i would be more tolerant of hawks or feel like #hottakes about him had some value if there was any interest in discussing him as a marginalized person buying into the system, for power, stability, and whatever misguided belief that the system does good. a child in poverty with abusive parents becoming a person who would do anything in order to never be disempowered nor poor again. a child who was saved by the hero system convincing himself that because he got out anyone can get out, especially anyone who is (like himself as a child) morally blameless and willing to try hard to win the approval of his superiors.
if only there was any talk about dabi and twice being, in hawks' view, morally inadequate and not appropriately grateful towards the establishment (nor, in dabi's case, his own abuser), because his assessment is informed by his own contrasting experience. he needs to perform those mental gymnastics to justify his own place within hero society, to justify his own deserving nature by creating a category of people, within his mind, who are undeserving. if only those people who resemble him would change, if only they would work harder, if only they would come around to his way of thinking, they could replicate his success and earn a place within hero society.
there are plenty of marginalized people who've somehow "made it" and are more than happy to use their own marginalizations to support the status quo. "i'm a poc and if i achieved this so can you." "i'm mentally ill but i did this, so what's your excuse?" "i'm a survivor and i think she's lying." we recognize that these people exist and are still marginalized with all the social precarity that that entails; however, they do harm to people who are even more vulnerable than themselves who share their marginalizations. talking about this means analyzing the positionality of a fandom-favored attractive skinny guy and the power he wields though, so it's more appealing to throw him into the trauma olympics to be bnha's one true victim or whatever.
ideal version of bnha is where instead of whatever pointless bullshit was happening with deku and star n stripe we just got an entire arc of the todorokis being forced by authorities to be shuttled off somewhere for their own safety against the furious civilian masses, along with the toga and iguchi families, for a tense and brutal exploration of both the toll and stress inflicted on the families of criminals/villains, but also the ways those family environments planted the seed for those criminal acts. except it’s all framed as a sitcom where the todorokies are the collective straight man, the togas are chewing the scenery with their melodrama, and the iguchis are locked in an intense debate over whether their kid is gay and if it’s homophobic for him to be gay.
Reading articles about MrBeast's dominance of YouTube is fucking bizarre because, from my perspective, the dude isn't even on YouTube. I've never watched one of his videos. YouTube has, to the best of my knowledge, never recommended one of his videos to me. Every thumbnail screenshot of his looks like something you could tell me was a photoshopped parody of YouTube culture, and I'd believe you. No one I follow on YouTube ever mentions him, even negatively or in passing. The first time I ever heard his name was in regards to the quality of his ghost kitchens. The only way I know he isn't a mass, shared hallucination is that I've witnessed the thoroughly mid-looking chocolate bars he sells at Walmart for some reason
You’re right. Horikoshi does a disservice by framing abuse through the abuser’s perspective. What’s even more irksome is that he glorifies Endeavor’s minimal efforts to atone while downplaying the victims’ own efforts to heal. I mean, no one in-universe is making a big deal out of Rei potentially getting better enough to be discharged after 10 years in the hospital?
he glorifies Endeavor’s minimal efforts to atone
yeh, this this thiiiis. the past chapter was all about how big of a realization it was for the dude to just. fucking leave his family alone. i know it probably is a huge realization for a self-centered ex-abuser, but so many readers have all been saying it was necessary as like a basic first step; so why make it a Big Deal by writing it from his perspective, rather than from the perspective of anyone else so they can have a “wow so it’s finally clicking for him, huh?? huh????” moment. that’s all it takes to flip the narrative from being about how Tragic the dude’s decision is, to making it about how he’s taking his first baby steps!! to being a decent person.
on ur point about the victims, that’s another big issue i have!!! like…where did all the trauma go sdfkljsfkljg. where are the lasting consequences of growing up with an abusive or neglectful parent? why is everyone just okay, and the biggest hurdle to overcome is their willingness or unwillingness to forgive? i hate that the story is going ‘well all he has to do is make up for things sufficiently and then they can maybe be a happy family!!’ like, where is the ptsd and the complexes you develop from being unloved by a parent?? why can’t we see the lasting effects that domestic violence had on rei, rather than just being told?? why not show us the work the victims put in to get to a mentally stable place?? i mean, the answer is obvious, but i hate it lmfao.