My understanding is that a lot of younger folks get upset about both the language used and the intersection of queerness and villainy. I haven't seen this myself; I've only seen reactions to the reaction, as it were.
I wish more people knew about the ways that terms, from formal language to slang, have shifted over time. There's a really rich history there, for one, and it helps avoid knee-jerk negative reactions to older media that isn't using the "accepted" terminology of the modern reader.
As far as queerness and villainy go, well. Get called a monster often enough, and sometimes your response becomes, "I'll show you a monster." I think some younger people who grew up in the comparatively accepting times of the last, uh, ten years (?) or so don't have that bone-deep kinship with the villainous and the monstrous and an instinct for spite. Which, hey, I'm glad they had better formative years than I did. But there's value in being able to glory in your supposed wickedness, especially in the coming dark times.
As you can see, I'm very enthusiastic about this topic, so the book should be right up my alley. :D
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zvi
(no subject)
Date: 2025-05-04 10:31 pm (UTC)I wish more people knew about the ways that terms, from formal language to slang, have shifted over time. There's a really rich history there, for one, and it helps avoid knee-jerk negative reactions to older media that isn't using the "accepted" terminology of the modern reader.
As far as queerness and villainy go, well. Get called a monster often enough, and sometimes your response becomes, "I'll show you a monster." I think some younger people who grew up in the comparatively accepting times of the last, uh, ten years (?) or so don't have that bone-deep kinship with the villainous and the monstrous and an instinct for spite. Which, hey, I'm glad they had better formative years than I did. But there's value in being able to glory in your supposed wickedness, especially in the coming dark times.
As you can see, I'm very enthusiastic about this topic, so the book should be right up my alley. :D