demons being ontologically evil, even so far as a child demon was needed to be killed. But I I enjoyed it. I love media that shows different types of “humanity” among fantasy, but I also enjoy media where yes there is true evil. And the reveal that Frieren was playing the demons the same way they played humans made the arc all so worth it. Making demons the white folk analogy works it for me.
That arc is where the show transformed from “comfy DND” to “actually epic fantasy”. (Don’t worry, it still retains comfy vibes between the action)
No, we’re upset because the demons in Frieren aren’t ontologically evil, they’re presented in universe as a sentient race with thoughts and emotions, but are “evolutionary adapted to prey on humans” and thus cannot be trusted.
I don’t think I need to explain why this evolutionary psychology bullshit is fucked up in real life when real white supremacists and Zionists use that kind of rhetoric to justify genocide, and I think I’m entitled to feel put off when it suddenly gets injected into the comfy slice-of-life “contemplating the nature of time” show I had been enjoying up to that point.
The demon king is a trope. The demon king is an excuse to tell the story they want to tell. The purpose of Frieren isn’t to tell a story about the morally complicated nature of demons and their interactions with humans. It’s about the passage of time, legacy, and the asynchronicity between the elven lifespan and the human lifespan. You already have a bunch on your plate. You don’t want pizza AND pasta.
Yeah I genuinely don’t understand the folks who are getting upset at Frieren of all things.
Like, yes I get the undertones of evolutionary psychology. Nobody is saying that shit is cool. However, to say the demons in Frieren justifies that thought is a bit reaching. The point of the demons is to subvert typical fantasy anime villain tropes and make Frieren (the character) look cool. No it’s not cool that the author used racist undertones to do so.
One could even view the argument as a defense of fascism; fascists and psychopaths are sentient people with thoughts and feelings too, should they be allowed in society?
Again, evolutionary psychology is not cool. Nobody is saying it is. But being bothered by Frieren to the point where it ruins the experience is the opposite of critical consumption of media. We all wear clothes made by slaves and browse this site on devices mined by slaves and assembled using slavery and yet don’t condemn each others existences daily.
There are fascists in the streets killing people right now. It’s okay to take a breather sometimes with a media that is slightly flawed while recognizing its flaws.
You mean an attack or critique against fascism? Imagine letting a nazi soldier run away cause he cried for his momma, and then he comes back with an entire squad? Should you have killed them? Let them go? Are we better for having mercy? Or foolish, for allowing ourselves to think of them as human?
Some people were upset about
spoiler
demons being ontologically evil, even so far as a child demon was needed to be killed. But I I enjoyed it. I love media that shows different types of “humanity” among fantasy, but I also enjoy media where yes there is true evil. And the reveal that Frieren was playing the demons the same way they played humans made the arc all so worth it. Making demons the white folk analogy works it for me.
That arc is where the show transformed from “comfy DND” to “actually epic fantasy”. (Don’t worry, it still retains comfy vibes between the action)
No, we’re upset because the demons in Frieren aren’t ontologically evil, they’re presented in universe as a sentient race with thoughts and emotions, but are “evolutionary adapted to prey on humans” and thus cannot be trusted.
I don’t think I need to explain why this evolutionary psychology bullshit is fucked up in real life when real white supremacists and Zionists use that kind of rhetoric to justify genocide, and I think I’m entitled to feel put off when it suddenly gets injected into the comfy slice-of-life “contemplating the nature of time” show I had been enjoying up to that point.
The demon king is a trope. The demon king is an excuse to tell the story they want to tell. The purpose of Frieren isn’t to tell a story about the morally complicated nature of demons and their interactions with humans. It’s about the passage of time, legacy, and the asynchronicity between the elven lifespan and the human lifespan. You already have a bunch on your plate. You don’t want pizza AND pasta.
Yeah I genuinely don’t understand the folks who are getting upset at Frieren of all things.
Like, yes I get the undertones of evolutionary psychology. Nobody is saying that shit is cool. However, to say the demons in Frieren justifies that thought is a bit reaching. The point of the demons is to subvert typical fantasy anime villain tropes and make Frieren (the character) look cool. No it’s not cool that the author used racist undertones to do so.
One could even view the argument as a defense of fascism; fascists and psychopaths are sentient people with thoughts and feelings too, should they be allowed in society?
Again, evolutionary psychology is not cool. Nobody is saying it is. But being bothered by Frieren to the point where it ruins the experience is the opposite of critical consumption of media. We all wear clothes made by slaves and browse this site on devices mined by slaves and assembled using slavery and yet don’t condemn each others existences daily.
There are fascists in the streets killing people right now. It’s okay to take a breather sometimes with a media that is slightly flawed while recognizing its flaws.
Saw this and thought of our conversation
that fucking rocks
You mean an attack or critique against fascism? Imagine letting a nazi soldier run away cause he cried for his momma, and then he comes back with an entire squad? Should you have killed them? Let them go? Are we better for having mercy? Or foolish, for allowing ourselves to think of them as human?