You know, it's funny. I've been reading a lot of older genre fiction this summer, and Lovecraft honestly isn't so bad. I'm not excusing him, of course, but still.
Like, Lovecraft will write: Foreign sailors of indeterminate ethnic origin have brought a secret and terrible religion to the Brooklyn slums. Could this be connected to the primitive worship of elder gods rumored to be practiced in the ancient world...?
Which is racist, sure. But meanwhile,
Robert Chambers will write: We need to kill all the Jews in New York, even the good ones. I recommend gas chambers! Let me tell you in exhaustive detail about how we can use science for ethnic cleansing.
Idk, I think maybe what people get upset about when it comes to Lovecraft has less to do with his actual fiction and more to do with how a certain subset of contemporary superfans glorifies these stories while refusing to accept criticism.
Although the name of that cat really isn't great. A situation like this makes me think that maybe "censoring" certain minor elements of fiction from a different era maybe isn't the worst thing in the world.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2023-08-07 07:15 pm (UTC)Like, Lovecraft will write: Foreign sailors of indeterminate ethnic origin have brought a secret and terrible religion to the Brooklyn slums. Could this be connected to the primitive worship of elder gods rumored to be practiced in the ancient world...?
Which is racist, sure. But meanwhile,
Robert Chambers will write: We need to kill all the Jews in New York, even the good ones. I recommend gas chambers! Let me tell you in exhaustive detail about how we can use science for ethnic cleansing.
Idk, I think maybe what people get upset about when it comes to Lovecraft has less to do with his actual fiction and more to do with how a certain subset of contemporary superfans glorifies these stories while refusing to accept criticism.
Although the name of that cat really isn't great. A situation like this makes me think that maybe "censoring" certain minor elements of fiction from a different era maybe isn't the worst thing in the world.