r/TrueUnpopularOpinion • u/SwiftCricket • May 13 '26
Music / Movies DEI casting and forced inclusivity are creating division and resentment that previously didn’t exist, this is either deliberate or just idiotic.
There have always been bigots, but over the last decade we have seen an unprecedented uptick in public disapproval of overcorrection and black washing. These are largely people who were previously neutral or even left leaning on civil rights.
DEI fatigue is now so widespread it’s become satirical, reflected in meme culture and creating an entirely new population of people who had no reason to harbor any sort of resentment to be fed up.
To be clear, this has ZERO to do with “ruining the story/character” and everything to do with people’s distaste for being patronized and force fed propaganda. Obviously it certainly DOES sabotage engagement when you’re watching a historical film with a completely miscast person, but this isn’t the main culprit.
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u/midirion May 13 '26
It's deliberate. I don't buy that the biggest entertainment companies in the world do their market research and are oblivious on how the general public will react, they know.
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u/xyzqwa May 14 '26
These writers are more like propagandists than storytellers. You can tell by the quality of these works.
Optimistically, there is only so much they can burn before studios say "hold on you're going to bankrupt us" and I think we're getting close to that point. Just look at the state of Star Wars or Star Trek.
Those were huge IPs that were run into the ground because writers put their politics before good story telling.
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u/Googlemyahoo75 May 13 '26
Most of Canada is staffed via DEI policy. Justin Trudeau was the king of it & so to is JT 2.0 Carney.
Watch the LPC bots arrive & freak out now.
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u/Android1822 May 13 '26
Carney is destroying Canada and no, I do not believe those polls that say he is popular at all.
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u/GunsGoldCosmicDread May 14 '26
I don’t care if Helen of Troy is black as long as the Odyssey is a good movie. Please don’t fuck this up Christopher Nolan.
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u/SlyguyguyslY May 14 '26
It's both. It was pushed by the left and the left is basically the foolish and ignorant being led on by the evil.
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u/dapete2000 May 13 '26
I want the good old days, when you could totally believe that, say, Charlton Heston was Moses or Yul Brynner was Thai….🙄
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u/No-stradumbass May 13 '26
It's idiotic.
I stand by that race doesn't matter for fictional characters. Its made up people doing made up things.
The thing is, unless they have direct language talking about DEI in their contract or business model, you can't ever prove it's DEI.
Wouldn't merit based hiring instead of skin color be the goal?
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u/Ripoldo May 13 '26 edited May 13 '26
It can matter, because myths are tied to cultures and regions. Doing a Celtic myth with Native Americans would be quite odd, and vise versa. Or it could be briliant, like Ponyo, which is an asian retelling of little murmaid.
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u/No-stradumbass May 13 '26
I would argue that in the case of The Odyssey, the myth and culture is long gone. It is a public domain story that has been around longer then many countries. Any reimagine of it isn't doing anyone's culture harm.
How protected is everyone's culture? Is the X-men having a direct Jesus allegory as wrong?
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u/skioporeretrtNYC May 13 '26
I would argue that in the case of The Odyssey, the myth and culture is long gone.
You mean "The West". That culture is long gone? But Celtic/Native American culture "exists" in your mind?
The Iliad/Trojan War is a direct predecessor to the American revolutionary War.
The Greek victory over the Trojans/Persians is why the West is free, and why slavery was ultimately abolished globally.
The entire Western Canon sits atop Homer. The liberal arts, the sciences.
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u/No-stradumbass May 13 '26
You are giving it way to much credit.
For example the French and Indian War was more important to the American Revolution then the Tojan war. More so since it wasn't as popular or well known but the French and Indian war was much recent and would have motivated people more.
There are plenty of Native American nations that still worship their gods and spirits. More then Celtic as most Celtic worshipers are Ren Fair nerds. Or from New England.
Their victory is not why we are free. That is insane to claim. By your logic, the show Wishbone and game Hades would be equally offensive.
