#the representation was on point

[iant0jones]

"I feel very proud to be a black Creole vampire, in the show. I mean, I hope that all it does is opens the gates for more. Let's tell more stories. Let's be monsters! And enjoy it! Yeah, let's be problematic. Give us the space to be a problem." - Jacob Anderson

[bixels]

I'm not explaining why re-imagining characters as POC is not the same as white-washing, here of all places should fucking understand.

[cy-cyborg]

People on the internet: they can't hire actors who are actually in wheelchairs to play wheelchair users in movies! What if there's a scene where they need to stand up? A wheelchair user can't do that!

Robert Rodriguez: hold my beer

This is a scene from spy kids 3 - a movie in a series famous for its shoe-string budgets, where Ricardo Montalbán's character is in a wheelchair, but spends most of his screen time in a digital reality where he doesn't need it. Ricardo Montalbán was actually in a wheelchair though in real life, so they just used a combination of VFX and camera tricks (and a dolly for a few shots) to film those scenes. Also if I remember correctly the movie ends with him back in the real world, fighting a mech with his jet-pack wheelchair lmao.

The disability rep is dated (as is the VFX lol) and does fall into a lot of tropes I personally dont like, but it's so earnest in their attempts, and the visible effort behind the scenes to include a real, disabled actor outweighs it for me - even as a kid who wasnt fully aware of why.

Bigger studios have no excuse.

I've linked the video I got these screenshots from, they talk a lot about how they handled Ricardo Montalbán's character being out of his wheelchair there. If if you like behind the scenes stuff for campy old movies, I highly recommend it!

[ID 1: a screenshot of the movie Spy kids 3D, showing Juni, the main character in a suit of yellow power armour, talking to his grandfather, who towers over him in red power armour. his grandfather is kneeling so he can be at eye level with him.

the caption underneath reads "where he kneels down and talks to Juni" /end ID 1]

[ID 2: a photo of the same shot but without the effects. Grandpa is shown to be in a wheelchair, and is being held at the needed height by a moveable platform his wheelchair is sitting on. Juni is wearing the armour, grandpa is not, and there are green screens behind them.

the caption underneath reads "but we just had him lowered in a dolly" /end ID 2]

[annabelle--cane]

there's a take I see come up maybe once every fiscal quarter that jon is Bad asexual representation because we learn about his asexuality second hand via other characters discussing something he did rather than using any labels, and then the topic never comes up again. I can see what this take is getting at, but I don't think tma is a show that aims to do capital-R Representation, it's a show with characters that incidentally have marginalized identities.

compare that scene to how we find out about tim's bisexuality: we learn about it second hand via another character discussing something he did rather than using any labels, and then the topic never comes up again. none of these characters talk very much about their romantic or personal lives outside of what is directly relevant to the plot, and both of these scenes are in keeping with established tone and characterization. while I can see how these might not be satisfying choices if one is looking for capital-R Representation, I also wouldn't call either of them bad representation, they're more just queer characters casually existing in a piece of media that isn't aiming to win a glaad award.

[ratfish-blues]

Actually, this deserves its own post because the way Abbott Elementary handled Melissa's character in this episode is genuinely some of the best dyslexia representation I have ever seen on TV.

She's not a little kid who overcomes her disability as an adult. Her dyslexia doesn't give her superpowers (weirdly common trope). She isn't portrayed as stupid by the show or the other characters because of it. She's a competent adult who has developed coping mechanisms to deal with her disability and is still shown to struggle sometimes despite that! Oh my god is that refreshing!

Also, Melissa being competitive about the reading challenge and Barbra's comment about how good she is at engaging kids in reading is totally recontextualized by the reveal that she has a learning disability and especially the reveal that she was probably teased for her LD as a kid (which I'm also so happy that they brought up - I don't think most people realize how competitive elementary schools tend to make reading, and how shitty and ostracizing that can be for kids who struggle with it). Winning the book challenge is important to her because it's something she used to really struggle with. She's good at getting kids to read because she can relate to their challenges in a personal way. They directly tie her LD to her strengths as a teacher without it being fantastical or over-emphasized and I can't even begin to tell you how much I love it!

