How Corporate Pop Culture Ruined Social Justice Messages

Star Wars: Disney’s Mess

The 2010s brought significant changes in my life. It was not only because school was the definition of hell for me. It was when I started to invest myself in pop culture. In 2010, I got my first exposure to it when I got a PS2 game, “Star Wars Battlefront.” This was my introduction to the Galaxy Far Far Away franchise. I started watching Star Wars movies and TV Series.

The Star Wars franchise has some of the most important characters of all time. Their contributions did not only create an impact on the franchise. Furthermore, it made us Star Wars fans love them. Starkiller is still my favourite Star Wars Character because of his tragic story as Darth Vader’s cannon fodder.

For the sake of this article, I must also mention some of the female Star Wars characters that made an impact. Ashoka Tano comes up first in my mind. The Jedi Padawan of Anakin Skywalker survived the Clone Wars and the Great Jedi Purge.

People like me adore her, not because she has strength, but because of her character development. She’s a kind-hearted person with strong morals, and she’s willing to risk her neck to save her friends. She used to have strong trust in the Jedi Order until the false accusation of treason shattered her beliefs.

The whole ordeal made her quit the Jedi Order, which emotionally impacted fans and, most importantly, Anakin. Her departure was one of the catalysts of Anakin’s downfall to the Dark Side. To understand more about her, here’s a Wookiepedia link.

There are other female Star Wars characters I also have interests in. Padme Amidala, the former queen and senator of Naboo and Anakin’s Skywalker’s wife. Her strong belief in peace was the best trait and how her love and eventual death led to Anakin’s complete downfall. Then, there’s Leia Organa, who is strong and independent. She’s also willing to stand up to Darth Vader. Unfortunately, she is also deadly, as we’ve seen her killing stormtroopers.

Other characters like Sabine Wren, Hera Syndulla, Sabine Kryze, etc. These characters have not only made Star Wars more beloved, but they also showed how it made the franchise progressive. So when the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy came out, it was polarised and, at worst, panned by fans.

Many people hated Disney’s attempt to make Star Wars woke by forcing progressive messages down the average joe’s throat. Characters like Rey, Rose, and Holdo are polarised, and fans consider these characters on par with Jar Jar Binks (The worst Star Wars character). Many fans even attacked the actress who portrayed Rose Tico in The Last Jedi.

The internet is ruthless. It can affect a lot of people mentally. I don’t think harassing the actress is justified because her character was garbage.

At the same time, I can understand why fans were visibly upset. Disney took an IP and turned it into a mess, eating its carcasses. It’s not like Disney doesn’t understand feminism. They don’t care. The only reason they’re promoting feminist and other progressive messages is to make a profit. They’re making through:

1. Sell merchandise like toys
2. Making money in China because they want a slice of the Communist gold pie.
3. They want to cater to a small minority of groups who wouldn’t even watch their movies anyway.

It’s sad to see Mickey Mouse turning a once-beloved franchise into its piggy bank. If it weren’t for “The Mandalorian,” the fans would’ve given up the franchise altogether.

Strong Woman Trope Is Just The Corporate Mary Sue

The current state of Star Wars is just one example. Modern-day pop culture is now a shell of its former shelf. One of the main reasons they’re declining is the forced promotion of progressive messages. The definition of feminism may remain the same, but its meaning has changed.

In India, many female celebrities who claim to be feminists have used their privilege to play the victim card, like Sonam Kapoor’s case. She went bamboozled when someone told her on Twitter to use public transport. She didn’t respond well, and she said that women don’t take public transport because of harassment. Her intentions are true, but her take was inferior, which is why people find her playing the victim card.

Since the Jasleen Kaur case, people’s perception of feminism has changed. They think it’s a man-hating ideology, but it’s not true. Some cannot be justified to hate on feminism because it can also curb the voices of the victims who faced actual misogyny.

The most significant problem feminism faces in pop culture is its corporatisation. In pop culture, the common trait of feminist characters is the strong woman trope. Strong woman trope or the Mary Sue trope by definition:

“Mary Sue is a term used to describe a fictional character, usually female, who is seen as too perfect and almost boring for lack of flaws, originally written as an idealised version of an author in fanfiction.”

If you’re not aware of the trope, then you must have heard of characters like Ellen Ripley (Aliens), Sarah Connor (Terminator), Lara Croft (Tomb Raider), and so on. These characters are classics and are also remembered for their stories and personalities. (I’ll pick Black Widow and Scarlet Witch over Captain Marvel)

I don’t have a problem with pop culture mediums promoting strong independent women. However, I get the gripe when they only bring the character for face value. Making them invincible (lacking any flaws) makes them look like droids rather than human beings. Captain Marvel is an example of that.

The 2019 Marvel movie was polarised for its protagonist. The protagonist, Carol Danvers, is an invincible superhero who could beat anyone. However, many critics and fans call her out for lacking human emotions because she’s a powerful Mary Sue.

One article from the Chicago Tribune calls it “exhausting and not fun.” Rey from the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy suffers the same. Someone with no training and experience can easily defeat a well-trained force wielder.

