this post was submitted on 23 Jun 2024
89 points (98.9% liked)

askchapo

22774 readers
329 users here now

Ask Hexbear is the place to ask and answer ~~thought-provoking~~ questions.

Rules:

  1. Posts must ask a question.

  2. If the question asked is serious, answer seriously.

  3. Questions where you want to learn more about socialism are allowed, but questions in bad faith are not.

  4. Try !feedback@hexbear.net if you're having questions about regarding moderation, site policy, the site itself, development, volunteering or the mod team.

founded 4 years ago
MODERATORS
 

I have a few:

  • Chosen ones, fate, destiny, &c. When you get down to it, a story with these themes is one where a single person or handful of people is ontologically, cosmically better and more important than everyone else. It's eerily similar to that right-wing meme about how "most people are just NPCs" (though I disliked the trope before that meme ever took off).
  • Way too much importance being given to bloodlines by the narrative (note, this is different from them being given importance by characters or societies in the story).
  • All of the good characters are handsome and beautiful, while all of the evil characters are ugly and disfigured (with the possible exception of a femme fatale or two).
  • Races that are inherently, unchangeably evil down to the last individual regardless of upbringing, society, or material circumstances.
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] Frank@hexbear.net 20 points 5 months ago (2 children)

One of the reasons i liked Enders Game as a weird outsider kid was that Ender, the weird outsider kid, just straight up killed his bullies and then they never bullied him again and I thought that was a very sensible way to handle matters compared to the saccharine bullshit in the other kids books i was reading.

[–] Formerlyfarman@hexbear.net 14 points 5 months ago (1 children)

One of the things i like about wuxia is that they seldom bother with that nonsense. Wuxia morality is more of an eye for an eye.

[–] Alaskaball@hexbear.net 14 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I think one of the common sayings from that genre is "pay those who do right by you back tenfold, pay those who wrong you back a thousandfold"

[–] frauddogg@lemmygrad.ml 6 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Man that almost sounds like philosophy from the trenches; break bread with the real ones, get it back in blood from the opps

[–] D61@hexbear.net 12 points 5 months ago

There's literally people who interpreted the "shower scene" as him just beating the kid up and them being kicked out of battle school.

I think the most recent movie adaptation takes this route (though it might still be vague enough to be interpreted as the adult trying to keep Ender from knowing he murdered a kid.)