beta
i generally agree with the underlying ideas the “fiction doesn’t impact reality” crowd have, which are that people shouldn’t immediately assume that what an author depicts in fiction is reflective of their real life morality and that just because something troubling is portrayed in fiction doesn’t mean that it will immediately translate to real life, and that thinking it is the case that fiction can directly impact reality in such a way can lead to real life harm coming to people, or real life censorship and whatnot.
but a lot of you motherfuckers in these comments are making me start to think that maybe stories like these do need some kind of regulation. not because i’m upset that it exists in the way that it does, but because none of you seem to understand or even care to understand what the fuck you’re actually reading, none of you want to critically think about it, and none of you want anyone ELSE to critically think about it. then you use “it’s not that deep, it’s just fiction, fiction doesn’t impact reality” to justify your total disinterest in engaging with anything on a deeper level.
i guess i should start writing black people like monkeys in my story now, right? because it’s just fiction? or should i give all my asian characters slitted eyes and their only defining personality trait should be them being really good at math. it’s just a fictional story, so that should be fine, too. how about i make the women in my stories really dumb and overly emotional, too? since it’s just fiction, and i can do whatever i want, and it doesn’t impact or say anything about anything in real life at all. should i write all my gay men as child predators, too? that would be a fascinating plot line, which has no repercussions and never has had any repercussions on people in real life.