Comment by paimapi
2 days ago
sure, that's very much the 'just let people like things' argument where literal white supremacists can enjoy Rage Against the Machine in spite of the music literally being in total opposition of their ideology
everyone's free to enjoy media however they want, with whatever level of interpretation they like. I provided the BB references as short examples, they aren't meant to represent the definitive diagetic experience of the show. if you have a different view, great. if it was triggering for you to hear 'toxically masculine', also fine but... might be something worth self-examination on given that it's very much also a clinical and academic term [0] as much as it is one steeped in the artificially manufactured culture wars by people who don't want to change their anti-social behaviors
I would also say that understanding Scar as a villain is the sixth grade reading level understanding of the character. and you're free to stay at that level of understanding. someone who wants to engage more critically might map the character to Claudius, comparing and contrasting how they're characterized given the context of the audience for Disney and Shakespeare, and appreciate the character that way, as a standardized trope utilized throughout all other forms of media. they may even get a tattoo of Scar, symbolizing their dive into the analysis
my point is not that people should or shouldn't engage critically. it's that this practice of critical engagement, of being skeptical and analytical provides you with the skills to not be a total sucker who falls for the latest manufactured fad that someone with a strong theoretical understanding of semiotics and social capital created (ie most modern marketers). the pertinent example being how people engage with AI - seeing it either as a specialized tool with a set of flaws that need to be accounted for and checked against or as just some kind of authoritative voice because it sounds smart and so-called smart people like Elon are terrified of it and AGI. which, again, if you prefer the latter engagement all power to you but the chances of you taking some really bad advice forward is not negligible
[0] https://www.wi.edu/news-Shifting-the-Conversation-From-Toxic...
You're the live stereotype of that middle-of-bell-curve meme thing. Using thesaurus words is no longer impressive. And that academic world you refer to is a navel gazing self referential nothingburger.
It's like a jumbled up string. You pull on the two ends and it turns out to be just a loop, it resolves to a big null.
you can have whatever opinion you want of me, friend, but for your own good I hope you develop better ways of processing your feelings so that you're not so reactive when someone mildly disagrees with you
There's less consensus around what you're talking about that you imagine, which was my initial point. Smart people aren't just this academic bubble that you think it is. Not seeing such views made you develop this association of "smart" has to mean "interprets cultural products according to my political ideology". My reactive reaction was to point out that this isn't so.
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