Mammal @ Mammal @lemmy.world

Just an average mammal doing average mammal things.

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2 yr. ago

I don't think Republicans particularly care for ranked choice either - as it is a far better gauge of popular opinion than the first past the post. However, the Democratic party is the first bulwark against actual reforms in the American system. It's not surprising they are being borderline racist in their opposition to it.

Advocating for glbtq rights does not endanger the main power structure. Advocating for people suffering from chronic illness would require fundamental changes to how healthcare is distributed, and thus directly affect the bottom line of some very powerful interests.

Suburban homeowners who find Trump to rude to vote for in the primary.

Hello @Saneless I hope this reply finds you well.

Should make something clear: @DrMango asked "Can someone please tell me what makes the Barbie Movie woke". I'm just doing my best to give a reasonably-neutral answer. I don't necessarily agree with the attitude. (Although, I think I can appreciate it better than most who aren't RWers.)

Also: I should have added bullet point #5:

**5. All the above are applied to established IP with existing cultural resonance. ** I regret I didn't include it in the above list since it's key to understanding the objections to 'wokeness' ... but in my defense, this is a Lemmy thread - how much time should anyone put into anything on a minor Lemmy thread? ;-)

With that out of the way:

1 what’s gratuitous? More than 12% of the cast? A ratio that normally makes you clutch your pearls at the store?

It's not a percentage ... it's when a character is cast based on virtue-signaling rather than what makes sense for the story or original IP. For example: A story set in Kamakura period, Japan shouldn't have Native Americans in the back-ground drinking steins of beer. A character who is described in a book as a middle-aged British Victorian butler shouldn't be a 20-something, lesbian, black woman.

2 happens in every male action movie ever made but it’s men being awesome.

Yes, there are examples of male characters being awesome out-of-the-gate. But I would submit that the ones that resonate are the ones that had to grow. These resonating characters & stories are what Hollywood studios are re-working in the laziest way possible. (One quick example: Skywalker had to grow into his role, Rey automatically understands everything.) It just seems that every new movie based on an established IP has to make the Strong Female Character good at anything.

4 happens for movies with men, constantly.

We're talking about what makes something woke. Weak character and story arcs are a staple of wokeness, but not the only one.

You list Ripley but how is that different? If alien was made in 2019 you’d be saying the same shit

I disagree. Ripley, for the movies time, was an original character. Moreover: She made mistakes, grew as a person, and had a decent arc.

To wrap this up: 'Woke' is a synonym for lazy writing when applied to established IP - especially when pointing out the laziness opens one to accusations of misogyny.

Cheers!

Heh.

Yes. There's that.

And, at the same time, it's also true that Hollywood has taken established IPs, re-written them in an incredibly lazy way, and then turned around and accused people who criticize the laziness as being assholes for pointing it out.

Haven't seen the movie, but I'm planning to. I'm sure it's fine. That said, as neutrally as I can I'll try to define characteristics of a 'woke' movie.

If said in bad-faith, 'woke' means: "Something I don't like because ... women. Amirite." (aka: A dog-whistle)

If said in good-faith 'woke' describes a way to write female characters in the laziest way possible. Some of the good-faith criticisms of wokeness:

1. Gratuitous use of minority characters that have nothing to do with the plot, and perhaps don't even make sense.
2. Female protagonists start the movie being fairly competent at, well, everything. The main thing holding them back is a lack of belief in themselves.
3. Men, even the ones supporting the protagonist, are generally portrayed as incompetent, ignorant, and biased. They age poorly, and have nothing to teach except to highlight how awesome the female character is. (See point #2)
4. A weak story arc. Viewers are expected to appreciate the Strong Female Character as she realizes she's awesome just the way she is, no real arc happens.
5. ON EDIT: All the above are applied to movies based on established IP with existing cultural resonance. Original work is rarely criticized as 'woke'. (Wish I had remembered to include this in the first place, rather than an after-the-fact ON EDIT.)

There are other points I could bring up, but these are some of the basics. One can have a fun 'woke' movie, one can have a crap non-woke movie.

And just so that I don't get accused of being some closet misogynist, I'm going to provide two female characters that I consider 'woke, and two that are not so that a comparison can be made to illustrate above points:

Woke:

Galadriel - from Amazon's 'Rings of Power'

Rey - from Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Well written female characters:

Vi - from Arcane

Ripley - from Alien

I can't speak to whether this is a good movie or not, as I haven't seen it yet. What I can notice is that the 'Barbie' IP appeals to a broad demographic, and every woman I know is planning on seeing this soon.

Strongly suspect Barbie movie's success is due to good marketing, not alleged 'wokeness'.

Happy to help moderate NCD.

Like you, I'm not particularly interested in being a moderator I just want to see one of my favorite Reddit subs transition to lemmy. So I'm willing to put in some time to help out make that happen.

Once y'all have enough moderators I can back out if necessary.

I've moderated the subreddits so I know enough about how to do it.

Hunter is a rich, attractive, Chad with a huge shlong who spends his time doing drugs and banging women.

Yeah ... I can understand why Republicans have such a crush on him.

Nothing really replaced it as a call-out, which sucks.

There are lots of words one can use: "Wanker", "Idiot", "Dumb-ass".

Used to use the word 'retarded' to describe people doing dumb things. Then I realized that not only was it hurtful to people with Down Syndrome - it was inaccurate ... as a person with Down Syndrome would not do the things I was attributing to the phrase.