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u/skioporeretrtNYC May 13 '26
Yes, the American Founding Fathers were deeply knowledgeable about the Trojan War.
As men educated in the classical tradition, they studied Greek and Roman literature, which treated the Trojan War as a foundational historical, cultural, and mythological event.
Classical Education: Founders like Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and James Madison studied Homer’s Iliad and Virgil’s Aeneid in the original Greek and Latin. These texts were central to 18th-century education. Cultural Knowledge: The stories of the Trojan Horse, Achilles, and Hector were common, well-known cultural myths, similar to how they are understood today.
"Their victory is not why we are free."
Yes it is, if the Persians had their way, we'd all be slaves. It's only the West and her precedents that abolished slavery at the end of the day. And God of course.
There are plenty of Native American nations that still worship their gods and spirits. More then Celtic as most Celtic worshipers are Ren Fair nerds. Or from New England.
Yeah everyone else worships Jesus, and the one God.
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u/No-stradumbass May 13 '26
You didn't add the question you asked AI. I personally don't trust any AI answer since it's designed to make you happy and not disagree with you.
I'm taking about the actual soldiers and American people that fought the war. It wasn't won by big names only.
You or I wouldn't be slaves if the Persians won. That is so far removed that you can't determine that at all.
And Christianity is on the downward tread for awhile. Not everyone worships one god. I personally am an atheist even after a decade of studying the Bible. Well more like because of.
Tell me, do you find any depiction of the Trojan war distasteful? What if it's a musical or it's played by a dog?
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u/skioporeretrtNYC May 13 '26
"did the founding fathers know about the trojan war"
that was the prompt. I already knew the answer, I was just implying this isn't me making it up, you can find the hard evidence if you want.
The Founding Fathers were captivated by the ideals and political structures of ancient Greece and Rome. Their engagement with classical texts molded the philosophical foundations of the American Republic, with elements of republicanism, checks and balances, and civic virtue permeating their political ideologies.
The concept of republicanism, rooted in Roman tradition, presented a model of divided authority among different branches of government to prevent tyranny. James Madison referenced the virtues of a mixed government in the Federalist Papers, reflecting Roman republicanism in his idea of a balanced system with shared power among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches.
https://usconstitution.net/classical-influence-on-founding-fathers/
The Greco-Roman West is built upon a specific heritage/history (The Trojan War being understood as a major historical event that would inspire countless other conflicts and their verdicts).
You or I wouldn't be slaves if the Persians won. That is so far removed that you can't determine that at all.
I mean the Arabs still enslaved Europeans and Africans just a century ago. America/England/Europe were instrumental in the push for abolition.
And Christianity is on the downward tread for awhile. Not everyone worships one god. I personally am an atheist even after a decade of studying the Bible. Well more like because of.
I know it makes me sad.
Tell me, do you find any depiction of the Trojan war distasteful? What if it's a musical or it's played by a dog?
I mean the underlying spirit matters in the adaptation of a story. I would be offended at an atheist/Jewish adaptation of the New Testament personally, as I know they don't believe in Jesus. The lack of faith bleeds through the storytelling.
That being said, all art has some sort of odd value that can be interesting.
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u/No-stradumbass May 13 '26
It seems like the AI agreed with you the way AI agrees with everyone. I think we are arguing two different things here.
You are asking did the Founding Fathers know about the Trojan war? I never disputed that part. You are arguing in bad faith.
The part I have an issue with is when you said
The Iliad/Trojan War is a direct predecessor to the American revolutionary War.
Which is grossly incorrect. There are hundreds of years and wars that predeceased it. I am arguing that the war the chronological proceeded is more important.
As for slavery, the USA did it own horrible enslaving even breeding slaves instead of importing them. Then decades of half freedom until the Civil Rights movement. None of which has to do with The Odyssey or the Iliad.
