar]

I am NOT against including characters of diversity in stories. (Race/Gender/Sexuality/Disability/Religion/etc.) In fact, I encourage it.

Because of how diverse the world is, having characters with different backgrounds besides straight white men helps even more people resonate with media and feel included and heard. Points if you do research.

The only problem I have is when these traits become the characters ONLY defining traits.

Course, there are exceptions, like when a story’s whole conflict and theme is about exploring what that trait is like.

But other than that, if you’re only using the trait for brownie points, you’re not treating those people with respect, you’re offending most of them, you’re treating them like soapboxes and coupons.

If you ask your audience to describe your character, and 90% of them answer with “They’re gay” (just an example) as either their first or as their only response they took away, then there’s a good chance you have a poorly written character.

“How do I fix this?”

Well one, If you know anybody with the type of background you want your character to have, talk to them and get a good understanding of what being that is like for them.

Two, MORE IMPORTANT, just DON’T have it be their only character trait.

Don’t treat them like brownie point representation. Treat them like a PERSON. Treat them like an INDIVIDUAL. Treat them like a CHARACTER. Give them other traits, give them personality, give them backstory, give them a journey throughout your story, make them complex and interesting.

No two people have the exact same history and lifestyle at the end of the day. We are all unique individuals. That’s why representation is so important.

[madamefeu]

I can’t believe that Amazon had the audacity to post a Chaggie compilation and call it, ‘pride goals’. Because every wlw dreams of being in a relationship with a woman who hates all of their friends and is openly annoyed by their goals, personality and interests, right? 🙄

[ballsalsda]

Why havent i seen anyone talk about how fucking bad the ADHD rep in pjo is

[justheretostalkthefandom]

RANT INCOMING!!

(No, I am not talking about all Catholics or Christians just *those* annoying ones, I love and respect all religions and find them so fucking interesting, not to mention I was raised in an all catholic household :D👍)

I hate, hate, HATE the fact that Satanism and paganism get a bad reputation because of catholic and Christian propaganda.

Like they aren’t these terrible religions drinking baby blood every full moon, you dumbasses!

And just, JUST for example these are the eleven rules of Satanism:

Like what about this screams bad person? :/

Not to mention half of em don’t even know that the upside down cross actually is.. it’s literally just saint peters??

You know, because he didn’t feel like he was worthy enough to be killed in the same way as J.C so they just flipped it upside down??

How are you gonna make a villain out of your own symbol!?

If you’re gonna hate a type of religion you don’t understand at least, AT LEAST get the right symbols, you get me?

(End of rant :D)

[lachiennearoo]

J'ai trouvé un vieux mème que j'ai fait quand j'étais encore sur twitter

Tenez. Prenez-le

[plague-of-insomnia]

HEAVY SIGH

Just finished season 2 of this canadian series and it’s painful how clear it is the writers had NO CLUE how to write a character with bipolar disorder…. it never felt like the character really was dealing with this disease and instead like they looked at some bullet points of what the disease is and just threw that in haphazardly

[tw below for spoilers for Cardinal S2 ending and mentions of suicide ]

and then they have her commit suicide at the end of s2, with very little set up or explanation… and ofc suicidality is something people with bipolar deal with, it’s just…. it felt like the writers were like “well shit this is harder to write than we thought so let’s just kill her off”

it’s just…. i guess it could be a lot WORSE rep, like she wasn’t shown as abusive and she wasn’t made into a killer, but god damn…. it isn’t that hard to make an effort… instead you turn a disease that ruins many lives into a plot device… gee, thanks /sar

[that-goth-bitch]

Vincent King, mob boss #1 of my furry mafia campaign. He’s the main antagonist/ toxic love interest for my main OC, Candy.

[gildeddlily]

side characters ONly can be gay!!11!1! yep

I could write an essay about the way Marvel is just the reflection of how mass media deals with the queer representation "problem" nowadays

(I should study for my exam but fuck it I have time)

first of all, how many queer characters actually are part of mcu's big ass cast?

Searching on the internet they'll tell you about twenty- but it's enough to read who is queer to understand that they only care about seeming all woke and you know, kind and allies and all that good shit, but the truth is that if you're queer you'll get no more than five minutes of screen time

Loki is a bisexual genderfluid god, it's canon in the comics and in the shows/film, but does he actually acts on it? like, does he ever talk about the men he had a thing with? does he talk about his gender identity? no. and you know what, I don't want a long speech about feeling accepted and finding your place in the world and understanding yourself, I'd be ok with him being like "yk what, i feel like cunt today" and poof tom hiddleston is no more man.

we have a two second shot were he's labeled as genderfluid. that's it. he has a love story arc with his female alternative version.

like saying the bar can't get lower- all the time there's a man at his side, and they're so queer coded guys. they are so fucking queer coded. they'd have all the potential to be a good couple, and they prob could since Loki is canonically attracted to males too! but no.

let's choose the female you over the dilf grabbing your waist and telling you that you're more, that you matter and have a chance to be good.

can Loki count as representation? maybe.

it's shitty representation, tho.

then there's America.

