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REVIEW: Blue Flag GN 7




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Suxinn



Joined: 23 Jan 2009
Posts: 242
PostPosted: Sat Apr 24, 2021 7:03 pm Reply with quote
This was honestly the point that Blue Flag was irrevocably tainted for me (though that might be putting it too harshly -- I still liked it at the end, but certainly not enough to recommend it anymore). I really, really think Toma's outing is extremely mishandled, especially re: his male friend's homophobia, which the manga essentially validates.

Like, the issue isn't with the homophobia itself, but with how the scene frames it as if his homophobia was a completely valid response vs the girls' wholehearted acceptance. And I definitely got the implication that the manga wants us to be more understanding of homophobes because, oh, what if they were traumatized before? (Sorry, but, no.)

And after reading I Wanna Be Your Girl, with its truly fantastic framings of how unacceptable (and hurtful) even casual, ignorant homophobia/transphobia can be, this scene just left an extremely, extremely bad taste in my mouth.
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SHD



Joined: 05 Apr 2015
Posts: 1752
PostPosted: Sun Apr 25, 2021 4:41 am Reply with quote
Suxinn wrote:
Like, the issue isn't with the homophobia itself, but with how the scene frames it as if his homophobia was a completely valid response vs the girls' wholehearted acceptance. And I definitely got the implication that the manga wants us to be more understanding of homophobes because, oh, what if they were traumatized before? (Sorry, but, no.)

I agree that the way the manga goes about raising and handling this issue is not good, especially because using this sort of trauma is such a stereotypical thing, both when it's being played straight in fiction, and when it's used by real-life homophobes. But also, I don't think the intention was to validate his homophobia, rather, it was to shed some light on why some people might think this way, to present homophobia as a bad thing without vilifying the individual. Empathy =/= sympathy, and in order to successfully handle issues like homophobia it's important to understand where individuals who are not comfortable with homosexuality might be coming from. Otherwise it's just "your thinking is bad and you should feel bad" which might be an easy and snappy response, but it's not a very good argument and definitely not a good strategy to convince people to change their minds. Here we have a character whose homophobia is rooted in something that a lot of homophobes use as validation, whether they themselves have experienced something like that or not; but also we have a bunch of sympathetic queer characters, who show that in fact most queer people are just people like everyone else.

Again, I don't think the manga handled it in a very good way, but the intention, at least the way I perceived it, was fine.
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Suxinn



Joined: 23 Jan 2009
Posts: 242
PostPosted: Sun Apr 25, 2021 5:55 pm Reply with quote
SHD wrote:
Suxinn wrote:
Like, the issue isn't with the homophobia itself, but with how the scene frames it as if his homophobia was a completely valid response vs the girls' wholehearted acceptance. And I definitely got the implication that the manga wants us to be more understanding of homophobes because, oh, what if they were traumatized before? (Sorry, but, no.)

I agree that the way the manga goes about raising and handling this issue is not good, especially because using this sort of trauma is such a stereotypical thing, both when it's being played straight in fiction, and when it's used by real-life homophobes. But also, I don't think the intention was to validate his homophobia, rather, it was to shed some light on why some people might think this way, to present homophobia as a bad thing without vilifying the individual. Empathy =/= sympathy, and in order to successfully handle issues like homophobia it's important to understand where individuals who are not comfortable with homosexuality might be coming from. Otherwise it's just "your thinking is bad and you should feel bad" which might be an easy and snappy response, but it's not a very good argument and definitely not a good strategy to convince people to change their minds. Here we have a character whose homophobia is rooted in something that a lot of homophobes use as validation, whether they themselves have experienced something like that or not; but also we have a bunch of sympathetic queer characters, who show that in fact most queer people are just people like everyone else.

Again, I don't think the manga handled it in a very good way, but the intention, at least the way I perceived it, was fine.

While I understand where you're coming from -- and I don't disagree with your base premise -- the fact is that Blue Flag doesn't actually challenge any of the homophobic assumptions in any substantial way. It actually literally does what you say: it shows the girls' having the knee-jerk reaction that "your thinking is bad and you should feel bad" and criticizes that, but doesn't actually delve into unpacking the actual homophobia itself, which is my issue with it.

Like, I agree that the intentions are good, but impact supersedes intentions, and the impact this scene had soured me to the rest of the series.

(And, as mentioned, if I didn't have the superior example that I Wanna Be Your Girl set, I probably would've simply felt just vaguely uncomfortable. But having read that, and seeing how these types of scenes can be done better, has raised the standard for me, and made me less forgiving of this kind of misstep.)
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laddy-chan



Joined: 02 Oct 2018
Posts: 10
PostPosted: Mon Apr 26, 2021 7:11 am Reply with quote
''It may be true that Love is blind; it seems to be equally true that all the rest of creation has its eyes wide open to watch the sightless god upon his way''

are you mayhaps the first to post this quote online?? for I can not find it anywhere else!! (other than another review of yours) and it's quite the quote to be sure...

if it does exist anywhere online, could you please share? not that I doubt the fact that you have read an old book I probably never will, I'm just interested. maybe the quote exists in a slightly different form somewhere online, is what I was thinking

and anyways thank you for reviewing this great manga!! I believe it is thanks to you, or at the very least ANN that I found and read it, and it did not disappoint, just a bit bewilder ~
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wolf10



Joined: 23 Jan 2016
Posts: 898
PostPosted: Mon Apr 26, 2021 8:08 am Reply with quote
Suxinn wrote:
While I understand where you're coming from -- and I don't disagree with your base premise -- the fact is that Blue Flag doesn't actually challenge any of the homophobic assumptions in any substantial way. It actually literally does what you say: it shows the girls' having the knee-jerk reaction that "your thinking is bad and you should feel bad" and criticizes that, but doesn't actually delve into unpacking the actual homophobia itself, which is my issue with it.
I think the most important takeaway from that scene is Kensuke agreeing that he needs to at least try and do better by Touma, whatever the source his own feelings. The second most important takeaway? "All of this is a PITA."

It is unfortunate that no one manga was going to have a magic bullet cure for homophobia, but I think it does a decent job of at least trying to present both sides as people. If Kensuke were to deny his own need to change his behavior with regards to even just one person, then it would have been a problem, in my opinion. (On the contrary, the outcome we get borders on "pure escapist fantasy," which is a different kind of complaint altogether. Laughing )

My only real complaint is that this feels like a "very special episode," handing out it's "message" on a platter instead of working through things organically though various situational interactions. But then I flip through again and realize that is also a trap, because it's still doing the same level of character work as ever, the situations are just a lot less fun.
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Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer


Joined: 16 Dec 2008
Posts: 2599
Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City
PostPosted: Mon Apr 26, 2021 8:39 am Reply with quote
laddy-chan wrote:


are you mayhaps the first to post this quote online?? for I can not find it anywhere else!! (other than another review of yours) and it's quite the quote to be sure...

if it does exist anywhere online, could you please share? not that I doubt the fact that you have read an old book I probably never will, I'm just interested. maybe the quote exists in a slightly different form somewhere online, is what I was thinking



You know, I might be. I wrote it down in a notebook after reading Lincoln's novel (I got a ton of his books at a library sale once), and he's not really an author who gets a lot of attention these days. Anyway, you can read the novel online here. It's one of my favorites of his, though admittedly I am a sucker for old New England novels. (Okay, just for old novels. Or any novels. I have a reading problem.) The line in question is on pages 10 and 11.
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