I don't think some of y'all understand why jaxx’s new manhwa got criticized or you're purposely pretending not to. The issue isn't that fiction can't depict slavery. The issue is that this is a romance between an enslaved person and a former enslaver, inspired by real historical oppression. Romanticizing a relationship built on ownership, dehumanization, and treating another human being as literal property especially when it's based on real history is why so many people see it as racist. That isn't people being "too sensitive." It's a completely valid criticism.
And before anyone says, "But people read BL with rape," that isn't the gotcha you think it is. A lot of people criticize rape being romanticized in BL too. Saying "people accept one problematic trope" doesn't magically make another one okay. “Oh but what about-“ shut the fuck up u kkk member
They're also not identical. Rape is an act of violence that can happen in many different contexts. Slavery is an entire system built on owning human beings, stripping them of their humanity, and, in many historical contexts, targeting entire racial or ethnic groups for generations. In this case, the romance isn't just involving an abusive person it's built around a relationship where one person legally owned the other. That's a completely different level of power imbalance, especially when the story is drawing from real historical oppression.
"It's just fiction" also isn't some magic shield from criticism. Fiction gets criticized all the damn time for racism, sexism, stereotypes, or romanticizing harmful dynamics. No one is saying people can't write it. People are saying they're allowed to criticize it, and publishers are allowed to decide they don't want to continue publishing it.
As for it getting canceled, who fucking cares? There are countless amazing BL series releasing all the time. If one series gets dropped because readers and publishers found the premise offensive, there are plenty of other stories to support. Nobody is entitled to have every story published regardless of public reaction.
What really pissed me off about this whole situation was watching people bend over backwards to defend the premise instead of even trying to understand why people were uncomfortable with it. Some of the arguments I've seen have been genuinely racist, dismissing the historical reality of slavery or acting like romanticizing a former enslaver with the person they enslaved is no different than any other "dark romance." It isn't. If your first instinct is to mock people for finding that disturbing instead of engaging with the criticism, maybe ask yourself why you're so desperate to defend that premise in the first place.
And to all the non poc people bending over backwards to defend this instead of listening to why so many people of color found the premise offensive. that's weird as hell. I'm half white, and even I can recognize why romanticizing a relationship between an enslaved person and their former enslaver, especially when it's rooted in real history, is going to be upsetting to a lot of people. Y'all really need to stop acting like every criticism of racist media is an overreaction or trying to swoop in and explain why everyone else should just get over it. That white savior mindset of talking over the people most affected by these issues isn't helping your argument.
There's a reason why you'll NEVER see Asian media romanticise [korean comfort women], [the Tiananmen Square massacre], or the [rape of Nanjing]. These are historical events that will almost ALWAYS cross the line unless you're equipped with the requisite nuance.
Jaxx lacked foreknowledge, and it's admirable that they responded the way they did.
Yes I agree, I’m actually part East Asian as well and did notice this. I think when it comes to things like slavery or what you mentioned those shouldn’t be played off as romantic. If authors are going to write about it, it should be educational and factual, like a literary nonfiction book of the sort. not downplayed as a BL manhwa. (honestly, manhwas shouldn’t even brush past events/topics like that in the first place).
But I think the author should’ve educated themselves on the subject before hand, or just never written it at all. and while I’m glad and genuinely surprised the author took accountability, I’m honestly not that impressed by their apology. They should’ve researched about the topic first and realized “it isn’t a good idea to write about this”. slavery & romance should never be in the same category. Although i don’t think the author deserved majority of the coercion and hate they received , and i do hope they continue to grow and improve from their mistakes. I hope this time if the author is going to attempt poc representation they do it right.
Thank you. I am now again unexpectedly educated in mgg. Totally forgot about the system built on slavery and slavery has led to the non poc to be supremist, racist and has this mentality of savior complex due to them being the higher class as the result of built in slavery system. Romanticizing the system would be so fuc*** up.
Me too, I saw a lot of people being ignorant on TikTok as well. It’s so sad people are brainwashed into thinking that racism is normal because those types of media’s desensitized them. It doesn’t matter to them as long as they have gay sex to fap to
Yes agreed, oh and don’t get me wrong I wasn’t trying to say rape isn’t bad as well. I was just saying I hate when people bring up rape as an attempt to excuse racism & slavery.
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East Asian here. I fully agree.
There's a reason why you'll NEVER see Asian media romanticise [korean comfort women], [the Tiananmen Square massacre], or the [rape of Nanjing]. These are historical events that will almost ALWAYS cross the line unless you're equipped with the requisite nuance.
Jaxx lacked foreknowledge, and it's admirable that they responded the way they did.
Yes I agree, I’m actually part East Asian as well and did notice this. I think when it comes to things like slavery or what you mentioned those shouldn’t be played off as romantic. If authors are going to write about it, it should be educational and factual, like a literary nonfiction book of the sort. not downplayed as a BL manhwa. (honestly, manhwas shouldn’t even brush past events/topics like that in the first place).
But I think the author should’ve educated themselves on the subject before hand, or just never written it at all. and while I’m glad and genuinely surprised the author took accountability, I’m honestly not that impressed by their apology. They should’ve researched about the topic first and realized “it isn’t a good idea to write about this”. slavery & romance should never be in the same category. Although i don’t think the author deserved majority of the coercion and hate they received , and i do hope they continue to grow and improve from their mistakes. I hope this time if the author is going to attempt poc representation they do it right.
Thank you. I am now again unexpectedly educated in mgg. Totally forgot about the system built on slavery and slavery has led to the non poc to be supremist, racist and has this mentality of savior complex due to them being the higher class as the result of built in slavery system.
Romanticizing the system would be so fuc*** up.
No problem, I’m glad that this helped explained the perspective of those who were offended by the manhwa.
i see a lot of people especially on facebook who chose to be ignorant despite being educated of this matter.
Me too, I saw a lot of people being ignorant on TikTok as well. It’s so sad people are brainwashed into thinking that racism is normal because those types of media’s desensitized them. It doesn’t matter to them as long as they have gay sex to fap to
They are tone deaf asf and this can apply to rape and Stockholm syndrome being normalized.
Yes agreed, oh and don’t get me wrong I wasn’t trying to say rape isn’t bad as well. I was just saying I hate when people bring up rape as an attempt to excuse racism & slavery.