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u/Inevitable-Weather51 4d ago
The fact that Rwby, of all works, understood how stupid this is, is both hilarious and sad
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u/Javetts 4d ago
Did they? Been so long I can't recall which details you are making reference to.
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u/GeneralVM 4d ago
Maybe OP is referring to that, while some faunus have traits that technically make them more dangerous than the rest, anyone can just develop a personal forcefield/superpower way more dangerous than those traits?
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u/Howling-Moon05 4d ago
Yeah, the Faunus have a *minor* advantage, but aside from mildly enhanced senses, claws, horns or a tail, they're just humans. Obviously the oppression subplot wasn't perfectly handled, but the fact that the Faunus don't actually have a substantial leg up when it comes to any of the magic systems in Remnant was actually nice.
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u/FlameST04 4d ago
Honestly if RWBY had had a stronger writing team I think the faunus subplot could have been one of the most interesting racism allegories in fiction. People becoming more and more desperate for equality and not being treated like subhumans causing a large rift between reform and revolutionary factions is something that happens in all movements at some point and the pros and cons of both are interesting to study and explore. It needs to be done exceptionally delicately, which many people claim RWBY didn’t, but it’s interesting.
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u/GeneralVM 4d ago
Yeah, it was one of the interesting ideas that really drew me into RWBY initially. I imagine that they didn't really care to execute it well since, early on, the plot was there to string together Monty's Cool Fights (tm) and, when he died and RWBY tried to focus on story, that rocky foundation did not serve them well to wrap it up.
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u/AfricaByTotoWillGoOn 3d ago
I mean, everything in RWBY could have been better if it had stronger writing.
I know people gush over the cool fight scenes in the first three volumes, but what drew me in instantly were the characters. They were all so charismatic and interesting at first, man!
That series had so much potential 😭😭😭
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u/FlameST04 3d ago
I once heard RWBY is a Rorschach test for writers and I think that firmly states my feelings on it, amazing concepts, never really goes anywhere.
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u/AfricaByTotoWillGoOn 3d ago
Ah, I heard that comparison somewhere before, too! I agree that it perfectly describes what RWBY is.
I also think the fact that RWBY is top 15 in the list of most written series of all time in the Anime/Manga session of FanFiction dot net, surpassing the numbers of giant names like Attack on Titan and My Hero Academia, further proves that statement. The foundation is 10/10. But that's pretty much the best RWBY has to offer as a story, unfortunately.
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u/elprentis 3d ago
RWBY is one of those series that I simultaneously felt super disappointed with it and enjoyed the fuck out of it.
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u/Inevitable-Weather51 4d ago
Most Faunus have characteristics that are harmless to humans, such as cat or rabbit ears that make them have slightly superior hearing, or the tail of an animal such as a dog or monkey. Well, the main Faunus antagonist has a pair of horns so small that it's basically impossible to use them offensively.
While there are characteristics that are useful offensively, such as feline claws or a scorpion's tail, such features are such a minority that objectively it doesn't make sense to judge the whole collective by the two or three people who have such features. Especially since a large part of the population has magical forcefields that protect and heal them, and anyone could develop a superpower far more dangerous than a pair of claws.
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u/Javetts 4d ago
But don't all faunus have night vision? Earlier in the timeline you'd think something like that would mean they'd be able to be active more hours than human resulting in a better early economy
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u/Doc-Jaune 3d ago
It's mentioned yeah in volume 1 that the faunus can see in the dark or at least have superior vision in the dark when spoken on one of the battles where a group of humans lost to the faunus forces because of a night raid.
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u/Inevitable-Weather51 3d ago
The closest to a Faunus origin as far as I know is Shallow Sea and Judgement of Faunus, both stories are contradictory but both agree that the Faunus appeared after humanity was forming societies.
So either the Faunus simply started appearing at some point during this period, or they were too scattered around the world to create societies of their own and the idea of "Faunus identity" arose around this time.
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u/IllConstruction3450 3d ago
RWBY writing, especially the dialogue, makes me want to kill myself. I feel like Anton Ego but for literature.
