• SLVRDRGN@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    But magic doesn’t have any grounding or association with the world as we know it. Neither does aliens. We can only use the world as we know it as a frame of reference for a story.

    I’d argue in lbaudia’s example that it is confusing if in 12th century Mongolia, there was some Nordic guy walking around, I’d imagine there to be a backstory of some kind. If there wasn’t, then that would definitely be an example where I’d be annoyed at white people in fiction.

    I thought a great example of casting was the TV show “The Expanse”. To be able to cast someone as specific as Bobbie Draper so well - these studios have no excuse to whitewash as they do except laziness.

    • androogee (they/she)@midwest.social
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      2 months ago

      People made these exact same arguments about the inclusion of a black samurai in an Assassin’s Creed game.

      A black samurai who was based on a real person who actually existed in history.

      The game they’re playing is very obvious to anyone who’s actually paying an ounce of attention, and it has nothing to do with caring about historical accuracy.

      It’s bullshit. It’s an excuse. It’s foolish. I do not suffer it gladly.

      • SLVRDRGN@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Yes, and I loved that they wrote the black samurai character into that game to tell that story! I don’t get your point?

        • androogee (they/she)@midwest.social
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          2 months ago

          That you are, whether intentionally or unintentionally, toying around with white supremacist propaganda narratives.

          That’s my point.

          Narratives created to influence your mind and radicalize you.

          No one is immune to these influences. Beware.

      • Ibaudia@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Assassin’s creed is purely fictional and has very little basis in reality, so no, people do not make the exact same argument about Assassin’s creed, because my argument necessarily excludes it as I have said already lol. Besides, Yaskue was a real person. It’s not even historically inaccurate and his origin is explained.

        Good example, in Castlevania Nocturne they introduce a bunch of multi-ethnic characters and give them all backstories as to how they ended up in 19th century France. I think that’s awesome, and I love to see the thought and effort being put in there. I don’t want these characters to be white, I want them to have a story.

    • Cethin@lemmy.zip
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      2 months ago

      I’d argue that magic does have grounding in our world. Sure, we understand today (at leady most of us) that it isn’t real. For most of our history people have believed magic was real though, and attributed real events to magic. We have the word because it has a long history of people thinking it exists. If a story wanted to use “magic” to explain events, that’d be pretty realistic to the times it’s taking place in.