Alright I just discovered that some people in the Owl House fandom have been viciously bashing other cartoons with queer rep for “not being enough” and as someone who is LITERALLY writing an entire ass essay on the evolution of queerness in western cartoons, this PISSES ME OFF.
I’m so happy yall don’t remember a time when something like Lumity was unheard of. I’m glad you live in a society where LGBT+ rep exists enough for you to compare them all. I really am glad you guys have this. But you NEED to understand, life just wasn’t like this a few years ago.
I grew up in the early 2000s. Being queer was still considered a Bad Thing, and people hadn’t even heard of the word transgender.
When Legend of Korra came out in 2014, it was REVOLUTIONARY. I still remember pausing the moment they held hands, tears in my eyes, and thinking “this is the start of something big.” Mike and Bryan (the creators of Avatar and LOK) fought tooth and nail for them to get together, and getting them to hold hands and look into each other’s eyes??? That was equal to a passionate kiss now. Gay marriage hadn’t even been legalized in the US yet when Korra ended.
Every single creator who fought to get queer rep in their shows deserves to be applauded, and they paved the way for those who came after.
I know it’s popular to hate Steven Universe now, but do you understand how goddamn revolutionary it was?????? Wlw characters, nonbinary characters, FEMALE PRESENTING CHARACTERS KISSING ON SCREEN. Rebecca Sugar broke barriers, and people started thinking “hey, maybe I can do that too.”
Shera having the two main characters get together??????? Unbelievable. Shera came out around the time SU was winding down, and Noelle Stevenson definitely rode on the high that Rebecca Sugar left behind.
These shows walked so The Owl House can run. The only reason you have Lumity today is because of these shows, and a few more.
I know life is still hard for LGBT+ kids, trust me. But for just a few moments, try to imagine a world where none of these shows existed. Where there were zero queer characters in cartoons. That was the reality until only a few years ago. It was so easy to feel alone.
So before you start bashing other shows for “not doing enough”, stop and think. Stop and thank them. Because the only reason you have canon Lumity today is because two bisexual POC held hands in 2014.
Honestly it’s not that bad as it sounds. It takes the eagles about 2 hours to get to my liver and another 2 to eat it. The whole ordeal is over by one and I’ve got the afternoon to myself.
american workers defending capitalism
No American worker has the afternoon to themselves
I simply cannot feel sorry for multi-millionaire Scarlett Johansson only earning $20 million instead of $30 million or what the fuck ever because Disney recognised that large parts of the world still can’t safely go to the cinema on account of the deadly pandemic and released Black Widow on Disney+ at the same time as in theatres. But then I also support anyone suing Disney for any reason, so you see my dilemma
The case isn’t really about Scarlett Johansson. It’s about setting precedent for the way actors are paid when content is released on screening services going forward, and Scarlett Johansson is pretty unique in her position of both having a valid case for breach of contract and having a large enough platform, following and wealth that suing Disney won’t completely destroy her and her career.
She offered to renegotiate her contract at the point the decision to release on Disney+ was made, and Disney refused, that is what lead to the case.
The overwhelming majority of actors, even actor’s working for Disney are not millionaires, I know that because I am a jobbing actor, and I earn less in a year then either of my siblings, both of whom have office jobs.
When you get a film or television job, in addition to what you’re paid at the time you also get something that in the UK is called royalty fees, and in the US is called residuals. This occurs when the show or film is shown or licensed on another channel or network, almost always for a set period of time, although Netflix has started buying the rights to small indie films outright.
Royalty checks can be hilariously small. A friend I trained with once got one for £2.07 because their show had just been licensed to be shown on a Thai TV network, but more often they are a lifeline for actors. Most actors work minimum wage jobs in between acting gigs, and when you also have the cost of Headshots, Self Tape equipment, travel to auditions and lost wages whenever you have to take time off to prep and travel to auditions, you understand why equity wages are so high for individual jobs, because that one episode in a soap you got paid £800-£1200 for (minus 10-20% for your agent), could be your wage for 2 months and you would be considered a fairly successful working actor, even if it was your only acting job in that time period.
The case isn’t about a multimillionaire quibbling over how many millions she is being paid, although it’s likely that had Black Widow had a prepandemic release Scarlett Johansson would have been paid closer to 200 million than the 20 million she is being paid. Although Disney is pushing that angle hard so I fully understand why you’ve fallen into their propaganda trap. It is one of the very few opportunities for actors, screenwriters, cinematographers, directors, and all the other hundreds of creatives involved in the filmmaking process to challenge some of the status quo with streaming services and really ask questions about how royalties will work in the future.
There is a reason that the unions are backing the case and that’s because the other way around, breach of contract is a huge deal, there can be penalties of hundreds of thousands of dollars for contract breaches, often on jobs where you are paid a fraction of that, and believe me, Netflix, Disney, Amazon, Universal all persue those payments, and in certain circumstances even go out of their way to blacklist the artist.
If breach of contract is a big deal when actors and other creatives do it, it should be just as big a deal when studios do it, but it isn’t because Capitalism is rarely about rewarding artists and all about bottom line profit.
This case has the potential to really change things and help millions of ordinary, jobbing actors and creatives. I am 100% on Scarlett Johansson’s side with this and any reasonable person who cares about the well-being of artists should be too.
^^^^^^^^ this. this right here
It’s also worth noting that Disney 100% did this because they knew they could probably get away with it and probably didn’t expect anyone to fight them very hard if at all.
This is more of the same kind of shit they did to Alan Dean Foster, trying to find loopholes to breach contracts and avoid paying artists. If Disney could get a monopoly on art and never have to pay another artist, they would. It’s important that the people fighting them get visibility and support, and you can absolutely do that without condoning literally anything else about ScarJo as a person, because what she’s fighting is about far more than her own paycheck.
disney has been breaking contracts for years. robin williams only agreed to be the genie if they didnt use his name to promote aladdin but they did anyways. its nice to see the mouse finally get its comeuppance
I am Silver Tongue, I am an artist. I have many characters and you can check out my art in the art tag. I occasionally practice witchcraft though I don't do anything too complicated. I am girl 2 and don't know what else to put here.