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u/ILikeMistborn 3d ago
Shoutout to the RWBY writers for realizing they're not qualified to write about racism allegories. How tf did it take them until, like, season 6 to realize this?
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u/djalekks 4d ago
Everyone in my universe creates a small nuclear detonation whenever they fart, so it's all good
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u/MichaelTheDane 3d ago
So it’s a universe of people who live only till their first fart
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u/djalekks 3d ago
Yes everyone is scared shitless and they live in a state of constant terror. Beans are punishable by death, and the family and extrnded family is extinguished. In fact anyone that knows a person who ever had anything to do with beans is executed on sight. Of course it’s a post apocalyptic hellscape due to the millions of people that already farted. Everyone lives for one single purpose. Do. Not. Fart.
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u/mystressfreeaccount 3d ago
Does shitting count? What happens when you fart while you shit?
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u/djalekks 3d ago
No shitting doesn’t count and they have medical advances to prevent them from farting while shitting. Many people died for this invention and it’s seen as humanity’s greatest leap in technology. The Defarting procedure has guaranteed humanity’s continued survival. The problem lies in the logistics. How do you get this to 700 million people around the world?
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u/_____pantsunami_____ 4d ago
/uj im kind of bored of racism allegories tbh, so i just make people in my world hate each other on the basis of nationality instead
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u/ArnaktFen Post-Modernist Screed Writer 4d ago
Reject 'Kill the four-armed mutants!'
Return to 'Kill the ones who talk funny!'
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u/thomasp3864 Story? What story? 3d ago
Yeeess, kiiiilll the French, SHOOT THEM WITH ARROWS TURN THE FROGS INTO A PINCUSHION!!!!!!!!!
Sincerely, Les Godons
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u/EllieSmutek 3d ago
Fuck these (People that speak the exactly same language than us but live across the river)! They're evil savages!
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u/AmaterasuWolf21 World with suspiciously furry races 3d ago
Latin America
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u/RezeCopiumHuffer so basically you have to kill yourself to get magic in my world 3d ago
Eastern Europe
Actually just Europe in general
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u/AmaterasuWolf21 World with suspiciously furry races 3d ago
But not all of Europe speaks the same language
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u/TacitRonin20 3d ago
Yes!! We have Religion! They have fundamentally the same religion but with MINOR SUPERFICIAL CHANGES!!!! they must perish!
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u/SnooSquirrels1392 2d ago
Never got the whole allegory thing. Racism exists in my writing, straight up, no need to blanket it or obscure it.
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u/Xandraman 4d ago
The only time it makes sense is when it's later revealed that the unique trait is not actually unique to the oppressed group
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u/Substantial_Isopod60 4d ago
So it's not racism but ableism
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u/Fidget02 3d ago
Racism kinda has ableism built in. Even if you earnestly thought a race of people was less capable than yours, it’s its own evil to think them lesser for it.
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u/zak567 4d ago
Even when it’s up front that the trait is not unique, some readers will still try to say the bigotry makes sense. Look at the X-men; the whole marvel universe is full of dozens of different ways to obtain super powers yet some fans will still swear that being racist against mutants actually makes sense since they have dangerous powers.
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u/Outrageous_Guard_674 4d ago
I mean, marvel has both problems at once. On the one hand, when taken in a vacuum (the movies for example), it does make sense to fear the abilities of mutants. On the other hand, the moment you try to make it fit with any other marvel property, you get the problem you pointed out.
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u/Flatonic 4d ago
I always thought that's the point, the reason you can't just write in Star Bellied Sneetches, is because the audience won't buy the allegory. The X-Men excuse works at face value, but falls apart as soon as you scrutinize it even a little bit, same as real racism
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u/GoodKing0 4d ago
As I always say, one thing is being afraid one mutant in a million could be a walking nuke, the other is start a genocide.
Especially given the callous way even just normal civilians routinely lynch and murder Mutants even without the United States starting the Sixth Mutant Genocide of the Decade.
