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Woke up in the middle of the night, and i couldnt get back to sleep because a random thought about Elemental/ and the state of Pixar is just in shambles
Bernie is living in a city made mostly for water, yet they allow fire to have their own town and try to save them from a flood. Bernie hates water for not having most things made for fire, forgetting that there are other elements too that the city needs to take care of as well. Bernie is a guest in this city but can have his own business and live in an area made for fire. If water were to live in Bernie's fire city or town, they would dry up from lack of water. Water may treat fire poorly, but fire is not tolerant of water no matter who they are. Bernie or fire has no right to demand water to change for them when fire places don't make water even livable for them there.
This is great and you have a good thing going on. Wish I was anywhere near as good at editing as you are lol. You also do a fantastic job at explaining psychoanalysis to people which is something that people can find very offputting because of the themes!
If Ember was male, the story would be vastly different. When Hispanic women are assertive, they're "spicy" but an assertive Hispanic man would be considered dangerous. If a female Wade was attracted to a male Ember, then Wade's family might outright forbid the relationship cuz their daughter is dating a hot-tempered foreigner who might hurt her. In the movie, Wade's family might condone Ember and Wade's relationship because it's expected on a subtle level for Wade to tame or "douse" Ember's fiery nature
yeah i do wish the roles were reversed i think that couldve opened the floor to more rather than the poc woman thing since theyre more sought after i mean theres that whole "passport bro" thing for a reason. rly no point in ember being a woman if they dont do anything with it
Good point! The role of gender was a little beyond the scope of the video, but it does certainly change a lot of things. One of Fanon's more controversial point is his analysis of an author from Martinique who writes about how she ended up marrying a white Frenchman. Fanon argues that for her, it was logical to seek out white love, because it is in white recognition that one becomes closer to being recognized as "man" especially during the times of colonialism. Although I don't buy Fanon's gendered argument, I think his concepts about the impossibly of authentic love as long as this relation of inferiority is very on point. Thank you for watching, and I hope you subscribe!
I don't think this topic should be watered down. Kids are fully capable of understanding because they think and learn. They rebuild their own language when learning it for crying out loud. Systemic racism shouldn't be watered down because there are kids who experience it. They may not fully understand it, but they know it. Watering down systemic racism makes it more of an individualistic problem vs systemic, and therefore kids won't think the system is wrong, but just people's actions. It's about the comfort of those who benefit from systemic racism. Why should kids who benefit from the system feel comfortable with imagery of systemic racism, something that kids who suffer from get the full picture?
I absolutely agree, what is an elusive subject for some is daily lived experienced for people of color, even if as kids they don't have a full understanding. I firmly believe movies about experiences of immigrants and POC should be doing much more to help kids understand about the root of these issues, instead of brushing over it completely. Thank you for watching and I hope you subscribe!
I think Elemental highlights the issue of allegory for a lot of Disney films as well. We could say that the systemic racism in this film is based on history not involving colonialism/slavery. However, Elemental's story is a) based on the creator's experiences, and b) it's substituting real world races with elemental ones (Zootopia doesn't really place race on the animals, moreso has predators be a demonized group of many different oppressed races). If this is allegory, then the whole "elements don't mix" thing becomes really bizarre, especially to mixed-raced peoples. It's a racist statement "elements don't mix", but choosing elements that we know to not mix unintenionally creates this weird message that it's not natural to mix races and that ember and wade's relationship is an exception and not the status quo. If it's supposed to make us question our own prejudices/assumptions, it kinda fails because elements don't have a perfect 1:1 representation of human relationships. Elemental's "don't mix" thing is natural because it's water and fire, not human beings. Should allegory be a 1:1 of our real world? Not necessarily. But Elemental is deeply coded to the real world, specifically Asian discrimination, so it's gonna be difficult for audiences to seperate the movie world and the fake world smd not see it as a 1:1.
@@snorpington5910But Wade and Ember do mix, they have a vapor child together. The elements can mix, in the end the idea of "Don't mix" was just racism.
I kind of hate when they use monsters, prey/predator, elements as an allergory for other. It’s cute and deep for us adults but kids are going to internalize that “racism” is the natural order. Why can’t they ever use birds of different colors or dog breeds like Bluey? It would be far easier for kids to digest as real world counter points. I would pay money see an animated movie for kids about a pitbull that wants be a service dog but is indiscriminate by society for being a pitbull.🙄
Very good point, the movie does push the view that people are seen as inherently different, without addressing that in real life, that racial attitude was born as a justification for the differences in status needed to make colonialism work. Thank you for watching, and I hope you subscribe!
@@TheEruditeCritic This is my issue, because the elements are presented as possibly dangerous to each other... which for a racism message made me wonder. I get the guy used this to cope with losing his parents, but I'm feeling like if your going to make a movie like this... Go to therapy first before you write the script. I don't think this was a good film
I think my problem with a lot of "Racism Bad" movies is how they often use actually dangerous (insert thing) as minorities. The problem with Elemental? Fire folks are actually dangerous to other elementals. In Zooptopia, prey have very valid reasons to fear predators (y'know... given how they can kill them). Why can't they just use different breeds of cats or different types of, I don't know, tomatoes? "Racism Bad" films don't work when the message is that "Mice should trust Cats even though the film shows us that cats can and will kill mice when given the chance." Sorry for the rant, but these movies fumble the message a lot, oof
Zooptopia is not a racism allegory, but prejudice in general. Zootopia also makes a point that modern Predators no longer have their predatory instincts (and the name is mostly outdated) to the point that the differences between them and Prey are skin-deep. Yes they look like animals from our world but they no longer are ruled by their instincts which used to pit them against each other. We never see a Predator in Zootopia exhibit predatory behaviour unless they are under the effects of Nighthowlers. Which are stated to work on Prey as well. So your critique against Zootopia does not apply.
@@PlanetZoidstar Within the framework of the film, prejudice is justified because a not insignificant portion of the population literally has a kill switch activated by the antagonist. In real life, there is no such thing as a kill switch for any disenfranchised group. It plays into a very old racist stereotype that [insert minority] has some kind of biological violence gene that although might not always manifest, might manifest, and so they should be oppressed. Which is of course, ridiculous! Because there is no race of humans who are inherently X, Y, Z over another. So although you could argue that Predators aren't presented as factually dangerous in Zootopia, they are presented as -potentially- dangerous, in a way that herbivores are not. But there is a solution and its fairly simply. Just make it so the villain's method of turning Predators ALSO works on non-Predators. This would demonstrate both in universe and to the audience that Predators aren't actually uniquely capable of violence, but are forced into it by material circumstances.
i wonder if zootopia's predator/prey dynamic could've worked if it was reversed. like, the prey being the ones that are demonized for defending themselves against predators, despite the fact that the power dynamics within that society favor the predators
@@silliestguy155 The Predator/Prey dynamic works fine as-is because it's clear both groups haven't unpacked their various biases against each other from the old days. Prejudice and stereotypes can take generations to deconstruct.
It's funny how once Bernie accepts Wade and Ember's relationship, we see a bunch of other inter-elemental relationships pop up around the city, as if his change of attitude completely solves racism.
I wonder how a sequel would work out for this movie. What if the kids of Wade and Ember are like their parents? Wade has a daughter that is water like him and Ember has a daughter who is fire like her. The two sisters are pretty much pitted against each other because they are recognized as either one or of the other. The Water Daughter, Vapor gets accepted and is absolutely praised by everyone, including her parents. And, Coal, their fire daughter is mostly ostracized by everyone and not even accepted by the fire kids because of her mixed element heritage. It would be nice to see how favoritism and racism comes into play with a relationship between a parent and their child. How does Wade and Ember deal with their failures as parents for playing favorites with their daughters and probably still harboring prejudicial feelings towards each others' elements.
@@Neku628 That would be interesting and more nuanced, it also raises the question of how inter-elemental children would even come out-would they all be made out of steam?
What troubled me particularly about the glass making plot was that, while we were introduced to her being good at shaping glass from the beginning, there was nothing indicating it was her secret dream to go into glass making and glass art. Never once before that scene with the water pitcher does she say how much she likes working with glass or how she longs to do it but she needs to take over the shop because her dad expects it. We never see little glass art sculptures in her room or her looking at glass art magazines or going to a glass art gallery. In fact, it's pretty clear glass working is just kind of a thing she's good at that she uses in a utilitarian way and her dream is to run her father's shop, which she clearly loves and enjoys (even if she's not great with customer service, something Wade could've helped her with either by helping her be more chill or by being the cashier for the shop cause he's good with people). But suddenly, when water people are acknowledging how good she is at it and offering her an internship, then it becomes her lifelong dream, and the shop is now an obligation. And this change is basically out of nowhere. It just felt less like her actual dream than convincing herself it was her dream because she wasn't good at customer service and the elites were telling her this was a thing they valued. It bothered me no end that she gave up the shop business she clearly loved in the end, something that she could've had with Wade that would've shown him finding a place in her life and culture and them working together and complimenting each other's strengths as a couple, and instead have her going off on an internship for his mom about something she only indicated was her dream after it was praised by the water people.
That bothered me as well! To Fanon, it is white, colonial society that dictates what it means to be recognized as "man" therefore, those who wish to assimilate also adopt the dreams and aspirations of the white, dominant society. For Ember, recognition from water people validates her dreams as she moves closer to becoming accepted in the dominant society. However, the problem is that as much as one can try, they can never fully assimilate to dominant society, as in the case of racial discrimination you always walk around with a consciousness of your own race (and are perceived as such) and never just for your personhood, while white people are able to exist comfortably as just "man." Thank you for watching, and I hope you subscribe!
I disagree with this take. When you grow up in a family with expectations like that, you don’t even know you’re suppressing yourself. How Ember acts is exactly how I acted. I _had_ to do this because I believed I had to do this and literally I had never considered anything else in life I wanted to do, despite being “good” at other things. Ember’s outbursts are also extremely realistic. She has no idea why she’s feeling this way because her culture and family have always told her what she’s supposed to do and think and feel. When you start breaking out of that shell, you realize things you thought you loved aren’t really things you like. And things you didn’t know you loved suddenly become very important to you. Because you’re thinking for yourself for the first time.
@@burnblue But she doesn't have glass sculptures in her room, nor does she play with glass in her free time. She enjoys it because it's a break from her otherwise stressful job and she gets to feel competent at something. Glassmaking is mostly utilitarian for Ember.
