Believe it or not but Blackface wasn’t uniformly regarded as racist. Orson Welles played Othello. Was he knowingly doing something racist? He was knee deep in progressive causes on race. Even Al Jolson was seen to be an advocate of black music. He was praised in black owned media. The NAACP sent a rep to his funeral out of respect. So merely declaring your moral superiority to people from the long past is like really cheap. You risk nothing, and bask in your righteousness.
Depends on how it is framed. As stated in the video I do think societal racism and bigotry should be historically acknowledged, it's when it is leaned on as a deflection that I take issue
I think you've hit the nail on the head there, and I don't think Benjamin would disagree with this per say (I can't speak for him but from the vibe I got in the original video he was trying to be as critical as he can and was analysing intent more than execution but not being ignorant towards the execution of it) With the whole trans thing you mentioned, we already have some media that isn't exactly contemporary that tackles the subject poorly. The main example that comes to mind is the Futurama episode Bend-her. Idk what point I'm trying to make here but I know looking back on it it isn't good, like with stuff like The Savages and Red Dwarf VIII.
Well the thing about trans rights and why I wanted to touch on it is not only are there examples of trans representation being done poorly or problematically like you mention but trans people I'd say are in a similar position now to where we were with civil rights and gay rights 40/50 years ago in that there is institutional discrimination and being transphobic is still a commonly held "acceptable" belief, therefore it makes for a good comparison
Very interesting and insightful video!! /gen. I read and review a lot of books and also from other countries and time-periods. I hold the belief that while yes, time and culture absolutely has to do with why something was written the way it was, it's good to still point it out and why it's bad. I won't rate a book less bc the political views are different from mine, especially not when it's written by someone from East Asia in the 80's, but I also am not gonna say that it's a product of it's time/culture and that it's okay. I feel like (and agree with your points that) these two sentiments can co-exist Also, as one of your trans viewers, I stand in it the same way as I explained above. I do not want people to dismiss it, but I also do not want people to ignore or write off media because it was transphobic. Even the dark pages in our history books are important to get taught imo. However, saying it's a product of it's time is just.... it feels like the pain and suffering people endure today is acceptable, just bc we live now, which is an upsetting thought
Thanks, to ignore or just write off media and not acknowledge the historical/cultural context can be just as harmful as trying to soften it I'd say. It's important to examine the past critically so that we can learn from it
