Would General Blue be considered offensive to the LGBTQ+ community in this day and age?

[PhoenixEX]

He is clearly very stereotypically gay, but that kind of humor seemed to be normal in the 80s and 90s. However, today, it might be viewed a bit differently.

Should there ever be any new Dragon Ball material that could include General Blue, should he be toned down? Removed altogether? Or have no change done to his character whatsoever? TOEI clearly wants to market to a wide audience (i.e., removal of blood, the middle finger removal scandal), so I'm sure they would have to make some changes.

What do you guys honestly think? Has his character ages well at all?

[Soppa Saia People]

the main thing that i take issue with is the anime dr slump stuff. it's just really gross anyway and plays into the sterotype that gay men are pedos/pedos are apart of the lgbtq+ community (which is a take i've seen too often). besides that, i don't recall anything too bad. like gay/effeminate men as villians is overplayed as hell, but i don't think blue himself is too bad.

[Luso Saiyan]

I don't see the connection.

[MasenkoHA]

I love the question includes “in this day and age” as if making the gay dude a pedophile wouldn’t be considered offensive to gay people in the 80s and 90s.

[KBABZ]

I love the question includes “in this day and age” as if making the gay dude a pedophile wouldn’t be considered offensive to gay people in the 80s and 90s.

I don't think PhoenixEX was implying that gay people wouldn't have found it offensive in that era, but more that "Joe Public" wouldn't have. If you go watch something like Friends you'll find that homosexual humor was more common and considered appropriate to most people. Today though most folks are better informed and know that it offends the people its making fun of.

General Blue I find to be more in the line of effeminate James from Pokémon with the dial turned up more. In general the only bit of humor that IMO plays directly into "oh he's gay" is the scene where Bulma tries to charm him, and in the ViZ translation Bulma says "Foey. He must be gay" with an implied tone of "Well that didn't work". But to be fair ViZ could have easily adjusted this bit of dialogue.

[Vijay]

I never watched Funi dubbed version, but I just watched jap version of General Blue portion of RRA Arc...strangely, there's nothing that u mentioned off came off his character

Blue's this what you'd call "high-class" guy. He priotizes hygiene, his order are ultimate, he prefers his commander Dock to lose some weight as he doesnt want a rolypoly to be in his team...so...where did LGBT came from? Seriously...

[Cure Dragon 255]

I love the question includes “in this day and age” as if making the gay dude a pedophile wouldn’t be considered offensive to gay people in the 80s and 90s.

I don't think PhoenixEX was implying that gay people wouldn't have found it offensive in that era, but more that "Joe Public" wouldn't have. If you go watch something like Friends you'll find that homosexual humor was more common and considered appropriate to most people. Today though most folks are better informed and know that it offends the people its making fun of.

General Blue I find to be more in the line of effeminate James from Pokémon with the dial turned up more. In general the only bit of humor that IMO plays directly into "oh he's gay" is the scene where Bulma tries to charm him, and in the ViZ translation Bulma says "Foey. He must be gay" with an implied tone of "Well that didn't work". But to be fair ViZ could have easily adjusted this bit of dialogue.

But the title isnt Joe Public. It explicitly says LGBTQ and plus community.

[MasenkoHA]

I never watched Funi dubbed version, but I just watched jap version of General Blue portion of RRA Arc...strangely, there's nothing that u mentioned off came off his character

Blue's this what you'd call "high-class" guy. He priotizes hygiene, his order are ultimate, he prefers his commander Dock to lose some weight as he doesnt want a rolypoly to be in his team...so...where did LGBT came from? Seriously...

The part where they call him gay when he’s grossed out by Bulma trying to seduce him and later when he calls Obatchaman his type?

What are you even on about?

[VegettoEX]

I love the question includes “in this day and age” as if making the gay dude a pedophile wouldn’t be considered offensive to gay people in the 80s and 90s.

Nailed it.

"Gay people are (all also) pedophiles" is an age-old bit of hate rhetoric used to condemn and abuse. The fact that it was played up for humor in the TV series was gross and unconscionable then and remains gross and unconscionable now.

(We did a podcast episode about it back in 2012. I don't remember what I said then, but I'd probably have more [and more-informed things] to say now.)

[IAmTheMilkMan]

To echo what others have been saying...

Manga version of Blue: No. From what I remember, the fact that Blue's gay rarely actually comes into play in the manga, and when it does, it's never in a derogatory way. He's kind of just a villain who happens to be gay, and a fairly competent one, at that. Of the Red Ribbon Army Generals, he definitely gives Goku and company the most difficult time, and manages to snag their radar. Dare I say, for the time period and media in which he appeared, that the character is damn-near progressive? Maybe that's a stretch, but it's a stark contrast to how the anime handled him...

