The "fictional characters don't have agency" complaint is insane to me. Centuries of literary theory and analysis thrown out the door because some zoomer had the mind-blowing revelation that it's fiction. Bizarrely, rather than use this knowledge to dismiss fiction altogether, as it's not real, they instead decided that characters are real enough to be victims who need to be championed. YOU can't say Bayonetta has a sexy, sassy personality that compels her to wear lingerie armor. After all, she's just some made up character! However, the zoomer can insist she's a woman (what's a woman?) who has been forced into that skimpy clothing by perverted game developers for the benefit of their depraved customers. To play Bayonetta is literally to partake in sexual slavery.
I’m probably not smart enough to fully express my theory on this or even to really fully form it, but I think something fundamental has broken in the human brain lately and it has to do with the barrier between reality and unreality, fact and fiction, etc. I can’t help but notice how the woke especially don’t really see a difference between getting minorities into real opportunities, vs. seeing them “represented” in fiction. If I wanted to change the world I’d focus on the real world and real people but they don’t see a difference really. Add to it the phenomenon you mention, about freaking out over nonexistent characters’ “agency.” Sane basic brain-break is behind the need for trigger warnings and is ultimately behind a lot of left-wing censorship generally.
The "fictional characters don't have agency" complaint is insane to me. Centuries of literary theory and analysis thrown out the door because some zoomer had the mind-blowing revelation that it's fiction. Bizarrely, rather than use this knowledge to dismiss fiction altogether, as it's not real, they instead decided that characters are real enough to be victims who need to be championed. YOU can't say Bayonetta has a sexy, sassy personality that compels her to wear lingerie armor. After all, she's just some made up character! However, the zoomer can insist she's a woman (what's a woman?) who has been forced into that skimpy clothing by perverted game developers for the benefit of their depraved customers. To play Bayonetta is literally to partake in sexual slavery.
I’m probably not smart enough to fully express my theory on this or even to really fully form it, but I think something fundamental has broken in the human brain lately and it has to do with the barrier between reality and unreality, fact and fiction, etc. I can’t help but notice how the woke especially don’t really see a difference between getting minorities into real opportunities, vs. seeing them “represented” in fiction. If I wanted to change the world I’d focus on the real world and real people but they don’t see a difference really. Add to it the phenomenon you mention, about freaking out over nonexistent characters’ “agency.” Sane basic brain-break is behind the need for trigger warnings and is ultimately behind a lot of left-wing censorship generally.