Crikey
2yr ago
Armlegx218 said in their comment that LoTR was not naturally cast, which implies that there is something unnatural with Amazon's using black people for their show. What does that have to do with other people in this thread? It sounds pretty racist to me honestly and other people saying non-racist things in the same discussion doesn't change that.
Crikey
2yr ago
Amazon thinks I should care. They put out a zillion publicity puff pieces about how I and everyone else should care. They made this video to sell it to people about how they should care.
Why do you care that Amazon cares?
If my brother tries to piss me off by, like, wearing a blue shirt, why would that bother me? Casting black people doesn't bother me, so it doesn't bother me when Amazon casts black people even if they're trying to be twats while they do it.
It sounds like you have a lot of problems with the script and I agree they could have done a lot of things better. I get that and I agree that Disa is not a good character. Isn't that a problem with the script though? What does it have to do with the casting?
Like, basically, if you only have problems with thr script, that makes sense. If you think Amazon is trying to attack you I can understand being annoyed. But there's nothing wrong with using black actors so being annoyed that Amazon is doing it makes it seem a lot more racist.
Crikey
2yr ago
How is this uncharitable?
Someone said that black casting in LoTR is unnatural. How else am i supposed to disagree with it?
A lot of people are criticizing LoTR for casting black and minority actors while saying that Amazon only did this so they couldn't criticize the show at all. But then instead of attacking the show people are attacking the casting. Why does the casting matter if both sides say it doesn't matter?
I think calling the casting unnatural is racist and there's no other way to put it. That's my honest opinion. But I don't think anyone wants to explain what else they could mean, so now I'm the bad guy for pointing it out.
Crikey
2yr ago
Top Gun: Maverick pulled this off. Added in female, hispanic, black characters, didn't make it a big deal, made a fun movie, and people absolutely fucking loved it.
I think Top Gun proves my argument because nobody was distracted from the "authenticity" by minority and black casting. People say they're just bothered by LoTR being a bad show but they keep talking about the black actors. Nobody cared about it with Top Gun when Top Gun did exactly what people say they don't like by taking an existing franchise and including black people.
People keep saying that criticism of LoTR has nothing to do with diversity, but then they keep criticizing diversity.
Crikey
2yr ago
What if it was gradually becoming only acceptable to wear blue shirts? And if you make a comment about your brother wearing a blue shirt, saying that maybe it'd be nice if he wore a different color, then you'd be called out as a bigot? What if you really like wearing other color shirts, in addition to blue?
There are lots of movies out there that will cater to you if you don't want minorities in your movie.
Crikey
2yr ago
They're trying to cover up their blatant lack of quality with "if you criticise this show, it's because you're a racist".
I don't think you're racist if you criticize LoTR, but I think it's pretty racist if you care that Amazon hired black actors for this. If the show sucks why do you need to bring the black actors into this at all? Everybody is saying the black actors are there so you can't criticize the show, and instead of criticizing the show you're criticizing the black actors.
Galadriel is too much for me but that doesnt have anything to do with Amazon hiring black actors.
Crikey
2yr ago
If they wanted to just cast non-white actors, there a plenty of existing IPs that could be adapted to the screen which allow for this to be naturally cast.
I think you're saying black people in LoTR are not natural. What else are you trying to say? Tolkein didn't have a problem with black people.
Crikey
2yr ago
Even if Amazon is using diversity to "antagonize" you why does it bother you? If my brother wore a blue shirt to piss me off I wouldn't get pissed off, I'd think, "so what, there's nothing wrong with wearing a blue shirt." I'm not trying to dismiss you but I don't get why this is something you care about at all.
Crikey
2yr ago
Are people not allowed to wonder why certain changes were made, and how this might impact the quality?
Ok, but why does it matter to you? I'm not going to prevent you from caring or say you're not allowed to care. But I don't get why you care about race specifically. Criticize them for making a bad series, not for using some black actors.
Crikey
2yr ago
I don't quite think so. Another point that the woke audience comes to is "They clearly just thought that Halle Berry was the best person to play Ariel". And really, I think the answer to that is, no, they clearly prioritize diversity casting. She is black and they want to cast lots of black people because it scores them points with the woke crowd
So what's wrong with this anyways? If Amazon wants to cast more black / POC actors and actresses that's neutral if not good. I don't get the problem.
Crikey
2yr ago
Hans cheated online at chess.com when he was 12, and again when he was 17. He is now 19. The cheating two years ago was not in a competitive setting and was allegedly to increase his online rating to entice stream viewers. There has been no claim that he has cheated except in these two instances, and he has never cheated in a competition.
