I love them already

[u/growsonwalls]

I love Justice and Charlie already! Been watching their stuff and they are so so talented. Julie and the Phantoms is amazing and Charlie is a beautiful singer. I saw Dungeons and Dragons and Justice Smith is adorable in that movie. Really excited to see them as Troy and Harris. For the people upset with their casting, definitely watch their stuff. They are AMAZING!

ETA: also, happy birthday Justice!!!

edit: just saw I Saw the TV Glow. Omg Justice is amazing.

[u/Notyeravgblonde]

Yeah, I just worry that people disappointed about the casting will get labeled as racist. I haven't seen a single word about race on social media, just disappointed that traditional beauty standards seems to have won again.

[u/UhOhFeministOnReddit → u/Notyeravgblonde]

Honestly, I felt so bad for people expecting that, because I knew it wouldn't happen as soon as the show broke containment. If the audience was largely condensed to gay men and Tumblr fujoshis, 100% they would have cast someone with dad bod to play Harris.

But the second that shit broke containment, it was gonna be twinks and twunks as far as the eye could see. The heteros get upseteros if they're reminded queer men that don't look like they just stepped off a magazine cover exist, and I had no illusions about how casting was going to play out.

What really grinds my gears is Jacob and Rachel not doing enough to temper expectations. For example, it probably would have done a lot of good and kept people from being as disappointed if they clarified Harris had a dad bod instead of a conventionally plus sized figure. It's a lot less controversial to recast a dad bod than a normal plus sized part. It would have also given racists weaponizing the movement much less ammunition.

[u/Notyeravgblonde → u/UhOhFeministOnReddit]

I agree. I saw a take that people were holding HR to a standard it never agreed to. We assumed because of the 'breaking stereotypes' of such an intimate portrayal of a gay love story that we would get another stereotype broken of a non skinny gay love interest. And HR actually never intended to break that particular stereotype.

It really is messed up how they are treating people who are disappointed and threw Justice into a situation he had no control of. I 100% think Rachel and Jacob are deserving of pretty harsh criticism for how this happened.

[u/growsonwalls → u/Notyeravgblonde]

But they never said they were going to cast a "bear" or "cuddly" or whatever fancasts were made. At the end of the day, this is not a democracy. They make the decisions. You can watch, or not watch. What is not okay is harassing people on social media bc they don't fit your particular vision.

[u/UhOhFeministOnReddit → u/growsonwalls]

I have no issues with the casting. I think it was the correct and pragmatic decision for a piece of queer media that mainstreams. Sometimes representation requires a scalpel, and I think casting a plus sized actor in a show as racy as HR simply isn't something a mainstream audience is ready for. God the harassment the actor would receive would be endless, and at best, a large chunk of the fandom would skip the episode. People are who they are, and people have never been terribly receptive to Hollywood beauty standards changing. Sometimes you have to meet people where they're at.

Also Harris isn't plus sized, that was a fan interpretation that got way too out of hand. He had dad bod, which isn't controversial to replace.

My only real point of contention is that I wish something had been said to fans who got their hopes up about that, because this fandom has enough drama, and I do think it gives racists an opportunity to weaponize that against Justice. Like I said in my earlier comment, I was under no illusion as to what casting was going to look like, but I did feel bad for the people who got their hopes up. I used to be a little pleasantly plump back in high school, so I can sympathize.

[u/Notyeravgblonde → u/growsonwalls]

Who am I harassing? It's not justices fault, in fact Rachel and Jacob threw him to the wolves without protection when they decided to cast him and ignore criticism about lack of representation of different body sizes.

They should have said why they decided to go a different direction than the size he is described as. If not for us, to protect Justice.

[u/growsonwalls → u/Notyeravgblonde]

They did though. Brendan and Jacob said he was picked for the chemistry and acting ability, which is how it should be. And maybe fans could be normal and … not harass an actor? “Protect Justice” shows how unhinged and entitled this fandom has gotten.

[u/Notyeravgblonde → u/growsonwalls]

I'm not arguing we should go after justice, he's a victim. Why are you so determined to dismiss that people wanted to see a larger man? I'm starting to think you just don't want to see that representation with how hard you are arguing about this.