/r "this total drama relationship makes me uncomfortable" | The issue with hyperbole is proportion

 

First off, I luv that Uravity Jazmine poster. What an aesthetic fusion, unexpectedly impressed with that, excellent taste..

I agree, with caveats.

Harold's first lines about Leshawna: "I've never seen a girl like you in real life before. --- you're real big and loud."

Makes me laugh, everytime, precisely because it's stupid, inappropriate. She didn't swoon or made to look like a wild animal for reacting how she did, the scene only works because she almost flattened him for it & it took one girl and guy bigger than her to hold her back.

And yet, I give OP points for theorizing that Harold likely never saw a sistah before or one like Leshawna, because he word for word stated he did NOT. ✅ That is bar for bar the gag.

✅OPs best case being the fetishization & stereotypes, agreed. 

✅How hyper-sexualized Leshawna is/ adultified despite how young she actually is, agreed, however--- I've went to academia with ladies like her, they weren't all built like tanks, they weren't all that exaggerated (hence caricature), but they do exist, relatively. Most of them got on my last nerves and nowhere near as likeable as Leshawna.

And yet that doesn't excuse TDI sexualizing her like that. 

But taking this that far to the point of Baartman's testimony just to draw a parallel which is hyperbole at best, is doing too much, if we really think things are "kinda worse than ever" nowadays? That's just showing the privilege we have.

📌Picture it: We have it good enough to pull up Sarah's horror story on demand, talk about it, use it strategically to vindicate our feelings & opinions, feel like a hero, put her history away; and then (this is the best part) 👉move on to live a life she couldn't even dream was possible and think things are kinda 'worse' because fetishization still happens.

Without getting beside the valid points OP is actually making, still, just really think about that for a second.

Some of the most worst modern examples I've ever seen of hyper-sexualized BW anything have been from African-Americans themselves, in media and IRL. Ironically. 

Unlike Saartjie, Leshawna commands every room she's in because of her confidence, which is why I fancy her the most, her attitude & presence. And in terms of power dynamics, she has every advantage on Harold, including physical. He's not even a rich kid, she's out of his league in every way. The similarities of fetishization are there, & yet in practice, it's more of a subversion than a traditional parallel because of the era gap, ironically.

🚨TL;DR we need to keep things in proportion. You can see slavery where you perceive it if  that helps you get to the next 24 hour cycle of our lives, societal echoes of bondage still ring even in Asia's in-fighting or the Arabics' 1000+ year long slave game to America's relatively shorter one in comparison. Everyone's got a rap-sheet.

🚨That's not to trivialize Saartjie, not to dismiss USA's mistakes, but simply: Perspective

📌OP is not wrong for noticing: when you're right, you're right, but it's best to keep things in proportion. 

✅OP is rightfully uncomfortable with a caricature being exactly that: and just because satire is "the point" doesn't mean "the point" always work in execution, it doesn't, not always.

And yet, in this case, they used one of the most hideous historical examples that far exceeds what the show actually did, in poor taste, for a show where the entire cast are caricatures. Not. Just. Leshawna.

The issue is, the parallel is loose, but an overshot proportionately.

On fetishization, OP isn't saying they're the exact same, got it. So it's valid as strictly a fetishization continuity example.

Otherwise the invocation in itself? for this? Total Drama Island? Lol.  The proportion of scale of the usage of Saatjie's example, at all, specifically for this caricature in a satire show where everyone was a punchline, is an overreaction. 

We can recognize that a character trope is insensitive, poorly written, or uncomfortable aka a caricature by design: without needing to equate a cartoon gag, an intentional caricature to human trafficking or invoking 19th-century human zoos. Seeing & noticing is different from using it for emotional currency in a video to criticize a cartoon show where, I repeat, everyone was a caricature. 

If 99% of the cast were written like ATLA characters, Team Ehasz level 3-dimensional and then Leshawna was the odd one out? Then this comment would be 98% shorter.

Otherwise, it's agreed that satire doesn't have to be badly written like hyper-sexualizing a teen (agreed), but ignoring the reality that caricatures, satire, parody is inherently risque because it steps out of line to be exactly that it is. That is literally what a caricature is, a dramatic misrepresentation.

