Topic on Talk:Goodwin Morin

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While I'm happy to see an effort is being made to address the issues with Goodwin Morin at all, there are numerous issues with Goodwin that are fundamental to her character, and still remain unaddressed in this rewrite:

  • Intentional or not, Goodwin Morin still harkens to the old "savage spear-wielding native" stereotype. This trope has frequently been used to dehumanize indigenous peoples in the past, and again, intentional or not, the resemblance here is strong enough for this to be a notable concern.
  • Even with the clarification, Goodwin is a member of a fictional tribe that, to put it lightly, is not based on the lived experiences of actual indigenous peoples. If anything, I feel the rewrite only serves to reinforce this.
  • Generally, the whole "Kill All Gods, and I Mean All Gods" schtick is based on a very white, Christian-centric view of religion. While for a mostly-white audience that has been oppressed by the Christian church, this viewpoint can be liberating, it reaches uncomfortable territory when applied to the actual religious practices of PoC, given there's a long history of destruction of nonwhite belief systems by white, culturally-Christian individuals. Making this a fundamental part of the lore for an indigenous character especially is careless, at best.

Now, I am not the person to decide what should be done with Goodwin. I am white, and I am not a member of the Garages community. But the sentiment I've seen from the BIPOC in the Blaseball community boils down to "the current main interpretation of Goodwin is a fundamentally flawed character that no amount of rewrites can save, and is better off being scrapped entirely to create a new character from scratch."

I don't mean to start drama here, but no amount of authorial intent or love from the fandom is going to change the fact that Goodwin's established characterization is firmly rooted in racial stereotypes and uncomfortable implications, and at that point, you just gotta start over. And no, don't delegate the existing version to an IRM, either. It's unsalvageable, and best not left around where people can see it.