If I lived in a world with literal fire people who burn things that they touch because they're literally made of fire, I would make a strong habit of avoiding them where possible too.
_Elements_ shows that avoiding minorities is in fact logically justified and NOT based on subconscious discrimination which undermines the premise that racism is bad (because in that world, 'racism' is in fact absolutely necessary to live at all). Are Plant folk the most racist for permanently avoiding Fire folk despite not physically able to? What kind of moral message does it intend to show (especially to kids) because it's very confusing to me.
Seems like this movie falls into an even more pronounced version of the same pitfall that Zootopia suffers from in analogizing racial tensions in that it implies that the races are naturally opposed rather than socially categorized
The intrest in embers glass making made me think of the exploitation of black culture. Cornrows are cool on a runway but are banned from schools or work. Or how black artists are celebrated for their work, that comes from oppression, but were not be able to get a cab. Maybe water would change their veiws but the movie doesn't want to go that hard.
I would say however that it is never shown as something all fire people can do or have interest in. This is where the metaphor can get muddled because its something only fire can presumably do but only Ember shows interest and skill in it for artwork/utility. its not a universal idea or experience.
This helped me identify things I never realized that I felt, I'm a person of color raised poorly by older white people in a way that made it erased racial identify, where I didn't know how to identify these feelings about race I felt
Thank you for watching! I highly recommend Fanon's Black Skin White Masks, he is focused in the actual lived psychology of a person of color in modern society. His work helped me a lot in understanding my own feelings that at first glance seem "irrational"
Good stuff. I agree that watering down the underlying spark of the problem is a dangerous simplification, but maybe it is worth the opportunity to expose kids to what the movie does well.
Thank you for watching! I think the movie does a good job in portraying the individual experience, but does not even hint at how it is a societal & historical issue as well. It is a hard question on what exactly to present in a kid's movie (definitely not whole extent of the theory I bring up lol) but I do think that especially nowadays when there are more mainstream narratives about the experiences of people of color, Elemental falls way too short of the mark.
I assumed Wade’s mom was trying to help Ember by offering her the internship, so it's really interesting to hear how she's actually doing the opposite and just exploiting her more. Great video.
I assumed so too, I didn’t get any malicious intent from that scene. I think thats the only part of the video I didn’t understand. Would it be better if she didn’t offer an internship?
@@rosennacht7624I think unfortunately that the film makers didn't plan for an independent critical race theory convo around thsi movie in this way. I mean, are we not all in these comments reducing ALL people's expirences down to their race? People can be many things, even opposing things all at once. Like how women can be victims of sexism while also perpetuating it, how minorities can be prejudiced even tho they're victims of racism, how men can hurt one another while condemning how men are treated, the list goes on. Humans are messy imperfect creatures, race doesn't change that. I think if a film could tackle the topic of racism while acknowledging the personal AND systemic issues at play, i would be dead because a movie that real is not gonna be made anytime soon😂
@@heehoopeanut420 The point of critical race theory from what I have seen tends to analyze how interactions with no racial intent affects society as a whole when put together. The interaction of giving an internship possibly has absolutely no racial intent whatsoever. HOWEVER, if the only chance a fire elemental has at starting in a high profile career is if that career path lines up with a strength of their element as well as have to have good graces with a family of another element, that would be systematically biased against fire. From what we see, this opportunity is a life altering one, when I get the impression that if a water elemental could do glass blowing, they would have an easier time getting in that career than her.
I didnt relate to the topics presented on race because Im white but it reminded me of how I feel because Im LGBT. Ive lived my whole life not able to prove myself as having the same humanity as others because I am transgender with no way of gaining the same respect and dignity given to those around me. It made me examine some stuff about how I view myself. Its a really good video, thanks man.
I am glad you resonated with the analysis! Fanon's main concern ultimately is the topic of alienation, which he focuses on the experience of people of color in the context of colonialism. However, many with marginalized identities can find similarities because of that. Thank you for watching!
Hitler murdered six million people for belonging to a white ethnic group. Two more white ethnic groups, Greeks and Spanish, were systematically targeted by propaganda and regulated when immigrating to the US and Italians didn't fair much better, plus, there was enough anti-Finnish sentiment here that for decades, non-native Finns couldn't be citizens after they were deemed not white, and that's in an era when Hispanic ethnic Latin Americans, including Mexicans, were white under federal law. And then there's the centuries of hatred the Irish faced here and in the British world.
This is an easy mistake that I obviously just made, but also, a white person with any supposedly very un-white ancestry, like myself and any other white Mexican American, is less racially privileged than a white person with no (reported) Black, South Pacific, Latin American, or even East Asian ancestry. I specify ''reported'' because white Australians and New Zealanders tend to have Aboriginal and Polynesian ancestry respectively, but lucky them, no one realizes that, not even ethnic White Australians themselves or they couldn't historically be so racist to Aboriginals.
@ bro Im slavic and my babçia and dziadzia lived in nazi occupied Poland ofc i know history but in the current global climate I am not being discriminated against for being white in the US.
I haven’t watched this movie, but, the scenes where it’s shown that Ember and the fire people literally do not fit into the water peoples’ world, it deeply reminded me of my own experiences being autistic and having other disabilities.
I am glad this resonated! Fanon's work deal ultimately with alienation, so it is very useful in understanding marginalized identities. Thanks for watching, and I hope you subscribe!
Do you think kids should be exposed to the complicated reality of how systemic racism truly functions? What if Peter Sohn DID consider this angle that you’re proposing, and instead opted to make it more simple and optimistic so that kids can take away something that’s easier to digest?
Thank you for commenting! True, there's only so much one movie can accomplish, but also it's weird for me to think about making racism a topic that is simple and easy to digest. It's the complicated social dimensions that is critical to understanding how racism exist today, and the film's simple message chooses to not recognize these aspects. IMO, it's more harmful because it makes it seem like an issue so easily resolvable. I think the film should have hinted more at a deeper history, even if it does not explore it. Many people do think Elemental is too basic in its treatment, and so I tried to engage the film with a more thought out approach grounded in postcolonial theory.
But that’s just it! Racism and its systematic functions are not simplistic and that’s what I believe the creator of this is trying to say. I think sometimes people underestimate how much children are actually able to internalize from a young age about each other’s differences. While I admit that you can’t accomplish everything in one hour of a film, Disney has a running theme of displaying discrimination in too much of a simplistic way. I think a really good film to look into is Trolls 2 World Tour which I think executes an overall better allegory for racism and discrimination. Television shows such as Sesame Street have shown their ability to teach kids harsh topics and not “water it down” while providing the necessary coping mechanisms they need to navigate such problems in the world. Its very existence shows that kids know how to handle and notice these things in our daily lives. But that’s just my two cents 😊
Children of color are exposed to racism and oppression at an early age. Many black families have their own "talk" about race and how they must be careful in society. If children of oppressed classes experience these things then we should educate children of non-oppressed classes on them so they don't grow up to be prejudice jerks. Especially since prejudice is taught, not ingrained in us as a people. The movie doesn't have to show hate crimes or lynchings, but a slightly more realistic view can show children just how hurtful prejudice is
Kids have a really plastic brain and are able to understand complex things way faster than us. The earlier they are exposed to complex concepts the better. I've experimented with my own cousin 😂
The glassblowing part makes me think of what I call the “Rudolph the red nosed reindeer effect”. Someone who is different in a story gets equality or closer to it only because their difference becomes convenient to their peers. It’s one of those things that can done well by having the benefit open up social interaction and the social interaction clearing the issue rather than the benefit clearing it. But even if all cases were well done, it feels like we don’t get as many stories where someone is different and people learn to accept them even when the difference has no benefit to them. I personally feel like Elemental did this trope much better than a lot of movies because I get the impression the water family didn’t intend to exploit them, but if that’s the only avenue towards success, there is still a problematic power imbalance no matter how well meaning everyone is.
You make a very interesting point! And I think you hit the nail on the head at an individual level, and the idea that societally, this effect can still manifest without an individual's explicit intention to exploit another. It's like Foucault's ideas about power, how there is no clear group who holds it, but clearly there are those who benefits from it. Thank you for watching, and I hope you subscribe!
I think overall your point is good, but your deffinition of manichaeism is just straight up wrong. Manichaeism was a dualistic religion which emerged around the "prophet" mani in the middle east significantly before any of the european colonialism fanon was refering to had occured. Hell, if anything, this kind of collonialism was, in this time, done uppon europeans in southern italy. While the term was later reapropriated to simply refere to a harsh black-and-white worldview by catholics, since the religion had been dualist, so saw the universe as a struggle betweene good and evil, you simply have to state that it is here used in this reapropriated way, as to not be simply wrong on the base of terminology. After all, i can't simply start to refere to any vegitarian as muslim, just because that religion also does not eat some kind of meat.
Thank you for sharing this historical context, I will be honest I did not know much about the origin of the term and its usage. It’s the term Fanon himself uses in The Wretched of the Earth and I was presenting it through his text. Thank you for watching and I hope you subscribe!
I have to say that I really respect how this video about racism is actually well research and thoughtful, as opposed to just some person's un- or scarcely informed personal views on racism. As a result, I found that I was able to gain a better perspective on racism as a concept and phenomenon. There need to be more well-informed and, frankly, insightful analyses about racism out there. Thank you for your contribution.
I definitely appreciated the political theory element. Looking through a modern work with Frantz Fanon’s approach is a really interesting way to go about it. More channels need to combine the relevance of older political works with modern media.
I think it would be also interesting to point out how Wade (and his family) is black-coded through a number of signs in the movie, which waters down (no pun intended) even further the narrative about racism, because it positions a black-coded character in the place of the oppressors in an allegory for the united states.
14:58 It's an otherwise interesting video, but I feel too many americans fall into the trap of trying to force all allegories of race into the lens of either the trans-atlantic slave trade, or the US colonization of native americans. For comparision, looking at the creator of the film drawing inspiration from his history of Korean heritage, Korea was never colonized by the US, and many South see the US as a historical ally, first against the Japanese, and after that, North Korea, and from that perspective, the fire people seeing elemental city as something looking like a neutral place of opportunity from the outside (and not an evil colonizer of their land) makes sense.
