I'm watching the newest Netflix show, Shadow and Bone. It's YA fantasy, based on books. I read most of them and I have an opinion on them. Basically, the author used to have some nice ideas, but then it all devolved into typical teen girl fare.
But what Netflix does is so typical of what happens with shows and movies now. The main character in the books goes through this long period of being a fish out of water. An orphan girl suddenly becoming a powerful person, living in the royal palace. Everyone is superficial and a total backstabber, they make fun of her. They have gone through the same kind of rigorous training through abuse, but nobody tells her, so she feels she is worse than them.
Then in time she finds her place, and it turns out everyone else also felt those things.
In the show everyone, except like one girl, automatically accepts and loves her, but then mean people are... RACIST, because she is half their world's equivalent of Asian in the show (she was 100% white in the books).
Why do these people always, always trade universally understandable human emotions for in-your-face, comical Muh Racism? It's not like she would have suffered any less if they went with everyone being a catty bitch to her.
It almost feels like the creators don't understand human beings have feelings other than oppression. Like you can be lonely even if you are not coloured. You can be an outsider without having the gays. You can have limited opportunities without having a vagina.
But that's too complex for them. Too much thinking.
I think it's simply because they don't want to or simply can't give their characters actual flaws. Antagonists can't have valid or even understandable reasons for not liking the protagonists, it has to be something they can't control or didn't do. So instead of a character being obnoxious and rude and gaining a rival, it's just "oh they don't like me because they are a bad person, I would never do anything to deserve anyone's dislike".
Basically their characters can never be disliked for any not automatically invalid reason, otherwise it might suggest they aren't wonderful perfect beings. And suggesting a character of "X" social group is not 100% good people is not acceptable.
And I'm sure there are healthy doses of incompetence and a lack of talent/passion bolstering these poor decisions.
It’s simply propaganda. Weak straw man characters that are created to reinforce preconceived ideas of the ghosts and ghouls in their head.
It has the added bonus of being able to easily sell to a pre determined market of people wanting to be told how enlightened and virtuous they are.
The White women who watch Lifetime movies DO NOT want to look at niggers.
Fact.
You hit the nail on the head.