What We Lose When We Eliminate Controversial Content

[Umbran]

Are those the only two options?

I was making no attempt to be exhaustive. I was presenting a counterpoint to a meme.

 

[Fenris-77]

I was making no attempt to be exhaustive. I was presenting a counterpoint to a meme.

Ahh, well that's fair.

 

[MGibster]

I know Apollo & Aphrodite were depicted as blondes, as was Menelaus. Were there any others of note?

Helen of Troy depending on who is doing the writing or painting. Sappho has her as a blonde, but I don't think Homer mentions her hair color at all.

 

[Hussar]

That isn't the image from the AD&D Second Edition Legends & Lore (affiliate link). Flipping through my copy, this is what's shown:

Yikes. LIke, just, yikes.

 

[SteveC]

My own experience with these discussions is purely what I’ve seen here in ENWorld, and mostly after I got asked to be a moderator. The discussions I saw were generally kicked off with people defending or attacking the content disclaimer on certain older D&D products.

Most of the pro-disclaimer posts I can recall simply asked that future products be handled with care and avoid stereotyping, not asking for excisions & expungements from the games.

Your experiences clearly differed.

I just wanted to mention something that does not get said often enough: the Mod staff here does an exceptional job with a light touch. Thanks to everyone with this thankless job. I have a similar role over at a Reddit sub, and sometimes I just have to shake my head at "oh, you thought this was somehow acceptable?"

The best thing I can say is that we can have this sort of discussion here.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Yikes. LIke, just, yikes.

If someone was thinking in Ptolemaic terms, they'd probably not come across as African or Middle Eastern in look, but I'm not sure I'd depict pseudo-Greek rulers that way, either.

 

[SteveC]

That isn't the image from the AD&D Second Edition Legends & Lore (affiliate link). Flipping through my copy, this is what's shown:

I look at this and see something out of the golden age of Hollywood and those epic films of yore. As something trying to actively depict what characters looked like, ugh.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

If someone was thinking in Ptolemaic terms, they'd probably not come across as African or Middle Eastern in look, but I'm not sure I'd depict pseudo-Greek rulers that way, either.

The way I see it- The Ptolemaic Dynasty accounts for something like 1/10th of the “Egyptian empire’s” history. Blondes were rare among Ancient Greeks.

Even if we charitably assume blondes were more common among the Ptolemaic rulers than Mediterraneans in general, it’s an odd choice to have an image of pale blondes operating as the introductory art for the mythology of a North African culture.

 

[MichaelSomething]

WOTC can apply tools to help people deal with controversial subjects. Session Zero can help people discuss if Dark Sun is right for them. X cards can help people when they run into stuff that's uncomfortable. And they can always copy the WB cartoon disclaimer before the book.

 

[Cordwainer Fish]

One of the things that bothered me about the Expanse when I first encountered it was: Why did the Belters exist?

I think they exist because they're a science fiction theme so old it can order off the senior menu.