I remember back when Zootopia was new and it was getting the critism of "it's comparing people to animals and that's not right" and that's a valid point for sure but you can tell that that wasn't the creator's intention. Judy says "Life is messy" and that's just what I take away from the overall story. It doesn't matter whate "Race" or "Species" you are, some people just suck and some people are just good and trying to get by. I think using elements sort of simplifies the whole thing to an almost insulting degree. Water and fire can't mix because they literally cancel each other out, like, chemically. "Foxes and Bunnies can't be friends" because of preconceived prejudiced and the idea of their "Nature". You see the difference here? Although Zootopia's angle on these matters is flawed, I think it's almost purposefully so, it doesn't claim to have any answers other than just try and not be a jerk and maybe try to defy some pre-established norms in a positive way. All that being said I really don't want to be harsh on this movie, I haven't even seen it so I probably should at least give it a shot soon. All I'm saying is this is pretty much why me and many other people saw the trailer for this and said "Ugh, who cares?" Like that and the fact that it seemed like, after Soul, Pixar was just kinda making shit up now, "Elements? what's next? Condiments?" (Simpsons did it!) It's easy to be cynical but I don't recommend you let it consume you.
You make a great point, Zootopia has a ton of depth. Its not pandering like Elemental is the "model minority" and white people are basically the only people that exists in this film. In possibly the most progressive city on earth, its incredibly insensitive.
@@wombat7961 The funny thing is if you told someone back in 2016 that Zootopia was the "Subtle" one they'd call you crazy XD Yeah Elemental kinda just... insults the audience's intelligence by comparing race issues to literal water and fire! I feel like if you said, out loud in a board room pitch " we're comparing race issues to literal water and fire" you should, in a sane world, be kicked right out of that studio! ....sorry for the long rant lol! It's just, I wish billions of dollars would go into stuff that isn't pandering, lowest-common-denominator big budget low brain shclock! Especially if said Schlock was trying to make some big important point about a huge problem with modern society that was already done hundreds of times before, with infinitely more grace might I add, Just watch Die Hard with a Vengeance! it's the same movie but actually good and it's got Samuel Jackson learning an important lesson about reverse hatred and how hate doesn't fix hate, it just makes more hate! I'm a 90's kid and I THOUGHT every bit of this should be obvious by now. *Massive Sigh*
@@rabidguineapig "Foxes and Bunnies can't be friends" because of preconceived prejudiced and the idea of their "Nature"." I disagree. The fact that Prey and Predator species are able to physically mingle and exchange ideas is VASTLY different from Elements which shows that avoiding minorities (Fire) folk is in fact logically justified (Plant folk) and NOT based on subconscious discrimination which undermines the premise that racism is bad (because in that world, 'racism' is absolutely necessary to live at all). Are Plant folk the most racist for permanently avoiding Fire folk despite not physically able to do otherwise (or being prohibitively costly to do so)? The "Nature" you bring up is caused by external influence of political power (Nighthowlers) and not the genetic programming of evolution. This is fundamentally different from Elements. Zootopia is in fact 'subtle' and doesn't offer a heavy-handed answer from up high like most media. It instead asserts that we don't have answers, that we need to work to find it, and that it can take generations for minor change to occur.
This analysis is PHENOMENAL!!! Kudos for using Elemental as an accessible tool to teach folks about these different philosophers and theories. I certainly learned something new! Please excuse me while I sent this to all my friends that are interested in critical theory. Subscribed and can’t wait to see what’s in this channel’s future!
Thank you so much! I really enjoy discussing theoretical text and finding ways to relate it to modern examples, and I am incredibly happy to see my analysis resonating (:
Fascinating and very informative! I think the story would have been better if they'd kept clear of a race element to be honest, because they do it so much injustice. The way they set up the elements it makes out the fire elements to be actually bad (because they actually do set things on fire) and makes the fire dad seem weirdly mean (because he expects a city that has apparently never had fire inhabitants to be accommodating to his needs right of the bat). I feel like taking out all the actual misdeeds of the oppressors ruins the story but worse, makes it seem like racism in real life is a bunch of people complaining about logical past decisions (which is obviously terrible). Or if it was a story about racism, I think it should have been approached very differently in terms of how the elements work. Honestly I feel like it would work better from a classism perspective or something, but probably just as a fantasy romance would be best
Absolutely agree, when you remove the causes of racial attitudes, the commentary of also falls apart, as we see in Elemental. Thank you for watching, and I hope you subscribe!
The feel the issue is that there is a spectrum on how to see "the curtains are blue". While Fire and Water people can be an allegory of race, it doesn't change the fact they're made of fire and water, they are different in a way that humans aren't and while you can explore allegories based on that, there will be a certain degree of uncanninness, like what other commenters said about when "predator/prey" is used (personally, Beastars approached this angle better than Zootopia, because it makes sure to remember that they're talking animals (and that predators are also made of meat, if you know what I mean), not humans in fursuits - plus, in nature, many cases you'd have better chances surviving encountering a carnivore than a herbivore: a cougar might leave you alone if you don't panic and not too hungry, while a wild ox won't stop until you're trampled and dead, something that stories that use predator/prey allegory often ignore); recently I watched an anime called Cells at Work and the cells are portrayed with human appearances, and the body is portrayed as intolerant against any kind of invasion and villains are invariably chaotic evil, but they're cells, not humans, and villains are pathogens and parasites that will kill the body if they have their way; ignoring that would insult the audience's intelligence. I feel the movie had to balance this and the director put his own experience on it, but, admitedly, had to tone down in the end, for a variety of reasons, so much I don't really think your rewrite would have been accepted, not just because it'd go against Di$ney objectives in profit-maximizing, but also because it could branch the story in a way that would require far more rewrites.
That's fair! My re-write was more to demonstrate the point that if Elemental was an actual critique of systemic racism, it would have to shift many plot points and consider things such as Bernie's history and how he came to be in conflict with water people, similar to your point that the metaphors of elements being different in this movie presents an obstacle as an allegory of human relations. Thank you for watching, and I hope you subscribe!
Only concern is that you're using sources about race relations between black and white people to talk about a movie which is an allegory for race relations between asian and white people. Though most of the experiences shared may be universal among minorities, some aspects may be unique. I.e. whereas black people may be fetishised out of some white guilt complex, asian people may be more likely to be fetishised due to belonging to a different culture.
That is a valid concern, even Fanon himself acknowledges it. Fanon said that his work only applies to the experience of the people living in the French Antilles (Caribbean) in Black Skin White Masks. However, he is making a much more wide ranging critique of the inferiority complex imposed on colonized peoples. Therefore, even though Fanon is explicitly modest about who his works applies to (kinda like a legal disclaimer lol), he aims to look more for a universal. For example, he talks about the Vietnamese, who the French authorities thought had an "oriental" carefree attitude about death (which is obviously false) when they are simply fighting for their liberation, as they "can no longer breath." Thank you for watching, and I hope you subscribe!
This gave me a lot to think about and I definitely think I learned something from this. This is a great video! One thing I do wonder about. I don't know much about the director of the movie's history, but I wonder if the ending where Ember's dad happily embraced Wade being in the family was a kind of wish fulfillment. I believe you said that his partner was white, and I wouldn't be surprised if he wrote Ember's dad to be so open to welcoming Wade because he wanted to see that from his own family and from others'. That's just speculation though, and I agree that from a realistic perspective that sudden change wouldn't just happen. I think in a story with social commentary there's sometimes a conflict between whether you want to portray something realistic or something that you wish to see in the real world, and I don't have the answers as to how to approach that.
You bring up an interesting point, that what happens could be the director’s personal fantasy even if he did not think it’s realistic. However, I think that with works about social commentary, the burden is on the work itself to send a message that is pertinent to the issue, in this case racism against immigrants. Although it may resonate with the director’s dream however, I criticize the film for falling short of what can be achieved, especially now when there are much more films that portray the experience of people of color. Thank you for watching, and I hope you subscribe!
Whether you should portray it as realistic or what you would want in the real world depends entirely on the movie. Maybe the characters are all supposed to be sympathetic. Maybe some of them go through an arc to become sympathetic. Or maybe that isn't the point of a film and none of them are. That depends on the kind of film you're making, through what story and tone you wish to portray whatever themes you set out to. Some themes can only be effectively portrayed with a certain tone and format of movie, and once you make that decision, it should be clear what general direction you should take writing the characters.
I’d be very curious about how this story could be done where it’s more about people with different abilities. So maybe the water elementals are not dangerous to the fire elementals themselves, but their water based infrastructure is a danger. So instead of fire worrying about water, it’s more about the worries about how one can adapt to a society that hasn’t provided accommodations. The scene with the bubble for example makes me think of the experiences of being accommodated for the first time; being able to do something you’ve always wanted to do but were the only one not able to.
I think that this movie works well enough as a romance movie. Pixar has never really done a romantic plot before (I refuse to acknowledge the existence of Toy Story 4) so I definitely understand the appeal to them for wanting to try it, and the forbidden love plot works about as well as it can for a straight couple. The movie's stumbling through the racism allegory that frames the forbidden love is what brings the overall of it down to me
Agreed! I think the movie is a decent romance, but the sloppy allegory for racism is what made what Elemental not just misleading but also seem more shallow than deep. Thank you for watching and I hope you subscribe!
As an asian who liked the movie i see the racism topic in it as a sub-plot because for me family line between Ember and her father was more important for the asian mentality about taking care of your parents
That's a fair perspective to have! As a fellow Asian I thought the family dynamic was done well, my critique was more on the lack of deeper societal aspects of racial relations
hell yeah fanon mentioned instant subscribe Also, thanks for the subs, I'm currently suffering from moderate hearing loss (it will go away don't worry). At first I thought they were auto-captioned but no you actually did 'em right. Fantastic. 11:45 also very interesting that you decided to model this with a giant phallic tower just saying I also notice in a lot of these films produced for a wide audience, what seems to be happening is a sort of apparatus of recapture, you know, cuz they are acknowledging the reality of oppressed classes as represented in the film; the film seems to concentrate so much in portraying a sort of representation of current events, but it captures what the future possibilities can be by rejecting the premise that change should be achieved and that the problem somehow rests in Bernie and his distrust of water people. In a way it keeps people's butts in the seats. They are not doing revolutions, even small revolutions, because they return back to the status quo. And then the process of repetition continues. To be honest though I think that there is potential in a kids movie for that. Its just not a kids movie that Pixar would approve the storyboard for, because it goes against their class interests.
