Diversity and Representation in Media

Probably look up actual fashion trends in those countries, because in Japan there are tons of fashion subcultures.

Not usually blue though. Take it from me, an Asian person, that while those colors do exist it's usually some variant of blonde/red.

And wholesale dyed hairs are way more common than streaks.

Female characters with different hair colors is a pretty common trope regardless, mostly because of The Fashionista being Always Female. In Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Knives Chau dyed her hair because of her rivalry with Ramona, who regularly dyed her hair different colors. A similar trick was used in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, where Clementine's hair color is a visual cue as to when a flashback is taking place. I can't help but think the prevalence of You Gotta Have Blue Hair in anime also feeds that association with Asian women.

I dunno why they don't just have them dye their hair entirely if they have to have them dye their hair at all. Like, why can't we see one character with their hair fyed full blonde? Just for fashion's sake.

Because then it wouldn't be the stereotype.

Some of y'all seem to be under the impression that critics of the trend are upset about "Any female character with abnormal hair colors whatsoever". When the trend is actually a super-specific type of artificial hair coloration used to signify a super-specific type of character.

If you jumped into this conversation to defend the idea of a character with bright pink hair or an Asian character dyed blonde, I'd advise you to go back and read up on the actual context of the discussion.

Edited by TobiasDrake on Feb 16th 2020 at 9:39:28 AM

Some actors don't like to dye their hair and some directors are all "eh, close enough" - hence the hair streaks.

Now there are actors who dye their hair for roles, see Scarlett Johansen in the MCU.

Hair streaks were popular during the 2000's, but fell out of favor since ~2010-2011.

Some trends are just fucking weird, and when the system oppresses people, it means even weird trends can become omnipresent in such a way that is annoying or stressful (because oppression is highly stressful, to say the least) to folks part of the marginalized group.

Anecdotal, but I know three Asian girls who had blue streaks in their hair in their 20's.

Netflix is adapting The Babysitters Club. I don't know if it'll a family-friendly show aimed at the target demographic or an older aimed show aimed at fans who read it in its heyday. Whether the girls will be age lifted, and whether it's a Period Piece or Setting Update, is also up in the air.

Looking online, people expect Adaptational Diversity. I keep on seeing posts from people who want Kristy to be lesbian.

Edited by Pichu-kun on Feb 18th 2020 at 4:13:27 AM

It's been years since I thought about the Babysitter's Club. I remember reading and really liking the mystery books.

For anyone interested, is Ken from Street Fighter still three-quarters Japanese?

I believe so.

Ah, I ask mostly because live action adaptations still have him played by a white guy and I don't think this has been brought up in a Street Fighter game since 2.

His nationality is American, and I think he was meant to appeal to American audiences in a contrast to Ryu as a Japanese character - so I don't think it would be a stretch to say he's meant to be somewhat white-passing, but he is still mostly Japanese in lineage.

Ken being a Japanese-American was because when he first debuted in 1987, he had black eyebrows despite the blond hair and that stayed in future appearances. Supplementary material that never left Japan explained that Ken dyed his black hair to blond because he was being a delinquent while he parents were busy divorcing. After the dying, his father decided to have him sent to Japan to study under Gouken and ended up a surrogate brother to Gouken's adoptive son Ryu.

Edited by HallowHawk on Feb 19th 2020 at 7:22:55 PM

Dana Schwartz, the head writer for the upcoming She-Hulk show, has received death threats for criticizing South Park.

Geez, it's not even that extreme an opinion. South Park itself has been examining its own impact and attitude in its latest seasons.

Yeah her statement is honestly mild compared to other stuff I've seen, but if you're a woman with a negative opinion on something a lot of people (especially men) like, you're unfortunately going to get a lot of shit for it. It's a tale as old as time and only seems to be getting worse now that creators, critics and media figures are more accessible than ever before.

And honestly, I would go farther than the writer of the Mary Sue article and say that to an extent the worldview of its creators does match that ethos, or at least it used to. If you look up Stone and Parker's comments about the making of Team America, you can see espousing the exact same cynical "caring about social causes is dumb and preachy" arguments about why they hate the Hollywood actors they criticized in the movie, which is the exact attitude people criticize South Park for.

It honestly shows a big absence of self-awarenes IMO given that they said they weren't trying to definitely say America should be this way or that way (given that they view this as the difference between them and someone like Alec Baldwin), but that's pretty much exactly what they did. Not to mention this view in and of itself is just basically the tired old "liberal hollywood" spiel conversatives have been complaining about for decades.

Didn't they make an episode recently apologizing to Al Gore and saying he was right?

Edited by Draghinazzo on Feb 20th 2020 at 10:02:22 AM

Two, in fact.

Edited by Tuckerscreator on Feb 20th 2020 at 6:12:31 AM

I am going to honest. I do think Hollywood types need heavy satire as much as any other group does.

Edited by firewriter on Feb 20th 2020 at 9:21:31 AM

Team America: World Police really hasn't aged well on that front. It argues that "pussies" (representing liberals) are only "a piece of shit away from being assholes themselves", with "assholes" representing terrorists and dictators. While the film does criticize "dicks" (representing conservatives) for going to far, they film concludes by saying the "only thing that can fuck an asshole is a dick with some balls". It's a big joke, but it's basically the "wolves, sheep, and sheepdogs" viewpoint with a different analogy. While comedic, it is the climatic moment of the film and it's what ends up validating Team America's actions and ends up saving the day.

Also the actors are mocked by having their organization called the "Film Actors Guild". Again... a joke that hasn't really aged well.

Edited by chasemaddigan on Feb 20th 2020 at 12:28:44 PM

We've seen tons of actors and celebrities do that same thing where they have gotten cozy with dictators and such. In my opinion (as someone who is black), too many people in the black community (like Kapernick) have a good opinion of Castro and downplay his crimes against humanity.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2677957-colin-kaepernick-praises-fidel-castro-comments-on-support-of-malcolm-x

Not to mention the fact that Hollywood tries to curry with the CCP, so that their movies can be big hits in China. Ironic enough, the South Park creators were the only ones who had balls enough to call out CCP and their lack of human rights, while people try to suck up to it. (Looking at you NBA and Disney)

I think South Park satires how hypocritical Hollywood is on focusing on humanitarian issues.

Edited by firewriter on Feb 20th 2020 at 9:31:32 AM

I believe the point was, a lot of modern "satire" on Hollywood is thinly-veiled complaining about paying lip service to liberals an progressives, not because its hypocritical, but because they don't pay lip service to conservatives (only conservatives), and South Park kinda laid the groundwork for that with its bothsidesism.

Edited by PhysicalStamina on Feb 20th 2020 at 1:08:56 PM

The creative team behind Searching is doing a new movie, Run, which stars Kiera Allen and Sarah Paulson. According to here, it is the first studio movie starring a wheelchair user.

I really enjoyed Searching and I look forward to possibly seeing Allen in the future as Barbara Gordon. Here's another interview with her.

Edited by Tuckerscreator on Feb 21st 2020 at 8:02:51 AM

Looks cool, though it does make me wonder about the safety/HR arrangement for wheelchair users doing physically taxing/risky scenes.

'Onward' to introduce first openly LGBTQ character in Disney animated history.