wrote:
also abt this "its just fiction"
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Probably the most exhausting argument to try to counter is ‘it’s just fiction, if you can’t tell it from reality that’s your problem!’ like fiction has no effect on the real world, like the real world has no effect on fiction, like fiction doesn’t come from and exist in the same minds that create and maintain and absorb social structures. People who think fiction exists in a super special sealed alternate reality where nothing that exists here can ever influence it and nothing that exists there can ever influence here are the most exhausting to argue with because they literally cannot conceive of the fact that fiction affects reality because fiction affects people. Fiction reflects reality, fiction affects reality. It’s not even a matter of opinion, it is a goddamn scientifically proven fact. People feel empathy for fictional characters in exactly the same way they feel empathy for other human beings. Science fiction has inspired a lot of scientific exploration and tech - look up the effect of Star Trek on the cell phone, the tablet computer, NASA’s funding. And more importantly, look up the effect of Nichelle Nichols’ casting on Star Trek on actress Whoopi Goldberg andastronaut Mae Jemison, the first black woman in space, who would go on to appear on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Hell, look up Aesop’s Fables. Fairy tales and fables have reflected the social reality of the people who tell them since time immemorial. They are wish fulfillment for people who couldn’t fight back against evil kings or corrupt government or church officials, and they teach the values of that society (be kind to the elderly, the poor, and the infirm; be clever and patient; work hard; and you will be rewarded). They show the world both as it is, and as people can hope to make it. As Terry Pratchett masterfully put it, “You need to believe in things that aren’t true. How else can they become?”Fiction. Affects. Reality. Because fiction reflects reality. Fiction reflects the imaginations of the people who create it, the taboos and the norms of their societies. And in doing so, fiction tacitly supports or challenges those norms and taboos, and tells people what’s acceptable and what’s not. This is why there’s such a huge goddamn push for representation in fiction. Because if fiction was completely seperate from reality, it wouldn’t matter. And if you have a problemwith that, then maybe you should ask yourself why. Because if fiction isn’t reality and representation doesn’t matter, then you should take a long, hard look at why you’re so threatened by seeing people who don’t look and act exactly like you reflected in the fiction you consume."
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