Absolutely agree. This concentration with representation ultimately distorts the historical origins and sends a confused message. And I’m also glad my work with putting in captions is helpful. Thank you so much for watching (:
Bernie is living in a city made mostly for water, yet they allow fire to have their own town and try to save them from a flood. Bernie hates water for not having most things made for fire, forgetting that there are other elements too that the city needs to take care of as well. Bernie is a guest in this city but can have his own business and live in an area made for fire. If water were to live in Bernie's fire city or town, they would dry up from lack of water. Water may treat fire poorly, but fire is not tolerant of water no matter who they are. Bernie or fire has no right to demand water to change for them when fire places don't make water even livable for them there.
Elemental shows the exact problem I have with X-men as well. When you have people who have innate differences that can cause harm or danger, it's setting an unrealistic expectation to not discriminate. I agree with the other comments that making differences more subtle and not a type of "ability" is better to show how to not be racist.
I disagree with your last point. Not that it isn't the case in our society (because it is), but that it's the case with Amber. When she creates that jug, this is her finally being seen as a person by Wade's family. Before, they made all these racist comments that showed they saw her primarily as fire, but here they see the real her: an incredibly talented artist.
Here is the problem I see. What does the goal look like? For the talk about revolution needed for change, I saw nothing that actually defines the goal to be worked towards, which ultimately becomes revolution for the sake of revolution. From the movie stand point, Fire is the 4th wave of elements coming in, meaning that earth and air has also come to this water city as immigrants as well, and Fire is just the most recent. Are they also “being exploited for labor” with their jobs? How do they fit into the “revolution” that is needed? In reality this is the situation of perpetual victimization stunting assimilation into the culture surrounding them, where “purity of culture” turns any and all action performed into some type of offense. For example, Ember was offered a job, because they viewed it as a talent, and immediately it’s “to exploit her” while at the same time “Fire represent the poor class” so at the same time they must be looking down on her if they don’t recognize her talents, they are also looking down on her if they recognize it, so there is no way to reconcile, as it will always be viewed negatively no matter what is done. So what exactly is the goal? As we see, none of the other elements take any issues with Ember in society vs when she was a child and the Fire was new to the infrastructure, and we see now attempts to integrate into city around them, isolating themselves to Fire town, whereas earth and air have integrated and added to the city’s architecture and expanded it where they are included. You can argue revolution when there is an actual reason for it, but if you don’t have a goal then it’s just anarchy.
Genuine amazing video. The editing isn't insanely flashy or high production, but the analysis is deep and meaningful. I can just FEEL your genuine interest in the topic, the effort you put into research and thoroughly wording it into concise chunks understandable even to those unfamiliar with the concepts is fantastic! Keep it up!
Thank you!!! I just love being able to share ideas and philosophy that I am passionate about. And I am so incredibly happy that it is sparking interest and discussion! I hope you subscribe (:
There has never been a collective sociological status for all peoples of color unless concerning the individual views of an absolute colorist, or absolute ''white supremacist'', or, more accurately, a ''supremacist of relatively light-skinned European or Slavic or Arab ethnic groups''. American Indians never widely faced discrimination on the basis of biology and typically have the same racial privilege as ''white people''. This also applies to the disputed people of color, light brown Middle Easterners and Turkic people. And furthermore, there is a wide range of racism against different ethnicities of color. For instance, in some situations, all especially dark-skinned peoples are seen as unintelligent, but sometimes, only Black (or South Pacific) or partially Black people mildly receive this treatment, and perpetrators of this latter view of people of color may or may not be racist to Hispanic Mexicans and Mexican Americans for being seen as dangerous or to general East Asians on a basis I don't understand. These latter forms of racism against groups that happen to be non-white, along with antisemitism, are much more relevant today in North America than negrophobia and colorism and give an aura of nativism and xenophobia that I'm getting more from these discussions rather than the aforementioned intelligence-based racism.
Interesting point, but can't full agree + Constant blaming White man is kinda fkd And yes, i do believe racism is problem of misunderstanding and just a simpler tool to express frustration of overs clashes, be it ideological, economical or moral.
Good point! Zootopia tackles racism with a bit more nuance if I recall, but it still boils the ultimate conflict between predators and prey to an individual-to-individual level
even if you completely ignore the completely basic messaging of the plot, the movie looks like crap, so its just like, did anyone even care about what the end product was at pixar?
I like the analysis, but I think the way you reworked the plot doesn't really fit the cartoon.This is a story about immigrants. It won't work the same if fire people left because their land was destroyed by the water people. Typically, immigrants leave their home country because of poor living conditions, hoping to find better ones in the country they immigrate to, the same way fire people in cartoon do. Racism is not always based on someone exploiting another in the past too, sometimes it's there because one group is different and foreign for the other. You analyze the cartoon from the perspective that fire people are black people,which is understandable and adds a new layer to the story,but won't work on most immigrant groups, who fire people are based on. Racism can work in many ways,and if it doesn't represent one community, it's not necessarily wrong understanding of racism.
Fair point! I was less thinking about actually changing the plot, but more to illustrate the point that systemic racism is a result of a long history, predominantly stemming from colonialism. The specifics varies from situation to situation of course, like if you were an Algerian moving to France, or if you were a Vietnamese person who fought for independence. However, what Elemental has done is brush over this idea of a deeper history, and make it seem more like a problem of individual attitude. That form of individual discrimination is not the same as systemic racism, but of course it is a form of racism, as you point out. Thank you for watching, and I hope you subscribe!
I am white so take what I say with a closed mind as my perspective likely isn't of substance, however, I had only seen the first 15-ish minutes of the movie, where Wade and Ember meet. Perhaps the movie does better afterwards, but I felt like the movie tried to take a far too comical and 1 vs 1 perspective. By making the characters' experiences comical and individual, Bernie's aggression doesn't feel as serious. By making it seem like only fire is oppressed, water being the main worry doesn't feel as systemic as the movie tells you it should feel. It feels like fire is the only minority, the only oppressed, which in real life settings doesn't happen. Racism is not a one sided thing, it can happen to anyone and can be participated in by anyone. By lumping all feelings of disliking for water together, the message loses its validity. Ember's grandmother wanting her to marry a fire person is a good example of real life relatives being racist and asking you to marry people of the same race, which happens in ANY race. Bernie's aggression towards water people because of their multiple counts of oppressing fire people systemically and individually, is a wonderful example of racial minorities feeling aggressive towards white people because of the countless times they have been oppressed, on an individual and a systemic level. However, those two different experiences are lumped together as the same kind of feelings towards water specifically, which instantly turns any experience of prejudice towards other elements into a worry of safety, and any concerns of a confrontation with other elements into potentially being prejudiced. Idk, like I said, this is all from my perspective, and as a white person that perspective could be skewed. Take what I say or don't. Either way.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts! I think a key distinction to be made here is that systemic racism has a historical origin. Colonialism instills an inferiority complex, where the oppressed come to identify with their newly imposed race, which only exist in relation to the concept of being white (think the French invading Algeria, and only afterwards do the Algerians start thinking of themselves as "Black" or "Native." As a result, people of color often feel like they can't escape their skin color, and others perceiving them as a certain race. Fanon makes the point, of a doctor being seen as a "Black" doctor, or an artist being seen as a "Black" artist, which you never see when it comes to white people in the same professions. And because of colonialism, it is the case that not only are there major economic differences, but also a difference in status, even though racism has formally been abolished in major countries. Asian people for instance often have the "model minority" myth in the US, which again can only exist in relation to the concept of whiteness, whose status as "man" are always safe. Therefore, someone can even be prejudiced a white person for instance, but it is not the same as being white has not been a category that is at risk of being seen as not "man". Historically, white identity or the "West" is at the top of the ladder so to say of being "man", with other perceived races being at different rungs, and racial tensions can exist between these groups. I hope that this is somewhat helpful as food for thought, and of course, no single comment or youtube video can give these ideas justice. Thank you for watching, and I hope you subscribe!
emper was like the only pretty girl (hot girl lol) in the entire show, while all the other fire peaoples wrent pretty girls, im assuming that was done on purpose?
Thank you for watching and I hope you subscribe! I do highly recommend Fanon not only for his insight as a psychologist and revolutionary, but also because he is just such a compelling and powerful author.
Please subscribe if you enjoyed this type of analysis!
P.S. We're currently working a video exploring the philosophy of one of the biggest sandbox games of all time, coming soon. 👀
Woke up in the middle of the night, and i couldnt get back to sleep because a random thought about Elemental/ and the state of Pixar is just in shambles
ohhh
Bernie is living in a city made mostly for water, yet they allow fire to have their own town and try to save them from a flood. Bernie hates water for not having most things made for fire, forgetting that there are other elements too that the city needs to take care of as well. Bernie is a guest in this city but can have his own business and live in an area made for fire. If water were to live in Bernie's fire city or town, they would dry up from lack of water. Water may treat fire poorly, but fire is not tolerant of water no matter who they are. Bernie or fire has no right to demand water to change for them when fire places don't make water even livable for them there.
Minceraft
This is great and you have a good thing going on. Wish I was anywhere near as good at editing as you are lol. You also do a fantastic job at explaining psychoanalysis to people which is something that people can find very offputting because of the themes!
If Ember was male, the story would be vastly different. When Hispanic women are assertive, they're "spicy" but an assertive Hispanic man would be considered dangerous. If a female Wade was attracted to a male Ember, then Wade's family might outright forbid the relationship cuz their daughter is dating a hot-tempered foreigner who might hurt her. In the movie, Wade's family might condone Ember and Wade's relationship because it's expected on a subtle level for Wade to tame or "douse" Ember's fiery nature
yeah i do wish the roles were reversed i think that couldve opened the floor to more rather than the poc woman thing since theyre more sought after i mean theres that whole "passport bro" thing for a reason. rly no point in ember being a woman if they dont do anything with it
Good point! The role of gender was a little beyond the scope of the video, but it does certainly change a lot of things. One of Fanon's more controversial point is his analysis of an author from Martinique who writes about how she ended up marrying a white Frenchman. Fanon argues that for her, it was logical to seek out white love, because it is in white recognition that one becomes closer to being recognized as "man" especially during the times of colonialism. Although I don't buy Fanon's gendered argument, I think his concepts about the impossibly of authentic love as long as this relation of inferiority is very on point. Thank you for watching, and I hope you subscribe!
