A R C H I V E D--!!

you know i always thought that someone would ask me to write this? or i’d get an ask pertaining to chimchar and i’d get to this point? but that never happened. so has this been a long time coming? absolutely. is this sponsored in part by great value salt? also yes. but hey. the point is that i’m finally writing it.

So, I was on the fence about responding to this because of how long it’s been. But given I have the perfectly reasonable excuse of “I’ve been chronically ill all these months” I’m gonna have my fun. I love a good discussion.

Listen, the point of the meta was never to excuse Paul. In multiple places I state that I’m not excusing him:

“BUT WHAT DOES THAT SAY OVERALL? it certainly doesn’t excuse paul’s behavior; but knowing how disconnected he became after reggie seemed to “give up”, perhaps it’s not surprising that this one exception completely tripped paul up. that his harsh training was too harsh. that he couldn’t empathize and eventually gave up in frustration.”

“one would of course be foolish to deny that what he did to chimchar was abuse. and to say “it wasn’t intentional” hardly excuses the act. but it does explain why he was able to have character growth. because he was able to objectively see how chimchar was better cared for under ash. because by observing their growth together, he learned a little bit of empathy.”

So if you’re wondering what was my point, it was rather to explain Paul’s function and, if you will, request a bit of perspective from fans. It was not, at all, intended to comment on the narrative.

I understand, Nonnie. “Racism” is a scary word. In fact, anything ending in “-ism” is, isn’t it? Because if you acknowledge that something is x-ist, then you have to be introspective and consider why you never thought it was wrong before. You don’t want to be a bad person. I get that. Because I’ve had to question some of my own beliefs, too. But acknowledging racism doesn’t make one a bad person. Even participating in some of the racist things we’re tought doesn’t make you a bad person. But choosing to ignore it or deciding that these things are okay? That absolutely does.

So let me be clear: this is absolutely a matter of race. That Tracey Sketchit image looked low quality? Okay, well… so did the other characters for that line. It’s an old toy. They tend to look that way.

The point is that he was included. Not just as a chibi. But as a full blown figurine, seen as equal to the rest of the main cast.

By contrast, when @thcnderbolt went on an Iris-hunt to see if they could find ANYTHING else… They did. But she looks like crap while the other two look solid. Because yes. They are made by different manufacturers. But they all also have the character and their partner, so either a) they’re intended to be equivalents or b) they weren’t intending to include Iris in the Banpresto line at all, so she got the half-assed short stick. And no matter which way you slice it, the point is clear: Iris is not equal to Ash and Cilan. And the point of my OP? Was that Iris is not equal to the other Pokegirls, either.

And “popularity” is the most flimsy, obnoxious excuse that you hear for not just excluding Iris–but not representing people in general. Two good examples of why this is bullshit:

Remember when Wonder Woman came out? It was given the biggest budget to a female director to date and that was exciting! But it still paled in comparison to how much the Male-lead movies got in return. And this is HUGE because while they were displaying a massive lack of faith in a female-led movie’s ability to sell, they were still willing to give more money to MALE superheroes even though, to quote the linked article:

Despite its strategic positioning in the DC cinematic universe, and positive fan reaction, Wonder Woman is working with not just one of the lowest budgets of Warner Bros’ films, but of any current superhero film.

But it gets worse. Much worse. Let’s travel back in time.

Back in 2005, the Batman franchise itself was not in good shape, having been thrown into whatever carnival pit-of-hell Joel Schumacher’s Batman and Robin has created. But in a bid to rekindle the franchise, Warner Bros hired the guy who made a weird independent film (Memento) to direct Batman Begins with a budget of $150m.

In 2008, Marvel launched a studio division to try and capitalize on their properties instead of continuing to license their characters for peanuts. It’s hard to imagine now, considering the juggernaut that Marvel has become, but back in the days of the first Iron Man, the studio and the film were considered to be doomed projects. They even had a difficult time finding a director willing to take the job of adapting what was a C-list catalog character into a summer action film for an uncertain studio. Despite all this, Iron Man was produced for $140m.

So to summarize point no. one: if the creators want to market their characters they will do it whether they brought in good cash or not.

But my second example is Big Hero 6. This movie is oft compared to Frozen for how closely they were released. (Because yes, while there were some movies released in between them, these were both the MAJOR RELEASES™ for their year.) We all know Frozen broke major records, so of course there’s going to be a huge jump. However, they were BOTH so well-grossing that even after adjusting for inflation they made it onto Disney’s Top 15 most-grossing movies list with Big Hero 6 landing at the 14th spot (658 Million) and Frozen at number 2 (1.287 Billion).

But look at Frozen Merch and then Look at Big Hero 6 Merch.

If you’re not seeing a pattern here, don’t worry! I gotchu covered. Let’s compare Big Hero 6 Merch to some non-Princess movies that didn’t make the top 15 list:

Alice in Wonderland

Lilo and Stitch (even if it’s mostly Stitch -cough-)

Peter Pan

Get the picture? It doesn’t really matter how much money a movie or character brings in. Because point no. two: if the creators DON’T want to market their characters they will do it whether they brought in good cash or not.

That is why Iris not having products is infuriating. If the Pokémon Company wanted to market her, they would have. Period. Point blank. No if, ands, or buts about it. And Tracey Sketchit is just simple proof that my points hold true.