I'm genuinely glad this ended on a more chill vibe.
I could absolutely be political and stuff, my own politics or the politics in fiction.
But I won't so I'll say, I just think, when its done well, the increased identities that get to canonically be in mainstream fiction is absolutely lovely and no amount of cynical corporate trash changes that. I do feel its ultimately a plus to fiction, more stories to tell, add more variety and feel more like a reflection of the world. Not the be all end all, and a lot of my favorite characters are in fact cishet but I get that and more nowadays, and I'm happy for that. That's it, that's my entire thought on this.
I know it's not a popular film because of its poor CGI, but I thought Black Panther did a rather good job of tackling racial division in modern times. I loved Chadwick's speech to his ancestors especially, calling out their sins of abandoning their own people. I thought it was a powerful speech that was delivered by one of our finest actors of this generation. The film is one of those examples I'm talking about when it comes to talking about such important sociology issues without hammering us with them.
But there's just something I want to clarify so that people could see where my point of view is coming from. See, I'm Chinese, right? And I grew up on American films, and all I saw was white heroes on-screen. But I guess for some reason, I never really thought about feeling left out and not looking like Brendan Fraser or Keanu Reeves just because I'm Chinese, probably because I never saw them as walking skin colors, but merely as people. I didn't really see them as white, black, or whatever, and I guess that naïve thinking that there's no racial distinction in the kind of person you can be (a hero, cowboy, or a villain even) stuck with me for a long time. And then of course, that thinking got influenced when we hit the 2010s, when people started telling me that I should feel proud that Chinese have played heroes on-screen now, but such a supposedly revolutionary move merely elicited a shrug from me. Even when they represented "Singaporeans" (poorly, I might add) in Crazy Rich Asians, it didn't really matter all that much to me who grew up on American media, not Singaporean.
As an example, I liked Brendan Fraser; I wouldn't want a Chinese O'Connell in The Mummy. That doesn't make a lot of sense because it was supposed to be an American cowboy type of character in a cheesy mummy flick paying homage to classic American adventure stories when Chinese heroes weren't exactly around yet in American media. It's the equivalent of making Mulan white or black even. And you know, even if Hollywood goes out to put out a Chinese hero, which they did at Marvel, even if the movie looked good, I wouldn't really watch the movie because of said representation.
And don't misunderstand me. I think if people want representations in their heroes, that's perfectly fine, I have no arguments about what other people want. In fact, I think it's a good thing sometimes, because it can be a powerful force for people who were stuck playing the pink ranger because they're a girl. It's ridiculous, and I am glad on some level that such stereotypes (including the nerdy Chinese who's a math expert) have largely been abandoned to make way for kids to feel like they aren't catalogued into untrue cliches. That's the positive side of the progressive movement, certainly.
But I think what I'm trying to say is that, while I wouldn't want blatantly racist stereotypes in my movies that misportrayed my race/gender, I'm not really going out of my way to see every starring role played by a Chinese cis male either. There's this lack of desire to see my exact specific race or even gender in movies, because I could easily imagine myself being a woman or a white man anyway. Most of the time that I play video games with gender selection, guess whom I'm playing? A woman most of the time, and I'm straight. I loved Femshep in Mass Effect, and I found most female protagonist portrayal in video games more interesting than their male counterparts too, probably because I had a history of watching strong women like Ellen Ripley and Sarah Connor on film.
tl;dr: That's why representation doesn't really have the impact on me as it (understandably) does on other people.
@Kermit1 Honestly...Yeah, a lot of fast food does start to taste more or less the same if you eat it a lot. I found eating a lot of food you prepare at home works wonders, too. You'd be surprised how many additives are in a lot of commercial products out there....
@MarioLover92 Hm, interesting. I'll start trying that, thanks! I was generally holding the A button down between the 2 and 1 count; I knew doing it too early is what causes backfiring, but apparently I wait too long most of the time. Also, in a tweet I believe you linked somewhere awhile back....How on EARTH did you do that floating trick without summoning Lakitu?! XD
I'm still mildly salty I never landed that Zelda edition 3DS, though better things rolled along eventually. The original 3DS units had a great design overall, but I do agree that the glossy coat drove me a little crazy thanks to fingerprint and dust magnetism. Not to mention the bottom screen border caused marks to appear on the upper screen. Red is up there for me in colors, but I'm the most partial to blue.
@WoomyNNYes Much appreciated on the advice! I think I'll also try watching the light, see which method is more helpful for me.
@Kermit1
I used to carry that to school. I hate the cap. It's kinda troublesome, the way the cap part of the cover kinda rotates around to your face when you open up the bottle to drink. I would prefer a bottle where the cap is actually attached to the back and stays at the back when you open it up, not swirl around needlessly.
Maxenmus
Switch Friend Code: SW-7926-2339-9775 | My Nintendo: Flare
@Kermit1 I gravitated away from soda a few years ago, around 2017 or so. Not that I haven't had any since, but it's very rare when I do have it (more often than not mixed with something). I don't crave it at all. Most of what I drink is water, but I fit some milk, green/herbal teas, and some occasional black coffee in there too. I'm not a huge coffee drinker, but I won't deny that it gives me a well-needed kick in the rear some mornings. XD
@Tyranexx
The kick is not worth it IMO, and it tastes like tobacco. I only get very temporary buzzes when I have a cup. Sometimes it even have the opposite effect of making me sleep (possibly because my body has become immune to the caffeine over the years of dosage).
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