And then Wade's female version would be a shitty sterotype for women being overly emotional... yeah no. swapping the genders makes it worse😊
Fireboy and watergirl >:))
@@i.r.3016 Yep
I don't think this topic should be watered down. Kids are fully capable of understanding because they think and learn. They rebuild their own language when learning it for crying out loud. Systemic racism shouldn't be watered down because there are kids who experience it. They may not fully understand it, but they know it. Watering down systemic racism makes it more of an individualistic problem vs systemic, and therefore kids won't think the system is wrong, but just people's actions. It's about the comfort of those who benefit from systemic racism. Why should kids who benefit from the system feel comfortable with imagery of systemic racism, something that kids who suffer from get the full picture?
I absolutely agree, what is an elusive subject for some is daily lived experienced for people of color, even if as kids they don't have a full understanding. I firmly believe movies about experiences of immigrants and POC should be doing much more to help kids understand about the root of these issues, instead of brushing over it completely. Thank you for watching and I hope you subscribe!
I think Elemental highlights the issue of allegory for a lot of Disney films as well. We could say that the systemic racism in this film is based on history not involving colonialism/slavery. However, Elemental's story is a) based on the creator's experiences, and b) it's substituting real world races with elemental ones (Zootopia doesn't really place race on the animals, moreso has predators be a demonized group of many different oppressed races). If this is allegory, then the whole "elements don't mix" thing becomes really bizarre, especially to mixed-raced peoples. It's a racist statement "elements don't mix", but choosing elements that we know to not mix unintenionally creates this weird message that it's not natural to mix races and that ember and wade's relationship is an exception and not the status quo. If it's supposed to make us question our own prejudices/assumptions, it kinda fails because elements don't have a perfect 1:1 representation of human relationships. Elemental's "don't mix" thing is natural because it's water and fire, not human beings. Should allegory be a 1:1 of our real world? Not necessarily. But Elemental is deeply coded to the real world, specifically Asian discrimination, so it's gonna be difficult for audiences to seperate the movie world and the fake world smd not see it as a 1:1.
I got called the n word for the first time at the age of seven. If kids have to face racism then their movies shouldn't be watered down
@@snorpington5910But Wade and Ember do mix, they have a vapor child together.
The elements can mix, in the end the idea of "Don't mix" was just racism.
"Watered down"
I kind of hate when they use monsters, prey/predator, elements as an allergory for other. It’s cute and deep for us adults but kids are going to internalize that “racism” is the natural order.
Why can’t they ever use birds of different colors or dog breeds like Bluey? It would be far easier for kids to digest as real world counter points.
I would pay money see an animated movie for kids about a pitbull that wants be a service dog but is indiscriminate by society for being a pitbull.🙄
Yess agreed! Different dog breeds as an allegory for racism is so genius
Very good point, the movie does push the view that people are seen as inherently different, without addressing that in real life, that racial attitude was born as a justification for the differences in status needed to make colonialism work. Thank you for watching, and I hope you subscribe!
@@TheEruditeCritic This is my issue, because the elements are presented as possibly dangerous to each other... which for a racism message made me wonder.
I get the guy used this to cope with losing his parents, but I'm feeling like if your going to make a movie like this... Go to therapy first before you write the script. I don't think this was a good film
zootopia *cough* *cough*
IRL people want to discontinue pitbulls but not very many want to discontinue Pugs even though those dogs literally can't breathe due to bad breeding
I think my problem with a lot of "Racism Bad" movies is how they often use actually dangerous (insert thing) as minorities. The problem with Elemental? Fire folks are actually dangerous to other elementals. In Zooptopia, prey have very valid reasons to fear predators (y'know... given how they can kill them).
Why can't they just use different breeds of cats or different types of, I don't know, tomatoes? "Racism Bad" films don't work when the message is that "Mice should trust Cats even though the film shows us that cats can and will kill mice when given the chance."
Sorry for the rant, but these movies fumble the message a lot, oof
I agree with this. They always seem to end up saying that minorities have “claws”… leaves a bad taste in my mouth
Zooptopia is not a racism allegory, but prejudice in general.
Zootopia also makes a point that modern Predators no longer have their predatory instincts (and the name is mostly outdated) to the point that the differences between them and Prey are skin-deep.
Yes they look like animals from our world but they no longer are ruled by their instincts which used to pit them against each other. We never see a Predator in Zootopia exhibit predatory behaviour unless they are under the effects of Nighthowlers. Which are stated to work on Prey as well.
So your critique against Zootopia does not apply.
@@PlanetZoidstar Within the framework of the film, prejudice is justified because a not insignificant portion of the population literally has a kill switch activated by the antagonist. In real life, there is no such thing as a kill switch for any disenfranchised group. It plays into a very old racist stereotype that [insert minority] has some kind of biological violence gene that although might not always manifest, might manifest, and so they should be oppressed.
Which is of course, ridiculous! Because there is no race of humans who are inherently X, Y, Z over another.
So although you could argue that Predators aren't presented as factually dangerous in Zootopia, they are presented as -potentially- dangerous, in a way that herbivores are not.
But there is a solution and its fairly simply. Just make it so the villain's method of turning Predators ALSO works on non-Predators. This would demonstrate both in universe and to the audience that Predators aren't actually uniquely capable of violence, but are forced into it by material circumstances.
i wonder if zootopia's predator/prey dynamic could've worked if it was reversed. like, the prey being the ones that are demonized for defending themselves against predators, despite the fact that the power dynamics within that society favor the predators
@@silliestguy155 The Predator/Prey dynamic works fine as-is because it's clear both groups haven't unpacked their various biases against each other from the old days.
Prejudice and stereotypes can take generations to deconstruct.
It's funny how once Bernie accepts Wade and Ember's relationship, we see a bunch of other inter-elemental relationships pop up around the city, as if his change of attitude completely solves racism.
Good observation!
can't believe Bernie single-handedly ended racism
@@Dinnyeify I wish it were that easy too
I wonder how a sequel would work out for this movie. What if the kids of Wade and Ember are like their parents? Wade has a daughter that is water like him and Ember has a daughter who is fire like her. The two sisters are pretty much pitted against each other because they are recognized as either one or of the other. The Water Daughter, Vapor gets accepted and is absolutely praised by everyone, including her parents. And, Coal, their fire daughter is mostly ostracized by everyone and not even accepted by the fire kids because of her mixed element heritage.
It would be nice to see how favoritism and racism comes into play with a relationship between a parent and their child. How does Wade and Ember deal with their failures as parents for playing favorites with their daughters and probably still harboring prejudicial feelings towards each others' elements.
@@Neku628 That would be interesting and more nuanced, it also raises the question of how inter-elemental children would even come out-would they all be made out of steam?
What troubled me particularly about the glass making plot was that, while we were introduced to her being good at shaping glass from the beginning, there was nothing indicating it was her secret dream to go into glass making and glass art. Never once before that scene with the water pitcher does she say how much she likes working with glass or how she longs to do it but she needs to take over the shop because her dad expects it. We never see little glass art sculptures in her room or her looking at glass art magazines or going to a glass art gallery. In fact, it's pretty clear glass working is just kind of a thing she's good at that she uses in a utilitarian way and her dream is to run her father's shop, which she clearly loves and enjoys (even if she's not great with customer service, something Wade could've helped her with either by helping her be more chill or by being the cashier for the shop cause he's good with people).
But suddenly, when water people are acknowledging how good she is at it and offering her an internship, then it becomes her lifelong dream, and the shop is now an obligation. And this change is basically out of nowhere. It just felt less like her actual dream than convincing herself it was her dream because she wasn't good at customer service and the elites were telling her this was a thing they valued. It bothered me no end that she gave up the shop business she clearly loved in the end, something that she could've had with Wade that would've shown him finding a place in her life and culture and them working together and complimenting each other's strengths as a couple, and instead have her going off on an internship for his mom about something she only indicated was her dream after it was praised by the water people.
That bothered me as well! To Fanon, it is white, colonial society that dictates what it means to be recognized as "man" therefore, those who wish to assimilate also adopt the dreams and aspirations of the white, dominant society. For Ember, recognition from water people validates her dreams as she moves closer to becoming accepted in the dominant society. However, the problem is that as much as one can try, they can never fully assimilate to dominant society, as in the case of racial discrimination you always walk around with a consciousness of your own race (and are perceived as such) and never just for your personhood, while white people are able to exist comfortably as just "man." Thank you for watching, and I hope you subscribe!
I disagree with this take. When you grow up in a family with expectations like that, you don’t even know you’re suppressing yourself. How Ember acts is exactly how I acted. I _had_ to do this because I believed I had to do this and literally I had never considered anything else in life I wanted to do, despite being “good” at other things.
Ember’s outbursts are also extremely realistic. She has no idea why she’s feeling this way because her culture and family have always told her what she’s supposed to do and think and feel.
When you start breaking out of that shell, you realize things you thought you loved aren’t really things you like. And things you didn’t know you loved suddenly become very important to you. Because you’re thinking for yourself for the first time.
She thought she wanted to run the shop. She didn't know she didn't want to. Do recall that she makes glass while running the shop and enjoys doing it.
@@shadamyandsonamylover Saving this
@@burnblue But she doesn't have glass sculptures in her room, nor does she play with glass in her free time. She enjoys it because it's a break from her otherwise stressful job and she gets to feel competent at something. Glassmaking is mostly utilitarian for Ember.
If I lived in a world with literal fire people who burn things that they touch because they're literally made of fire, I would make a strong habit of avoiding them where possible too.
_Elements_ shows that avoiding minorities is in fact logically justified and NOT based on subconscious discrimination which undermines the premise that racism is bad (because in that world, 'racism' is in fact absolutely necessary to live at all).
Are Plant folk the most racist for permanently avoiding Fire folk despite not physically able to? What kind of moral message does it intend to show (especially to kids) because it's very confusing to me.
Ember is hyperaware as a Caspian spy, imo just my headcanon. Lmk (let me know) what you think
Seems like this movie falls into an even more pronounced version of the same pitfall that Zootopia suffers from in analogizing racial tensions in that it implies that the races are naturally opposed rather than socially categorized
Agreed, I thought it was an odd and not very well explored metaphor in elemental. Thanks for watching!
The intrest in embers glass making made me think of the exploitation of black culture. Cornrows are cool on a runway but are banned from schools or work. Or how black artists are celebrated for their work, that comes from oppression, but were not be able to get a cab. Maybe water would change their veiws but the movie doesn't want to go that hard.
