We [...] need better, less offensive history.
— Leslie Knope talking about the murals in Pawnee City Hall depicting the town's history of conflict against the neighboring Native tribes, Parks and Recreation
Someone needs to stand up to the experts...
— Don McLeroy, Chairman of the Texas Board of Education, justifying rewriting American History textbooks from a Conservative viewpoint.
But to me the sidestepping of race issues is nowhere more evident than in Dumbo. The original Dumbo was kind of beautiful in how flawed it was, including the elements that are abrasive to modern sensibilities. Which happened, are a part of Disney history, and we're not doing ourselves any favors by pretending that they did not. [...] And I know there is discourse on how to handle history like this, but pretending that it just didn't exist, just ignoring it altogether and pretending that it didn't happen... How is that making the world better or educating people? The crows are a part of the DNA of Dumbo just as much as Baby Mine or Pink Elephants, but unlike the first two, which are hamfistedly jammed into the remake, the crows don't even get mentioned. The song isn't there, which strikes me as noteworthy since the song itself is pretty tame. But the crows aren't referenced, and even Dumbo's feather, which was gifted by the crows in the original, has somehow also managed to turn white. It's like there was never racism here in this universe, and there never will be. We just kind of live in this nice multi-culti-verse where other forms of bigotry exist and are not the ones we live with in the real world, but, you know, we have our cutesy analogs, sometimes.
— Lindsay Ellis, "Woke Disney
"
"The problem with history is that it's not politically correct.
— Lt. Col. Jeff Cooper.
An old inauspicious path born from the past
A stooge who dreams of a history which never was
A stooge who dreams of a history which never was
— Il Passo Del Caciurdo by Talco
by TalcoHistory is a past convenient for the present.
— Leonid Sukhorukov
Russia is a country with an upredictable past.
It’s telling that the Vulcans and the residents of Carbon Creek are all white, with very few references to the issues that would have been bubbling away beneath the surface of fifties America. Not only is Carbon Creek entirely welcoming of strangers and yet completely white, but there’s no mention of communism or fears about the social order. The closest that Carbon Creek comes to acknowledging the difference between the popular image of the fifties and the reality is with the character of Maggie and her son Jack.
Maggie is a single mother struggling to raise a child on her own, with very little support.... There’s no suggestion that Maggie might face a social stigma as a single mother raising a child. Outside of this scene, there’s no hint of frustration at a culture that could be so indifferent to this sort of abandonment. It’s a nice moment, and one which cleverly illustrates how the Vulcans blended so perfectly into the community — "I'm sorry," Maggie confesses, "I'm usually better at keeping a lid on my emotions..." — but it feels like Carbon Creek never really explores the fifties as they actually existed.
Maggie is a single mother struggling to raise a child on her own, with very little support.... There’s no suggestion that Maggie might face a social stigma as a single mother raising a child. Outside of this scene, there’s no hint of frustration at a culture that could be so indifferent to this sort of abandonment. It’s a nice moment, and one which cleverly illustrates how the Vulcans blended so perfectly into the community — "I'm sorry," Maggie confesses, "I'm usually better at keeping a lid on my emotions..." — but it feels like Carbon Creek never really explores the fifties as they actually existed.
Originally, she was supposed to be a chambermaid. They changed it to make her a waitress, but that caused a lot of uproar too. "Oh, it's changing history! Oh, it's changing the way things were back then!" Well, you know what? There's a fucking talking frog. I think we'll live.
"What is [Political Correctness] but a verbal form of gentrification? Spruce everything up, get rid of all the ugliness and create a false sense of paradise."
—Nathan, South Park, "Principal Final Justice"
Columbus: Because of you and me, one day, there's gonna be a big, big city right here. And there's gonna be lotta people, tall buildings. Maybe they gonna name something after us. Who knows? Columbus Circle sounds good to me.
