If you keep up with meme culture or have a tumblr account, you’re probably aware of a personal favorite meme of reviewing well-known personalities in a cynical but accurate way. The tone is meant to be bitter, harsh, and overly sensitive. All of the people you love, and will start to hate. I’m so sorry. Even if your fave is problematic, you can still enjoy and consume their work/art, as long as you are conscious about their problematic behavior. That’s why it’s called “problematic faves,” because even though they’re your faves, they’re problematic.
1.Eugene Krabs:
According to tumblr user blackfairypresident, Mr. Krabs of the beloved show Spongebob Squarepants is not only the holder of extremely capitalistic values, but also violates the
source: http://lythyum.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Mr-Krabs-Conspiracy-Theory.jpg
most basic morals that are present in unproblematic faves. First, he has an horrific criminal record: he has been noted to counterfeit money, imprison customers within the Krabby Patty, poisoned his customers with a Spongie Patty, and even uses a device that magnetizes money to steal money.
The list goes on, but he also has an unacceptable record of committing many workers rights violations. In one particular episode, Mr. Krabs realizes that Plankton is open for 23 hours, and in an effort to one-up his rival, the Krusty Krab is open 24/7. He proceeds to work SpongeBob, Squidward, and even himself to near death for 43 days straight, not even allowing his employees to go home. He has payed Spongebob in fake money, and has used Squidward as a doormat. In season 3, episode 16, he SELLS Spongebob. In an episode in season 5, he sells Squidward when he goes bankrupt.
2. Amy Poehler:
I love Parks and Recreation as much as the next girl, but Amy has said some horrible things. When asked if she has an eating disorder: “Thank you so much. That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me.” A participator in the practice of brownfacing AND an appropriator of Native American cultures, she is definitely problematic. She leads the perfect example of a type of feminism exclusive to white heterosexual women, a type of
source: http://33.media.tumblr.com/e 40ba129b4fdab12d0991b45b9459973/ tumblr_inline_mlyd2eclEd1qz4rgp.jpg
feminism that relies on a person’s firm obsession with her own oppression, but only her own. As a white, heterosexual woman, Amy and her brand of feminists already possess social advantages over, say, the women who they mock who are not white, not rich, and not heterosexual. As Taylor Swift pointed out after Tina Fey and Amy Poehler slammed her dating life, “You know, Katie Couric is one of my favorite people. Because she said to me she had heard a quote that she loved, that said, ‘There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.”
3. Donald Glover:
I’m going to just start bluntly. Donald Glover (also known as Childish Gambino) thinks rape jokes are fine and hilarious:
“I think it’s odd that you can’t joke about rape, when people joke about murder all the time. A lot more people are dying than getting raped. I think it’s a comedian’s job to make everything funny. Nothing is off-limits.”
And I have a personal discomfort about him even though I find his music enjoyable: many of his songs feature the fetishization of Asian women. Even worse, he casually drops in a generalizing statement in his song “Backpackers,” saying: “I got a girl on my arm dude, show respect/Something crazy, an Asian, Virginia Tech.”
source: http://guardianlv.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/tumblr_le8w13vhP51qeqlp8.jpg
4. Selena Gomez
Appropriates the bindi. What’s cultural appropriation? Susan Scafidi, a law professor at
source: https://teeninfonet.files.wordpress.com/2014/01 /selenabeats0124-03.jpg
Fordham University, told Jezebel.com that it’s difficult to give a concise explanation of cultural appropriation. The author of Who Owns Culture? Appropriation and Authenticity in American Law, defined cultural appropriation as follows: “Taking intellectual property, traditional knowledge, cultural expressions, or artifacts from someone else’s culture without permission. This can include unauthorized use of another culture’s dance, dress, music, language, folklore, cuisine, traditional medicine, religious symbols, etc. It’s most likely to be harmful when the source community is a minority group that has been oppressed or exploited in other ways or when the object of appropriation is particularly sensitive, e.g. sacred objects.” Here are some pics of Selena, my beloved Alex from Wizards of Waverly Place, appropriating the bindi. 🙁
source: https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/4/15/1397580565290/Selena-Gomez-009.jpg?w=1200&q=85&auto=format&sharp=10&s=55a5e18a5a65cebc64725ef68da91209
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