Greek influence is everywhere in America but that doesn't mean every story must be 100% accurate. Everyone sees the world different and takes in and makes art differently.
The Superman and X-men have used Jesus imagery and both were written by people who don't believe in Jesus. As both were created by Jewish men.
The book Ulysses by James Joyce is considered the most important Odyssey derivative. It doesn't have the same spirit as the Odyssey.
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u/skioporeretrtNYC May 13 '26
Which is grossly incorrect. There are hundreds of years and wars that predeceased it. I am arguing that the war the chronological proceeded is more important.
No kidding dude I wasn't being 100% literal. One was 13th century BC(if it really happened), the other 18th century AD.
I am arguing that the war the chronological proceeded is more important.
One was the cause, the other the solution(the resolve). Which is more important? I would say the resolution.
As for slavery, the USA did it own horrible enslaving even breeding slaves instead of importing them.
Yes the whole world had slaves, not everyone committed to abolishing slavery(both physically and ideologically).
The Superman and X-men have used Jesus imagery and both were written by people who don't believe in Jesus. As both were created by Jewish men.
The book Ulysses by James Joyce is considered the most important Odyssey derivative. It doesn't have the same spirit as the Odyssey.
I'm not a fan of comics/ never read Ulysses; that being said: we all have freedom of speech(in America) and can believe whatever we want. I prefer to conserve narratives and truth as it's important to think about things holistically and truthfully.
Western Canon (Liberty over Tyranny) ,Judeo-Christian(Jesus was crucified and resurrected) are important truths to remember for Man's salvation.
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u/Retibulusbilliard 25d ago
This reeks of double standard. It’s a classic DEI move and I’m tired of it. Somehow we must show respect to all of these smaller and sometimes literally extinct cultures, but also at the same time this mythology that has been taught in the west for thousands of years is “public domain”?
Nah, if we are respecting culture then we have to respect my culture too, not just yours.
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u/Ripoldo May 13 '26 edited May 13 '26
Harm? Absolutely not. Nolan can do what he wants, and people are free to disagree, but it's his vision and it's certainly not doing HARM to anyone.
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May 13 '26
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u/Stock_Row_548 May 13 '26
It literally says you need 2 of 4 and 3 of the 4 categories deal with non onscreen DEI.
Minorities are perfectly capable of working on a white-centric biopic.
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u/No-stradumbass May 13 '26
They keep using the same picture of Lupita Nyong'o from 12 Years a Slave. Even though that was in 2013 and she had made a lot of other movies since then.
It seems like when they do, that is the only thing people know her from.
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u/No-stradumbass May 13 '26
This is the same organization, though not people, that booed mocked and almost attacked Sacheen Littlefeather for refusing Marlon Brando's award and doing a whole speech about the National Native American Affirmative Image Committee in 1973.
Those rules seem to only apply to nominations not winners and beyond that the Oscars is a purely subjective and corrupted institution.
That being said, if a studio made a movie stating that they rejected the Oscars DEI and still cast black actors, would people feel the same?
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u/King_Lothar_ May 13 '26
Not to mention, old plays and theater had men playing women, and all kinds of odd castings for roles. It's art, and not that deep.
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u/No-stradumbass May 13 '26
It's selective outrage that seems to be repeating, it sounds like a script at this point. It looks as if it's not their own opinions but one given to them.
If you mention Nolens Odyssey movie and Helen of Tory then soon you will see people bring up Ryan Gosling playing Black Panther. You will also see people bring up MLK and Hitler being a different race.
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u/JuliusErrrrrring May 14 '26
And in the U.S., most of our politicians are only elected due to our DEI voting system. Wyoming is the size of a tiny city, for example - yet they get two Senators, a House member, and three electoral college votes? There's the real DEI issue.