Keyword: dramatic MIS-representation = Caricature

Ironically, we might be underestimating Leshawna a bit, just because of her category. Despite the defense for the exact same reason.

/re ""There are ICE agents dragging pregnant women in Minneapolis--" | The importance of doing your research

"There are ICE agents dragging pregnant women in Minneapolis. They shot a  praying pastor with a pepper ball in Chicago. You are apparently living the fantasy world."

Re: 

The pastor situation 100%. He asserted it was multiple times he got shot (non-lethal bullets, still excessive).

https://www.ucc.org/ucc-pastor-shot-by-federal-agents-with-pepper-round-speaks-about-standing-on-the-side-of-love/#:~:text=Bautista%20is%20not%20the%20first,multiple%20times%20with%20pepper%20balls.

The disabled woman "Aliya Rahman" scenario is messier.

*Apparently (per her testimony) has TBI and Autism🚨 and was not pregnant.*🚨  On her way to appointment (Hennepin County Traumatic Brain Injury Center.), she froze when ordered to move her car by several agents & leave the vehicle, which she couldn't, needed a cane. 

Aliya was genuinely at the wrong place, wrong time, she wasn't obstructing on purpose.

And thus was detained because she didn't comply-- because she froze, because of her condition.

*Where ICE went wrong was the excessive force after she asked for her cane & stated she was disabled, and by omission of evidence & her own testimony, she was not pregnant. 

She didn't testify as such, and her legal team did not prove as such. *

She needed a cane to walk, ICE did not provide, they confiscated it. Thats bad enough. Their immediate  agenda was getting out of the situation via rapid-carry technique, which dragging is standard practice, it looks bad because of the context. 

But military do the exact same to the injured when a shoulder carry is too time consuming in a high stakes situation. Dragging her was their method of choice of rapid-carry technique/extraction, but carrying her would've been more humane than dragging dead weigh. Whether it was faster is up to the beholder, I personally think carrying over the shoulder is faster.

 

The conduct was excessive, but even if a lie or untruth, if you're being told the detainee is pregnant allegedly & she's verbalizing for a cane. You need to breathe deep & think.

However, also understand how yells & screams can blend into background noise in the field unless it's coming from allies you subconsciously whitelisted---- however if she's repeatedly asking for her cane & you proceed to drag instead of hoist or lift or carry, thats neglect. 

And while she was granted hospital care, that was only AFTER she lost consciousness; her overall treatment was unacceptable.

Neither of these sources i cite mention a pregnancy, it's a lie. We shouldn't repeat things without sources or drop it on public forums without looking it up first. Then proceed to receive likes for partial misinformation, confidently wrong.

At worst you can incriminate the fact that her being pregnant was possible & the agents didn't care and kneeled on her anyway; assuming they registered the shouts. 

*But in the grand scheme, this is why obstruction & "protesting" should not be conflated as the same thing. 

Getting in the way of federal officers then playing victim when actions have consequences have set a dangerous precedent for everyone, including the ICE Agents; to where a woman was accidentally in the way on her way to an appointment but the agents were in bulldog mode because they're used to people being in the goddamn way constantly. 

Because everyone wants to be a superhero in lack of actual priorities in their own boring lives that could use that same exact energy.* 

When if these feddies were allowed to do the operation and leave, they would literally be gone faster. That's the reality.

This is precisely why people need to stay in their place, keep your damn cars parked where they're supposed to be, stay out the damn street, & just record, picket, say your piece, posture on Blue Sky or Twitter that you're changing the world.  

TL;DR _The pregnant woman situation did not involve a pregnant woman but it was still excessive; respectfully, this is why research is important._ 🚨

Minnesota woman ICE pulled from car during arrest files claim against feds: https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/aliya-rahman-ice-arrest-claim/#:~:text=On%20Thursday%2C%20the%20MacArthur%20Justice,damages%20caused%20by%20federal%20employees.

Minnesota woman dragged from car by ICE agents gives testimony in DC: 

https://womensagenda.com.au/politics/world/minnesota-woman-dragged-from-car-by-ice-agents-gives-testimony-in-dc/#:~:text=Rahman%2C%20of%20what%20happened%20to,president%20Donald%20Trump's%20immigration%20crackdown."

