Doctor. wrote:Otokosuki isn't offensive, he's just a stereotype, and Blue isn't offensive because he's a homossexual, but because he's a pedophile (well, I'd argue that the fact that he's being portrayed as a pedophile isn't inherently offensive but that's a whole other can of worms I'd prefer not to open up). The argument was that the portrayal of those characters may be representative of Toriyama's thoughts on the LGBT community, and I said I think there's insufficient information to make that kind of judgement, especially considering they're supposed to be jokes.
I'd be surprised if anyone had their day ruined by Otokosuki (or a Japanese kid grappling with his sexuality really did; I don't know), but I don't have an issue believing that Toriyama thinking to include gay characters, but only for punchlines, says something about his stance toward LGBT issues at the time. Probably not at all malicious, but certainly not viewing them as something that needs to be treated as anything more than a joke. So, you know, kind of just playing into the thoughtless dismissal of the time.
And I can't stress this enough: Toriyama is one of my favorite, if not my favorite, comic artists ever. I love his work. There are also some things about where I'm like, "Eeeehh. This isn't going to hold up super well."
People can react to fiction however they want, but there's a difference between wanting Gohan to have an important role in the upcoming tournament and wanting Goku to turn gay for Vegeta. One is a plot point that someone could think would benefit the plot, the other is a political statement in a series that doesn't nor has ever concerned itself with such issues. One concerns itself with the internal aspects of the story, the other wants to relay some kind of message to the audience, something the author shouldn't have the responsability of doing. And just as is one's right to ask for or complain about something in a work of fiction, it's also someone's right to put this complaint under scrutiny and think of what it may or may not contribute to the general creative process.
People want Gohan to go Blue because it would be cool and they're miffed he's lame now. People want to see one or two LGBT characters because it would be cool and the series hasn't handled them well before. Kind of like how people wanted a female Super Saiyan for decades. If neither happens, oh well, but this isn't a story where either would be hard to work in. We're about to head into a vast fantasy setting with a hundred new characters. People can hope one of the gods of destruction is a cat for whatever weird personal reason they want, but they can't hope some character in the series is eventually a reasonably portrayed LGBT?
And yes, every part of the back-and-forth, from artist to critique to counter-critique, is each person's right. No one would be in this thread if they didn't want to have a conversation about it. That's why I haven't called in my SJW secret police.