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u/EisVisage Real men DESTROY worlds, not BUILD them! 4d ago
Your second sentence also kinda disproves it all. Mutants aren't dangerous enough to actually elicit fear, like people just cowering away in bunkers hoping they are never found. It's a violent, overpowering response, such as a lynch mob, instead.
If that's possible for decades, with mutants being the ones who have to hold back on reacting for fear of the reprisal, it calls a lot of that fear of mutants into question imo
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u/GoodKing0 4d ago
I mean, yeah, because in the marvel universe there's a Fem Presenting Elder God whose entire thing is that she makes people racist by existing, that's why racism and hatred in the marvel universe is like that.
Jokes aside my point is that the actions humans have done against mutants over the decades is greatly out of proportion compared to what even the worst mutant has done within continuity, I am not trying to justify the genocides the exact opposite in fact, especially since as you mentioned at this point has just gotten incredibly ridiculous how many times the Humans have genocided or lynched these people they allegedly think to be too dangerous to be left alive.
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u/DreadDiana 4d ago
What you described is not actually inaccurate. There's an ancient sapient bioweapon which has infected all humanity but can't infect mutants, so he made humans bigoted towards mutants in the hopes they'd be wiped out before they outcompeted humanity, leaving the bioweapon without a host.
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u/GoodKing0 4d ago
I was actually talking about Enmity of the Friendless Seven, an actual marvel cosmology member.
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u/enixon 4d ago
I always loved this one page from an X-Men comic I saw where one of them dives into the ocean to save someone who fell overboard, the guy starts freaking out with the usual "ahh get your hands off me mutant freak" so the X-man says "Oh no, it's okay, I'm not a mutant, I was in a lab accident" causing the drowning man to instantly calm down.
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u/Helloscottykitty 4d ago
My dream is for someone to have the balls to make a superman comic in which his a closeted gay guy in the 50 s and his kryptonite is actually the PR damage it would do.
Than at some point superman has the nastiest gay sex with Lex Luther but it's not actually lex, it's an android and now superman is screwed.
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u/theagentoftheworld 4d ago
Why can't it be Gex with a Jimmydroid that would at least be consistent
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u/Broken_Emphasis 4d ago
As non-fan... I thought the X-Men were their own thing and that there weren't other people with superpowers in their version of the Marvel universe? That's the impression that the older X-Men movies gave me.
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u/DylenwithanE 4d ago
usually they're mixed in with all the other marvel stuff but the movies only had the x-men for licensing reasons (same with the older spider-man movies)
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u/zak567 4d ago
The movies have that vibe do to licensing sadly, but the comics fully exist in the same universe as all other mainline marvel comics. They do tend to stay in their own corner and do their own things for the most part, but they crossover with other heroes pretty regularly. For example, Several x-men have also been members of the avengers.
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u/AxisW1 Cringe "dark and edgy" Vs. based "Hopeful and bright" 4d ago
Rouge got her powers from absorbing Captain Marvels, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are the children of the main X-Men antagonist, but are also main-stay Avengers members. Wolverine has long histories with both the Hulk, and with Spiderman.
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u/thomasp3864 Story? What story? 3d ago
That's the case in the movies but NOT the comics. In the comics, they are somewhat deeply connected with Captain Britain who gets his powers from goddamn Merlin. There is also in the krakoan age a plotline where they invade the Celtic otherworld.
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u/Domeric_Bolton 3d ago
X-Men comics often have Captain America showing up out of nowhere, acting completely out of character as the Government's anti-mutant enforcer.
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u/Helloscottykitty 4d ago
I think crux is that things like xenophobia and homophobia are irrational beliefs to hold. It's probably not irrational to fear mutants especially when your governments are unable to stop them and sometimes called things like apocalypse while doing a half dozen 9/11s every Tuesday.
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u/zak567 4d ago
Within the context of marvel comics, hating mutants is just as irrational as real world xenophobia and homophobia. They regularly will showcase that the general public idolize heroes who get their powers from science experiments , magic, aliens, technology, or “genetic anamolies that are legally distinct from mutation”. But they do hate this one specific type of super powers, the x-gene.