An honest, nuanced comment from a NY Times article on Boys allegedly "falling behind."🙄

 

AKMay 13, 2025

“Thank you for this article. A regular piece on the issues men face would be very welcome. As a former high school soccer coach of high school boys and girls, I always thought boys and girls were more alike than different. But the statistics you recite are astounding. A few more: Men are 3 to 4 times more likely to commit suicide, Women live 5 years longer than men, Men are almost 3 times more likely suffer from homelessness, Men constitute 95% of the prison population; the list goes on. I don’t know why, but certainly the “toxic masculinity” narrative, devaluation of physical labor that many men do and the other issues cited in this article all contribute. I read many of the comments and I’m saddened by the anti-male, misandry many demonstrate. We have a serious problem with young men in the United States, let’s honestly address it.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/13/upshot/boys-falling-behind-data.html#commentsContainer

“As a former high school soccer coach of high school boys and girls, I always thought boys and girls were more alike than different. “ They always have been, I promise you.

T

Terminator 2

San FranciscoMay 13, 2025

Please stop telling us we're toxic. I don't understand why highly educated people who are so sensitive about language that they freak out about pronouns cannot see the negative impact that constantly saying "toxic masculinity" has on boys and young men.

T

Terminator 2

San FranciscoMay 13, 2025

Please stop telling us we're toxic. I don't understand why highly educated people who are so sensitive about language that they freak out about pronouns cannot see the negative impact that constantly saying "toxic masculinity" has on boys and young men.

Assigned American at birth

CanadaMay 13, 2025

I’m of the opinion that all of this constant gendered discussion about boys falling behind, and myriad articles jam-packed with statistics and charts to back it up, are part of the problem. Life is difficult, and all young people struggle. And they do seem to be struggling more with their mental health and adjustment these days. I won’t argue with that. But it is across the board. Boys are struggling. Girls are struggling. And gender nonconforming youth are struggling, to name a few demographics. By obsessing about gender differences, we only reinforce them for our children. There is no reason why a boy needs to grow up with different values than a girl. Wear different clothes. Have different hobbies. Girls play video games. Men make clothes. Girls can be awful to each other and to boys. Boys can be the same to each other and to them. If we stop talking so much about gender expectations, maybe kids can just live their lives without the pressure to measure up. The difference is here: Girls have historically struggled simply BECAUSE they were girls and discriminated against. Are boys struggling BECAUSE they are boys? I don’t think so. They aren’t struggling due to their maleness. Our society is still set up to reward men more than women for the same tasks. So boys may be struggling, but I don’t think it’s unique to them. I don’t think they are struggling because they were born male. It’s because our society obsesses about gender differences, creating unnatural expectations

J

J C Kile

PA&NYMay 13, 2025

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say one of the factors might be less men in education. I’m talking men who do men things like Tim Walz. Hunting, fishing, sports. When I started teaching in 1973 there was push to get more men in education, especially elementary, so it wasn’t seen as girly. That died with the salaries. There is more money elsewhere. I had one boy who was almost failing and hated school. He told me didn’t like reading much until I introduced him to books about dogs and hunting. Then magically a pile of library books appeared on his desk. He was on the honor roll his last marking period in my class. His dad, our janitor, said I saved him. Today he has land where he hunts, which he loves, a nice house good job and a family. I would play football with the kids at recess, even when it wasn’t my duty day. I had one boy who loved that and went on to star in high school. He said I made him a man. I’m not so sure about but the sentiments were nice. M I had another boy who came from a single mother family. The mother was very nice, loved her kids, but was stuck. She was a crossing guard. He went in the Army. He came back to see me in his uniform and I was so honored I could have cried. I felt like I should salute him. Boys need role models that reflect boy things sports, fishing hunting if that is the local culture, cars, what ever boys are interested in. They don’t need role models that are more metrosexual for lack of a better world. My opinion.

S

Sbodley

PhilaMay 13, 2025

@Linda Cameron I find your response to this article somewhat disturbing. No one is blaming the girls for this outcome, and this is not a zero sum game. A generation of boys and young men is languishing and in need of help, and your immediate response is to say, "don't blame the girls!" which, again, is missing the point entirely in my opinion. This is not about assigning blame, it's about creating constructive solutions.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/13/upshot/boys-falling-behind-data.html#commentsContainer