This is such an odd thing to say…
Real
I genuinely confused on this comment? Like as a black person myself, what is the issue with a person of colour paired with a lighter skinned person. While I do agree that SOMETIMES there are stereotypes, I don’t see that much in well written stories and it also just makes no sense to type this under this manhwa anyways…
Dont let these fools gaslight you because you are 100% right. And it is fetishization. They fetishize brown skin and white skin tbh.
Yes but saying this here is just pointless, this manhwa is NOT doing that.
How is it odd? This story already has child marriage......and has hindu inspired deities but with arabic or mugal architecture, that already shows that no research has been done with respect to the two cultures. They've just created a blend for fun-sies, paying no respect to either. It is supposed to be historic and yet some characters wear more middle eastern clothing, whilst also dawning hindu elements, like bindi....
All of this is super on track with other similar manhwas that fetishize and exoticize the brown characters. Those other stories also show that the white character is more moral, civilized and sometimes describe the brown character as 'beastly' and have some made up condition that renders them temporarily like a beast or some shit. I'm just wary of this falling under the same category.
You mean the manhwa who combined hindu and Arab culture is not doing that ?????
This story isn't doing right by the culture it is adapting, it might not seem that deep to a person who is not from this culture. But, this feeds to the very real disrespect brown people face in real life. The culture keeps getting stolen and rebranded for outside audiance, it's just modern colonization. This story is already exoticizing it's characters by misrepresenting their culture.
there's an obvious pattern of stereotypical "orientalism" in literally all stories with this similar concept. it's the same as the type you'll find in european media as well, though it's not as popular now as it used to be ~200 years ago. they hide any inaccuracies by claiming it's "fantasy", but it looks identical to what people have done since forever :/
you are an idiot
No? If you’re really getting offended by a fictional bl manhwa then that’s just sad. How is the story misrepresenting their culture when it’s MOSTLY made up, even if it does tie in with some real life culture, this story is NOT meant to be a representation. Honestly just move on, I’m a person of colour so I very much understand when series don’t represent characters of specific cultures correctly but in the case of this series, I’m failing to see where the “stereotyping” and “debased ideologies” (as YOU said) is. You even said “this is not about this story in particular” so what are you even arguing abt atp…just switching up for no reason.
Is not doing what exactly? This story is not meant to represent real life cultures, nor is it doing anything offensive?
to further emphasize your point, european media has a history of misrepresenting certain cultures to justify colonization, such as the brits portraying south asians as backwards and uncivilized while profiting from THEIR textiles and fabric (while they were actively chastising the people who created it for wearing it). This issue still persists in the way south asian fashion is repackaged and sold without proper credit, while anti-south asian sentiment continues to rise.
It's sad to see that most people don't realise how this bleeds out into real life. media representation matters
:(
You might be a person of colour, but it isn't your culture that is being misrepresented. When I said it isn't about this story it perticular, I meant the pairing. And using fiction as a reason to excuse this is, extremely lousy. Especially, when there are people who ingraine these rhetorics and shape their beliefs about certain things or people.
Who exactly are you to say whether or not it is offensive? Just because you are a poc doesn't make you the spokesperson for all cultures.
Offensive to brown people*
I do see where you’re coming from and I think it’s quite an interesting. Although this story does lean more towards its own fantasy world, it’s also taking inspiration from different cultural elements while creating something that’s not really a direct representation of any culture. But, mixing elements from different cultures without research could feel superficial (?) or unbalanced.
I wonder how the author could have navigated this more carefully to avoid leading into stereotypes and the exoticism of the cultures? Would the plot change too, I wonder?
Regarding that first point, I KNOW, that’s why I’m saying I UNDERSTAND, but this manhwa ain’t doin nothing wrong
So why are you even reading what I’m saying lmfao? Move on. It’s just embarrassing for you…
Are you american by any chance?
This is not about this story in perticular, but it feels so odd to see so many stories with a person of colour being paired with a white person. Most of these stories fetishize brown culture and brown people....... Everytime I see a pairing like this, I just pray they aren't using common stereotypes and perpetuating debased ideologies of brown culture. I'm so sick of people saying it's not that deep. Why is it always with a white person too? Haven't we moved past the white saviour.
Anyway , I hope this is different..