Critic: (imitating Columbus) Oh, and don't forget about-a de slaughtering! Lotsa and lotsa of-a de slaughtering! Don't-a look-a for the G-rating in the next one, folks! It's-a gonna-to be a bloodbath!
—The Nostalgia Critic's review of The Magic Voyage
"In fact, it's a bit odd that the main character espouses some strange progressive thinking early on in the game. Under the Temple of Solomon, an Ark is sighted. "The Ark of the Covenant?" one character asks. Our progressive assassin points out that there is no such thing, and that it's just a story.
And in the end, the big reveal is slightly less silly than The Da Vinci Code's "Jesus had kids! Oh noes!" reveal. From the cauldron of the Crusades and the Middle East, all Ubisoft can produce is a world-weary existentialism as bland and inoffensive as vanilla ice cream, with a quote from Ecclesiastes like a cherry on top.
Where are your balls, Ubisoft? Talk more about the Prophet, peace be upon Him. Put a Jewish character in the game and let him be reviled. Show the Crusaders as something other than the dudes playing the role of the cops from GTA. Because you know everyone's thinking about it when they see your game. It's a potentially powerful subject, and it's on all our minds, and your pussyfooting around the weak safe choices is a disappointment, particularly when you insist on wrapping your game in a modern-day shell. Assassin's Creed is as aware of today as it is of the 12th Century. Act like it, for God's sake. Because if your love of the setting were expressed in the writing with one tenth of the passion you show for your love of the architecture, Assassin's Creed could have been an experience as memorable as BioShock or Portal.
And in the end, the big reveal is slightly less silly than The Da Vinci Code's "Jesus had kids! Oh noes!" reveal. From the cauldron of the Crusades and the Middle East, all Ubisoft can produce is a world-weary existentialism as bland and inoffensive as vanilla ice cream, with a quote from Ecclesiastes like a cherry on top.
Where are your balls, Ubisoft? Talk more about the Prophet, peace be upon Him. Put a Jewish character in the game and let him be reviled. Show the Crusaders as something other than the dudes playing the role of the cops from GTA. Because you know everyone's thinking about it when they see your game. It's a potentially powerful subject, and it's on all our minds, and your pussyfooting around the weak safe choices is a disappointment, particularly when you insist on wrapping your game in a modern-day shell. Assassin's Creed is as aware of today as it is of the 12th Century. Act like it, for God's sake. Because if your love of the setting were expressed in the writing with one tenth of the passion you show for your love of the architecture, Assassin's Creed could have been an experience as memorable as BioShock or Portal.
It is better to live | than to lie a corpse,
The live man catches the cow,
I saw flames rise | for the rich man's pyre,
And before his door he lay dead
The live man catches the cow,
I saw flames rise | for the rich man's pyre,
And before his door he lay dead
The lame rides a horse, | the handless is a herdsman,
The deaf in battle is bold,
The blind man is better | than the one that is burned,
No good can come of a corpse.
The deaf in battle is bold,
The blind man is better | than the one that is burned,
No good can come of a corpse.
-Stanzas 70 and 71 of the Hávamál
One factor that has been cited as the reason for the success of the Norse Reformation is, oddly, the acceptance of non-Norse into their society. Part of the theological basis of this were these words from Odin's own lips on proper conduct and wisdom, which served as a reminder that no man or woman was unwanted or unneeded.
These stanzas were often repeated and interpreted in a light of acceptance and brotherhood among those that were different, as "man rejoices in man." Further, those defending this perspective of integration and acceptance found fit fodder in the sagas of the gods and their lives, which are full to bursting with the sorts of behavior that were rejected by those who did not accept difference. Tyr was missing a hand, and had two fathers. Loki was fluid in form and concept, being both male and female at times and places. Thor was prone to dangerous rage. Odin was missing an eye, lay with men, and swore blood-brotherhood with a stranger. Hödur was blind. Freyr gave up his weapon for the love of a jotunn woman.