Gonna start using this example when kids ask about cheating. Cheating at 12 and 17 on chess.com seems pretty harmless but is coming back to haunt Hans now. Man, that's tough, but there are some things that follow you forever even if you were a stupid kid when you did them. Doesn't even matter if he actually cheated this time, people already think he's a cheater.
Crikey
2yr ago
Well it's not just about the standards to become a SEAL but the competitive culture. Hazing doesn't become less toxic even if everybody can meat SEAL standards.
Crikey
2yr ago
I think the frame of tribes is kind of weird?
Left-wingers dominate the technological sector
Ok, so if Amazon and Microsoft end up with the world's best AIs how does that help me as a left-winger? Does leftism move up the tech tree while conservatism stays in the stone ages? I don't think tech companies are part of my tribe even if their programmers agree with me on a political compass test.
I guess you're asking which tribe will support AI and which won't in elections. I don't think it will work like that. Which tribe supports factories and industry?
Crikey
2yr ago
US Military culture is pretty toxic in a lot of ways, but adding steroids isn't going to fix anything. Won't the standards get even higher to match the better performance they get from steroids? It's like if you invented cheap weight-loss pills and gave them to models. They won't stop idealizing anorexia, it'll just be even easier for them to push themselves to an unhealthy limit.
It was legal to fire people for being gay or trans just a few years ago. A lot of them are still scared about being discriminated against under some different name. Are you really sure that with how trans people are treated by society today that they shouldn't be worried about losing their jobs? Many of them don't even feel safe in public.
EDIT: Like, guys, it's not a contest. OP makes it sound like these social justice types are coming for your jobs and we're all power-hungry lunatics. But lots of conservatives are power-hungry too and lots of gay and trans people are scared about being fired.
Crikey
2yr ago
Hi all! I've noticed some of my comments aren't appearing when I'm logged out. Is this a bug?
Crikey
2yr ago
woke politics does sometimes act like this higher-dimension being which occupies minds and turns them towards the possession of power
Do you think that anti-woke politics doesn't "occupy minds" and "turn people toward the possession of power"? Which conservative figures do you think aren't looking to acquire power?
This country is divided and maybe it's time to recognize those divisions more openly. Maybe those who have been forced to keep mouths shut for fear of being attacked or losing jobs need to stand firm.
Like gay and trans people and minorities?
Crikey
2yr ago
Polygraphs are really unreliable, you can fail them pretty easily. Usually they take a baseline reading before asking the tough questions but sometimes even that doesn't work. Imagine how bad it would be if your friend was telling the truth and the polygraph said they were lying.
Is it possible you can get over this issue some other way? If this is really serious enough that you want a polygraph why are you trying to stay friends at all?
Crikey
2yr ago
If you live in a community that is 95%+ white, there are probably some deeper structural forces at play here. After all America is only 60% white. I don't think OP has a responsibility to just recruit more members of color, but there's might be some other reason why his community doesn't have very many minorities.
Crikey
2yr ago
So this is a pretty common misconception when it comes to trans (and queer) people. Body dysmorphia often comes with being trans but it doesn't always. Plenty of people are trans without having or wanting any surgery at all.
Having surgery and hormones isn't the only thing thay helps trans people. It's about being socially accepted. They want to feel like they are respected and people aren't attacking them for just being who they are. Hormones and surgery can help with this because it helps some trans people fit in with what's socially expected for their gender identity. It's a different kind of social pressure from the ones anexoric people face.
Crikey
2yr ago
You say you have 150 regular members and only 3 minorities? I'm really skeptical that your comminity is 98% white. You don't have a specific responsibility to make your church less white, but if there aren't many minorities at your church there might be some deeper underlying issues.
I'm not asking this out of any animosity towards any racial group; we would really just like for everyone to come to our church. I just find myself wondering why similar bodies, who didn't choose their racial composition at all, nevertheless come under criticism for that, and some don't.
Well, usually it's down to the history of racial bias. White churches have a history of excluding black people. I don't know if that's true for your church, but white organizations can't just say they're open to black people as if that undoes hundreds of years of discrimination.
People still listen to Ann Coulter or Sean Hannity. At least Krugman has a Nobel and mainstream respectability so it makes sense to assume he's smart if you aren't too familiar with him.
Imagine the stupidest ideas you could come up with, somebody will probably defend them. Isn't that what happened with Flat Earth? I don't think it's because people are stupid. But there's always that temptation to assume that you're smarter than everyone else because you can actually defend something no one else will. Imagine if you were among the only people who could see that the Emperor really does have clothes that look invisible to most people, after all.
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