In my opinion, a person’s character and their story should matter regardless of their physical traits and gender. There are countless examples where women were not only being strong but also being human at the same time. For starters, there’s Sakura Haruno from the anime series Naruto. Despite being the polarised character, Sakura is a prodigy in skills, intelligence, and strength. She’s considered one of the greatest medical ninjas of her generation.

Despite these traits, she’s also a flawed person. If you’ve watched the Naruto anime, you must have seen Sakura initially disliking the titular character because she was madly in love with her now-husband Sasuke Uchiha.

Sasuke, however, didn’t reciprocate his feelings for her because of his desire for revenge (watch the anime to know the context). As a result, he wasn’t emotionally available to her. Despite this, Sakura deeply cared for him even though he almost killed her.

You might think that Sakura is a messed-up person because of her love for Sasuke. But, at the same time, she also stood up on her own when fighting the bad guys. As the series progressed, Sakura became a badass instead of Naruto and Sasuke’s shadow.

Another example is Mikasa Ackerman from the popular series Attack on Titan. She’s a capable fighter who can kill not only the gigantic Titans. But also, enemy combatants consider her and her people “Akumas” or devils. Hell, even her name is taken from the Japanese warship Mikasa (the ship in the Russo-Japanese War).

Her relationship with Eren Jaeger is probably the most crucial part of her character. The childhood tragedy made her have a cynical outlook on life. Yet, despite that cynical nature, she cares for her friends and family.

She was visibly devastated when Eren claimed he hated her (The claim eventually turned out to be a lie because Eren wanted to forsake the entire world to save the ones he cared for). Yet, despite the emotional turmoil, she loved Eren and even visited his grave until she died.

Other than her relationship with “Ereh”, most people in the anime fear her because of her skills as a Titan killer. However, when her “Ereh” gets threatened, she’s willing to stand up against her enemies and even her superiors. As a result, she’s one of the most popular characters in the series.

And lastly, there’s Jinx and Vi from the Netflix show Arcane. I won’t spoil anything, but I’ll say this. Two siblings who are capable fighters with tragic backstories. (Watch the show and get some tissue papers)

Just because I criticised the strong women trope, it does not mean that I don’t want strong women at all. I want women with better character development, human emotions, and better stories. Unfortunately, Hollywood portrays strong women like Captain Marvel and Rey as just for profit and not the characteristics mentioned above.

The Decline Of The Comic Books Industry

The characters I’ve mentioned have human flaws despite being prodigies in physical prowess, intelligence, and skills. And it irks me when mainstream movies, comics, and video games make women strong, but they don’t have any human emotions.

Comic books, for example, are now facing near extinction. One reason for the decline is the constant catering to a specific community who’ll never read it anyway. As a result, comics like Captain Marvel are sold less.

YouTuber itsaGundam states that constant emphasis on socio-political messages on face value has angered many fans. Many comic books creators, artists, and writers are often at odds with their fans, contributing to the low sale record.

Japanese mangas, on the other hand, are now outselling American comics. Many Japanese manga artists emphasise story writing and character development with nuanced political takes. Like Attack on Titan, which brings up the themes of discrimination, horrors of war, classism, etc. (Full Metal Alchemist brings up the said issues. A woman also writes it)

The anime Devilman Crybaby deals with racism, homophobia, brainwashing through traditional and social media, etc. Although they serve as part of the plot, these themes are done more subtly. Even the characters Sakura and Mikasa are manga characters. Their stories invest us into their mediums instead of the face value socio-political messages both Marvel and DC comics are portraying.

This is why I always consider Junji Ito, Kohei Horikoshi, Hiromu Arakawa, Hajime Isayama to be superior in terms of story writing and character development. Comic books are now a shell of their former selves.

If you’ve read Alan Moore or Frank Miller’s work like Watchmen, The Dark Knight Returns, and V for Vendetta, you’ll see how subtle their political messages are. For example, watchmen deal with the dangers of Nuclear War and deconstruct the superhero genre.

The Dark Knight Returns (albeit comics) deals with feminism, morality, and duality. Lastly, V for Vendetta deals with freedom, state, anarchy, bigotry, etc. That’s why I like Graphic Novels over the garbage Marvel and DC are producing. (Graphic Novels are comic books with extra steps because of their mature storytelling)

Hypocrisies By Major Entertainment Industry

I’ve already talked about how Hollywood preached feminism, yet they’ve put paedophiles like Roman Polanski and rapists like Harvey Weinstein on a pedestal. And ever since Weinstein, there has been a rise in sexual misconduct and moral bankruptcy.

Let me bring up my classic example of Activision Blizzard. Last year Activision Blizzard released Call of Duty Vanguard, which has received lukewarm reception for its piss poor attempt to bring social justice message. In a World War II game. The game tried to be woke when racism and misogyny were at their height. (It didn’t die even to this day, unfortunately)

To add more insult to injury… They were going through a sexual misconduct lawsuit. One of the parties suing the company was the State of California itself. According to the State of California, the company has a frat-boy culture, where men drink and play video games while female employees do the heavy lifting. There are also cases of nepotism and racism. Female employees face harassment in the office while not being promoted to a higher position, unlike their male counterparts.