Furthermore, on the topic of general egalitarianism, it is worth noting that this acceptance was not reserved solely for men. The Aesir respected Skadi's claim of having been wronged by them for the death of her father, and Freyja earned the respect of all, claiming half of those who died in honor for her hall.
And for those whom the gods did not set a sufficient example, among mortal men, Hiccup the Wise was missing a foot, and his father, Stoick the Lawgiver, was missing an eye and a hand, and both of them sought to reach out and include others, and attempted to act with kindness and respect to those not of their own people. And while they were the leaders and would have received more acceptance from their followers simply due to that position and the social deference that came with it, it should be noted that Stoick's best friend from childhood preferred men and was missing two limbs, and his personal aide was a woman of a different faith who chose to never marry, and Hiccup's inclusion of others is literally proverbial.
This acceptance of those who were different, who were strangers, who were outsiders, gave the Reformed Norse a strength in diversity that stood them well, especially in those early years…
—The Second Flowering Of Yggdrasil: An Analysis Of The Norse Resurgence, 1710, A Thing of Vikings
"Oh no, I spotted a problem. Turns out that the actual Victorian era had a lot of, shall we say, unpleasant realities. Slave trade, classism, racism, child labor, meat plant workers falling into the grinder due to no safety regulations, and good old-fashioned imperialism. How can a writer deal with all of those when designing the plot and setting? We could use one or more of the Victorian era's darker elements and make them central to the story's theme or primary conflict. [...] I have a much better idea. Let's take all of those complex historic and cultural issues, and just ignore them. Let's scrub the Victorian era of all of its problems. There, nice and clean and PG-13."
— Terrible Writing Advice - Steampunk
"We've kind of got to tell a lie. We'll go back into history and there will be black people where, historically, there wouldn't have been, and we won't dwell on that. We'll say, 'To hell with it, this is the imaginary, better version of the world. By believing in it, we'll summon it forth'."
—Steven Moffat on diversity in Doctor Who
General Store Guy: We're all friends
There's no war a-brewing
No one's abusing
Their rights to own—
Ox: --an ox like me!
There's no war a-brewing
No one's abusing
Their rights to own—
Ox: --an ox like me!
—"Independence", The Trail to Oregon!
Kassidy: What is your problem?
Sisko: You want to know? You really want to know what my problem is? I'll tell you: Las Vegas, 1962, that's my problem. In 1962, Black people weren't very welcome there. Oh sure they could be performers or janitors, but customers? Never!
Kassidy: Maybe that's the way it as in the real Vegas, but that is not the way it is at Vic's. I have never felt uncomfortable there, and neither has Jake.
Sisko: But don't you see? That's the lie. In 1962 the Civil Rights Movement was still in its infancy. It wasn't an easy time for our people, and I'm not going to pretend that it was!
Kassidy: Baby, I know that Vic's isn't a totally accurate representation of the way that things were but, it isn't meant to be. It shows us the way things could have been. They way they should have been.
Sisko: We cannot ignore the truth about the past.
Kassidy: Going to Vic's isn't going to make us forget who we are or where we came from. What it does is remind us that we are no longer bound by any limitations.
Sisko: You want to know? You really want to know what my problem is? I'll tell you: Las Vegas, 1962, that's my problem. In 1962, Black people weren't very welcome there. Oh sure they could be performers or janitors, but customers? Never!
Kassidy: Maybe that's the way it as in the real Vegas, but that is not the way it is at Vic's. I have never felt uncomfortable there, and neither has Jake.
Sisko: But don't you see? That's the lie. In 1962 the Civil Rights Movement was still in its infancy. It wasn't an easy time for our people, and I'm not going to pretend that it was!
Kassidy: Baby, I know that Vic's isn't a totally accurate representation of the way that things were but, it isn't meant to be. It shows us the way things could have been. They way they should have been.
Sisko: We cannot ignore the truth about the past.
Kassidy: Going to Vic's isn't going to make us forget who we are or where we came from. What it does is remind us that we are no longer bound by any limitations.
