bakedb3anssz_

What do you mean?

How do you mean

Where do you mean?

When do you mean

Who do you mean?

In what world are we wearing traditional Arab clothing, like the keffiyeh, and are portrayed as being so light-skinned without even being Arab? Atp, so many manhwa authors are using Arab culture purely as an aesthetic, taking the traditional clothing and cultural elements without actually portraying Arab characters or representing the culture properly.

Why do you mean?

I mean not saying you're wrong about the extreme lightness of the skin but the writer and artist of these manwhas are asian as well so idk if gentrification is the correct word lol that's why ppl were confused

Whom do you mean

these are south and west asian cultural symbols if the op themselves is from there and this is their culture I see why it's an invalid opinion. and honestly they're not wrong south Asian and west asian culture and people are mostly used to add to the world's in the mangas and manhwas. even with it's flaws I would say this one has done a much better job implementing the culture and aesthetics as someone from the south asian subcontinent.

But cultural gentrification is not exclusively, done by white people. I believe I used the term right?

if that’s what u meant lmao.

Orientalism unfortunately

I don't think it's soley arab culture, i would say persian too since they are using the word shah. Manghwa and manga artists are known to pick and choose and use parts of a culture. Tbh, this one isnt bad I've seen a lot more worse.

Yes, I know, but that doesn’t necessarily make it right either? I agree that manhwa and manga artists tend to pick and choose aspects of different cultures to use, but that’s still part of the problem. Even if it isn’t solely Arab culture being referenced, it’s still a case of different cultures being used as an aesthetic without proper respect or understanding of their significance.

Whatever do you mean

it's a fantasy pls

It’s people like you who make these conversations insufferable. You know damn well the discussion goes deeper than it being a fantasy manhwa, so don’t act dense just to dismiss the point being made.

Huh what

and ur funny must be fun

I thought mgg crashed for a sec, anyway novel reader here, not saying wrong or right for thinking like that but debatable actually. it really is fantasy if you read past a few chapters. based on mythological gods and aren't realistic at all. It wasn't stated in manhwa but the novel mentioned the name of clothes they are wearing etc so you cant really fully say arab culture since the author seems to mostly mix in other inspirations like greek dynasty etc, fantasy mythology gods and fully self-made settings that dont exist in real life at all. the main characters aren't even "normal human" so skin color doesn't matter to them at the end of the day. The fantasy itself already doesn't represent real culture or people. They are all so out of touch i don't think you can compare it to real culture. It's true that lots of authors take arab as inspiration as aesthetic but this one I think not really. Since it doesn't mean to represent real arab people or culture in the first place.

oh I’m sooo funny

Well if we're getting technical with the term itself, I believe gentrification originated as an economic term in which poor/low-class areas get bought up and rebuilt to invite wealthier investors to buy. The reason why the word is associated with white people is because it's common in American at least for more diverse areas to have a lower land value, making it easy to buy, and then wealthier buyers (more often white) move in to that areas once the houses are rebuilt, which is why it ends up being used as a term in racial/cultural discussions and where "cultural gentrification" stems from. The reason why gentrification isn't the right term here is because this is simply an issue of inaccurate representation rather than occupying the space and claiming the culture as their own. I think cultural appropriation may be the more correct term for this specific situation, but if you still believe gentrification IS the correct term for this story, you'd probably have to convince people how exactly this is more than inaccurate representation. Either way I would be able to see your point but I just think that's why people were getting up in arms about it since the two terms have different meanings and intentions (sorry for the long comment)

This is under the assumption that the only issue is the inaccurate skin colors but I also don't know enough about arab culture to pinpoint myself any other blaring issues with this story's representation

fair enough. thanks for taking the time to write that! I agree with you thanks for letting me know, but I do believe SOME of the people in the replies and disliking it are being dense and they clearly know what I’m trying to insinuate. I think the word I may have been looking for is orientalism or simply cultural appropriation!

yeah agreed

Yeah I read through other replies and it seems as though some people would prefer to pretend as if concepts like racism/appropriation don't apply to fiction, but I don't think it's outlandish to talk about it especially when it pertains to a culture you're knowledgeable about and wish to see represented. Saying "it's just fiction" just tells me you don't have a care for media, because while I understand that it's fiction, it could be so much more than "just fiction" if enough care is put into it, but they'd rather consume than discuss. I honestly think them saying the culture is purely fantasy and therefore has zero connections to real world culture just kinda proves your point

all fantasies are inspired by something T o T sorry but the earth is billions of years old and so anything you've seen or read has been there before. even the concept of magic is ancient babez, you can't make up a culture from scratch it's borrowed and portrayed in a way it suits people's narratives some do it with much due respect some blatantly use it and stay ignorant. consuming any sort of art is not mere escapism it is also supposed to make you critically think, analyze, assess, and contemplate the piece and relate it to the real world, even if you're saying oh I just read it to not think about real things it's still making you think things, very real things, so this is dumb to say it's just fantasy.

i completely agree with you! Calling something fantasy doesn’t erase the real-world context behind it, and I think people are way too quick to dismiss these conversations instead of actually engaging with them.