#fictional ethnic minorities based off real life religions and people. IS NOT ACTUALLY GOOD WRITING. when you dont CONSIDER the implications

[v-arbellanaris]

I have no idea why but I absolutely hate how Ameridan' story was handled, they basically dumbed it down to him worshipping both the creators and andraste/chant of light, which kind of proved Cassandra's dumb (and incredibly disrespectful) point of an inquisitor having "room for another god". It's also so unfair how they made the evanuris to just be power hungry slavers and tyrants, my only hope is that if the creators were disproving then I hope it would be the same for the chant of light and maker (seeing asnit was solas who made the veil and not the creator) I really hate how centrist the game has gotten, like flat out, whenever I hear the words grey morality and nuance I can't help burn cringe, that's how much dragon age has ruined it for me.

It's also so incredibly funny how the devs are genuinely surprised that most of the players are pro mage, like of course we are?

i think it's particularly extremely aggravating, the way bioware writers write about a pantheon as if polytheistic religions are simply a thing of the past and dead and some kind of mystery/mythology. according to bioware, this kind of writing for polytheistic religions is fine because no real religion these days would everrrrrrr worship multiple gods /sarcasm. (note that the links are just some examples and not comprehensive in the least)

there's a lot of writing choices i quite simply disagree with in dai, and there's some that are just... i don't even disagree with them because that implies it's something to argue about. some of their writing choices are just wrong. after borrowing so heavily from ethnic groups to shape their fictional histories, the disrespect of writing their fictional oppressed minorities as being responsible for their own oppression because they were not "open" enough to include/absorb expy christianity into their religious beliefs and fought back against violent colonialism. the resulting clumsy collation between isr*el and the indigenous people of the americas wanting to reclaim their lands stolen from them by white colonisers makes my blood boil.

ameridan is just another piece of the puzzle that makes me seethe. we have a man who apparently ~existed before hostilities between the elves and the humans~ which is now the fault of drakon's son who invaded the dales after ameridan was long gone. that's already absolute bullshit because ameridan lived in the fucking dales. elves only started living in the dales AFTER ANDRASTE'S REBELLION. after the fall of arlathan, and hundreds of years of enslavement at the hands of tevinter humans???

additionally, the battle of red crossing happened in 2:9 glory, but tensions between the elves and humans had been building up since the second blight. drakon the first died in 1:45 but the elves apparently did "nothing" to help montsimmard when it was overrun by darkspawn in 1:25 divine - twenty years before his death, there was already simmering resentment. additionally, it was drakon the first that expanded the orlesian empire and the orlesian chantry - wotv2 notes his battles against the darkspawn did more to spread the chant of light (specifically, the orlesian chant of light which he, yknow, fucking made up) than any of his other attempts. by the time the exalted march on the dales happens, over three quarters of thedas is under orlesian rule. maferath himself handed the dales to the surviving elves from andraste's campaign in -165 ancient and the elves lived in the dales peacefully until the orlesian chantry was salivating at its borders. and the orlesian chantry has a history of wiping out "cults" - i.e. other sects of their own religion that differ from belief, no matter how minor, to their own. including, notably, the wholesale genocide of a non-violent sect centered around fertility rituals and, later, the dragon worshipping sect in haven off their own land. (and i'm willing to BET MONEY that they were originally alamarri themselves, considering that andraste was brought there to rest, and considering how cultural variance in religion usually occurs [i.e. through the blending/adoption of folk beliefs or the cultural/religious practices from Before]. so the andrastians slaughtered the cult AND THEN TOOK THEIR FUCKING LAND.)

the entire way andrastianism is treated in inquisition makes me violent. and unfortunately, it does not look like it's going to change - there's been multiple statements about how the maker's existence will continue to remain "a mystery" out of a reluctance to confirm or deny the existence of a One True God which, coupled with how they've shat on every other religion in the game - the tevinter chantry, the qun, the stone, the elven pantheon, every other sect worshipping the maker/andraste - gives me absolutely no hope that the writing team is going to get their heads out of their asses about it.