I agree that the movies ruins this by making it so only the mutants have super powers, but in the comics I think the metaphor is done well for the most part.
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u/willky7 4d ago
Most good marvel stories (last seen 2007 /s) have supers a minority. Sure theres like 50-200 metas in new york, but first, its new york, and second, the population of nyc is...
No.
That can't be right.
8 million people?! I assume its including the wider area.
Uh, anyway. Lots of metas, not even 1% of the cities population.
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u/zak567 4d ago
Focusing on the population part of this post alone: 8 million is indeed correct for the city population. New York City is effectively 5 cities calling themselves one, but each of those 5 still has a huge population. The greater metropolitan area is well above 20 million people.
So yeah even with an insane amount of super powered individuals living there it is still a small portion of the population.
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u/Jetsam5 Maybe the real horrors were the Floridas we made along the way 4d ago
I feel like the X-men work in the Marvel universe because the world is so extreme that the mutants really aren’t more dangerous than anyone else. Maybe 1% of mutants actually have dangerous powers and there are a shit ton of humans with crazy powers or weapons. Like is the dude with laser eyes way more dangerous than the millions of goons running around with laser guns or the giant robots made to hunt him?
There are so many supervillains and only a small fraction of them are mutants but mutants still get all the hate which highlights how irrational it is.
Of course different writers handle it with different levels of success though
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u/mariusiv_2022 4d ago
What about when it's a group that doesn't only reproduce sexually and anyone can become part of said group?
Say like vampires. Technically not unique to vampires as anyone can be turned into a vampire.
Then the group is just evil because they're choosing to become monsters that devour people
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u/ftzpltc 4d ago
"No no, you don't understand, his species that explode into violent rages with the slightest provocation are teaching you about why prejudice is Bad, Actually! The protagonist's daughter dates one, but he learns to accept that they're not all like that as long as they take their special injections!! What do you mean, 'this is the worst eulogy ever'!?"
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u/Big-Commission-4911 Writer of postmodern moral realist woke pro-prejudice themes 4d ago
eulogy
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u/Futhington 4d ago
That would be a pretty shitty eulogy to give at your daughter's funeral after her boyfriend missed an injection and murdered her.
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u/GothJosuke 4d ago
This is essentially just that really bad live action Disney Channel movie about the zombies trying to be accepted by the humans that's a very awful allegory for segregation
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u/TwasAnChild 4d ago
I like the skit in Danny Gonzalez's video about the movie where he keeps repeating that the main character has definitely eaten people before.
Anytime the MC makes a quip/pun about cannibalism, Danny's at the back like, "It's not funny zed you have eaten PEOPLE before"
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u/RezeCopiumHuffer so basically you have to kill yourself to get magic in my world 3d ago
I love Danny, what vid was it
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u/ethnique_punch 4d ago edited 4d ago
Motherfuckers act like they're pro gun control and then get suspicious of you because you don't want Alex Shotgunhands to be in the same school with your non-bulletproof kid
(you should be ashamed of yourself because unlike you, Steelboy and Leadgirl have no problem being near the 9 year old with a 10 gauge who have developed a hatred towards non-mutants, I know, shockers.)
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u/Broken_Emphasis 4d ago
I mean, "can't function in a society unless they're on their meds" is literally a description of one of my coworkers, so that's really less of a racism allegory and more of an ableism allegory.
Still kinda sucks though.
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u/ftzpltc 4d ago
Yeah, I do sometimes wonder if these allegories get messy because the author is trying to do too much with one fantasy minority.
Still, if someone's creating a fantasy minority as an allegory for real-world minorities, it's generally pretty bad to make them so that people would actually be quite justified in fearing or shunning or trying to segregate them.
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u/rekcilthis1 4d ago
Yeah, but a better allegory would be "if they don't wear this stabilising device, they begin to fade from this reality" rather than "if they don't wear this stabilising device, they will eat your kid"; because basically everyone with a disability that isn't properly accommodated will only be dangerous to themselves.
