Hellaverse is a good example of media centering diversity being held to higher standards

Films & TV

You'll notice that works of art that only focus a specific P.O.V at the expense of others aren't really judged by those merits because you can't expect much from a creator who's not a minority and never promised anything, but if you have higher aspirations for representation and pride on researching how to portray it, or even simply just being part of a marginalized group, that's where the trouble starts.

Even pieces of media manage to make the cut somewhat are not really free of discussion, and any perceived misstep is met with discourse and backlash. However, this can get really thorny since what's offensive to one side is really not to the other, and not everyone share the same unique lived experiences, which often impacts the authors who are very often part of that group (Rebecca Sugar is an especially glaring case that persists to this day).

In Hazbin Hotel & Helluva Boss, I must admit I was pretty drawn to the promise of an queer-centered musical where everyone is some flavor of LGBTQIA+. I could spend a whole day talking about the controversies regarding the actual handling of its queer characters and relationships (especially the female characters), questionable non-white representation, and Vivziepop's own allegations, which by the way, severely affected my ability to enjoy her works, but that's not the point. And while I don't know if she herself stated those intentions, the point is that everyone projected the idea of a perfect diverse show onto Vivziepop's works, and she couldn't quite live up to those expectations. Which to me is yet another example of fans taking their expectations too far and then being let down when they don't land.

Posted Aug 14, 2025, 12:42 AM UTC

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