"it was only one chapter, it could have been good!"
based on what? does anyone saying that care to explain why they think so aside from just calling anyone who criticized this oversensitive, censorious, or throwing around racially coded dogwhistles? (as if oversensitivity isn't a natural response to pain and hurt, or simple vigilance after having been hurt or wronged) what's wrong with being sensitive, as opposed to being callous or numb? the people who were concerned based on what was shown in that one chapter explained the potential for this to go wrong(er than just its conception in the first place) in multiple ways and brought it up to the creator and platform/publisher. and evidently the creator recognized the limitations to their preparedness and/or ability to execute the story in a way that satisfactorily addressed those concerns, and discontinued the series.
and that's not a bad thing!
now instead of sinking time and energy into the quagmire this would have been, they can make something else with better return on investment, and take more measured risks with that.
i have said in other replies that i don't think the topic of war, post-war conditions, slavery, and all sorts of sensitive topics are untouchable in fiction. but that doesn't mean that anyone can do anything any which way they want without reaction or criticism. ideally, someone who has done the research, is aware of the racial dynamics, and has the skills for it could pull off a story in this setting. i think it would have to depart from many typical BL conventions to be good and worth doing, though.
I can believe that the premise and execution of song of the wasteland didn't originate from malice, but ignorance doesn't get a free pass either. and that's why people talked about it even from the just the first chapter, because none of that originated in a vacuum, and none of that was free from the biases, assumptions, and narratives surrounding race and history that prioritizes the interests of white people at the expense of just about everybody else. that's why the post-civil war setting is so noteworthy and egregious, because the failures of Reconstruction, lack of reparations, and subsequent efforts to subjugate and exploit former slaves after the war are foundational to present-day problems, same with land theft and everything leading to reservations on the Native/indigenous side. and that's not even getting into how race and racism were codified into the social and political fabric of the country in ways that are consequential even now and would definitely impact any potential interracial coupling of any sort at the time.
if any of the above reads as blah-blah nonsense to you, then on what basis would you even be able to judge how well a series like this would have handled the hard, serious, and contentious topics that it brought up? and if it doesn't matter how historically accurate the story was or how it approached those topics, why bother including any of those elements in the first place?
why should anyone be able to make stories based on painful real life history without any dedication to accuracy or sensitivity to the topics involved and make money off of it without any feedback or response?
i personally wasn't calling for the series to be dropped, and was willing to see where it would go even though i had serious misgivings and wariness about the creator's knowledge and capacity to handle all of that as someone presumably without any personal or cultural connection to any of that history. i could give it a chance, but the risks were sky-high. that's why i'm glad the creator either took the criticisms to heart, or more likely simply recognized that a controversial story like this wouldn't necessarily generate the profits the creator and the publisher wanted, and dropped the story.
people can and should be free to create whatever they want, but that doesn't make their creations free from criticism or pushback from other people, especially when the profit motive is involved. artists taking creative risks need to have conviction in their work and be prepared for negative feedback. this one couldn't or didn't want to take the heat, so they got out of the kitchen. i don't see a problem with artists thinking twice about approaching certain topics because some things are better left alone if not approached with the right level of care.
"it was only one chapter, it could have been good!"
based on what? does anyone saying that care to explain why they think so aside from just calling anyone who criticized this oversensitive, censorious, or throwing around racially coded dogwhistles? (as if oversensitivity isn't a natural response to pain and hurt, or simple vigilance after having been hurt or wronged) what's wrong with being sensitive, as opposed to being callous or numb?
the people who were concerned based on what was shown in that one chapter explained the potential for this to go wrong(er than just its conception in the first place) in multiple ways and brought it up to the creator and platform/publisher. and evidently the creator recognized the limitations to their preparedness and/or ability to execute the story in a way that satisfactorily addressed those concerns, and discontinued the series.
and that's not a bad thing!
now instead of sinking time and energy into the quagmire this would have been, they can make something else with better return on investment, and take more measured risks with that.
i have said in other replies that i don't think the topic of war, post-war conditions, slavery, and all sorts of sensitive topics are untouchable in fiction. but that doesn't mean that anyone can do anything any which way they want without reaction or criticism.
ideally, someone who has done the research, is aware of the racial dynamics, and has the skills for it could pull off a story in this setting. i think it would have to depart from many typical BL conventions to be good and worth doing, though.
I can believe that the premise and execution of song of the wasteland didn't originate from malice, but ignorance doesn't get a free pass either. and that's why people talked about it even from the just the first chapter, because none of that originated in a vacuum, and none of that was free from the biases, assumptions, and narratives surrounding race and history that prioritizes the interests of white people at the expense of just about everybody else. that's why the post-civil war setting is so noteworthy and egregious, because the failures of Reconstruction, lack of reparations, and subsequent efforts to subjugate and exploit former slaves after the war are foundational to present-day problems, same with land theft and everything leading to reservations on the Native/indigenous side. and that's not even getting into how race and racism were codified into the social and political fabric of the country in ways that are consequential even now and would definitely impact any potential interracial coupling of any sort at the time.
if any of the above reads as blah-blah nonsense to you, then on what basis would you even be able to judge how well a series like this would have handled the hard, serious, and contentious topics that it brought up? and if it doesn't matter how historically accurate the story was or how it approached those topics, why bother including any of those elements in the first place?
why should anyone be able to make stories based on painful real life history without any dedication to accuracy or sensitivity to the topics involved and make money off of it without any feedback or response?
i personally wasn't calling for the series to be dropped, and was willing to see where it would go even though i had serious misgivings and wariness about the creator's knowledge and capacity to handle all of that as someone presumably without any personal or cultural connection to any of that history. i could give it a chance, but the risks were sky-high. that's why i'm glad the creator either took the criticisms to heart, or more likely simply recognized that a controversial story like this wouldn't necessarily generate the profits the creator and the publisher wanted, and dropped the story.
people can and should be free to create whatever they want, but that doesn't make their creations free from criticism or pushback from other people, especially when the profit motive is involved. artists taking creative risks need to have conviction in their work and be prepared for negative feedback. this one couldn't or didn't want to take the heat, so they got out of the kitchen. i don't see a problem with artists thinking twice about approaching certain topics because some things are better left alone if not approached with the right level of care.