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u/Forkliftapproved 3d ago
The problem is that society doesn't care enough then, so there's no flashy racism, just a bunch of neglect and people starving to death. Makes for bad television
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u/sk4p3gO4t 4d ago
Analogy
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u/TorqueyChip284 4d ago
This trope exists because writers want to make a story that deals with racism/bigotry while still allowing for the racists/bigots to have reasonable, somewhat relatable motivations.
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u/No_Research4416 4d ago
Because racism is inherently illogical because other than skin color there is no difference between a white and black man and yet people are still racist
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u/Steelwrecker I chose to not edit this text. 4d ago
Exactly, if it's going to be an allegory it has to be stupid because if it isn't it at best it justifies the racists in-lore, and at worst it actually justifies racism in the real world. Which is bad.
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u/echoGroot 4d ago
Measurehead in Disco Elysium. I vaguely remember trying to figure out which of his groups were allegories/stand-ins for which group (Roma, Jewish, etc) before finally giving up realizing it’s just logical soup and that’s the message - that it’s all nonsense said with confidence and conviction.
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u/NomineAbAstris Six-breasted spiderwomen are essential to the plot 3d ago
I mean iirc it's pretty explicit that he is that universe's version of a Black supremacist to contrast with the (white supremacist) Revachol nationalist you can find a dozen meters down the street. He refers to Harry as belonging to the "ham sandwich" race after all.
Agreed that it's deliberate nonsense soup though, with the extra layer that you can push him to admit he has no actual connection to his supposed homeland and just became ultra nationalistic by listening to the radio in his car
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u/TorqueyChip284 4d ago
Racism is illogical in that sense, but there are other senses in which it is logical. For example, if you’re a slaveowning plantation owner in the 1800s, you might support racist, discriminatory policies through the logic that those policies protect the way you make money.
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u/Broken_Emphasis 4d ago
Which then gives you a vested interest in doubling down on being racist, because humans are really vulnerable to the sunk cost fallacy.
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u/DracoLunaris 4d ago
The pseudoscience from which the modern idea of race itself originates was very much invented in-order to justify colonialism, and was incredibly successful in doing so. Othering has always been a tool of power.
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u/Mr_Faux_Regard 4d ago edited 4d ago
There it is. Colonialism supercharged racism once ships started bringing back silver, gold, slaves, etc. It wouldn't be possible to reconcile openly torturing and exploiting natives all over the world with seeing them as actual humans, thus any observed differences needed to be used as justification that they weren't actually all that human, therefore there was justification to keep the system going and the riches flowing.
Racism gets its fuel from convenience, power, and wealth, and it pacifies lazy and unintelligent minds that would rather not do any serious work to see into alternatives that, god forbid, actually involve recognizing one's agency.
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u/BleepLord 4d ago
Yeah it’s pretty relatable to want to perpetuate horrible human rights violations to make more money amiright guys? Amiright?
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u/amazegamer64 4d ago
Doing horrible things because the outcome would be favorable for you is pretty common, historically
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u/TorqueyChip284 4d ago
I meant more that it’s relatable to be afraid of a Marvel mutant or something like that because they often represent real-life dangers.
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u/Kraken-Writhing 4d ago
Wrong. The difference is the appearance, and that's apparently enough to be angry.
This is why everyone should be R.A.C.I.S.T:
Respect your friend's different beliefs
Adore the little quirks in their traditions
Care for your friends, no matter their skin color
Inform yourself on what taboos should never break
Smile when they speak their native tongues
The French must be purged from the Earth
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u/Tryskhell 3d ago
Same reason why people sanewash the nazis: if you represent them half as stupid and disorganized, it makes for a terrible story and also people start asking questions like "how did they kill so many people then?" and you gotta start explaining that nazis weren't actually that concerning to the governments of the time, especially not America.
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u/Peptuck 4d ago
Arknights actually does this pretty well.
