My Pugtopia

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277k ratings

See, that’s what the app is perfect for.

Sounds perfect Wahhhh, I don’t wanna
jeffersonthemadhatter
clintonvevo

I don’t think The Good Place gets enough credit for the diversity of its cast. The main romantic lead is a black man from Senegal who is allowed to be as nerdy as he wants. In fact, his nerdiness is the saving grace of the main character. The character that is often considered to be the pinnacle of beauty on the show is a woman of Indian descent who is not super light skinned. Another character is a Filipino man who, while incredibly stupid, can be incredibly perceptive and offers loving emotional advice and is described as incredibly sexually-desirable. The all-knowing judge on the show, considered to be the most powerful character as of the season three finale, is a black woman. The main character is canonically sexually attracted to both men and women and (while it hasn’t been canonically confirmed yet) is probably at the very least bisexual, if not pansexual. She also regularly talks about how she loved to sleep around and is never slut-shamed for either her sexuality or her fondness for sex. And that’s just in the core cast. There’s also a black female neuroscientist who gets several episode long arcs in both season 3 and (about to be) season 4. Not to mention the supporting cast and guest characters feature several people of color, while the main villains are mostly old, white men.

And all of these characters are actual characters! Even the small parts where a side character may only be in an episode or two results in really developed and fleshed out characterizations. Also, the characterizations don’t fall into the trap of stereotypes to make them more likeable!!

But while all of this diversity is amazing, the show also manages to make it feel organic. There’s no tokenism or show-boating. It’s never a “look, the main love interest is a black man!!!!! We’re so woke!!!!!!!”. It’s genuine diversity built from a place of love and understanding and idk, I just think that the show deserves a lot of credit for taking such an amazing concept and using it to build such a diverse world with such in depth characters. It’s a nice change.

silver-tangent

Not to mention it’s a philosophical masterpiece that’s obviously written by philosophy and ethics enthusiasts, and has some deep philosophy jokes that you’ll only get after studying philosophy… which you’ll probably want to do after watching The Good Place.

And all of this stuff is mainly discussed by the aforementioned POC in the show.

There’s a female lead, sure, but instead of being the often annoying “white savior” the show flips that trope around (or throws it out I can’t decide which is more apt) and makes her into the audience surrogate. She’s the “white student” if you will, who is learning how to be a better person from a black man.

Go watch The Good Place dammit. It’s great, AND it’s a philosophical masterpiece.

sonneillonv

There are some very self-aware moments about their casting policies, but instead of being preachy, they’re hilarious.  Like this one: 

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princefawns
aronarchy

We also need to tell queer teens shit. Here’s a list. I’m tired

-you don’t need to lose ur virginity at whatever age

-you don’t need to date the only other queer kid in ur school

-queer people can b problematic. And abusive.

humunanunga

- people who are queer in one way can still be queerphobic in another way (ex: wlw TERFs)

- it's not cishets' place to decide the right way to express your queerness

- it's especially no one's place to decide what's too masculine or feminine for you

mayflowers07

- gender presentation does not equal gender identity. You can look however you want even if it doesn’t “match” your gender

- there will always be an asshole gatekeeping and telling you you’re not queer enough. They are an asshole and should be ignored

- pedophiles still exist in the queer community

- the only person who decides when/if you come out to your friends and family is you

princexraven

- people can be queer and still be queerphobic in THAT way. You internalize shit and that's gotta be worked on.

mockingmolly

- “Phases” are absolutely ok and are actually a natural part of exploring your identity. Don’t feel ashamed for changing and growing as you discover yourself, and don’t shame others for it either. 

- There’s nothing wrong with ID’ing as Ace or Aro as a teen. The possibility of you being a “late bloomer” doesn’t invalidate how you feel right now, and please don’t feel like you need to push yourself outside of your comfort zone just to fit in or earn others’ approval.

- There’s no shame in staying in the closet if the closet is keeping you safe. 

betweenheroesandvillains
velvetvetiver

The version of you right now is deserving of love. Not you two years ago when you had more of your shit together, or the five years later version where you’ll surely be thriving. The version of you right now. The one that might just be okay, or is really struggling, or is bored and unproductive. That version deserves love. Having trouble accepting this is fine, but actively denying it is not. Your value is intrinsic, and finding confidence in that is mandatory.

princefawns
branwyn-says

normalize my 12th grade English teacher, who admitted that his favorite TV show was Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and when a male student suggested that it was because Buffy/Sarah Michelle Gellar was hot, wrinkled his face like he’d bitten into something rotten and dead, and said, “At my age (he was 53), there is nothing less sexy than a teenager. You’re all disgusting messes.”

It was 1999, I was 17, and I’d grown up in conservative Christian schools and churches. In my life I’d heard heard dozens of sermons from male preachers and teachers and even some older students, whining about how hard it was to be a dude and not commit the sin of thinking sexual thoughts, and how they needed women to wear long skirts and cover their bodies to objectify them

and my bitter, misanthropic, atheist Brit Lit teacher, who hated my class because he was obsessed with teaching Huckleberry Finn but got stuck with Shakespeare and Jane Austen, was the first, and this day the last man I have ever heard articulate a rebuttal from the depths of his soul to the idea that it was normal for teenage girls to be desirable to middle aged men