Kulturkampf

[Uncle]

I love reading, I love films, and I enjoy some television shows. I've never read or watched anything that made me think "this character is white, I can't relate because I'm black." As a kid, I related to The Breakfast Club because I knew what it felt like to be mistreated, or to mistreat others, or to pretend to be brave, or to actually be brave. I saw myself on screen. In other cases, I saw or read about characters who were nothing like me, and that fascinated me as well. Villains who were nothing like me, themes I was unfamiliar with, settings I couldn't truly grasp...yet they still captured my attention and emotion. Because that's what art is supposed to fucking do lol. If your attention to art hinges entirely on whether it shows you what you want or who you are, you're just a rube. And sadly we have way too many rubes dictating where culture goes, what art does, etc.

I feel like the truth lies somewhere in the middle, I think it's possible to not relate to media, or at least relate less to it than other media

I don't think it's as ridiculous as skin color, but culture...there are old novels that can be difficult to read because we don't live our lives anything like those people anymore, and even though there might be flashes like "hey he's jealous and I've been jealous before," that doesn't mean it's somehow exactly as relatable as every other modern piece of media

or bollywood movies might feel strange to those outside the culture, or repressed japanese dialogue, etc etc