Really the kicker about discussing colonialism intrinsic to certain fictional tropes/archetypes/genres/what-have-you is that white bitches et al get SO mad about it. "Ohh so I'm not allowed to play farming sims? Wearing a silly hat makes me a fascist now?" I was just exercising critical thought but yknow what? Just for you? Yeah it does
& it really speaks for... a certain way of thinking about how racism works, the way they'll jump to this dichotomy of Allowed vs Not Allowed. Cause that's not really how it works. If we actually wanted to simply #cancel everything with any sort of Historical Context or Unsavory Implications it'd never fucking end, due to the world that we live in. Good thing we're just telling you to think even a little bit about the ideas you engage with & this suggestion makes people Really Mad
It's that whole thing of, like, being more afraid of being labelled A Racist than really caring about minimizing harm. "Oohh this thing I like can't be racist because I'm Not Racist" no ❤
I sometimes think that this reaction is really about hierarchy.
Like: you talk about the need to be aware and think about this stuff and they immediately twist it into these questions of "allowed/not allowed", "racist/not racist"; they immediately turn it into an accusation and an accounting. Into a question of them being called to answer, and them believing that to be unfair. Into a situation where you have the power to make them explain themselves(where THEY are the put-upon underdogs and YOU the demanding tyrant), and isn't that so unfair?
