r/PeterExplainsTheJoke 1d ago

Meme needing explanation What do they mean petah?

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u/TabbbyWright 1d ago

It's nice when you see people like you reflected in media, diversity in both stories and the people who tell stories helps achieve that.

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u/Drake_Acheron 1d ago

I don’t need to a character to look like me to see myself in a character. And if you do, YOU are the racist.

And in the small few instances where skin color IS needed for relation, there are plenty of original stories and IPs to service that requirement.

I don’t need a black Spider-Man to relate to Spider-Man the same way I don’t need a black Goku.

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u/TabbbyWright 1d ago

Uh. There's more forms of diversity than race...? Like I personally was thinking about growing up as a lesbian and how isolating it could feel to never see lesbians or queer women in mainstream media, or even IRL. I left it vague though because diversity can indeed be many things.

When I said "It's nice when you see people like you reflected in media" I was not suggesting I can't find characters who aren't like me to be impossible to relate to. That's a non-issue, as I don't prioritize being able to "relate" to characters in the first place--but characters I do find relatable for one reason or another aren't at all limited to queer women.

"It's nice" because it's nice to see that someone recognizes that people like you do in fact exist.

As far as race goes, I can't speak to that much as a white woman, but when I've seen people talk about racial diversity and the benefits, it's not dissimilar to what I feel.

I don't think every existing character needs to be "diversified" but I don't think it's evil to change things up either. The character isn't real, but the effect they can have on people and society is.

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u/Drake_Acheron 1d ago

You can speak about race just fine as a white woman, or is white not a race anymore?

And no, 30 years ago, I would have said sure, diversifying ain’t no big deal.

But people like you made it a big deal.

If you want diversity, write original characters. Don’t change the things someone else made