The thing with telling “cliche” stories, but with representation, is… these stories aren’t cliche for us.

Picture this. The people at the table next to you have been getting chocolate cake as a dessert for YEARS. After every meal, they get a chocolate cake. Now, it’s been years, and the people at that table can barely stand chocolate anymore. They want maybe a cheesecake. Or lemon mousse.

But your table? Has NEVER had chocolate cake. Mousse is also good, but you are SO hungry for that chocolate cake, cause you never had it before, and it’s brand new for you, and you’ve been watching the other table eat it for YEARS.

That’s what’s like getting a “cliche” story that’s representative. Has it been done a million times before? Yes. Has it ever been done for US? Well… no. Maybe it’s the 500th chocolate cake in existence, but all the other chocolate cakes weren’t meant for us (girls/PoC/queer folk/disabled folk/etc)

So it being cliche is not a bad thing. You may not want chocolate cake anymore. But we want our slice too.

In the ongoing representation efforts by wizards, left handed midget serial killers born in Croatia named Steve seem to have been left out. When is the discrimination going to end?!?!

markrosewater:

I get that you’re trying to mock diversity and inclusion, but I think it comes from an ignorance of what it means to feel excluded. When you’ve lived your life in the majority, it’s easy to take it for granted that you see yourself represented in the products and entertainment you use.

But every time we branch out (and I’m not exaggerating, *every* time) and represent a new segment of people, I get heartfelt messages from them about how much it means to them to see themselves in the game.

The reason “Wonder Woman” and “Black Panther” have been such cultural touchstones is because it’s allowing new groups of people to experience something they’ve never experienced before.

I get it’s easy to mock that when it’s something so basic to your experience that you don’t even realize it’s a thing you would miss if you didn’t have it, but I beg for you to try and see life through other people’s perspectives just as I always talk about how good designers see the game through different players’ perspectives.

Try to take actions that build up the world and make it a better place for everyone than tear it down for others to make your world better in comparison.

Took my african dad to see Black Panther

theghostwasblue:

*no spoilers*

He does not like superhero movies and normally he falls asleep in the cinema. But not this time, he was on the edge of his seat and he said that he didn’t wanna miss a single moment. He absolutely loved the movie, the first thing he did when we got home was to call his african friend, yelling at him to go watch it as soon as possible. The second thing he did was ask me when the sequel will be out.

I asked my dad what he liked about the movie and he said everything. He loved that almost everyone was black and that they spoke Xhosa. He was so happy that they captured what life is actually like in many african cities in those scenes when they were walking around in wakanda. Seeing the people sit in cafes, buying food from food stands, kids running around with school bags, just people living their everyday life all the while being unapologetically african. He said he felt as if he was back home. And he was so happy that there finally was a movie where africans weren’t starving, or warlords, or dealing drugs. He told me that this is the kind of movie he has wanted to see for years, not alluding to the superhero stuff but the fact that they portray africans the same way that most ~~if not all~~ movies portray white people and not criminalize or dehumanize them but uplifting them. He loved every single character and especially M’Baku but his absolute favourite was the Queen mother Ramonda because she was so calm and collected while simultaneously being this strong queen. My dad, coming from a culture that really uplifts and value mothers and holds them above all, felt like the movie really captured that in Ramonda and that’s why he loved her.

He loved the soundtrack and how they mixed in djembe drums and traditional african singing with modern western music and he loved the costumes because a lot of the clothes look like the things people are wearing at all the african parties we go to.

The only complaint my dad had was that the sound was to high, which was his own fault for insisting that he sit at the end of the row right next to one of the speakers.

So yeah, representation do matter. I’ve never in my life seen him so happy about a movie. And he wanted to talk about it after it had ended which never happens normally. We joked around with the idea of him being a wakandan wardog stationed here and we did Shuris and T’Challas little handshake saying that is the only way we will now greet other africans. This movie gave my dad pure joy and happiness and it gave us a bonding opportunity because we finally have something that we both could geek out about.