the do not watch list
This story was recently posted to spn_j2_bigbang.
I could talk about how this particular setting personally affects and infuriates me. Or I could lay out the reasons why this should offend and infuriate any other human being. Instead, here's a brief list (in no particular order) of films (and one novel) that are entrenched in the same demeaning, diminishing, disgusting, ugly tradition that the premise of this fic participates in, in one way or another.
Heart of Darkness
The Last Samurai
Dances With Wolves
Kingdom of Heaven
The Darjeeling Limited
Dangerous Minds
Sex and the City 2
Avatar
ETA:
Robin McKinley's The Blue Sword
The Secret Life of Bees
Gone With The Wind
Lawrence of Arabia
That's off the top of my head. PoC-majority countries and cultures, particularly their massive tragedies, do not exist so that authors can use them as an ~exotic backdrop~ for their heroic white main characters. I don't give a crap how well-written that fic is. I don't give a crap what her intent was. The end product is something that is actively complicit in the same sort of offensive narrative as are present the stories above.
And now to go practice some deep breathing exercises.
I could talk about how this particular setting personally affects and infuriates me. Or I could lay out the reasons why this should offend and infuriate any other human being. Instead, here's a brief list (in no particular order) of films (and one novel) that are entrenched in the same demeaning, diminishing, disgusting, ugly tradition that the premise of this fic participates in, in one way or another.
Heart of Darkness
The Last Samurai
Dances With Wolves
Kingdom of Heaven
The Darjeeling Limited
Dangerous Minds
Sex and the City 2
Avatar
ETA:
Robin McKinley's The Blue Sword
The Secret Life of Bees
Gone With The Wind
Lawrence of Arabia
That's off the top of my head. PoC-majority countries and cultures, particularly their massive tragedies, do not exist so that authors can use them as an ~exotic backdrop~ for their heroic white main characters. I don't give a crap how well-written that fic is. I don't give a crap what her intent was. The end product is something that is actively complicit in the same sort of offensive narrative as are present the stories above.
And now to go practice some deep breathing exercises.