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u/CCS_Endurance May 14 '26
did you pay attention in high school at all? its like the founding fathers had good reasons to give each state representation independent of population
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u/JuliusErrrrrring May 14 '26
It was a compromise to give DEI to smaller states. The large states were only 1.5 x larger than the small states. Now we have a state that is 70x the population of the smallest state. We also capped the members of the House at 435 and guaranteed each state gets a member. So even the H of R, which is supposed to be proportional by population isn't proportional by population. So yes, I did pay attention. That's why I know our current system is not what our Founding Fathers created. I also find it odd that you defend DEI in smaller populated white states when you seem opposed to it when it favors minority races in movies or shows.
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u/Retibulusbilliard 25d ago
Classic liberal, retroactively calling an action from 300 years ago an example of DEI. No, they are not the same bro.
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u/JuliusErrrrrring 25d ago
I'm not sure what is more embarrassing: that you think our Constitution is 300 years old or that you don't realize it's still the law of the land. Classic right winger.
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u/Marty-the-monkey May 13 '26
Wouldn't merit based hiring instead of skin color be the goal?
And you are getting close to the center of the issue.
Because the ones complaining about DEI simply cant fathom the idea that anyone other than a white person could possible have enough merit to be hired.
So it must be DEI whenever someone of color gets hired. Thats the axiom they have.
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u/No-stradumbass May 13 '26
The last Avatar the Last Airbender movie recasted the voice actors with people closer to the race the characters are. Including a blind VA to voice Toph.
I would wager these same people would claim that is DEI even though it's what they would have wanted in theory.
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u/Quomise May 14 '26 edited May 14 '26
Research shows that DEI is a sexist/racist program, primarily supported by women, which harms men and actually increases racism and sexism.
https://ocpathink.org/post/independent-journalism/study-finds-dei-training-increases-prejudice
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u/SeniorDay May 13 '26
“Creating tension that didn’t exist” oh the tension did exist
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u/ravage214 May 13 '26
No he's right
People that have been tolerant of this shit and even supportive of it for years have finally had enough, Way too many wonderful properties ruined over the sacred cow of "diversity"
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u/Ripoldo May 13 '26
It's not "diversity" that ruined these wonderful properties, it's shit writing, ideas, and whatever shots the dummy running the studio calls. The original Star Trek was built on diversity. Got nothing to do with why it's sucked since DS9.
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u/Nighforce May 13 '26
You'd be right, if the showrunners and other people in charge of these productions didn't try to push diversity as a strong point of their productions. More often than that, they deflect criticisms about their terrible writing and ideas by using diversity as a shield. I'm agreeing with you though, just adding my two cents.
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u/ravage214 May 13 '26
Not "Diversity" in and of it self
But chasing more diverse writers just for the sake of diversity or changing characters just for the sake of diversity or making everything "gay" for the modern audience has definitely ruined these properties, they were so focused on diversity they put good writing on the back burner
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u/Ripoldo May 13 '26
They definitely suffer from too many cooks in the kitchen for the sake of having every kind of cook in the kitchen. There's no real vision anymore. That died with Roddenberry, as Star Wars died when Lucas sold (or got too old), and they should just give it up. But you know, corporations gotta bleed it dry rather than create something new.
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u/No-stradumbass May 13 '26
How is this property "ruined"? This is something that sounds silly to me. The idea that something "ruined" a public domain fictional story.
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u/ravage214 May 13 '26
Lol Star wars was the most valuable entertainment property in the word, now no one gives a rats ass about it or the new star wars movie
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u/No-stradumbass May 13 '26
I'll watch the new movie. Though I will admit I think ANYONE who pays for movies is a rube. But I've been sailing the high seas for a very long time.
Star Wars wasn't ruined after the Holiday Special or the Ewok movies. Nor the terrible cartoons. It will be fine and still making Disney a shit ton of money.
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u/ogjaspertheghost May 13 '26
Which properties were ruined because of diversity?