The bit at the end where she says "you know how sometimes I have to read things a few times" to Janine, in the break room with no students present is also a great scene because it shows her LD in an adult, professional context. It's a conversation that I, and every dyslexic person I know, has had with their co-workers at some point. I just love that they make a point of normalizing her LD in an adult workplace setting that's separate from the classroom and away from the kids.

This season has done an awesome job talking about disability generally but the choice to give not just a student, but one of the teachers an LD was an absolutely perfect move. I really hope this gets brought up in later episodes and isn't just a one-off.

[the-mother-of-lions]

CALENDAR REQUEST FROM MOM: 2 P.M. WEST WING FIRST FLOOR, INTERNATIONAL ETHICS & SEXUAL IDENTITY DEBRIEF

[sleevebuscemii]

@palestinianyouthmovement

[the-chaotic-snek]

Props to Craig Pelton for literally screaming and saying " I don't fit in a box, and it doesn't matter to me" Representation for everyone who doesn't wanna be in a box

[braceletofteeth]

Stop crying, he's not worth it.

[eromrevencrow]

i think a lot of the discourse in iwtv wouldn't happen if people who didn't like Loustat's relationship stopped watching the Loustat's relationship show, as simple as that

[ivyithink]

with how unreliable all those narrators are, the whole season might actually be a bored dreamstat’s amusing little daydream

[cardentist]

people will be like "gender is a construct" and then turn around and be like "no no no your boy characters can't be girly, they can't wear pink, they can't be short, they can't wear dresses, they can't wear pretty bows or hair clips, they can't wear make up or nail polish, Especially not if they're gay or trans or-

because That would be Infantilizing. don't you know it's just making queer men out to be ittle uwu babies cinnamon roll softbois to [check notes] Be Feminine. so remember, it's problematic and you should always question yourself when you like seeing queer men that way <3"

gender is a construct and you've got your hi-vis vest on and spackle in hand. because it's So Very Progressive to equate femininity with childishness and dehumanization

[nintendont2502]

john as a heir who inherits the narrative freely, doesnt even know that he has the narrative, and barely changes it unless hes being directed to by some outside force (breath as directionless, independent, detatched, free). john as a character whos never existed at the same time as an alternate version of him, a character who never has to face himself and remains largely unchanged by the end of the narrative even as it changes around him

ult dirk as a prince who destroys the narrative and destroys through the narrative, who is determined to reshape it in his own image and 'fix' it, who will make himself the villain if thats what it takes and do whatever he has to in order to help everyone, even if it means hurting them (heart as putting on and taking off masks when needed, inflexible, cold, building a coherent narrative of their own story). dirk as a character who constantly has to face himself via one of his many alternate selves, who can only gain control by uniting those alternate selves into one coherent whole

john is homestuck and ult dirk is homestuck post canon and one of the first things he does when he gains power is kill john (kill homestuck) through the narrative. destroying the (previously free, directionless, detatched) narrative and destroying that narrative through your own (inflexible, cold) narrative. theyre so yaoi

[vulpesarctica]

A late-entry 2022 update for Sith Obi-Wan! Recklessly provoked by @silmairon who sent me kind words about my art progress on the 2020 version. 💕

[baristabomb]

dungeon meshi characters taking care of each other

:’)

bonus:

[formerprincewille]

Something that really sets Wille and Simon apart from other queer ships is that when we say their love language is physical touch, IT REALLY IS PHYSICAL TOUCH. And I’m not speaking of just sex. Over the course of the show, the amount of touching between them is astronomical. And that’s really something rarely seen in queer media. There may be moments here or there, but often times there’s a lack of physical contact unless it’s for “the plot”. Wille and Simon feel like a real couple in the way they’re always physically reaching out for each other.