[darlin-djarin]

it's kam! just wanted to add onto your comparison of SW and real life and this culture of non-criticism i am seeing a lot of throughout internet discussion. this is a long post i realise this but i hope you find it interesting

i think it's imperative to understand that the stories we write exist in context, and that goes for every kind of story. no story is made up on just a whim, there is something that the writer must have experienced or even spent a second of a thought thinking about before putting the pen to the paper. and with that you have every right to criticise or even just think about the context in which the fictional story was written.

take animal farm. obviously george orwell didn't think that animals actually talked but because he was writing about capitalism, the failed russian revolution, we can critique his writing based on THE POINT HE WAS TRYING TO MAKE. for example, i think the use of animals as a microcosm for the intellectual inequality amongst people is flawed because some animals are simply not as intelligent as others and do not have the capacity, whereas most people have the capacity to be equally intelligent because we are all the same species. therefore the point he was trying to make about people being stupid hence why revolutions fail is silly because it omits the nuance involved in education suppression. to simply just say "well talking animals aren't real so why are you criticising it" is dumb because the argument orwell himself was trying to make is flawed by the premise he himself put out.

relating this back to the mandalorian, there is absolutely real life parallels with religions and ethnicity, particularly islam as far as i am aware. of course, different people have different opinions about religion and i personally think seeing din struggle with his own faith and his relationship with his helmet spoke to me because of my own life. that is okay. the issue that i had with mando s3 was that it took these very real topics specifically regarding ethnoreligious identiy and did not show a good enough exploration of this topic and sometimes perpetuated harmful tropes. one that's more pertinent to me is the irish/northern irish-catholic, protestant conflict. that was not only about religion but also ethnic identity, and it had a serious consequence on the lives of people up until only 20 odd years ago.

so in mando, where you have bo, portrayed by a white american, who is the "pure" mandalorian, a former terrorist, looking down on a man portayed by an ethnic minority, his religion and his lifestyle and her friends questioning his identity because he's mandalorian by belief WITHOUT questioning her side of the whole ordeal, by undermining the validity of the religion without giving exploration into their customs, smells really bad. top it off by the fact it was written by a white american man, likely raised without religion but if not, a christian, it begs the question: what was jon thinking as he wrote this? how small is his world view? why does he want to show some aspects of this type of culture without giving them the fair screen time? it is simply flawed storytelling.

sorry for the LONG ramble but i fully support your right to feel how you feel regarding din and his helmet, and even though i have different opinions regarding din and his religion because of my own biases, it doesn't take much to respect people's personal beliefs.

fiction doesn't equal reality but in the same vein, it doesn't exist in a vacuum. you may write about stuff you do not necessarily agree with but whatever you write has the potential to reflect on pertinent issues. i think that's the take away here. which is weird because that feels like a universal truth

anyways i hope you're having a good day!!

DUDE YOU’RE SO RIGHT !!!! EVERYTHING YOU JUST SAID !!!! i loved the relation back to animal farm. you said it PERFECTLY. i think anon’s reading comprehension is like a 0 though so i doubt they’ll understand what you said. but YES you’re absolutely right and i adore how many people from different walks of life can relate in a variety of ways to fiction. tysm for saying this

[inhumansforever]

Ms. Marvel #20 Review

spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers

It’s the second installment of the timely and topical ‘mecca’ story-arc, from the creative team of G. Willow Wilson, Marco Falla and Ian Herring.  Full recap and review following the jump.

Last issue saw the mayorship and governance of Jersey City taken over by sinister forces, including Dr. Faustus’ former underling, Chuck Worthy, and his chief lieutenants, Lockup and Discord.  As Ms. Marvel, Kamala charged in headlong and unfortunately fell to the electrical powers of the mysterious villain, Discord (there’s something eerily familiar about this guy).  

