No. I refuse to believe that Vivziepop actually cares about SA victims. Every piece of evidence points to the contrary.Â
CW for images that discuss or showcase rape. Tread cautiously.
First, letâs look at the Glitz and Glam Valentines merch. In this merch, theyâre seen groping each other and making a scissoring pose.
The common excuse for this is that theyâre just playing into those twincest tropes because thatâs their whole brand in the show. But the merch exists outside of the show. This merch was not made in the show to show how the porn company will do any depraved fetish for a quick buck. This merch was made for people in the real world, people who have actual twincest fetishes. You can have merch of them playing into the fact that theyâre twins without making it to where they are sexualizing one another like that.Â
An example of this trope done right are Hikaru and Kaoru from Ouran High School Host Club. These 2 often times play into the twincest trope for money, itâs their whole brand. But the show is very clear in showing us that this is not truly them. We never see them behave this way outside of work. Outside of work, they act like actual brothers. Theyâre doing it just for money. (And itâs also kind of trauma, but watch OHSHC if you want to see that in depth lol)
I was discussing something with my friend, how fiction does affect reality, since fiction is a direct byproduct of reality, which is why things like incest or age gap ships are inherently wrong. My friend (who is a big Hannibal fan) goes âI get where youâre coming from and I agree, but Iâm also a simp for fictional cannibals.â And to that I said you are less likely to meet someone who is a cannibal or done that heinous crime than you are to find someone whoâs a victim to incest abuse. Itâs similar to how Vox doesnât receive hate from the fandom for killing lower income workers, because thatâs almost cartoonish in how bad it is.
Then thereâs Val. The show is constantly fluctuating between him between a genuine, sinister threat and then him being a ridiculously silly evil man that we shouldnât take seriously. I can almost understand what theyâre going for, showing that heâs an absolute loser that weâre meant to point and laugh at, because he is a loser (fuck sexual abusers). However, thereâs a huge disconnect. Itâs jarring when you switch between the two on a dime. And I think part of the reason they do this is because of his relationship with Vox. Vox is meant to be a silly, goofy villain and so pairing him with the genuine sinister and disgusting version of Val that we all know and hate, it would feel weird. But hereâs the thing. NONE of the Vees should feel cartoonish and stupid like this. Theyâre supposed to be perceived as actual threats, apparently. So, instead, make Vox genuinely sinister and evil too! ACKNOWLEDGE HIS CAMERA IN ANGELâS DRESSING ROOM! ACKNOWLEDGE HIM MARKETING VALâS DATE RAPE DRUG! Donât add these background details if youâre not going to acknowledge that Vox is a predator as well.Â
And then thereâs Charlie, who has the power and authority to take Val down if she wanted to. But why doesnât she? Because, in her words, âThat would be so meaaaaan.â âŚI have nothing to say to that.Â
And then thereâs Angel. He is not deep in the slightest. They tried so hard but failed miserably. Heâs supposedly from a mafia background. You would never know because heâs never seen outside of anything sexual. Sex jokes, comments on how heâs sexy, talking about how heâs a sex worker, all that jazz. He has nothing going for him outside of sex. Which is bad when his whole arc is meant to be how he hates being sexualized deep down! I understand that the show is trying to show us that heâs hypersexualizing himself because of his trauma. But this rings hollow when the show refuses to show us literally anything outside of him being sexual! Apparently, he likes to sing and dance. But you wouldnât know that! (I know he sings, BUT EVERYONE SINGS. ITâS A MUSICAL. Even Vaggie sings when she clearly didnât like it in the first episode, so Poison doesnât count). You wouldnât know anything about his interests because all heâs used for is for sex. It doesnât help that literally almost all of his merch surrounds him being sexualized in some way, feeding into the idea of him hypersexualizing himself not being taken seriously.Â
This is especially bad when you remember that when Viv was marketing the music video for Poison, THIS WOMAN MADE A CUM JOKE! Yknow, the music video all about sexual abuse? Ya, letâs make a stupid sex pun because thatâs not tone deaf at all! Fuck you Viv.
And only certain characters get their sexual abuse shined on. But if youâre, say, Blitzo, Sir Pentious, or Husk, your SA experience is completely swept under the rug and ignored. Why? Well, because Blitzo and Husk are more masculine characters than her twinks who get acknowledged for their abuse. And Pentious is a character weâre supposed to be pointing and laughing at.Â
And donât even get me started on Raphielle. This person is a storyboard artist for the show, and the storyboard artist for Poison. AND THIS MOTHERFUCKER HAS A RAPE FETISH! I kid you not! This person has even drawn art of Angel being raped by Vox and Val. I refuse to believe Viv cares about abuse victims when she has someone like this on her pay roll (whom she actively defends, mind you). She even lied, saying that this person is a victim of sexual abuse, to which this person admitted was a LIE.Â
Also, how she treats fans who are also victims of SA. Everytime someone comes forward, saying that they didnât like the depiction of sexual abuse in the show, Viv will dogpile on them (the most famous example of this being Limus). But then if a fan who is a victim of SA praises the depiction, she will put them on a pedestal. This is tokenization at its finest!
And, hey, letâs talk about Vivâs catcalling comic, too!
In this comic, two women are being catcalled. One hates it and the other likes it, saying that it means theyâre attractive. The one who hates it then starts yelling at the other girl and based on the framing of the scene, it feels weâre supposed to hate the first girl and think that the second girl was right. FUCK. THAT. This comic couldâve been such an interesting commentary on victim blaming and unhealthily coping with SA by justifying it to yourself. But no. Thatâs not what was done here. Great.Â
I feel like this video is also appropriate to add here
This was her response to peopleâs criticism about how she handles SA in her shows. She dresses up as the rapist from her shows, flaunts around, and says heâs based on her.
Classy.