The worst part was the alleged death of a worker who committed suicide after being harassed by her supervisor on a business trip. The male employees then share the explicit photos. This is an insult to the gamers and feminists and a massive setback for the company until Microsoft decided to acquire it.

Another company Ubisoft is also going through its sexual misconduct scandal. At the same time, they’re bringing socio-political messages in Far Cry 6, the game released last year. Here’s an excerpt to an article about their situation-

“The male employees went to the strip clubs to conduct their business meetings. At the same time, the managers tell their female employees to smile more, and they are the victims of verbal abuse and explicit comments. The company promoted the perpetrators of the sexual harassment despite various complaints made against them.”

Movies Directed By Women

I don’t recall watching many movies by female directors. But the ones that I’ve watched were impactful, like The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow), which was about a Bomb Disposal Unit during the early years of the Iraq War.
The movie highlights the psychological impact of war on the soldiers and how the adrenaline rush for death will run out one day. (Bigelow won the Oscar in 2009, making her the first female director to get the achievement)

Another movie I’ve watched was Zero Dark Thirty (Another Bigelow movie. This one came out two years after Operation Neptune Spear) about Maya, a CIA agent. She was hunting for Osama Bin Laden post 9/11. Maya is a strong woman, but she also faces many hurdles to get what she wants. By the time the movie ended, she had started crying, which made me feel empathetic towards her.

Another movie Detroit (the third Katherine Bigelow movie I’ve watched), was about the Detroit Riots in 1967. Again, the movie highlights the racial tensions and clashes between people and law enforcement agencies.

I’ve watched Katherine Bigelow’s movies. I’ve also watched Sofia Cappola movies like Lost in Translation, Marie Antoinette, and The Bling Ring. They’re good movies.

The one movie that stood out for me was Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis. It’s about Marjane’s life in Pre and Post-revolution Iran and how she was forced to exile because of her opinions, which the government might consider hostile.

I’ve watched the movie during my waning years in school, but it was very impactful for me. The movie was one of the reasons why I’ve been critical of the Middle East’s treatment of women.

And then there’s Elizabeth Banks. Again, I have nothing against her. It’s just her opinions are spiteful. That’s what irks me. She’s behind the Pitch Perfect Trilogy (a mediocre version of X-Factor meets High School Musical) and Charlie’s Angels Reboot (Just a mediocre movie).

What pissed me off is that when her movie Charlie’s Angels failed at the box office, she had the nerve to blame it all on men because the movie failed instead of finding her faults in it.

Conclusion: Future of Pop Culture And Indian Context

Most of us agree that ever since the Saas-Bahu vanilla shows, the state of Indian television has gone from bad to worse. It did not only regress the role of women, but it just made watching television a chore. However, with the rise of OTT platforms during the pandemic, many people started watching shows with better-written characters (both male and female). Like the actress who portrayed Sucheta Dalal in “Scam 1992.”

The current state of Bollywood is also sad. Their promotion of feminism is hollow because they object to women in their item songs and movies. Not to mention their actors have been hypocritical in their stances.

Like in the case of Swara Bhaskar, who once compared Lahore with London and Paris, when her movie “Veere di Wedding” got banned in Pakistan, she called it a failed state. It gives me a sense of disillusionment towards Bollywood and its actors.

Probably my favourite female character is Aloy from Horizon Zero Dawn. She was treated as an outcast by her tribe because she had no mother, but despite this, she trained to be a warrior, and through her dedication, she eventually saved the world. I liked Aloy because I can relate to her. I was left out back in school because of the bullying, but I didn’t let that get the better of me.

Like I’ve said many times in this article. If they want the audience to like female characters, make them more human instead of forcing them to be Mary Sue’s. So many people can relate to Black Widow rather than Captain Marvel.

For all the companies who promote feminism or any other socio-political message on the surface level- “If you’re doing this for profit and rage baiting, it’s boring now. And if you continue down this path, then people will jump ship. In the end, you’ll end with nothing.”

PS Don’t believe everything Rotten Tomatoes has to say. They have misleading critical statistics, which makes me question their work ethics. For example, the Last Jedi got acclaimed by critics despite being despised by the fans. The movie tried too hard to make it different and inclusive, but it failed miserably.

Recently The Batman actress Zoë Kravitz called two female characters, Tifa and Aerith, stereotypical and problematic. Many people criticised her opinion for being “woke.”

One comment even said that she’s playing the role of Catwoman, who is one of the most over-sexualised characters in DC Comics. I think it’s just her taking it out of proportion even though it’s poor. One actress dissing on your favourite characters won’t bring an end to the world.

And many journalists brought out their dying media outlet pitchforks when Quiet from Metal Gear Solid 5 had questionable outfits, despite being one of the best characters in the game. I mean, she shot a Jet at a Mach speed with a bolt-action sniper rifle. And she’s also a loyal ally to Big Boss.

If people find Quiet to be problematic because of her outfit, they should also criticise Konami for treating their employees poorly. One female employee was even demoted because she was pregnant. One should criticise all aspects of the equation rather than having a one-sided warped sense of justice.

That’s all I have to say.