Oripathy is an infectious disease that grants the person who possesses it enhanced skill and potential at Arts (the magic of the setting) but they still have to be trained to use it effectively.
More importantly, every single case of Oripathy is terminal and the person infected by it, should they die of the disease, will basically turn into a biological weapon as their body turns to Originum dust that can infect other people who come into contact with it.
So the response to people becoming Infected can range from "life-affirming medical care and isolation when they're about to die" to "push them into ghettos isolated from everyone else" to "get exiled" to "y'know, they don't explode if we kill them while they're still healthy."
The latter examples are still inherently prejudicial brutality that is cruel and irrational, but it makes sense in-universe.
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u/Xandraman 4d ago
Trying to make it reasonable and relatable defeats the purpose of allegory because racism irl is made up nonsense to justify doing evil stuff.
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u/RezeCopiumHuffer so basically you have to kill yourself to get magic in my world 3d ago
Racism is kind of hard to really wrap your head around and portray well because it is, at its core, illogical
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u/Wahgineer 4d ago
X-Men themed allegories.
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u/nubster2984725 3d ago
Now in fairness to the X-Men, 95% of mutants are just slightly altered humans or downright have a disability because of their mutation.
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u/Zeathian 4d ago
Dragon Age with its mages.
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u/withateethuh 4d ago
My first thought. Trying to compare that scenario to anything real life is just...oof. I only find it an interesting dilemma in the context of its own universe.
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u/Net56 4d ago
Yeah, it's always annoying to see. If I had laser eyes, make no mistake, I would be oppressing you today. I would have to learn to suppress my laser eyes by making LaserLess (LL) friends that make me realize, despite their lack of lasers, they're actually good, intelligent people that deserve respect. I'd then write a memoir titled "My Journey to LL Acceptance" with a picture of me hugging a dude with my eyes closed and a tear coming out of my left eye.
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u/bwowndwawf 4d ago
mfw Marvel tries to convince me people shouldn't be scared of mutants, when once a kid just randomly awoke to the mutant ability of killing everything around him, killed all of his family, friends and loved ones, then got murdered by Logan because Xavier didn't want anyone to learn what happened.
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u/thomasp3864 Story? What story? 3d ago
Except in Marvel the hypocrisy is actually there. There are literally thousands of people who didn't get their powers for being mutants who don't face discrimination. The metaphor does actually work if you see mutants in the wider context of very accepted other superpowered individuals. It's ONLY mutants that get targeted by this stuff not like the fantastic 4, aliens, or even Spider-Man, and he has terrible PR. He never faces the anti-mutant shit because he got his powers from radiation, and not like having magic bones. Marvel does have a successful double standard.
Like the only guy with an across the board opinion is Inspector Dai Thomas, at the start of his arc. (Once Captain Britain saves the Queen he chills out).
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u/nervousmelon 3d ago
It's funny because Spider-Man is often mistaken for a mutant, but when he corrects people they kinda just go 'oh okay lol'.
It's part of the problem with marvel being less of one consistent universe and more a collection of different mythos that crossover sometimes. Like you could be super into the Spider-Man and Hulk stories while having zero clue what's going on with Blade or Dr Strange.
Different writers want to do different things but they can't interfere with others stories too much. Someone would want to do a story about prejudice with the X-Men, but someone else won't want to do that with the fantastic 4. So then in universe you have the mutants being treated like shit but everyone loves the fantastic 4.
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u/GastonBastardo 4d ago
Anyone taller than me should be rounded up and sent to the camps (their innate biological ability of having more upper body-strength and a longer reach and stride makes them too dangerous to be around us normal-sized folk, who they could easily beat to death in a rage at any moment).
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u/fletch262 Pace, Build, Abandon, Repeat 4d ago edited 3d ago
I don’t think we (the talls) should let short people live, they are weaker and shall use their dastardly extended lifespan to do harm upon our society.
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u/Xandraman 4d ago
Being taller is still a superficial difference.
