This weekly roundup thread is intended for all culture war posts. 'Culture war' is vaguely defined, but it basically means controversial issues that fall along set tribal lines. Arguments over culture war issues generate a lot of heat and little light, and few deeply entrenched people ever change their minds. This thread is for voicing opinions and analyzing the state of the discussion while trying to optimize for light over heat.
Optimistically, we think that engaging with people you disagree with is worth your time, and so is being nice! Pessimistically, there are many dynamics that can lead discussions on Culture War topics to become unproductive. There's a human tendency to divide along tribal lines, praising your ingroup and vilifying your outgroup - and if you think you find it easy to criticize your ingroup, then it may be that your outgroup is not who you think it is. Extremists with opposing positions can feed off each other, highlighting each other's worst points to justify their own angry rhetoric, which becomes in turn a new example of bad behavior for the other side to highlight.
We would like to avoid these negative dynamics. Accordingly, we ask that you do not use this thread for waging the Culture War. Examples of waging the Culture War:
-
Shaming.
-
Attempting to 'build consensus' or enforce ideological conformity.
-
Making sweeping generalizations to vilify a group you dislike.
-
Recruiting for a cause.
-
Posting links that could be summarized as 'Boo outgroup!' Basically, if your content is 'Can you believe what Those People did this week?' then you should either refrain from posting, or do some very patient work to contextualize and/or steel-man the relevant viewpoint.
In general, you should argue to understand, not to win. This thread is not territory to be claimed by one group or another; indeed, the aim is to have many different viewpoints represented here. Thus, we also ask that you follow some guidelines:
-
Speak plainly. Avoid sarcasm and mockery. When disagreeing with someone, state your objections explicitly.
-
Be as precise and charitable as you can. Don't paraphrase unflatteringly.
-
Don't imply that someone said something they did not say, even if you think it follows from what they said.
-
Write like everyone is reading and you want them to be included in the discussion.
On an ad hoc basis, the mods will try to compile a list of the best posts/comments from the previous week, posted in Quality Contribution threads and archived at /r/TheThread. You may nominate a comment for this list by clicking on 'report' at the bottom of the post and typing 'Actually a quality contribution' as the report reason.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
I am disheartened by all this. Not because I disagree, but because I had really hoped my fears wouldn't be realized.
I am an embarrassingly full-on movie buff, and I have two young sons so I do a lot of casual watching of old favorites by way of indoctrinating them into my tastes, though it's true they have pushed movies on me that I wouldn't have chosen but I enjoyed (the MCU for example). And in watching WandaVision--finally--a month or so ago when I was quarantined, I had a frustrating feeling that the show really shoehorned subliminal and wholly unnecessary messages in, when it was otherwise brilliant. No white male was allowed any leadership role based on goodness, wisdom, or strength. It's to the point where if you do see a white male in a main role you can assume he will become an antagonist to one or all of the female leads (exactly what occurred).
The one exception was the character Vision, played with disarming non-campiness by Paul Bettany, who was nevertheless at best second fiddle to Wanda, though I could accept that based on the premise of the show.
Just a mild rant. But I can't see this going anywhere good. Building confidence in viewers or positive self-esteem or whatever they're calling it these days A)should not be the domain or primary role of film/TV; 2) is not a zero-sum proposition where one sex/race must be degraded to "build up" or empower the others, and D) has a fanbase that will, if time is any teacher, eventually turn on the concept viciously, leaving a lot of works parodied and reviled instead of held as beloved classics.
More options
Context Copy link