I would say however that it is never shown as something all fire people can do or have interest in. This is where the metaphor can get muddled because its something only fire can presumably do but only Ember shows interest and skill in it for artwork/utility. its not a universal idea or experience.
This helped me identify things I never realized that I felt, I'm a person of color raised poorly by older white people in a way that made it erased racial identify, where I didn't know how to identify these feelings about race I felt
Thank you for watching! I highly recommend Fanon's Black Skin White Masks, he is focused in the actual lived psychology of a person of color in modern society. His work helped me a lot in understanding my own feelings that at first glance seem "irrational"
Why have I been randomly finding these long essay analysis videos from random channels that are so good as of late
We’re glad you found our channel!
Good stuff. I agree that watering down the underlying spark of the problem is a dangerous simplification, but maybe it is worth the opportunity to expose kids to what the movie does well.
Thank you for watching! I think the movie does a good job in portraying the individual experience, but does not even hint at how it is a societal & historical issue as well. It is a hard question on what exactly to present in a kid's movie (definitely not whole extent of the theory I bring up lol) but I do think that especially nowadays when there are more mainstream narratives about the experiences of people of color, Elemental falls way too short of the mark.
Element puns be raging on this one
I learned these jokes Element-ary school!
@@TheEruditeCritic Oh you are *melting* my heart with these
I assumed Wade’s mom was trying to help Ember by offering her the internship, so it's really interesting to hear how she's actually doing the opposite and just exploiting her more. Great video.
Thank you! The individual intention may be good, but societal implications of actions such as these are often a different story
I assumed so too, I didn’t get any malicious intent from that scene. I think thats the only part of the video I didn’t understand. Would it be better if she didn’t offer an internship?
@@rosennacht7624I think unfortunately that the film makers didn't plan for an independent critical race theory convo around thsi movie in this way. I mean, are we not all in these comments reducing ALL people's expirences down to their race? People can be many things, even opposing things all at once. Like how women can be victims of sexism while also perpetuating it, how minorities can be prejudiced even tho they're victims of racism, how men can hurt one another while condemning how men are treated, the list goes on. Humans are messy imperfect creatures, race doesn't change that. I think if a film could tackle the topic of racism while acknowledging the personal AND systemic issues at play, i would be dead because a movie that real is not gonna be made anytime soon😂
@@heehoopeanut420 The point of critical race theory from what I have seen tends to analyze how interactions with no racial intent affects society as a whole when put together. The interaction of giving an internship possibly has absolutely no racial intent whatsoever. HOWEVER, if the only chance a fire elemental has at starting in a high profile career is if that career path lines up with a strength of their element as well as have to have good graces with a family of another element, that would be systematically biased against fire. From what we see, this opportunity is a life altering one, when I get the impression that if a water elemental could do glass blowing, they would have an easier time getting in that career than her.
I didnt relate to the topics presented on race because Im white but it reminded me of how I feel because Im LGBT. Ive lived my whole life not able to prove myself as having the same humanity as others because I am transgender with no way of gaining the same respect and dignity given to those around me. It made me examine some stuff about how I view myself. Its a really good video, thanks man.
I am glad you resonated with the analysis! Fanon's main concern ultimately is the topic of alienation, which he focuses on the experience of people of color in the context of colonialism. However, many with marginalized identities can find similarities because of that. Thank you for watching!
Hitler murdered six million people for belonging to a white ethnic group. Two more white ethnic groups, Greeks and Spanish, were systematically targeted by propaganda and regulated when immigrating to the US and Italians didn't fair much better, plus, there was enough anti-Finnish sentiment here that for decades, non-native Finns couldn't be citizens after they were deemed not white, and that's in an era when Hispanic ethnic Latin Americans, including Mexicans, were white under federal law. And then there's the centuries of hatred the Irish faced here and in the British world.
This is an easy mistake that I obviously just made, but also, a white person with any supposedly very un-white ancestry, like myself and any other white Mexican American, is less racially privileged than a white person with no (reported) Black, South Pacific, Latin American, or even East Asian ancestry. I specify ''reported'' because white Australians and New Zealanders tend to have Aboriginal and Polynesian ancestry respectively, but lucky them, no one realizes that, not even ethnic White Australians themselves or they couldn't historically be so racist to Aboriginals.
@ bro Im slavic and my babçia and dziadzia lived in nazi occupied Poland ofc i know history but in the current global climate I am not being discriminated against for being white in the US.
I haven’t watched this movie, but, the scenes where it’s shown that Ember and the fire people literally do not fit into the water peoples’ world, it deeply reminded me of my own experiences being autistic and having other disabilities.
I am glad this resonated! Fanon's work deal ultimately with alienation, so it is very useful in understanding marginalized identities. Thanks for watching, and I hope you subscribe!
Do you think kids should be exposed to the complicated reality of how systemic racism truly functions? What if Peter Sohn DID consider this angle that you’re proposing, and instead opted to make it more simple and optimistic so that kids can take away something that’s easier to digest?
Thank you for commenting! True, there's only so much one movie can accomplish, but also it's weird for me to think about making racism a topic that is simple and easy to digest. It's the complicated social dimensions that is critical to understanding how racism exist today, and the film's simple message chooses to not recognize these aspects. IMO, it's more harmful because it makes it seem like an issue so easily resolvable. I think the film should have hinted more at a deeper history, even if it does not explore it. Many people do think Elemental is too basic in its treatment, and so I tried to engage the film with a more thought out approach grounded in postcolonial theory.
But that’s just it! Racism and its systematic functions are not simplistic and that’s what I believe the creator of this is trying to say. I think sometimes people underestimate how much children are actually able to internalize from a young age about each other’s differences. While I admit that you can’t accomplish everything in one hour of a film, Disney has a running theme of displaying discrimination in too much of a simplistic way. I think a really good film to look into is Trolls 2 World Tour which I think executes an overall better allegory for racism and discrimination. Television shows such as Sesame Street have shown their ability to teach kids harsh topics and not “water it down” while providing the necessary coping mechanisms they need to navigate such problems in the world. Its very existence shows that kids know how to handle and notice these things in our daily lives.
But that’s just my two cents 😊
Children of color are exposed to racism and oppression at an early age. Many black families have their own "talk" about race and how they must be careful in society. If children of oppressed classes experience these things then we should educate children of non-oppressed classes on them so they don't grow up to be prejudice jerks. Especially since prejudice is taught, not ingrained in us as a people. The movie doesn't have to show hate crimes or lynchings, but a slightly more realistic view can show children just how hurtful prejudice is
Kids have a really plastic brain and are able to understand complex things way faster than us. The earlier they are exposed to complex concepts the better. I've experimented with my own cousin 😂
They have to know something about the complex reality of systemic racism. They can’t just learn all of it when they go to college.
Really good analises, never saw the movie because the trailer gave a complete different ideia of what it was about.
Good video!
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it and I hope that you subscribed for future videos (:
Elemental had the worst marketing out of any Pixar movie, in my opinion.
The glassblowing part makes me think of what I call the “Rudolph the red nosed reindeer effect”. Someone who is different in a story gets equality or closer to it only because their difference becomes convenient to their peers. It’s one of those things that can done well by having the benefit open up social interaction and the social interaction clearing the issue rather than the benefit clearing it. But even if all cases were well done, it feels like we don’t get as many stories where someone is different and people learn to accept them even when the difference has no benefit to them.
I personally feel like Elemental did this trope much better than a lot of movies because I get the impression the water family didn’t intend to exploit them, but if that’s the only avenue towards success, there is still a problematic power imbalance no matter how well meaning everyone is.
You make a very interesting point! And I think you hit the nail on the head at an individual level, and the idea that societally, this effect can still manifest without an individual's explicit intention to exploit another. It's like Foucault's ideas about power, how there is no clear group who holds it, but clearly there are those who benefits from it. Thank you for watching, and I hope you subscribe!
I think overall your point is good, but your deffinition of manichaeism is just straight up wrong.
Manichaeism was a dualistic religion which emerged around the "prophet" mani in the middle east significantly before any of the european colonialism fanon was refering to had occured.
Hell, if anything, this kind of collonialism was, in this time, done uppon europeans in southern italy.
While the term was later reapropriated to simply refere to a harsh black-and-white worldview by catholics, since the religion had been dualist, so saw the universe as a struggle betweene good and evil, you simply have to state that it is here used in this reapropriated way, as to not be simply wrong on the base of terminology.
After all, i can't simply start to refere to any vegitarian as muslim, just because that religion also does not eat some kind of meat.
Thank you for sharing this historical context, I will be honest I did not know much about the origin of the term and its usage. It’s the term Fanon himself uses in The Wretched of the Earth and I was presenting it through his text. Thank you for watching and I hope you subscribe!
I have to say that I really respect how this video about racism is actually well research and thoughtful, as opposed to just some person's un- or scarcely informed personal views on racism. As a result, I found that I was able to gain a better perspective on racism as a concept and phenomenon. There need to be more well-informed and, frankly, insightful analyses about racism out there. Thank you for your contribution.
Thank you! I think applying it to media like Elemental is a great way to explore Fanon’s theories
I definitely appreciated the political theory element. Looking through a modern work with Frantz Fanon’s approach is a really interesting way to go about it. More channels need to combine the relevance of older political works with modern media.
I think it would be also interesting to point out how Wade (and his family) is black-coded through a number of signs in the movie, which waters down (no pun intended) even further the narrative about racism, because it positions a black-coded character in the place of the oppressors in an allegory for the united states.
Black people can be racist to Mexican Americans and East Asians too.
Good point!
Also this movie is like the sequel to fire boy and water girl. Also feel like that one got the way to deal with the issue better than Elemental
Good point! Thank you for watching and I hope you subscribe.
@TheEruditeCritic done lol
14:58 It's an otherwise interesting video, but I feel too many americans fall into the trap of trying to force all allegories of race into the lens of either the trans-atlantic slave trade, or the US colonization of native americans. For comparision, looking at the creator of the film drawing inspiration from his history of Korean heritage, Korea was never colonized by the US, and many South see the US as a historical ally, first against the Japanese, and after that, North Korea, and from that perspective, the fire people seeing elemental city as something looking like a neutral place of opportunity from the outside (and not an evil colonizer of their land) makes sense.
