NC Review of Sailor Moon #casual ableism #slut shaming

[elle_white]

 Oh no, the Nostalgia Critic is reviewing the dubbed version of Sailor Moon. Of course, the dub is terrible and butchers many elements of the original, so he wouldn’t get how good it actually is. He obviously doesn’t understand anything about Sailor Moon, and should not be reviewing it.

I had to stop watching the review, because honestly, the beginning made feel sick to my stomach. At the beginning where their describing the formula for Sailor Moon as a “a fourteen year old girl who acts stupid and transforms to make herself to look stupid and slutty." I know this sounds ridiculous, but this has really upset me. Sailor Moon is something very important to me because it is so empowering and feminist. I grew up with it, and it was very formative for me. To have the slut charming and and gross dismissal right from the start was sickening. Nostalgia Critic reviews have been filled with problematic things, but I still kept watching in the vain hope hope they would improve. But this is it; I’m not watching anymore NC reviews. 

Comments

[no_o_o_o_o]

I stopped tuning in to Nostalgia Critic a looong time ago, but what you just described sounds completely revolting. You'd think that maybe he'd do a bit of research beforehand, but I think at this stage all he cares about is getting a few cheap laughs.

[elle_white]

He doesn't seem to actually care about doing much research about what he reviews these days. His videos have been getting really gross lately, making bigoted and misogynistic jokes. As you said, he only seems to care about cheap laughs now. But he's also losing a lot of fans as a result.

[no_o_o_o_o]

Well, it's good to hear that people aren't putting up with him completely. Hopefully he'll get the message that what he's doing isn't right.

Just wondering - what are your thoughts on the Nostalgia Chick? :O

[elle_white]

I've really enjoyed some her videos in the past, even she's done some really gross things. I cringed at the Charlie's Angels review. And I'm really not that interested in her current project. Though, she is better than the NC.

[samatethecookie]

Oh ew. Like he's not saying what a ton of other ignorant people (mainly men, let's be real) haven't already said about Sailor Moon without bothering to do any damn research on it.

It should be a cardinal rule for online reviewers: if you're not into anime, don't review it. At all.

Well, it's a shame to hear. I used to really enjoy his videos and respect his opinions. I'm extremely disappointed in hearing about this, because Sailor Moon still means a lot to me, too. :\

[elle_white]

He didn't watch the original version, and he doesn't understand half as much about feminism as he thinks he does.

I used to enjoy his stuff too, but now I can't stand it.

[yukinoomoni]

I am actually really glad you posted this, because I watched it, too. I managed to get through it all the way through, but oddly I lacked feeling offended. Here me out.

For starters, as a kid and the target audience, I LOVED Sailor Moon. It got me writing. It got me dreaming, and yearning. It got me running around the schoolyard in pigtails, throwing bracelets at people while pretending it was a tiara (lol poverty?). I made friends through it, and to this day I am occasionally called Sailor Moon from former peers who happened to witness my insane creativity. So there is a lot of affection when it comes to the show.

I always thought it was kinda neat, having a loser be the hero, because at the start, Usagi is really not all that awesome. She is deeply flawed and annoying, but to a kid who is also flawed and annoying, it was a dream come true - especially for a 10-year-old who still waits for magic to grace her.

There is much to be celebrated about the show. A team of women fighting to save the world - and most of them are flawed as well. Even when I found out about Michiru and Haruka, I still loved it (probably even more, because I was so sure at that time between 13 and 14 that I was gay and sought to be a raging butch dyke, seriously, until I sadly had to admit that I also liked guys, or would if any bothered to care about me). It had action, romance, controversy, and magical items, which I loved and still love.

HOWEVER.

Watching the English pilot again after SO MANY YEARS makes me acknowledge that I really did watch the show with rose-tinted glasses, and it really was a bad, dated dub. The voices, while better than some, could still be absolutely horrid, and the things they chose to cut and the things they kept really are quick wince-worthy.

Additionally, as I said, Usagi is flawed. But while I watched the episode again with NC, I actually felt embarrassed! I could NOT believe how much influence the show had over me, and if you think about it, it was a miracle it even aired.

It did break some rules, and it really was the first of its kind to show up on our shores. And, showing a group of girls fighting evil was very rare, as opposed to now. We really did not have much in terms of shows for girls back then.

And yet, I still wish they had picked a different, better show. Despite its girl power element, Sailor Moon is actually rather... dated. She runs around in skimpy clothes, barely censored by America and still enough to make me wince. The characters really are annoying at times, and the plot changes they made really messed with the tone of the show. But then again, whatever tone it had still was off-key.

I did have a crush on Kamen, but man, looking back, I can't believe how awful the scenario was! Usagi is in trouble, cue thrown rose, some cheesy words of wisdom, and then run away while someone else does the work. Meanwhile, all it takes is some testosterone for Usagi to steel herself and fight.

Why? Why not just... fight? Why do you need a guy to cheer you on? especially when he does nothing else?

Bleh. Mixed feelings.

I wish I had been born at a time to grow up with ATLA instead, but at least the show kept me open-minded about animation and got me loving anime and manga. But as an adult, I can't deny or ignore the problems the show has.

So, to sum, I agree with you and NC. I understand you both.

[elle_white]

Well, yeah, the dub does have many problems. It actually butchered the characters and storyline. If the NC wanted to get a real idea of what the series was like, he should have watched the original series as well. The original is what was really empowering and is what made the show as popular as it is. Many, many people who were big fans of the dub, discovered the original and/or the manga. And because of Doug's lack of knowledge of the source material, he clearly didn't understand the depth of its influence.

But even aside from that, he displayed a lot of sexism. He wrote this review, and one of the characters described main heroine as "stupid and slutty." That's slut shaming. The amount of time he focused on that was disturbing. I do know that he made sexual jokes about the characters, even a gross boner joke, then tried to criticize the show for exploiting women. I find that extremely hypocritical.

I don't really see anything wrong with their outfits? I've seen gross sexualization of women in anime, (One Piece) and this series was generally really positive in portraying women's sexuality. The anime had its flaws, but it was very progressive on the whole. This essay looks at the issue in a very nuanced way. http://strange-and-amazing.tumblr.com/post/57667960938/my-kitten-gives-me-superpowers-naoko-takeuchi-and-sex#notes

And I honestly don't see how Tuxedo Mask showing up for support is a bad thing? Everyone needs support sometimes. And that's all he does, support? Usagi has to rescue him a lot of the time. It's not about a man swooping in to save the day, because a woman is incapable, it's about a guy cheering on and loving her strength. Okay, the manga portrayed this far better than the anime. Anime Mamoru was an asshole sometimes, but the original intention was for him to be an admirer of Sailor Moon's (and the other ladies) strength.