I’m not demanding that anyone be outraged by any particular negative thing that happens in a fictional work, and I’m certainly not saying I’m outraged by everything. I’m not sure where you got either of those things from anything I said - it’s almost like you deliberately misread my argument so you could be…

The stories they tell us haven’t happened, but if those are the ways stories keep getting told, SURPRISE, the people coming up with those stories may have real views.

The way things appear in the park and what it means about the people in the real world is like half of what the show is about...

You are right and they are wrong. Fiction doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It reflects society. It’s why representation in mass media is so important. It is cultural indicator for larger acceptable values.

Basically, you seem to be saying that the content of art matters but should also be free from criticism, which is baffling.

So, art matters, but not its content?

Gosh. Did I trigger you? I’m so sorry.

Why wouldn’t it matter? Fiction matters. Art matters. The content of art matters. I can’t believe I have to explain this.

It was a joke, but the definition of “fiction” answers your question.

Actually, it’s more like people here are disingenuously pretending to think other people don’t make that distinction, when it’s so fucking obvious it shouldn’t have to be explained.

Do you understand the difference between “it’s legal to kill fictional characters because they’re not real and it isn’t murder” and “I think this book is shitty because of how the character died”? Because it seems like you’re having trouble with it.

Wait, you’re accusing the celebrity blog of being some sort of orthodox politically correct mouthpiece?

See, fictional characters exist in a fictional universe, where they have - stay with me here - fictional dignity which is relevant in-universe. Is this too complicated for you? Do I need to use smaller words?

Those things you thought you learned and were inspired by after reading books like To Kill a Mockingbird or Invisible Man or Black Boy or I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings or A Tree Grows in Brooklyn or Beloved or Remember the Stars or any other book that tackles issues of race and gender and religion? That was…

How are they not? The first linked article is entirely a criticism of fiction. That is all it is doing.

Anyone who has ever been inspired, educated, enlightened, enraptured, sorrowed, or enraged by a piece of fiction, take note:

The entire argument here falls back on you trying to convince me that what happens in fiction is not real. That is not an idea I’m disputing. I’m saying just because it’s not real doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter. How people are portrayed in fiction is often a reflection of how they are viewed in the real world. When…

Yes, thank you, I’m aware of what the word “fiction” means.

The Prestige TV Show Hot Take Economy is extremely bad and dumb, but so is arguing that the way that we talk about and depict our world in fiction is irrelevant and not worth talking about in general. Granted that many people do it in a way that is stupid and wearying - that doesn’t invalidate the broader principle…

Okay, cool. The treatment of women and minorities in fiction is not worth talking about and is never emblematic of larger issues in the real world. Art should never be scrutinized for what it might tell us about the world we live in.