Illumination: Token for Granted.

Oh. My god. I don't care. I just don't care.

So, this is the first time in an Illumination post I will actually be talking about Pony Stuff! What a shock.

So, apparently a writer for the IDW MLP comics said on Twitter that she would like to see more LGBT characters on MLP. She didn't say that it needed to happen or the show was homophobic. She didnt think less of the show for not having those characters. She basically said "it would be nice if." My reaction was the same as yours. "Meh, whatever." Equestria Daily's reaction was....

TOKENISM!!! ARGLEBARGLEFARGLEJARGLEBARGLE SJW GRABLEFARGLE!!!

Because of course it was.

And with the anti-crowd proving how stupid they were, it prompted the pro-crowd said "You may be stupid, we're fucking dumb," and that culminated in Jerry Peet (who I still watch on occasion, even though I should know better) to say this...

You cannot convince me that your objections to this stem from anything OTHER than Homophobia.

I wouldn't try Jerry. And the reason I can't stand one more day is because I'm pro life and for traditional marriage.

Here's my opinion on this in a nutshell. Do whatever a long as corporate isn't forcing you. Davis has an idea for a gay character? Fine. Whatever. Hope it's a good character. And here's the thing, I am not anti-tokenism. At all. Some of my favorite characters in fiction have BEEN tokens. Arcee from Transformers prime was there to BE the Token female Transformer. ALL of the Extreme Ghostbusters are tokens. ALL of them. We have the token Latino, the token Black Guy, the token Girl, and the token Handicapped dude. It didn't matter because they were all really well written and fun to watch.

You want a prime example of a token done right? I mean... REALLY well done?

This is Venus Flytrap from WKRP in Cincinnati. He is hilarious. Easily one of my favorite characters on the show. He's intelligent, kind, multi-faceted, and he has a really interesting backstory that dealt with the Vietnam war and politics at the time.

He is also one of then most blatant Tokens ever put to TV. Added simply to have a black character on the show.

Everyone knew it. Even the show knew it, having that be the center of gags and even whole subplots. One of the best episodes of the show is when Venus starts dating the main character's sister. That character, Andy, realizes that, as much as he hates himself for it, he has a problem with a black guy dating his sister. He also realizes that he has to get over it and they stay friends.

Wanna talk about an episode that would never air today? Even though it ends with Andy and Venus simultaneously decking a redneck asshole who tries to break up Venus's dance with Andy's sister?

See! There's doing a Token right.... and then there's doing it wrong.

And then there's doing it wroooooooooong....

This is Bunker. He is a gay Latino teenager... And that's it.

I don't know if this character changed or developed overtime, but Jesus Christ, every other panel I saw him in he was either hitting on a dude, or speaking Spanish. It got really old, REALLY FAST.

Do I think that this happened because the character was gay? Of course I don't. I think it happened because Scott Lobdell is a shit writer who is somehow STILL ON STAFF at DC, being allowed to write things. His characters were ALL one note and awful, "Gay Latino" happened to be Bunker's note. That's all.

Now, some a problem with LGBT people in kids shows specifically. As he feels that there should be no mention of sex of any kind on Kids' Shows. Fair enough, I suppose, but I don't think it is any more or less true with heterosexual relationships in kids shows. I don't see why one schoolyard crush is any more or less icky than another. Maybe we should be teaching our kids about this kind of stuff a little bit earlier? I mean... I knew what "gay" was when I was around five years old. I thought it was odd, but in the same way I thought people who ate mushrooms were odd. Just a thought though. Not what this post is about.

I would, yes, like to see more Gay characters on TV. I wouldn't mind seeing them on MLP. And one thing I can agree with Jerry Peet on is that if they introduced a Gay character, and they turn out to suck, it won't be because he is gay. It will be either the fault of the writers...

Or Hasbro for forcing a gay character into a show when no writer had an idea for one.

That, right there, is the actual problem. It's not Tokenism, its CORPORATE Tokenism. That has the same problem as Editorial Mandate in comic books. Namely, stories told by non-storytellers. THEY SUCK AT IT. And it does more damage to any cause then good.

But whatever. Apparently me thinking that makes me Homophobic, so in response, here is the second gayest song I could find. The first one is at the top.

Hallelujah.