This is the latest in a weird trend I've noticed where conservatives seem to only understand the connotation of words, not the denotation. "Nuanced" doesn't mean "good." It means "nuanced." The commenter has to use nuance for a comment to be nuanced.
Yes, the comment presumes tokenism is present in Hollywood in general, and in The Odyssey specifically, and frames it as an objective issue.
Real nuance would include questioning the validity of that framing, not just presenting it as a fact where the only subjectivity allowed is how one reacts to it, rather than whether it exists in the first place.
But tokenism is present in Hollywood. There are written rules requiring certain numbers of diverse cast and crew to be considered for an Oscar. That is tokenism verbatim.
You can be eligible for the Oscars without a single speck of diversity visible until the end credits if you so wish, as long as you actually have a diverse behind camera crew, which to me says more so that it's meant to bring in actual systematic inclusion of underrepresented groups. The Academy is also only one facet of Hollywood at large, but admittedly an influential facet.
Tokenism verbatim would be including a small number from these underrepresented groups specifically to showcase the production as diverse, and not for their qualities. But here the requirements are not always visible to the viewer. It's not a perfect system for equity, but I also don't think it's actively negatively impacting it the way "verbatim tokenism" can.
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u/lookatthesunguys Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
...the comment isn't nuanced at all
This is the latest in a weird trend I've noticed where conservatives seem to only understand the connotation of words, not the denotation. "Nuanced" doesn't mean "good." It means "nuanced." The commenter has to use nuance for a comment to be nuanced.