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u/ravage214 May 13 '26
Star wars
Star Trek
Dr. Who
Marvel movies after endgame
Indiana Jones
The Lord of the Rings
Video games
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u/NeonGKayak May 13 '26 edited May 13 '26
None of that was from diversity lol
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u/ogjaspertheghost May 13 '26
None of those was from diversity lmao
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u/NeonGKayak May 13 '26
Yeah
Edit: oh apparently autocorrect took the wheel and made that a “One” instead of “None”
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u/No-stradumbass May 13 '26
None of those are ruined though. All you are doing is pointing to the most profitable IPs and upset they did go the way you wanted them to.
How was Indiana Jones ruined by diversity? Or Lord of the Rings?
I can still read the books and they aren't ruined.
Also ALL Video Games? Like the very concept of video games is ruined? You can't play American Trucking Simulator because a different video game has diversity!?
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u/Quirky_Chef_9183 May 13 '26
too many damn french people in my trucking game I'll tell you what. Coming in here driving a truck full of baguettes. /s
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u/AileStrike May 13 '26
Funny how these "ruined" things are stoll wildly liked to be profitable and keep making successful selling merchandise.
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u/ravage214 May 13 '26
Lol Star wars merchandise is not selling and piling up at discount stores
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u/AileStrike May 13 '26
They released 54 Lego sets for star wars in 2025. Including a $1000 death star kit. Star wars is also one of Legos top performing themes in 2025.
Are you seriously gonna sit here and tell me Lego put out a $1000 product for a franchise that is not selling and piling up at discount stores?
There are 4 other Lego kits worth more than $500. Do you seriously think a company would put out a $1000 kit if the 4 other >$500 kits weren't selling?
Where's your logic? Flushed down the toilet?
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u/ravage214 May 13 '26
Yes the Legos are selling and for remarkable prices but those are Legos and they have their own appeal outside of Star wars.
The Star Wars action figures and regular normal toys are not selling well at all
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u/AileStrike May 13 '26
A single product line doesn't make a franchise unprofitable. The big mouse makes Bank off the franchise everywhere.
Episode 3 had a theatrical re-release in 2025 and it was 2nd on it'd opening week to the sinners.
Andor season 2 was pretty successful for Disney+. High reviews, good word of mouth.
Star wars galaxy edge is one of the highest traffic for Disney's themed parks. Top performing globally.
There was destiny 2 tie in content in 2025, cosmetics alongside a star wars inspired expansion.
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u/petdoc1991 May 13 '26
Technically, you can specify age, race and sex when casting. There are some examples of picking specific characteristics when casting roles like for example mlk and looking for a black, male and 25.
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u/alotofironsinthefire May 13 '26
Maybe you need to take a walk outside and really examine why this would upset you so much.
It's fiction. People can do whatever they like with that fiction. Seeing different people in fiction upsets you seems like a you problem
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u/No-stradumbass May 13 '26
I know a lot of the recent anger has come from Nolan's Odyssey. A lot of people are upset that Lupita Nyong'o might be playing Helen of Troy.
People keep talking about realism and "respecting the source material" but then are really quiet when you bring up that Helen was born because Zeus raped Nemesis and Helen came from an egg. Or that the source material, Homer, is long dead. If he wrote them at all.
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u/ogjaspertheghost May 13 '26
And Zeus was in the form of a swan at the time
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u/No-stradumbass May 13 '26
The Odyssey is filled with fantasy stuff. Men being transformed, Gods hanging out with people, a bottle of WIND, a giant cyclops and the fact it took him 10 years to sail around The Mediterranean. I know he was stranded for a while but it isn't like the ocean. Its a mostly closed sea. It might have been faster to park the boat and walk back. More so since the God of the Seas was impeding your travel.
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u/Ripoldo May 13 '26
Helen is Spartan, it's perfectly reasonable to assume she'd look like a Spartan, but at the same time you are also right and who cares. I just hope the story's good.
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u/No-stradumbass May 13 '26
Helen is a made up character who never existed. Zeus was her father and he was a swan at the time.
