[happytoexplain]

>political pandering instead of offering good quality entertainment

This, unfortunately, is the ultimate double-edged sword. It would be a very safe and content-less world indeed if fictional media did not in some what appear to address or include something political in nature. Usually when we feel like what we're watching is not political, it's actually because it's simply political in ways that we identify with or do not find offensive.

[throwaway_009]

It just bothers me that they try to include a few tropes in every movie or show without it fitting in the story properly. As I said, if they maintain the logical consistency and in the context of a good story I don't mind some political push. But if it is in every show/movie, it just becomes repulsive.

[colemickens]

I'm curious to understand what you're describing. Can you give an example of a Netflix show, the season and political trope, and how it detracted from the show's quality? And I'm definitely curious what you're imagining as you write out "repulsive".

[Vomzor]

Netflix has gone 'woke' in a lot of their (new) shows. A lot of shows feel very activist now. Entertainment shouldn't be stuffed with identity politics and other progressive nonsense which only caters to a small minority.[1]

Examples: The new show 'Mr Iglesias' where the main character is a history teacher. In one of the first scenes the history of the US is summed up as 'oppression and slavery'. Many jokes about white people that would be considered racist had they been about any other race. And a whole episode about how the word latino is offensive and it should be changed to latinx.

In the children sitcom 'No good Nick' a female chef ignores feedback from her employee by accusing him of 'mansplaining'. The daughter accuses the white dad of 'cultural approriation' when he suggests taco Tuesday for the restaurant. And that was only the first minutes of one episode.

There are many more examples. I'm getting tired of it and leaning towards canceling netflix. I'm European, I want entertainment, not crazy US politics.

[1] https://twitter.com/yascha_mounk/status/1050033177077665795

[fernandotakai]

> And a whole episode about how the word latino is offensive and it should be changed to latinx.

which is absolutely... absurd. latino comes from latin american languages, which are gendered by default. that's basically colonialism -- americans trying to apply their culture into other people's culture.

(sorry for the rant but i find infuriating that americans are trying to change MY language because of their sensitivities wrt gender)

[brighter2morrow]

>Examples: The new show 'Mr Iglesias' where the main character is a history teacher. In one of the first scenes the history of the US is summed up as 'oppression and slavery'. Many jokes about white people that would be considered racist had they been about any other race. And a whole episode about how the word latino is offensive and it should be changed to latinx.

>In the children sitcom 'No good Nick' a female chef ignores feedback from her employee by accusing him of 'mansplaining'. The daughter accuses the white dad of 'cultural approriation' when he suggests taco Tuesday for the restaurant. And that was only the first minutes of one episode.

These are great examples why I don't watch Netflix. Netflix especially is just TV by the political left and for the political left.

[gurumeditations]

That’s because the more radical writers are not really hired by the more establishment studios, so Netflix picks them up for cheap. My guess at least.

[rhegart]

Great- gay crossdresser from sex education is one of my favorite characters ever. Didn’t find it political at all and it just fit the story.

Bad- stranger things overly sexist men and the constant putting men down. Detracted from the show, annoying me.

Unbearable- Sabrina

[foldr]

Stranger Things is set in the eighties. It's not that much of a stretch to have a local newspaper run by men who don't take a 19 year old female intern very seriously. It also has an obvious function as a plot device, since it would be kinda boring if Nancy instantly figured it all out and succeeded in getting her story published.

[rhegart]

Agreed, but that was so unrealistic it was like a 19 year old far left activist’s dream of sexist white men, not reality or even exaggerated reality.

[foldr]

I don't see that at all. The sexist component, while definitely there, is quite subtle. Nancy is an intern, and most likely would not have been taken seriously if she were a man either. After all, she's young, has no reporting experience, is not employed as a journalist, and is telling an extremely implausible story.

Stranger Things is not a realistic show. Why should its depictions of the men at the newspaper have to be realistic in any case?

[ohithereyou]

> stranger things overly sexist men and the constant putting men down

Is this new to the third series? I haven't noticed it in the first two series after binging them over the last two days.

[rhegart]

Yup only 3rd season. First 2 were awesome.

[pok1poekpo12]

Good Example: Black Mirror episode where man has sex with his friend in Mortal Kombat. Is this really an interesting addition to the Black Mirror world? Accept gay people, alright, whatever; I still don't want to watch 2 people having VR chat sex.

[foldr]

If you're only objecting to gratuitous gay sex, that's just homophobia. And come on, gratuitous straight sexual content has been on TV for a long time.

[ohithereyou]

Forgive me if I'm missing something, but how did you get

>you're only objecting to gratuitous gay sex

from

>I still don't want to watch 2 people having VR chat sex

?

[foldr]

It's hard to explain otherwise why the poster would (i) choose that example, (ii) explicitly mention that it's a gay sex scene, and (iii) include a dismissive statement that's kind-of-but-not-quite in support of gay rights. A generic complaint about gratuitous sex scenes would make no sense in the context of this discussion. People are complaining about shows being overly woke, not overly sexual. The poster gives the relevant scene as an example of a "political trope".

[gtirloni]

I don't have any objections to gay sex scenes. But that chapter was kind of... meh? I didn't feel it pushed the edge in terms of futuristic issues that much.

You could be in a relationship over IRC in the 90's with a person of the same sex and not know that until you're too deep into it. The VR thing didn't add much to that narrative. The same way 3D movies don't add much (more often than not, they make the experience worse).

[colemickens]

And yet, I would (will?) likely be derided if I complained about every forced show of heterosexuality, in virtually every piece of media produced in the last many decades. I immediately think of the scene in the second Matrix movie, but that stuff is absolutely everywhere.

[TheCoelacanth]

> Accept gay people

That completely misses the point. The episode is about men not being able to connect with each other except through gaming.

[mcantelon]

If you something seems to have propaganda embedded in it then that really means it's not propaganda? Of course.

[brighter2morrow]

>Usually when we feel like what we're watching is not political, it's actually because it's simply political in ways that we identify with or do not find offensive.

I'd be interested to see a show that has nationalistic/right-wing assumptions. Any good examples?

[pessimizer]

Every military show or show about terrorists? The Six is a Seal Team 6 show. Anne Heche just had a show called The Brave that got cancelled. The Last Ship is military science fiction.

I admit that it's going to be very difficult to find an explicit white nationalist show, but military/terrorist paranoid-style shows are a dime a dozen.

[mcantelon]

SEAL Team Six is best known for a raid during the Obama administration. Modern progressives seem to have less of a problem with the military than old school leftists (and less of a focus, politically, on foreign policy) hence simple glorification of the military seem pretty centrist.

[__david__]

I would say 24 is an authoritarian wet dream. It's a show where torture is the preferred way to get information quick and it works 100% of the time.