America's a lesbian, daughter of two lesbian women, and they were proud of it probably- if it weren't for the fact that America's there, she live the adventure, and she has a lgbtqia pin. a pin. all her identity is expressed in a pin.

one could say, but the film is not ab America and her non-male partner, is about the story yk?

then why does every fucking marvel film features a man and a woman being in a relationship?

i guess that when it's about man Tony Stark and woman Pepper Potts everything's ok, you can give all the minutes you want to their sweet relationship- but if they're queer I'm sorry, the best thing you'll have is a pin.

then a few gays out there.

random man in endgame missing his bf. random girl in hawkeye mentioning her wife (slay). that one sexy dora milaje who has a sexier gf. slay you too ig. that Eternals guy who kissed his bf on screen (first time ever, and they feel revolutionary. fucking 2021).

the only thing that can be saved is Thor 3/4 because of Taika Waititi. the queerness is something Taika did because he wanted to.

Ragnarok's about this dude, his bi brother, this guy who flirts with both of them and has orgies with all kind of beings, a lesbian valkyrie and a gay rock. Love and Thunder is about this guy, his bamf ill girlfriend, a lesbian valkyrie who's trying to find some girl to eat out, a gay rock that ends up having strange sex with his bf, and greek people fainting after seeing said guy's naked body. (and that weird moment between Thor and Peter? that was made to be gay guys)

while it's not perfect, it's one step above everything else.

Taika Waititi's film's queerness is not there for looking more inclusive, it's there because gay people are there, we actually exist dude, and they deserve their space, and they should have it.

and like Taika Waititi's said, the world will be healed when people will stop saying "oh you know that new marvel series? yes, there's a gay gal in there", when people will treat queer people like the people they actually are.

it's like walking around in a forest and being like "oh look, a tree!". we aren't a different species ffs

representation is good, and of course gay characters sometimes are gonna be just there on the side cheering on the main character- because that's how life goes. I'm the cheering-from-the-side girl queer friend to my straight friend, and mcu stories are told by straight people, so it's kinda natural that we're kinda useless.

the thing that really, really makes me want to cry our is how they're able to destroy any queer "lead" they put here for us, for me, and I'm starting to believe behind those scripts there are some seriously repressed gay dude who can only express themselves by writing those things.

like Steve and Bucky? the classic we're best friends and we totally didn't have sex?

or Bucky and Sam?

why was the chair scene necessary? If i see something like that happening to a woman and a man my first thought is "they're a thing", and it was the first thing I thought with Sam and Bucky too- but ofc people will tell us "y are you making everyone gay?" it's not my fault princess it's the writers'

or, again, Loki and Mobius?

"you can be good, just in case no one ever told you" WHAT THE HELL DUDE

and you know, those things can be said between two friends too, but people gets disperate. I get disperate, after watching hours upon hours of two guys eye-fucking each other and ending up being all "yeah bro i love you this is my girlfriend amy". so I wrote, I draw, I think about them being "hey dude, d'you want to be the amy to my myself?" because the alternity is writing a fic about a random man who says he misses his husband on a three second scene.

(in a fandom like good omens I don't have to worry about it. I have my queer besties, my fav lesbian couple, and a lot of representation.)

so.

mcu's representation is bad representation.

every time they write a queer characters they're all "you see that? we did that!" like they did something special- but they didn't.

they write gays for the straight, in order to feel better about themselves and make straight racist sexist homophobic ppl (the "I'm inclusive guys!!!" kind of person) watching it feel better ab themselves.

(I'm not gonna start talking about the fact that this entire post talks more than anything else about the way the mcu treats women, bc it's a rabbit hole I'm not ready to talk ab cause I've been jumping in it for too many years.)

(sorry anon ily)

10/20 edit: valkyrie is bi my bad🧎‍♀️

[sanrielle]

I know there's still much to be desired from how autism is currently portrayed in media, but I just had whiplash watching something from the early 2000s.

Among the things characters said were:

"People with autism can't lie. They're physically incapable of it." -said by a cop after doing "research"

"[Autistic teenage boy] is lucky, since he can't feel anything." -regarding feeling emotional pain after witnessing his parents' murder

[lanterns-and-lightmares]

Small rant about Heroes

I hate the way Niki and Jessica are portrayed. Yes it is fully possible to be unhappy with plurality but UGH STEREOTYPES

“She’s dangerous” okay but why is that the only portrayal anyone ever writes

“I’m sick” okay but why is that the only portrayal anyone ever writes

“Multiple personality disorder is a horrible affliction” go squat in a cactus patch