friendly reminder that characters don’t need to be saints to be entertaining. and telling a story does not mean endorsement. art does not need to be all about morally good people.
IDK if this was meant as hyperbole but it’s literally true:
We are genuinely in a crisis of media literacy, with ever fewer genuinely factual resources available in the style and language used by contemporary audiences.
It may sound condescending, but we genuinely need to remind people, or worse, explain to them for the first time that art is not evidence of real world behaviour.
So, thank you, for this reminder. Genuinely.
You’re correct:
Art does not need to feature exclusively morally pure characters. Art is not proof of the creator’s secret, violent desires.
ETA; Yes, the links are US American; no your country is not immune to propaganda. Be POLITE in asking, and I will help you find the data for your own country as well.
*walking into the club with my date* *turns to them before we enter* tw flashing lights, tw loud, tw alcohol reference. *we enter the building*
Yes?
The way OP abstracted it makes it sound weird, but this is the normal, expected behavior.
Think about it: if you have a friend with photosensitive epilepsy or migraines, you generally warn them about flashing lights. Same goes for your friend in recovery with alcohol. Same goes for your friend with sensory processing issues with loudness. (In some of these cases it would happen as part of the planning process, not when you’re about to walk through the door.)
“Bunch of us are going to Sammy’s this weekend, do you want to come? Just so you know, people will be drinking.”
This is not weird.
“It’s going to be loud in here, you might want to put in your ear plugs”
This is not weird.
Content warnings are an accessibility feature. That most people already do in many daily situations. (“Just so you know, your ex is going to be there”, “Do you want to watch this movie with me, Just so you know it gets kinda heavy”)
This.
Just a handful of everyday statements:
“Hey, this next part of the movie has some pretty intense second-hand embarrassment. Do you want me to skip it?”
“Here, I’ll tell you when the flashing lights part of the episode is over.”
“The beef stew has alcohol in it, just so you know.”
“The curry is super spicy, so you might want to skip it “
“I’m about to vacuum, so you might want to head upstairs” (with the implied “This is going to stir up a lot of dust, which is an asthma trigger”)
It’s not really that hard not to be an asshole.
I regularly “check” restaurants for my sister for allergens and warn her if they’re prevalent.
She regularly watches movies/TV for me to see if it’s too scary.
We warn each other about things.
We invite our mom to go with us but always tell her where we’re going, so she can tell if we’re likely to be too boisterous for her.
I tell my niece if the song has swear words in it ahead of time.
I just thought this was normal? Healthy communication? It’s really not that hard.