Meanwhile, the Worthy’s administration has instituted a zero tolerance policy against anyone with super human powers or abnormalities (a thinly veiled metaphorical stand-in for ultra-jingoistic white nationalism).  Kamala’s brother has been apprehended by Worthy’s goons, charged with having possessed super powers and not divulging his status to the authorities.  Aamir had only possessed such powers for a brief time following his exposure to a mysterious quasi-terrigenic gas by Ms. Marvel’s foe, Kamran.  These powers quickly wore off, but the mere fact that Aamir once possess powers is enough for the Worthy administration to identify him as a threat to public safety who should have his U.S. citizenship revoked and subsequently deported back to his birth country of Pakistan.  

The issue begins with a harrowing scene where the detained Aamir is interrogated.  Aamir doesn’t quite understand the situation and he assumes that he has been arrested by the NSA or FBI.  He imagines that he has been detained under the assumption that he is an enemy combatant, an Islamic extremist plotting acts of terror against the United States.

In expounding on his innocence, Aamir delivers an extremely interesting speech about the types of people do and do not fall in with such extremism.  What he says is poignant, not devoid of compassion and, above all else is strikes me as absolutely correct.  

And yet Aamir has not been arrested for suspected terrorist ties, his charge is that he possessed super powers and failed to register this with the city municipal government.  Befuddled, Aamir states that he only possessed these powers for a brief moment before they wore off; a statement that his interrogator interprets as an admission of guilt.  In a knife-twisting extra punchline   the interrogator also notes that Aamir was seen walking down the street carrying a pressure cooker (it was actually a slow cooker containing left overs that Aamire was bringing to his neighbors).  

All the while, Aamir’s interrogation is being watched in an adjacent room by Lockdown and Dischord.  The interrogator excuses himself to speak with these two,  He states that Aamir is a small fish, no real threat and suggests they cut him loose.  Discord disagrees, he wants Aamir further detained.  Discord is ardent and zealous in his crusade to rid Jersey City of all of the freaks and super powered beings that has robbed the city of its normalcy.  The juxtaposition between Discord’s extremist zeal and what Aamir had said about what can lead one to becoming terrorists is rather overt, but a satisfying parallel.    

Elsewhere, Ms. Marvel is waking up from being knocked unconscious in her battle with Discord.  Although bested, Discord chose not to detain her and left her where she was.  In the twilight of her regaining consciousness, Kamala hallucinates that her old friend Bruno is at her side.   The visage of Bruno voices a bit of exposition, noting that Kamala has a tough fight on her hands and is going to have to come to terms with the fact that not everyone is going to like her.  The world is not black and white, all good or all bad.  What is right and what is wrong is colored by opinion and she has to wake up to the fact that she will never be universally accepted for who she is.  

Ms. Marvel shakes off the cobwebs and darts back to the heart of the city where she quickly comes across a political rally held by the new Mayor Chuck Worthy.  Worthy is whipping up the crowd with his promises of bringing back peace and economic prosperity by ridding the city of all of the costumed freaks and super powered beings.  

It’s all a rather straightforward straw man argument wherein a minority population is identified and vilified, held responsible for all the woes that trouble a politician’s constituents.  It’s also a rather obvious analog to the type of fear mongering that the Trump administration utilized to win the American presidency.  Any doubt of this is wiped away when Worthy notes that the rumors of his affiliation with Hydra is merely alternative facts propagated by the fake news media.  

Worthy has spotted Ms. Marvel among the crowd.  His goons, Lockdown and Discord attack.  A tremendous battle ensues and Ms. Marvel is forced to flee when Discord unleashes a mobil missile platform that fires off a bevy of explosive projectiles.  

The narrative switches to the now abandoned offices of the former mayor, Stella Machesi.  The liberal minded wheelchair bound Machesi was elected mayor several issues back in a one-shot tale where Ms. Marvel and her allies were able to battle through the barriers of district gerrymandering and get out enough of the vote to defeat Chuck Worthy’s dastardly plans to win the election.  It was an idealistic story that as quite clearly written and illustrated before the November election that saw Trump earn the presidency by way of the electoral college despite losing the popular vote by a sizable margin.  And it would seem that Worthy has stolen the Mayorship by way of similar Byzantine back door politics.  