Anime version of Blue: Absolutely. In addition to being gay, they also turned him into a pedophile, implying that homosexuality and pedophilia go hand-in-hand. This is one of the most offensive things that I've ever seen in a children's cartoon.

[Brodes]

I love the question includes “in this day and age” as if making the gay dude a pedophile wouldn’t be considered offensive to gay people in the 80s and 90s.

I don't think PhoenixEX was implying that gay people wouldn't have found it offensive in that era, but more that "Joe Public" wouldn't have. If you go watch something like Friends you'll find that homosexual humor was more common and considered appropriate to most people. Today though most folks are better informed and know that it offends the people its making fun of.

Even Friends pretty horrific "gay panic" jokes don't imply homosexuality = paedophilia. So that's a pretty false equivalence. It's an absolutely terrible choice on Toeis part.

[ABED]

Also, I don't recall the gay jokes in Friends being at their expense. That's not surprising given one of the creators is gay. There were simply a lot of jokes about Ross having unwittingly married a woman who was also into women. The DB anime clearly does make jokes at the expense of gay people. Even if Blue hadn't been gay, saying a young boy was just his type is gross.

[KBABZ]

But the title isnt Joe Public. It explicitly says LGBTQ and plus community.

Ah, yeah that's a totally fair call. I'm not one to say but I can very much see the anime version of Blue being offensive to them.

I never watched Funi dubbed version, but I just watched jap version of General Blue portion of RRA Arc...strangely, there's nothing that u mentioned off came off his character

In both the anime and the manga there's a scene where Bulma tries to get Blue to stop fighting Krillin by using his feminine wiles, only for Blue to call her disgusting. Both Bulma and Krillin conclude he must be gay. That's not even getting into the "gay people are pedophiles" stereotype that's the basis of the implied pedophilia scene of Obotchaman (did you even make it that far?).

(We did a podcast episode about it back in 2012. I don't remember what I said then, but I'd probably have more [and more-informed things] to say now.)

I listened to it a year or so ago during my archive binge. I believe you mentioned that it felt incredibly inappropriate and has not aged well at all. I think you might even have mentioned that the scene is for all intents and purposes completely frivolous considering how offensive the joke it's based around is.

[MyVisionity]

Blue's this what you'd call "high-class" guy. He priotizes hygiene, his order are ultimate, he prefers his commander Dock to lose some weight as he doesnt want a rolypoly to be in his team...so...where did LGBT came from? Seriously...

All of those things you mentioned are gay stereotypes. As well as his sadistic ruthlessness, and also the whole "gay men have superhuman strength" idea with Blue's abilities etc. etc.

I think Kuririn also taunts him as something amounting to a "flaming homo" in the anime.

[ABED]

Blue's this what you'd call "high-class" guy. He priotizes hygiene, his order are ultimate, he prefers his commander Dock to lose some weight as he doesnt want a rolypoly to be in his team...so...where did LGBT came from? Seriously...

All of those things you mentioned are gay stereotypes. As well as his sadistic ruthlessness, and also the whole "gay men have superhuman strength" idea with Blue's abilities etc. etc.

I think Kuririn also taunts him as something amounting to a "flaming homo" in the anime.

Gay men have superhuman strength is a stereotype?

[DragonBallFoodie]

Camp gay characters aren't really politically correct these days.

But then, a lot of early DB is that way. Master Roshi is seen as offensive, Goku is classified as a mental retard, and so on. It's sad when times change and make your TV shows look awkward.

[MasenkoHA]

Camp gay characters aren't really politically correct these days.

Difference between camp gay and offensive flaming stereotype.

But then, a lot of early DB is that way. Master Roshi is seen as offensive

He was a sexual predator by 80s standards.

, Goku is classified as a mental retard,

Wut

[MasenkoHA]

All of those things you mentioned are gay stereotypes. As well as his sadistic ruthlessness, and also the whole "gay men have superhuman strength" idea with Blue's abilities etc. etc.

I think the gay stereotype is usually the opposite of super strength.

I think Kuririn also taunts him as something amounting to a "flaming homo" in the anime.

Yep. Bulma says “Yikes he’s gay” Kuririn calls him a flaming homo and later Bulma tries to convince him she’s a man. Which is why it’s confusing how anyone didn’t get he was gay. Only the Funi dub didn’t directly state it.

[Polyphase Avatron]

All of those things you mentioned are gay stereotypes. As well as his sadistic ruthlessness, and also the whole "gay men have superhuman strength" idea with Blue's abilities etc. etc.

I think the gay stereotype is usually the opposite of super strength.

I think in Japan it's a stereotype that gay men are huge buff dudes with lots of body hair, but in the west it's a stereotype that they are effeminate - looking and scrawny.

[ABED]

It's a stereotype that they are in shape, but I've never heard of the "gay men are super strong" stereotype.