mogwaimon
Magister
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2017
- Messages
- 1,079
I think the problem most people have with certain agendas being pushed in media nowadays isn't that the agendas themselves are being pushed at all; we expect works of fiction to have themes and dilemmas which may have analogues with reality even if we don't necessarily agree with what is written. That's fine in and of itself. The issue is that, more often than not, the writers exploring these avenues in modern times often do so with all the subtlety and nuance of a man with a hammer running down the street bashing in the heads of everyone he encounters. Like the infamous Siege of Dragonspear NPC, for instance. If there were a gender-fluid guy running around and acting like a regular person who just so happens to prefer drinking a potion of gender change +1 every so often, I don't think many people would have had an issue with it. We've all seen much odder character concepts being explored. But they had the NPC act like a mouthpiece and shove his genderfluidity in your face as if to say, 'Look at me! I exist! This is the most important thing about me, aren't I special!?' and that was it. It was a character that solely existed to push an agenda, and wherever you fall in terms of your opinion on said agenda, characters that have no narrative purpose beyond that ultimately make for a weaker story and in some cases actively hurt it.
Yes, and I hate that stuff too. When I see moments like that... the "female power!" moment in Avengers 4 for example, or every man in Outer Worlds being a retard held up by the women around him... I roll my eyes massively. If Cyberpunk has moments like that, I will join you in mocking them, but we don't know if it will yet. Standard diversity PR in the year 2020 and hiring some women doesn't prove shit either way, and people sound like whiny cunts when they cry about it over and over. You cannot deny there are many who want all this stuff purged from their games, and are just as bad as the "SJWs" they hate when it comes to rejecting and whining about anyone who disagrees with them. It's like the goth kids in high school who screamed about the evils of conformity constantly and then made sure they all dressed the same and listened to the same music. I don't like whiny bitches and sheep on either side.
You're not wrong, but there is a significant and constant bias in media nowadays towards one particular ideology and for those creators who don't show support or 'worse', produce material that is 'offensive' for not using the proper pronouns, it can be a career-ending or life-destroying move. It's no surprise that people are frustrated when they're constantly being reminded of an ideology that is in their face 24/7 at the best of times and being rammed down their throat at the worst of times, especially in mediums that are primarily focused on entertainment and escapism. Of course, yes, there are some who just have an ax to grind as well and just want certain subgroups eliminated altogether, but that doesn't change the fact that 'standard diversity PR' and 'hiring some women' are sadly harbingers of decline, so perhaps people are right to be concerned based on previous trends.
That is not to say that I believe women are unfit for the workplace or something of that nature, but there have been quite a few projects that have precipitated a marked decline in writing quality with 'we've hired some women writers in the name of equal representation', such as when Marvel hired a bunch of webcomic writers/tumblrites who happened to be women for certain comics or when Rick and Morty shat the bed in season 3 after acquiring more 'diverse representation'. Not to mention the recent Ghostbusters/The Last Jedi debacles. That's naturally what happens when you hire based on gender/skin color/family instead of merit, but what can you do? There are amazing women writers out there and there will only be more of them now that society is the way it is, but they clearly aren't the ones being hired for these projects.