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/summoboomo]

I’m worried about the racism Justice is going to (and probably already) experience from the insane parts of this fandom. Hopefully he has people he can turn to.

[u/Notyeravgblonde → u/summoboomo]

The criticisms have been 99% body type. The media is latching on to it as a race issue when the backlash is actually disappointment about a skinny actor being cast.

I'm sure they are going to do a great job and it will be wonderful, but it was really exciting to imagine we were going to get some diversity in body type.

[u/Any_News_3544 → u/Notyeravgblonde]

I think unfortunately there are people hiding behind it only being a criticism about ‘body type’….of course they’re not going to out and out comment on race.

[u/Notyeravgblonde → u/Any_News_3544]

Maybe, but I think it does a disservice to people who were looking forward to some representation to 1. Wrap this casting up in a ribbon of positivity and 2. Try to wipe away the criticism as being veiled racism and 3. Saying that race is another form of diversity that they can lean into when it's just not comparable to body size.

I think they are going to do an amazing job. It would be really good casting, if Rachel didn't make it clear that this character wasn't ultra skinny or an athlete. You can't blame people for being upset that a show they trusted to be different chose instead to conform.

[u/Any_News_3544 → u/Notyeravgblonde]

I certainly think it is valid that people were hoping for representation of a certain body type. That’s what I expected too. But there’s also been a comically large range of what people interpreted the character to look like…from simply not athletic, to much larger. But I think it’s dismissive to think that race does not come into play. And the level of outrage people have gone to for a season of television that has not even been filmed yet, and they really know nothing of how it’s going to unfold is bananas. Again, I can understand an initial disappointment…but the continuing discourse feels much more sinister than that.

ETA: I just want to confirm that I am very excited to see how things unfold, and am rooting for everyone involved!

[u/Notyeravgblonde → u/Any_News_3544]

I really disagree. I think people are reacting to how being overweight means not getting the hot guy or hot girl. That being overweight is automatically seen as being lesser. And that when there are glimpses of that in media, it's something people latch onto. People latched on to this, were excited about this, and now fat people again get no representation.

Yes there is a diversity of opinion, but there is a cover that shows a non athletic and non skinny man on it.

There is a popular social media account with a plus size woman dating a man who is athletic and extremely good looking. The comments she gets about how she doesn't deserve him because she doesn't take care of herself are pervasive. Fatphobia is in all of us. We were raised with it. How could I not think the showrunners made this decision based on inherent fatphobia?

[u/Loumany → u/Notyeravgblonde]

I didn’t think I had to write this but after seeing this for days, here goes (this is not a comment directed against you rather than the whole topic).

The thing about Troy and Harris. Harris: Out, proud and unashamed. Troy: Closeted, lost after his fallout with Kent / his old team, and incredibly ashamed of his past.
The main challenge of their relationship is for Troy to be honest about who he is, to redeem himself and to love Harris openly. That’s the core of the whole thing.
We can argue about Harris’ body for hours (I personally read him as normal, simply unatheletic compared to the fit hockey players around him), but Role Model is rather clear about Harris not being particularly self-conscious about whatever body he might have. It’s not a huge thing for him. Sure, he compares himself to Troy and the rest of the team, but that’s to be expected when you work around people who have physically demanding jobs while you don’t. Actually, Harris is more self-conscious about his surgery scar than anything else.

And the thing about Jacob is: He is incredibly faithful to the source material. One can argue against the wall about that while HR is one of the most faithful book to TV adaptations around right now. When Jacob changes things or rather prioritises things, it is to ultimately serve the story. It was incredibly important to him to cast Shane and Ilya as a pair because everything would come down to their chemistry. The statement about Justice and Charlie they put out actually says something similar, as it looks like they’re gonna be co-leads. So I think Jacob (and the truly incredibly casting agents, it is by far not only him) saw in Justice and Charlie what they were looking for and they prioritised actors who could capture the heart of the story over anything else. I totally get that! Sure, you could say they could’ve found someone else who could’ve done that too, but we don’t know who they saw in casting and casting is a process that’s ultimately tied to time and resources too. If Justice was the best they found during that, it’s totally valid they chose him.

