I think this frames it unfairly. You can worry about both.
Just because you
can worry about both does not mean that you
should. They do not hold equal moral weight. I'm sorry but even if something leads to "duller" art but the alternative is harmful to actual people, then I will take the "duller" art every time. Because one is a moral position concerned with respecting the integrity of the human person and the other is not. If I am cooking a big dish for a group then I have to be mindful of their allergies and diets even if that leads to "duller-tasting food." Why? Because that is the bare minimum of decency for even a quarter-decent human being.
I don’t think it is immediately obvious though either.
For YOU. Though why you still hold to this position after being "educated" about it is beyond me.
And I still think there is room for disagreement over whether the tropes are racist, or colonialist propaganda, whether it is a problem, and if it is a problem, what the best approach forward is.
There may be room for disagreement, but I don't think that you are operating in that space.
I think it is the kind of analysis you have to be educated into.
Nah, I think that this is the kind of answer that attempts to stifle analysis and discussion.
I don’t think orcs are a particularly colonialist trope. I think you have to squint to see it.
Coded-Language: "If I have to squint to see the letters on the ophthalmologist's Snellen chart that everyone else sees, then the problem is not with my eyesight but with the chart."
And I think criticisms on colonialist grounds require such in depth knowledge of the history that isn’t something most people would see unless they are trained to see it.
Coded-Language: "Scheiße. How are the untrained 'common folk' actually now seeing this as an issue when they should be ignorant and quiet about it like they were before?"
It seems like an elitist concern to me.
Coded-Language: "It is a non-issue and you should ignore the 'academics' and 'elites' who are making something out of nothing."
So I think it is an odd thing to fixate on as a problem.
Coded-Language: "Don't think on the issue because I also don't want to be forced into a position where I have 'to think' about the issue."
It is based on my experience playing games with orcs in them, my experience talking to other gamers about this issue, and my assessment of the arguments people have made on this topic in the last several years.
Coded-Language: "If my bubble of contacts is fine with it then there is no problem."