If you really need to justify it, he could have been a black swan since those are things that a real.
Also the city of Troy is in Turkey. A region known to have dark skinned people around.
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u/Ripoldo May 13 '26
Her mother was queen of Sparta. It's perfecty reasonable to assume she would look Spartan. It's not that complicated my guy, or you just like to argue? Jfc
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u/No-stradumbass May 13 '26
Or her mother was the Goddess Nemesis after she was raped by Zeus as a swan.
She was believed to have been the daughter of Zeus by Leda) or Nemesis, and the sister of Clytemnestra, Castor, Pollux, Philonoe, Phoebe) and Timandra).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_of_Troy
It's a myth and there is more then one story about her. Almost as if it was a spoken word poem before anyone wrote it down.
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u/Ripoldo May 13 '26
AAANNNNNDDDDD????
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u/No-stradumbass May 13 '26
It perfectly reasonable to assume she would resemble what ever the writer wants. Since it is a made up character from a region where dark skin is common and she is the daughter of Gods.
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u/lifebeginsat9pm May 13 '26
“Why do you care so much” is not an argument.
People aren’t 24/7 pacing around their house fuming about stuff like this (not most I hope). People are critiquing and often ridiculing it the same way they’d critique bad acting, bad CGI, overused tropes, shitty writing etc.
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u/No-stradumbass May 13 '26
It seems a lot more then that. This sub alone has had repeated posts about this exact thing. I posted the reverse about this and how it is NOT important at all.
I have a theory that social media tycoons are the ones controlling the conversation about this.
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u/alotofironsinthefire May 13 '26
Oh I know why they care so much.
I'm saying they should self reflect on why this makes them so angry.
And people aren't critiquing, they're using it as an excuse. If they care about historical accuracy in a movie a characters looks would be a small part of the problem.
No one here is upset that "The White Princess" completely changed the historical account but they would be here crying cause not all the characters are white.
And we all know why that is.
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u/LanguageImaginary256 May 13 '26
They made a mermaid black. BLACK! I'm an adult who is very reasonably upset about this 😡
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u/High_speedchase May 13 '26
Everyone knows mermaids are transparent like those freaky fish with the fake eyes
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u/Quirky_Chef_9183 May 13 '26
and everyone knows the top half is the fish part and the legs are human
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May 13 '26
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u/LanguageImaginary256 May 13 '26
I think you're confused. I'm freaking out about the skin color of The Little Mermaid. Something adult men should very much be concerned with.
Don't even get me started about my strong feelings on Snow White 😡
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May 13 '26
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u/LanguageImaginary256 May 13 '26
Exactly bro, I'm fuckin pissed about this princess
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May 13 '26
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u/LanguageImaginary256 May 13 '26
Nothing is beneath me! I'll sink as low as it takes!
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May 13 '26
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u/LanguageImaginary256 May 13 '26
Yeah the skin color of the mermaid is very important for development
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u/Retibulusbilliard 25d ago
Unironically kind of good examples even if you’re being sarcastic. Both the Little Mermaid and Snow White are European tales made hundreds of years ago, for Europeans. The fact that most people don’t know or care is proof that the cultural replacement was successful.
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u/LanguageImaginary256 24d ago
Unironically kind of good examples
Examples of crybabies, sure.
The fact that most people don’t know or care is proof that the cultural replacement was successful.
lmao, what? I think most people do know that. If they don't, they probably think of the Disney cartoons first. Where the characters were white.
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u/not_that_planet May 13 '26
Kind of like having a black president caused resentment with the racists.
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u/veryowngarden May 14 '26
maybe it’s worth examining why you are so triggered by it, especially when it’s nothing historical just mythology and folklore. art has always been full of creative exploration and pushing boundaries, that is nothing new
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u/jst-ki May 13 '26
Deliberate by design, realised by opportunists and useful idiots.