kirailabs:
alexheberling:
yamino:
For those unaware, in the latest episode she was shown clumsily destroying the town, talking with slurred speech, and was officially referred to as âDerpy.â Â Sheâs officially the mentally handicapped joke character, just like fandom has always wanted her to be.
Iâve received countless asks about this, so I figure youâre all wanting a reaction. Â But really, if youâve read any of my posts regarding the âDerpy Hoovesâ character, you know exactly how I feel about it.
Absolutely disgusted.
This is a low I had not expected. Â I really donât even know what to say. Â I have lost so much respect for the creators after this.
Yeah, this pretty much sums it up. I got onto Facebook today and a friend of mine had posted the status: âDerpy is canon and is voiced.â
So I got on YouTube to find the episode⊠and yeah. That just happened.
âSheâs officially the mentally handicapped joke character, just like fandom has always wanted her to be.â
I hope you guys are happy living in your disgusting, privileged worlds.
Yeah, I figured this would be Yaminoâs reaction.
Personally, *as* a high-functioning autistic (Aspergers) I donât see any problem with it. She means well, sheâs just clumsy. We got less than a minute of her, and youâre calling that the extent of her personality? Sheâs just a âMentally handicapped joke characterâ? Come on, youâre both writers and artists. Would *you* accept anybody saying your characters are *just* something? Would you not insist thereâs other facets that just havenât been seen yet?
Thereâs other interpretations of her too, you know. Sheâs deaf and/or has an inner ear thing (Explaining her way of speaking and her clumsiness), sheâs just kinda dim and *really* unlucky, whatever. But nope, instantly to the most reactionaryâŠ.reaction.
Stop being offended by things that have no relation to you, and stop being offended *for* people. You do not know better than others who these things actually relate to, and the constant âThis offends me!â reactions I see bug the ever-lovinâ crap out of me.Â
You know what? Not even most of the fanbase thinks Derpy is *just* a joke character! They consider her a loving, devoted parent, a hard worker, and a caring friend, who just HAPPENS to have something wrong in her head! And here you guys are, going âOh, sheâs just a retarded joke character now, this is so offensiveâ, based on LESS THAN A MINUTE AND A HALF between her name being spoken and the last frame she appeared on screen!
If you ask me? THAT is more offensive.
Come on, youâre both writers and artists. Would *you* accept anybody saying your characters are *just* something? Would you not insist thereâs other facets that just havenât been seen yet?
If someone is saying “Oh they’re just [whatever]” about some of my works, that means I haven’t done my job as a storyteller. If Derpy comes back in a future episode and somehow they don’t fuck up and actually portray her as a person, not a stereotype, then sure, I’ll eat my hat and take it back.
But when the character was created by the fandom, and the show is just pandering to them and making a mockery of mannerisms and behavior attributed to the mentally disabled, that’s disgusting, and I don’t think that there’s any way the creators of this show are going to be able to satisfactoril fix this one, short of cutting that cold open out completely.
Derpy’s appearance didn’t contain any hints whatsoever that the writers have any other plans for her character, other than a shoutout to the bronies. There was nothing subtle about it. And the only thing kids are going to take from it (and this show is WATCHED BY A LOT OF KIDS, let’s remember) is that it’s perfectly acceptable to laugh at, dismiss, and get frustrated with people (real, live, fleshy people) who resemble Derpy, since that’s what their hero Rainbow Dash did.
And one more thing?
Stop being offended by things that have no relation to you, and stop being offended *for* people. You do not know better than others who these things actually relate to, and the constant âThis offends me!â reactions I see bug the ever-lovinâ crap out of me.
I do not have any obligation to divulge the details of my mental health to strangers on the internet, but to assume I should not be compassionate or show basic empathy, even if I were completely able-bodied and able-minded, is deeply deeply problematic.