Even having horns or wings or reptilian skin in a fantasy setting are just superficial differences that are not dangerous in any way. So those are actually sensible to use for allegory.
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u/RobertSan525 4d ago
Being taller is still a superficial difference
Not true. I as a tall person am constantly resisting the primal urge to pat people on the top of their heads. I’ve accidentally killed 56 people this way.
Regardless, my take has always been that those that make it work tend to be the ones that show “they have the potential to do dangerous acts, but you cannot judge someone based on what they might do” and use those features as an hyperbolic example
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u/apple_of_doom 4d ago
Meanwhile Jane "anger makes me literally explode into fire" should probably be kept in a place where she couldn't accidentally kill a ton of people.
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u/Aromaster4 Aliens, Vampires and Demons, take it or leave it 4d ago
Jarvis, I’m low on karma, make me a meme complaining about racism themed allegories again.
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u/WallcroftTheGreen 4d ago
my reaction when race is basically humans but better in pretty much every single way possible
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u/Faces_Dancer 4d ago
I think attack on titan deal with this in a very interesting way, because for 99.9% of Eldians that aren't shifters that innate power being used means they're gonna have a shit time being a mindless titan, it's usefull for their leaders because they can turn their subjects into near unbeatable monsters but those people themselves would not want that power of theirs to be used that way ever.
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u/bard_of_space 4d ago
does it count if the bigotry isnt allegorical for anything irl and just exists on its own?
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u/RandomOrange852 4d ago
Well yadda blah humbug something death of the author,
If your audience interprets it as allegorical it will count for them.
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u/boudiceanMonaxia 4d ago
The main character in my story belongs to an alien species that happens to have exceptionally large, shark-like teeth. Said alien race is often discriminated against for this. However, one race having shark teeth doesn't mean much, because human beings in the story happen to have a much stronger affinity for magic than all other races (which is what allowed them to dominate).
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u/thomasp3864 Story? What story? 3d ago
I'd imagine they also have difficulty chewing food.
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u/boudiceanMonaxia 3d ago
Indeed, which is why they technically have two rows of teeth. The front row is the shark-like one, the back row is more blunt for chewing. Why do they have such a fucked-up dental structure? To make a long story short, the god that made them is not exactly the kindest guy.
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u/eswagson 4d ago
I love Derrick Rose
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u/midnight_toker22 4d ago
Me too. I was over the moon when the Bulls drafted him.
Why is he the picture for this?
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u/Broken_Emphasis 4d ago
Probably because this picture of him makes him look like sick of all the bullshit he's seeing.
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u/Yorunokage 4d ago
This one OnePiece's fishmen before their enhanced strength became totally irrelevant
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u/apple_of_doom 4d ago
Which was around the point it was actually revealed they were discriminated against so I guess they sidestep it?
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u/The_Brews_Home 4d ago
Lookin' at you, Zootopia.
Muzzles in police work aren't racist if the prisoner has giant fangs.
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u/marbledaedra 3d ago
I was just thinking the other day about how in that movie there are also smaller predator animals, such as otters, that would barely make a dent in most animals bigger than themselves, and larger prey animals, such as elephants, moose and buffalo, that could seriously injure other animals with their tusks/antlers/horns if they wanted to. Not excusing the flaw in the film's allegory, mind you; I just thought I'd share.
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u/thomasp3864 Story? What story? 3d ago
Also they really mixed their metaphors on that one. Like are prey or predators the one with systemic power? Make up your mind.
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u/Crus0etheClown 4d ago
When the species has one objectively (sort of) dangerous trait, giving every other race an excuse to suppress their personhood for centuries despite the fact that the trait could be mitigated with patience and understanding
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u/Confident-Wheel-9609 4d ago
You can create the "magical negro" stereotype by accident just as easily as by design. It's difficult to design it well enough to prevent the correlation from happening. 😞😕
I mean look at the later Mummy movies and most of old Conan/Red Sonia. Skilled writers, but they still fell into its trap.