I remember back when Zootopia was new and it was getting the critism of "it's comparing people to animals and that's not right" and that's a valid point for sure but you can tell that that wasn't the creator's intention. Judy says "Life is messy" and that's just what I take away from the overall story. It doesn't matter whate "Race" or "Species" you are, some people just suck and some people are just good and trying to get by.
I think using elements sort of simplifies the whole thing to an almost insulting degree. Water and fire can't mix because they literally cancel each other out, like, chemically. "Foxes and Bunnies can't be friends" because of preconceived prejudiced and the idea of their "Nature". You see the difference here? Although Zootopia's angle on these matters is flawed, I think it's almost purposefully so, it doesn't claim to have any answers other than just try and not be a jerk and maybe try to defy some pre-established norms in a positive way.
All that being said I really don't want to be harsh on this movie, I haven't even seen it so I probably should at least give it a shot soon. All I'm saying is this is pretty much why me and many other people saw the trailer for this and said "Ugh, who cares?" Like that and the fact that it seemed like, after Soul, Pixar was just kinda making shit up now, "Elements? what's next? Condiments?" (Simpsons did it!) It's easy to be cynical but I don't recommend you let it consume you.
You make a great point, Zootopia has a ton of depth. Its not pandering like Elemental is the "model minority" and white people are basically the only people that exists in this film. In possibly the most progressive city on earth, its incredibly insensitive.
@@wombat7961 The funny thing is if you told someone back in 2016 that Zootopia was the "Subtle" one they'd call you crazy XD Yeah Elemental kinda just... insults the audience's intelligence by comparing race issues to literal water and fire! I feel like if you said, out loud in a board room pitch " we're comparing race issues to literal water and fire" you should, in a sane world, be kicked right out of that studio!
....sorry for the long rant lol! It's just, I wish billions of dollars would go into stuff that isn't pandering, lowest-common-denominator big budget low brain shclock! Especially if said Schlock was trying to make some big important point about a huge problem with modern society that was already done hundreds of times before, with infinitely more grace might I add, Just watch Die Hard with a Vengeance! it's the same movie but actually good and it's got Samuel Jackson learning an important lesson about reverse hatred and how hate doesn't fix hate, it just makes more hate!
I'm a 90's kid and I THOUGHT every bit of this should be obvious by now. *Massive Sigh*
@@rabidguineapig "Foxes and Bunnies can't be friends" because of preconceived prejudiced and the idea of their "Nature"."
I disagree. The fact that Prey and Predator species are able to physically mingle and exchange ideas is VASTLY different from Elements which shows that avoiding minorities (Fire) folk is in fact logically justified (Plant folk) and NOT based on subconscious discrimination which undermines the premise that racism is bad (because in that world, 'racism' is absolutely necessary to live at all). Are Plant folk the most racist for permanently avoiding Fire folk despite not physically able to do otherwise (or being prohibitively costly to do so)?
The "Nature" you bring up is caused by external influence of political power (Nighthowlers) and not the genetic programming of evolution. This is fundamentally different from Elements. Zootopia is in fact 'subtle' and doesn't offer a heavy-handed answer from up high like most media. It instead asserts that we don't have answers, that we need to work to find it, and that it can take generations for minor change to occur.
bro how are this many great youtubers being born out of thin air 😭
Thank you! I try my best :3
This analysis is PHENOMENAL!!! Kudos for using Elemental as an accessible tool to teach folks about these different philosophers and theories. I certainly learned something new! Please excuse me while I sent this to all my friends that are interested in critical theory. Subscribed and can’t wait to see what’s in this channel’s future!
Thank you so much! I really enjoy discussing theoretical text and finding ways to relate it to modern examples, and I am incredibly happy to see my analysis resonating (:
Fascinating and very informative! I think the story would have been better if they'd kept clear of a race element to be honest, because they do it so much injustice. The way they set up the elements it makes out the fire elements to be actually bad (because they actually do set things on fire) and makes the fire dad seem weirdly mean (because he expects a city that has apparently never had fire inhabitants to be accommodating to his needs right of the bat). I feel like taking out all the actual misdeeds of the oppressors ruins the story but worse, makes it seem like racism in real life is a bunch of people complaining about logical past decisions (which is obviously terrible). Or if it was a story about racism, I think it should have been approached very differently in terms of how the elements work. Honestly I feel like it would work better from a classism perspective or something, but probably just as a fantasy romance would be best
Absolutely agree, when you remove the causes of racial attitudes, the commentary of also falls apart, as we see in Elemental. Thank you for watching, and I hope you subscribe!
The feel the issue is that there is a spectrum on how to see "the curtains are blue". While Fire and Water people can be an allegory of race, it doesn't change the fact they're made of fire and water, they are different in a way that humans aren't and while you can explore allegories based on that, there will be a certain degree of uncanninness, like what other commenters said about when "predator/prey" is used (personally, Beastars approached this angle better than Zootopia, because it makes sure to remember that they're talking animals (and that predators are also made of meat, if you know what I mean), not humans in fursuits - plus, in nature, many cases you'd have better chances surviving encountering a carnivore than a herbivore: a cougar might leave you alone if you don't panic and not too hungry, while a wild ox won't stop until you're trampled and dead, something that stories that use predator/prey allegory often ignore); recently I watched an anime called Cells at Work and the cells are portrayed with human appearances, and the body is portrayed as intolerant against any kind of invasion and villains are invariably chaotic evil, but they're cells, not humans, and villains are pathogens and parasites that will kill the body if they have their way; ignoring that would insult the audience's intelligence. I feel the movie had to balance this and the director put his own experience on it, but, admitedly, had to tone down in the end, for a variety of reasons, so much I don't really think your rewrite would have been accepted, not just because it'd go against Di$ney objectives in profit-maximizing, but also because it could branch the story in a way that would require far more rewrites.
That's fair! My re-write was more to demonstrate the point that if Elemental was an actual critique of systemic racism, it would have to shift many plot points and consider things such as Bernie's history and how he came to be in conflict with water people, similar to your point that the metaphors of elements being different in this movie presents an obstacle as an allegory of human relations. Thank you for watching, and I hope you subscribe!
Great Video!
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!
Only concern is that you're using sources about race relations between black and white people to talk about a movie which is an allegory for race relations between asian and white people.
Though most of the experiences shared may be universal among minorities, some aspects may be unique. I.e. whereas black people may be fetishised out of some white guilt complex, asian people may be more likely to be fetishised due to belonging to a different culture.
That is a valid concern, even Fanon himself acknowledges it. Fanon said that his work only applies to the experience of the people living in the French Antilles (Caribbean) in Black Skin White Masks. However, he is making a much more wide ranging critique of the inferiority complex imposed on colonized peoples. Therefore, even though Fanon is explicitly modest about who his works applies to (kinda like a legal disclaimer lol), he aims to look more for a universal. For example, he talks about the Vietnamese, who the French authorities thought had an "oriental" carefree attitude about death (which is obviously false) when they are simply fighting for their liberation, as they "can no longer breath." Thank you for watching, and I hope you subscribe!
This is so good and informative. I'll look forward to your future videos
Thank you! Our prime objective is to inform 🤠
Isn’t the storm kind of an allegory to water displacing them? Maybe even war
I think it is! But it is such a "watered down" metaphor that it does not land as a fiery critique.
This gave me a lot to think about and I definitely think I learned something from this. This is a great video!
One thing I do wonder about. I don't know much about the director of the movie's history, but I wonder if the ending where Ember's dad happily embraced Wade being in the family was a kind of wish fulfillment. I believe you said that his partner was white, and I wouldn't be surprised if he wrote Ember's dad to be so open to welcoming Wade because he wanted to see that from his own family and from others'. That's just speculation though, and I agree that from a realistic perspective that sudden change wouldn't just happen. I think in a story with social commentary there's sometimes a conflict between whether you want to portray something realistic or something that you wish to see in the real world, and I don't have the answers as to how to approach that.
You bring up an interesting point, that what happens could be the director’s personal fantasy even if he did not think it’s realistic. However, I think that with works about social commentary, the burden is on the work itself to send a message that is pertinent to the issue, in this case racism against immigrants. Although it may resonate with the director’s dream however, I criticize the film for falling short of what can be achieved, especially now when there are much more films that portray the experience of people of color. Thank you for watching, and I hope you subscribe!
Whether you should portray it as realistic or what you would want in the real world depends entirely on the movie. Maybe the characters are all supposed to be sympathetic. Maybe some of them go through an arc to become sympathetic. Or maybe that isn't the point of a film and none of them are. That depends on the kind of film you're making, through what story and tone you wish to portray whatever themes you set out to. Some themes can only be effectively portrayed with a certain tone and format of movie, and once you make that decision, it should be clear what general direction you should take writing the characters.
Great study mate, keep up the good work !
Thank you!
I’d be very curious about how this story could be done where it’s more about people with different abilities. So maybe the water elementals are not dangerous to the fire elementals themselves, but their water based infrastructure is a danger. So instead of fire worrying about water, it’s more about the worries about how one can adapt to a society that hasn’t provided accommodations. The scene with the bubble for example makes me think of the experiences of being accommodated for the first time; being able to do something you’ve always wanted to do but were the only one not able to.
I think that this movie works well enough as a romance movie. Pixar has never really done a romantic plot before (I refuse to acknowledge the existence of Toy Story 4) so I definitely understand the appeal to them for wanting to try it, and the forbidden love plot works about as well as it can for a straight couple. The movie's stumbling through the racism allegory that frames the forbidden love is what brings the overall of it down to me
Agreed! I think the movie is a decent romance, but the sloppy allegory for racism is what made what Elemental not just misleading but also seem more shallow than deep. Thank you for watching and I hope you subscribe!
As an asian who liked the movie i see the racism topic in it as a sub-plot because for me family line between Ember and her father was more important for the asian mentality about taking care of your parents
That's a fair perspective to have! As a fellow Asian I thought the family dynamic was done well, my critique was more on the lack of deeper societal aspects of racial relations
hell yeah fanon mentioned instant subscribe
Also, thanks for the subs, I'm currently suffering from moderate hearing loss (it will go away don't worry). At first I thought they were auto-captioned but no you actually did 'em right. Fantastic.
