Why "diversity" and "representation" are looked as bad things?

It's no secret that I'm not a fan of shoddily made attempts at "diversity" and "representation". For example I dislike the changes made to Glimmer  and Bow in the She-Ra reboot. For those I have been called: fat shaming racist homophobic pedophile, just to name the most popular ones. Obviously, this is done by mentally challenged people who cannot defend their stances and instead choose to "shut down opposition" by slinging insults.

Yes, it's true that I dislike Fat Glimmer. It has nothing to do with Glimmer being my favorite POP character. I have constantly stated that my dislike for her "chunkiness" stems from a storytelling point of view.
If you look at the character, on a well designed character, you should get clues to who they are and what do they do.

Now would you believe just by looking at this picture, that she is a freedom fighter who has spent some time in the frontlines in a battle against SPACE NAZIS led by a Vampire Hitler? The correct answer is no. Her attire screams little kid playing with mommy's clothes. Her body shape and joie de vivre expression do not match her role in the story. She looks like she has never seen a day of combat.

On the other hand, Angella's design matches the role of a freedom fighter who has spent some time in the frontlines in a battle against SPACE NAZIS led by a Vampire Hitler.
The Poker face that hides the horrors she has seen, but needs to look calm and composed to her people. This aspect is strengthened by her pose. Aside the cape and white gloves that showcase a high rank, her outfit leans towards a more practical design. She even looks slightly gaunt in comparison to Glimmer.

And like I've said before, if you look at New Glimmer through the eyes of the oppressed people who she is trying to convince,  she would not gather any support.

Hell with all my complaints about Glimmer, there is ONE change I never mention: They made her "half-Asian". Why I don't bring it up? Because that change doesn't have any effect on the character. There are no racist stereotypes that can be applied to her based on race and personality.

As for Bow, my main criticism of making him "the gay black bff" stems from the fact that they literally assassinated Bow to introduce Tyrone.
Bow's actual superpower was his heart being connected to She-Ra. If she was in danger, his heart would let him know. He also was cocky, chauvinistic, and more often than not his "macho attitude" got him in trouble, where he needed to be rescued by the women. Also, he is Governor of The Friendzone.
By making Bow black, he could not be the brash cocky "macho man", because it would be seen as a racist stereotype. Then the whole friendzoned by Adora or She-Ra would be seen as racist.

Instead Bow is now a kind of (tech)Magical Negro. He's more often than not the voice of reason. So we traded one stereotype for another. White Bow was an easy educational tool to teach kids about not sticking to traditional gender roles and how "patriarchal behavior" is bad. Black Bow on the other hand is a regressive trope used to prop up the white hero.

On the other hand, I've mentioned that if you want more diversity: ADD NEW CHARACTERS DON'T REPLACE EXISTING ONES! In She-Ra's case, they had Netossa and Spinnerella, the original interracial same sex couple. If they want diversity, we'll see more of them, right? Wrong.
They pushed them to the background and have been in 2 episodes... THIS PISSES ME OFF!! They wanted racial diversity and more LGBT representation and the already existing characters that help fill up that quota are unused and they have to change race and sexual orientation of straight white characters.

But this is not a She-Ra rant... that was just the intro to the actual issue... I have been watching Saint Seiya the past few weeks, The Real One, just to erase the bad aftertaste from the Netflix series. And I realized something... The shoddily made attempt at diversity and representation in Knights of the Zodiac is WAAAY PROBLEMATIC!

In Saint Seiya, Andromeda Shun is the non-violent Saint. He only relies to violence when all peaceful solutions have run out. He is very sensitive, is Saori's BFF, often has to be saved by his older brother Ikki. He practically fits the Gay BFF mold perfectly. Not to mention that the Andromeda Armor is based on a Woman.

Well, Shun is now Shaun, a woman... The Netflix team literally took the "gay guy" and made him a Woman. All this while ignoring the lore about Female Saints covering their faces with Masks as a sign of them shunning their femininity. This whole shunning their femininity to become Athena's saints is a huge issue in the source material.

They claimed that they didn't like the idea that they were all men doing stuff together and that adding a new female character would feel tacked on. So instead, they sex-changed the most progressive male character into a regressive damsel trope. Why not make Shiryu or Hyoga women? Hell, Phoenix Ikki (Nero in the bastardization) could work as a female saint that has to rescue her brother.


The problem is that more often than not, these changes are done without any rhyme or reason other than filling up quotas. Often the folks behind these changes ignore the effects these will have to the story or if they line up with the lore. When making these changes in an established property, one has to be extra careful. And I mean fugu careful otherwise, there will be backlash from hardcore fans.

To solve the Seiya dilemma... They could have used Eagle Marin in a more active role. Meaning she would have to be more involved in fights with the Saints instead of the Tuxedo Mask role she currently has.

To solve the She-Ra dilemma... They could've used Netossa and Spinnerella a lot more. They could've added new characters... don't tell me they couldn't because that's what Kyle, Lonnie, and Rogelio are.

The best solution is always ADD CHARACTERS...
The Original X-Men team was super white. What dod Marvel do? Add more diverse characters.  Storm, Bishop, Kwanon, Jubilee, etc. weren't part of the first team, yet they became beloved.

Wanting diversity and representation is not inherently bad. The way it is done is what makes it good or bad. Sadly, most modern "creatives" are more interested in filling quotas than making memorable characters that complement existing ones. Now IF you have to do some "race swapping" or "gender swapping" make sure the changes don't clash against the character, the story, lore, or it isn't accidentally regressive or racist... like say Making the black guy the one with the power to light himself on fire. That is a bad change. But if you take a Mermaid and make her Samoa/Maori inspired, while cliched, it makes sense for the Mermaid to look like a sea faring human. Also, making the genderfluid character an Evil Lizard Monster is not Progressive.

By trying to cover most checkboxes, these "creatives" end up alienating people with their "representation" and "diversity" BS. You can't cover ALL VARIATIONS and some will be left behind. Going back to She-Ra: How ableist of them that there isn't a main character with a physical impairment! There are no Latin characters, so Latina girls can't identify with. How come Bow or Sea Hawk aren't fat!? WHERE ARE THE GINGERS!? How about focusing on characters' virtues, morality, values, and all the things that make a character likable and transcend physical appearance?
Characters don't NEED to be "just like me" in order to find them relatable... well good characters don't.
I don't need to be African to understand T'Challa's motivations in Black Panther. I don't need to be a Greek demigod to understand or relate to Wonder Woman. I don't need to be a pastel colored equine to understand Twilight Sparkle in My Little Pony FIM. If I were touse the narrow minded aproach and only look for characters that were "just like me" I got:
Shipwreck from GI Joe, DC's Vibe, Speedy Gonzalez... 4 if I count Bane, but he's a villain.

Diversity and representation should be side dishes. Making a good compelling show that entices viewers with the story should always be the main course.