Racist environmentalist FAIL on TV Tropes.
I enjoy browsing through TV Tropes, a little too much. However, seeing this added under the Real Life examples of the "Elves Versus Dwarves" section just reminded me not to rely on it too much:
"Oh, Asia and Europe. Asians (Yellow people) take the role of the Elves, being the more spiritually and philosophically focused people who possess martial arts (they even made fighting an art) and live in pristine environments and homes which can harmonize with nature, while Europeans are obviously the Dwarves, with their castles, fortresses, muskets, advanced (but not elegant) tech, Steampunk and powerful industry. Nowadays it seems the Dwarves won, as evidenced with Communist China."
BAAAAAHHHH...I don't even know where to start criticizing. Calling Asians "yellow people" aside, this troper seems to have gotten all his/her knowledge of the East from Avatar: The Last Airbender or something.
FYI, the Chinese, if I may engage in a little Cultural Posturing, may well have invented modern capitalism. China had commercialized agriculture, incredible amounts of cast iron production, a monetary system and nearly an industrial revolution in the freakin' 1000-1500 AD period. Not to mention, the presentation of Europeans by this troper isn't exactly realistic either, even for its Enlightenment age (the Romantic movement, Thoreau, Rousseau et al anybody?).
It may seem strange that someone preaching the Politically Correct Thing To Say can be so racist, but it can happen.
Maybe I shouldn't get so worked up over this one example, because I've seen worse stuff on TV Tropes. Specifically, a few people who have, in the Troper Tales pages, wished for the extinction of the human race. Seriously, it seems. The fact that real people can be Omnicidal Maniacs who want to Kill All Humans is really disturbing to me too, but for some reason the above quote hit me a little too personally. Probably because I'm Chinese and know first-hand that we are all much more complex, in both good and bad ways, than that stereotypical Harmony With Nature thing.
These wiki sites, to which anyone can contribute, have a lot of potential for good. But at the same time, there's going to be garbage. However, like the presence of a lot of "rubbish" literature in a society with the freedom to publish anything you want, whatever one's definition of "rubbish" is, I guess that's the price you have to pay for the good stuff at least having a chance.
"Oh, Asia and Europe. Asians (Yellow people) take the role of the Elves, being the more spiritually and philosophically focused people who possess martial arts (they even made fighting an art) and live in pristine environments and homes which can harmonize with nature, while Europeans are obviously the Dwarves, with their castles, fortresses, muskets, advanced (but not elegant) tech, Steampunk and powerful industry. Nowadays it seems the Dwarves won, as evidenced with Communist China."
BAAAAAHHHH...I don't even know where to start criticizing. Calling Asians "yellow people" aside, this troper seems to have gotten all his/her knowledge of the East from Avatar: The Last Airbender or something.
FYI, the Chinese, if I may engage in a little Cultural Posturing, may well have invented modern capitalism. China had commercialized agriculture, incredible amounts of cast iron production, a monetary system and nearly an industrial revolution in the freakin' 1000-1500 AD period. Not to mention, the presentation of Europeans by this troper isn't exactly realistic either, even for its Enlightenment age (the Romantic movement, Thoreau, Rousseau et al anybody?).
It may seem strange that someone preaching the Politically Correct Thing To Say can be so racist, but it can happen.
Maybe I shouldn't get so worked up over this one example, because I've seen worse stuff on TV Tropes. Specifically, a few people who have, in the Troper Tales pages, wished for the extinction of the human race. Seriously, it seems. The fact that real people can be Omnicidal Maniacs who want to Kill All Humans is really disturbing to me too, but for some reason the above quote hit me a little too personally. Probably because I'm Chinese and know first-hand that we are all much more complex, in both good and bad ways, than that stereotypical Harmony With Nature thing.
These wiki sites, to which anyone can contribute, have a lot of potential for good. But at the same time, there's going to be garbage. However, like the presence of a lot of "rubbish" literature in a society with the freedom to publish anything you want, whatever one's definition of "rubbish" is, I guess that's the price you have to pay for the good stuff at least having a chance.