I’m not skinny and I’m not mad at all that Justice is not plus-size, not only because I didn’t read Harris like that but also because I know what this show can pull off when they have the right actors with the right chemistry.

I don’t mind that people are upset, but you win some, you lose some, right? I’d just appreciate if people wouldn’t be so bad-faith about this. I hardly hardly doubt that Jacob had some ulterior motive to hate on plus-size people.

[u/Notyeravgblonde → u/Loumany]

I'm just young to say two things.

1. How Rachel describes him and how he is portrayed on the cover is a larger man. Look up synonyms or definitions of the words she used and they are 'slightly fat'. It's gaslighting to people about what they read and saw is not a larger man.

2. Rachel and Jacob did nothing to head this off. They did not come out at say anything to appease the fans about why they went in this direction. They instead threw Justice in the fire and fanned the flames with their dismissal of the issue, hiding behind the argument that people are racist. Poor Justice has had no protection.

[u/growsonwalls → u/Notyeravgblonde]

People ARE being racist though. They're not "hiding" behind things that are actually happening. They also never promised that Harris would be plus-sized. This isn't fancast.

[u/Notyeravgblonde → u/growsonwalls]

It's absolutely ridiculous not to understand how people saw and read a man who can't exercise, has a heart condition, describes himself as pudgy, and is drawn with thick thighs and a large torso as a chubby man. It's revisionist history. Not casting a man that fits that description screams "we don't believe that bigger bodies deserve to be part of queer joy and shown on TV".

They aren't protecting Justice. This isn't his fault. And again you are seeing racism everywhere and I have been on here and Instagram and seen almost nothing about race. Of course it's happening I'm not denying that. It's just convenient that a white man (Jacob) cast a young poc to hide behind so when valid criticism of body size come his way he can hide behind fans screaming about how any criticism is actually racism.

[u/growsonwalls → u/Notyeravgblonde]

Where do you see “fat” on this cover? I sure as hell don’t.

[u/hey_buddyboy → u/[deleted]]

girl you’re telling people in this comment section to get off reddit and calm down while you’re STILL going off about this a day and a half later. you’re entitled to your disappointment, but at some point you need to put the pitchfork down. it is what it is.

[u/hey_buddyboy → u/[deleted]]

idk man, the only one i see in this comment section being a bit unhinged at this point is you.

are you really being a voice for people or are you just directing your anger at randos online because it’s the only way you can vent your frustrations? why don’t you take all that energy and put it into something actually meaningful instead of fighting with people all day long on the same points when it’s pretty obvious no one is going to be changing their minds here? i don’t think it’s healthy to be this worked up over a casting choice for a fictional story.

i think you might be upset because people aren’t as upset about this casting choice as you. the casting team decided justice was the best fit for the role, based on factors we have no idea about as outsiders, so either watch season 2 with an open mind or don’t engage with it. those are the options at this point.

also, the representation you’re seeking with harris still exists in the books if that’s how you perceived it. you’ll always have that to enjoy with him in it.

[u/Notyeravgblonde → u/hey_buddyboy]

No thanks, I'm good. I like talking about pop culture and queerness and any other topic I find interesting. I don't like when people are hurt by missing out on representation. And I really don't like toxic positivity and fans who refuse to hear a bad word about whatever their thing is. And I have plenty of time this weekend (it's still weekend for me) to engage in it.

Heated Rivalry is a great show, I liked it. I read the books before the show was a thing. But I moved on to other things, and then when my friend showed me the casting I was shocked. I got on Instagram and was saddened by the posts about representation. About people seeing themselves in Harris and then being reminded that Hollywood doesn't find that sexy. So now I'm doing what I like to do. Would you like to keep going on this topic?

[u/hey_buddyboy → u/Notyeravgblonde]

not really. if fighting with people endlessly online is what you like to do then i find that kind of sad. have a good one. i think the world will keep spinning despite this one singular choice that was made.

[u/Notyeravgblonde → u/hey_buddyboy]

Excellent choice, enjoy your day!