Ms. Marvel, roughed up by her fight with Discord arrives at Machesi’s offices asking for her help.  Machesi has little to offer in the way of aide.  She notes that Worthy has seize power by tapping into the populace’s more baser instincts: their fear and greed.  Before the two can formulate a plan, they are interrupted by Discord who calls out for Ms. Marvel from the street below.   Discord demands Ms. Marvel’s surrender and has paraded out a group of his detainees so to motivate her giving herself up peacefully.  The individuals Discord had detained appear to be innocents, people who have been arrested simply because they are different, because they are Inhumans or Mutants and their physical appearance is deemed by the status quo as being abnormal.  They haven’t done anything wrong, but Discord and Lockdown have been given the authority to apprehend them nonetheless and Discord notes how easy it could be to misplace paperwork and keep them imprisoned without charge trial all but indefinitely.  

Once more, Kamala cannot help to feel that there is something distinctively familiar about Discord.  He knows how to press her buttons almost too well.  It’s almost like he is a former friend who had gotten to know Kamala and now uses that intimate knowledge as a weapon.  

As a final threat, Discord brings out Aamir who has also been detained without charge.  Discord aims his power gauntlet at Aamir, threatening to kill him.  Amir has been identified as an abnormal, something less than human and Discord could kill him with impunity… unless Ms. Marvel agrees to surrender.

And it is with this frightening cliffhanger that the issue ends with the promise of continuation.  

Wow.  This issue pulls absolutely zero punches.  

After the preview pages for this issue was released last week, I received a question from a fellow fan bemoaning the fact that Wilson and company was producing such a politically charged story in the pages of Ms. Marvel.  While I can understand the wish that comic books might remain pure escapism devoid of politics and social issues, I don’t blame Wilson for making the decision to go in the other direction.  Indeed it could be construed as irresponsible were she not to address these issues.  

Ms. Marvel is the first Muslim-American character to headline a mainstream superhero comic.  Her religion and ethnicity is not her only character trait, but it is a facet of who she is; and to that extent it would be something of a dereliction of duty to sidestep the harsh realities that Muslim Americans have to contend with in real life.  People who are Muslim, people who may look as though their family lineage might herald from the Middle East, India or Pakistan are forced to live under the looming threat of being misidentified as enemy combatants, potential terrorists… some sort of threat to Western society.   They live with the fear that they could be disappeared by the government, detained and held indefinitely without trial or legal representation.  This is not just a plot point for the issue, this actually happens in real life.  

There’s an interesting parallel process to Ms. Marvel’s sense of popularity both in the fictional world of the Marvel Universe and actual reality.  Ms. Marvel arrived with a splash and was an immediate darling of liberal minded comic fans.  It was cool that there should finally be a big name Muslim super hero, but it was the great quality of the writing and art that really made the comic a hit.  Kamala is such a well-rounded and fully developed character; she’s fun and relatable, lovable.   And yet times have changed and the shift in the political atmosphere has emboldened those with bigoted, intolerant views to be much more open and vocal in their feelings.  Quite suddenly there were comic book fans who were vocal and upfront over their dislike of the surge in liberal, multicultural characters in superhero comics.  Suddenly there were people out there expounding their hatred of Ms. Marvel, a hatred based on her being a girl, of her being Muslim, of her being the darling of the so-called liberal elite.   All this was likely quite jarring for Ms. Wilson and the other creators working on Ms. Marvel.  And to the same extent that Marvel itself has had to contend with the fact that not everyone likes Ms. Marvel, Kamala herself has had to cope with this matter.      

Ultra-conservatives and Trump supporters are likely to be a touch alienated by this issue, by seeing the sinister Chuck Worthy as such a poorly disguised representation of the so-called Alt-Right.  Yet, the chances that people with such views are actually reading Ms. Marvel is likely pretty slim.  So screw’em…

The politically charged nature of the story might not be for everyone.  Some may prefer super hero tales that are a bit lighter, that avoid the unsettling truths of the real world.  As for me, I like it and I completely understand Ms. Wilson’s desire to take on these matters.  It helps that Kamala and I share political convictions.  I definitely recommend this issue, but am aware that there may be some who find the heavy socio-political nature of the story to be disquieting.  Three out of Five Lockjaws.