11:45 also very interesting that you decided to model this with a giant phallic tower just saying
I also notice in a lot of these films produced for a wide audience, what seems to be happening is a sort of apparatus of recapture, you know, cuz they are acknowledging the reality of oppressed classes as represented in the film; the film seems to concentrate so much in portraying a sort of representation of current events, but it captures what the future possibilities can be by rejecting the premise that change should be achieved and that the problem somehow rests in Bernie and his distrust of water people. In a way it keeps people's butts in the seats. They are not doing revolutions, even small revolutions, because they return back to the status quo. And then the process of repetition continues. To be honest though I think that there is potential in a kids movie for that. Its just not a kids movie that Pixar would approve the storyboard for, because it goes against their class interests.
Absolutely agree. This concentration with representation ultimately distorts the historical origins and sends a confused message. And I’m also glad my work with putting in captions is helpful. Thank you so much for watching (:
This edit actually goes hard 12:48
Easily my favorite part of the video... haha jk … 😶
Love this, perfectly verbalized the icky feelings i had watching it despite feeling like its a cute movie
@@eu3801 thank you for watching! I hope you subscribe (:
Yoooo I was not expecting such a deep critique and revolutionary rewrite... But I'm glad I'm on the right side of TH-cam now lol
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed the video
Bernie is living in a city made mostly for water, yet they allow fire to have their own town and try to save them from a flood. Bernie hates water for not having most things made for fire, forgetting that there are other elements too that the city needs to take care of as well. Bernie is a guest in this city but can have his own business and live in an area made for fire. If water were to live in Bernie's fire city or town, they would dry up from lack of water. Water may treat fire poorly, but fire is not tolerant of water no matter who they are. Bernie or fire has no right to demand water to change for them when fire places don't make water even livable for them there.
3:24 yes 'zat is me
Happy folding!
What are your thoughts on Trolls World Tour on this issue?
Elemental shows the exact problem I have with X-men as well. When you have people who have innate differences that can cause harm or danger, it's setting an unrealistic expectation to not discriminate. I agree with the other comments that making differences more subtle and not a type of "ability" is better to show how to not be racist.
Good point! It is a crude metaphor for what is a real and widespread issue. Thanks for watching and I hope you subscribe (:
Makes ya think 🎉
I disagree with your last point. Not that it isn't the case in our society (because it is), but that it's the case with Amber. When she creates that jug, this is her finally being seen as a person by Wade's family. Before, they made all these racist comments that showed they saw her primarily as fire, but here they see the real her: an incredibly talented artist.
Here is the problem I see. What does the goal look like? For the talk about revolution needed for change, I saw nothing that actually defines the goal to be worked towards, which ultimately becomes revolution for the sake of revolution. From the movie stand point, Fire is the 4th wave of elements coming in, meaning that earth and air has also come to this water city as immigrants as well, and Fire is just the most recent. Are they also “being exploited for labor” with their jobs? How do they fit into the “revolution” that is needed? In reality this is the situation of perpetual victimization stunting assimilation into the culture surrounding them, where “purity of culture” turns any and all action performed into some type of offense. For example, Ember was offered a job, because they viewed it as a talent, and immediately it’s “to exploit her” while at the same time “Fire represent the poor class” so at the same time they must be looking down on her if they don’t recognize her talents, they are also looking down on her if they recognize it, so there is no way to reconcile, as it will always be viewed negatively no matter what is done. So what exactly is the goal? As we see, none of the other elements take any issues with Ember in society vs when she was a child and the Fire was new to the infrastructure, and we see now attempts to integrate into city around them, isolating themselves to Fire town, whereas earth and air have integrated and added to the city’s architecture and expanded it where they are included. You can argue revolution when there is an actual reason for it, but if you don’t have a goal then it’s just anarchy.
Genuine amazing video.
The editing isn't insanely flashy or high production, but the analysis is deep and meaningful. I can just FEEL your genuine interest in the topic, the effort you put into research and thoroughly wording it into concise chunks understandable even to those unfamiliar with the concepts is fantastic!
Keep it up!
Thank you!!! I just love being able to share ideas and philosophy that I am passionate about. And I am so incredibly happy that it is sparking interest and discussion! I hope you subscribe (:
There has never been a collective sociological status for all peoples of color unless concerning the individual views of an absolute colorist, or absolute ''white supremacist'', or, more accurately, a ''supremacist of relatively light-skinned European or Slavic or Arab ethnic groups''. American Indians never widely faced discrimination on the basis of biology and typically have the same racial privilege as ''white people''. This also applies to the disputed people of color, light brown Middle Easterners and Turkic people. And furthermore, there is a wide range of racism against different ethnicities of color. For instance, in some situations, all especially dark-skinned peoples are seen as unintelligent, but sometimes, only Black (or South Pacific) or partially Black people mildly receive this treatment, and perpetrators of this latter view of people of color may or may not be racist to Hispanic Mexicans and Mexican Americans for being seen as dangerous or to general East Asians on a basis I don't understand. These latter forms of racism against groups that happen to be non-white, along with antisemitism, are much more relevant today in North America than negrophobia and colorism and give an aura of nativism and xenophobia that I'm getting more from these discussions rather than the aforementioned intelligence-based racism.
Amazing video comrade
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it
Great video!
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it
Interesting point, but can't full agree
+ Constant blaming White man is kinda fkd
And yes, i do believe racism is problem of misunderstanding and just a simpler tool to express frustration of overs clashes, be it ideological, economical or moral.
Did zootopia and AOT already do this ?...also wrongly i might add
Good point! Zootopia tackles racism with a bit more nuance if I recall, but it still boils the ultimate conflict between predators and prey to an individual-to-individual level
wtf i love elemental now !
even if you completely ignore the completely basic messaging of the plot, the movie looks like crap, so its just like, did anyone even care about what the end product was at pixar?
Thank you for the book reference
You’re welcomed (:
You're wrong about Ember's desires.
I cannot agree with the fetization part, but thanks for this video, it was interesting nonetheless
Haha fair enough, thank you for watching and I hope you subscribe!
Crazy how wicked does it better
II can feel the same way about One Piece, specifically during the fishman arc and skypea arc.
I like the analysis, but I think the way you reworked the plot doesn't really fit the cartoon.This is a story about immigrants. It won't work the same if fire people left because their land was destroyed by the water people. Typically, immigrants leave their home country because of poor living conditions, hoping to find better ones in the country they immigrate to, the same way fire people in cartoon do. Racism is not always based on someone exploiting another in the past too, sometimes it's there because one group is different and foreign for the other. You analyze the cartoon from the perspective that fire people are black people,which is understandable and adds a new layer to the story,but won't work on most immigrant groups, who fire people are based on. Racism can work in many ways,and if it doesn't represent one community, it's not necessarily wrong understanding of racism.
Fair point! I was less thinking about actually changing the plot, but more to illustrate the point that systemic racism is a result of a long history, predominantly stemming from colonialism. The specifics varies from situation to situation of course, like if you were an Algerian moving to France, or if you were a Vietnamese person who fought for independence. However, what Elemental has done is brush over this idea of a deeper history, and make it seem more like a problem of individual attitude. That form of individual discrimination is not the same as systemic racism, but of course it is a form of racism, as you point out. Thank you for watching, and I hope you subscribe!
I am white so take what I say with a closed mind as my perspective likely isn't of substance, however, I had only seen the first 15-ish minutes of the movie, where Wade and Ember meet. Perhaps the movie does better afterwards, but I felt like the movie tried to take a far too comical and 1 vs 1 perspective. By making the characters' experiences comical and individual, Bernie's aggression doesn't feel as serious. By making it seem like only fire is oppressed, water being the main worry doesn't feel as systemic as the movie tells you it should feel. It feels like fire is the only minority, the only oppressed, which in real life settings doesn't happen. Racism is not a one sided thing, it can happen to anyone and can be participated in by anyone. By lumping all feelings of disliking for water together, the message loses its validity. Ember's grandmother wanting her to marry a fire person is a good example of real life relatives being racist and asking you to marry people of the same race, which happens in ANY race. Bernie's aggression towards water people because of their multiple counts of oppressing fire people systemically and individually, is a wonderful example of racial minorities feeling aggressive towards white people because of the countless times they have been oppressed, on an individual and a systemic level. However, those two different experiences are lumped together as the same kind of feelings towards water specifically, which instantly turns any experience of prejudice towards other elements into a worry of safety, and any concerns of a confrontation with other elements into potentially being prejudiced.
Idk, like I said, this is all from my perspective, and as a white person that perspective could be skewed. Take what I say or don't. Either way.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts! I think a key distinction to be made here is that systemic racism has a historical origin. Colonialism instills an inferiority complex, where the oppressed come to identify with their newly imposed race, which only exist in relation to the concept of being white (think the French invading Algeria, and only afterwards do the Algerians start thinking of themselves as "Black" or "Native." As a result, people of color often feel like they can't escape their skin color, and others perceiving them as a certain race. Fanon makes the point, of a doctor being seen as a "Black" doctor, or an artist being seen as a "Black" artist, which you never see when it comes to white people in the same professions. And because of colonialism, it is the case that not only are there major economic differences, but also a difference in status, even though racism has formally been abolished in major countries. Asian people for instance often have the "model minority" myth in the US, which again can only exist in relation to the concept of whiteness, whose status as "man" are always safe. Therefore, someone can even be prejudiced a white person for instance, but it is not the same as being white has not been a category that is at risk of being seen as not "man". Historically, white identity or the "West" is at the top of the ladder so to say of being "man", with other perceived races being at different rungs, and racial tensions can exist between these groups. I hope that this is somewhat helpful as food for thought, and of course, no single comment or youtube video can give these ideas justice. Thank you for watching, and I hope you subscribe!
@@TheEruditeCriticExcellent points, I’ll think about them more. Thank you for replying :]
also holy a lot of these comments are 💀
gonna use wwft
It’s catchy!
emper was like the only pretty girl (hot girl lol) in the entire show, while all the other fire peaoples wrent pretty girls, im assuming that was done on purpose?
Was this written by AI? Absolute garbage.
Yes… it was written by Artistic Intellectuals 😺
@
It took more than one? Jesus.
@@TheEruditeCritic W reply
hmmm4_4 Goood show kinda nice
That was amazing and informative!! I have a new philosopher to read now as well!! 💙🩷🤍
Thank you for watching and I hope you subscribe! I do highly recommend Fanon not only for his insight as a psychologist and revolutionary, but also because he is just such a compelling and powerful author.