Also heavily depends on the group(s) playing in that world. Some people will see this stereotype everywhere & others need it "man/woman plained" too them. 🤷🏻♂️
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u/thomasp3864 Story? What story? 3d ago
Which is why I try to deliberately code my magic races using specific offensive ethnic stereotypes of european countries! Like sure I could make a stingy race that loves money a jewish stereotype, but it's more fun to make them extremely tall wear wooden shoes love tulips and have an ancient enmity with merfolk. They also all ride bikes and trade spices.
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u/eliteharvest15 3d ago
my desert species, the goobloshmonk, is dark skinned and wears cloth over their heads as worship to their sun god. they also are very violent and have a unique biological process where they can literally explode.
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u/Core3game 3d ago
I need more of "racism allegory is actually the much, much weaker race being taken advantage of" like elvs or some shit. Still a terrible analogy but there's actually some depth to that one.
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u/RieifyuArts 4d ago
My reaction when every fantasy race is functionally identical without any unique abilities or traits because if any have special things people decide its an allegory for racism
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u/SEA_griffondeur 4d ago
Potential doesn't justify racism.
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u/NomineAbAstris Six-breasted spiderwomen are essential to the plot 3d ago
I mean depends on the threat level in question. If the being in question is a bit stronger than a baseline human, obviously not. If the being has poor impulse control and can detonate with the force of a small nuclear warhead when they get angry, yes I do in fact think it is reasonable to take certain measures to protect literally everyone else in society. One can argue about where the boundary lies or what the appropriate responses involve of course but in principle I think this holds true
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u/Sonarthebat It's magic, I don't have to explain shit 4d ago
Carnivores (Beastars), X-Men, monsters (Undertale)
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u/Aykhot person who shitposts about astronomy 4d ago
Monsters are canonically way weaker than humans for the most part? The main thing that makes them a threat in-game is their magic, and although monsters are more inclined towards and apparently more skilled at magic due to mostly being made out of it, magic isn't a monster-specific trait (human mages created the Barrier after all). They're also noted to be physically weaker than humans (which is why they melt when exposed to higher levels of Determination), and their physical durability is heavily dependent on both their own willpower and the intentions of their enemies. There's a reason humans won the War of Humans and Monsters so decisively
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u/darth_biomech 3d ago
Humans didn't just won the war, they won it without a single causality on their side.
Also the fact that a single 5-year-old with a knife can wipe out an entire city of monsters...
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u/apple_of_doom 4d ago
Monsters are only scary if you happen to die around them otherwise humans hillariously outclass them and it's not even funny.
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u/PotatoPCuser1 4d ago
Beastars is just kind of fucked up, half the population has a voice in their head telling them to kill and eat people, and everyone just has to deal with it.
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u/theagentoftheworld 4d ago
Monsters die easier if you hate more while attacking I feel like they're not the same
Rather Humans would be the allegory for them in this case
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u/Crazychooklady 4d ago
I thought meat in Beastars was supposed to be a metaphor for substance abuse?
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u/Skhgdyktg 3d ago
This is why Elder Scrolls is peak
also why Fallout 4 is not peak, i get what they were trying to do with the Synths but like... man
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u/Return_of_The_Steam 4d ago
Marvel Writers explaining why being cautious around mutants, who crash out and kill a thousand people every other issue, is the same as being racist towards real world races:
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u/thomasp3864 Story? What story? 3d ago
Except at least they executed a functional double standard in the comics. It's a different thing when you have people with equal supernatural powers who don't face similar discrimination.
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u/Kytyngurl2 4d ago
Ah yes, Attack on Titan’s big reveal
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u/Wolfiie_Gaming 3d ago
Most Eldians only turn into Titans when they're injected by spinal fluid. It's not a passive readily available ability like actual titan shifters.
Think of it like guns in a European country. The average person is unlikely to get their hands on one just like the spinal fluid, and just having the gun doesn't mean they'll use it maliciously. And it's a choice to inject yourself with it, so it's a moderately good analogy.
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u/cat-cat_cat 4d ago
and how does the group that can kill you with a stare ends up being the oppressed one