Thread by @thiefserket

I think really one thing ppl who aren't from colonized cultures fail to understand is how much colonialism can shape the stories we tell. High School students in the Philippines study Florante at Laura, Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo for their lit classes.

All are responses to the brutal Spanish colonisation. For us it was never a matter of debate, it was never "is colonialism that bad?" because the only answer we have is yes, and it shaped how we produced our media. We're not gonna have our fanciful and grandiose

antibellum stories, when all was well and it's a period of expansion and growth. (In fact, we're the expansion in these expansion stories). The wild west and the frontier. We were never given the chance to. Our stories will always be a product of colonization

because that's most of what we have. 345 years is a long freaking time. That's how long the PH was under colonization.
So I have standards, especially from those who aren't from colonized cultures.
Like I'm not gonna pat someone on the back for basically saying

"colonialism is bad" but not exploring why or how. I'm not gonna shake someone's hand for acknowledging that there are two ways to achieve independence and some wishy washy message about how violence isn't the answer.

That was already discussed in the book that inspired the Filipinos to revolt. Unlike those stories, the character who's pro-revolution wasn't treated in a negative light. He was heroic, smart and was meant to represent the everyday Filipino.

So no, I'm not going to give a story a chance for just trying. Especially if it's from the perspective of the colonizer. We were never given the chance to just try, why should they?

And fyi I mean all you have to do when you write stories like this and you're not from a colonized culture is ask for a sensitivity reader.
Trust me, having one would give your stories a deeper meaning.