This is a site for discussing roleplaying games. Have fun doing so, but there is one major rule: do not discuss political issues that aren't directly and uniquely related to the subject of the thread and about gaming. While this site is dedicated to free speech, the following will not be tolerated: devolving a thread into unrelated political discussion, sockpuppeting (using multiple and/or bogus accounts), disrupting topics without contributing to them, and posting images that could get someone fired in the workplace (an external link is OK, but clearly mark it as Not Safe For Work, or NSFW). If you receive a warning, please take it seriously and either move on to another topic or steer the discussion back to its original RPG-related theme.
The RPGPundit's Own Forum Rules
This part of the site is controlled by the RPGPundit. This is where he discusses topics that he finds interesting. You may post here, but understand that there are limits. The RPGPundit can shut down any thread, topic of discussion, or user in a thread at his pleasure. This part of the site is essentially his house, so keep that in mind. Note that this is the only part of the site where political discussion is permitted, but is regulated by the RPGPundit.

Author Topic: Netflix pulls Community episode, "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons"  (Read 793 times)

thedungeondelver

  • Advanced D&D
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 6039
https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/community-why-netflix-just-pulled-the-advanced-dungeons-and-dragons-episode.html/

HOME / ENTERTAINMENT /
'Community': Why Netflix Just Pulled the 'Advanced Dungeons and Dragons' Episode
Mishal Ali Zafar  TwitterMORE ARTICLES
June 26, 2020
After being off the air for five years, NBC's hit sitcom Community found a new home on Netflix. But the streamer, which carries all six seasons of the series, recently pulled one controversial episode from their catalog. Here's a breakdown of why Netflix is no longer streaming "Advanced Dungeons and Dragons."

Advanced Dungeons and Dragons - Community
Advanced Dungeons and Dragons" Episode Charley Koontz and Joel McHale | Lewis Jacobs/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images
'Advanced Dungeons and Dragons' appears on Season 2 of 'Community'
As the fourteenth episode of Season 2, Advanced Dungeons and Dragons is centered around Neil (Charley Koontz), a fellow Greendale student who is teased about his weight. After being nicknamed "Fat Neil," Neil seems depressed and possibly suicidal, so Jeff Winger (Joel McHale) decides to cheer him up by playing his favorite game, Dungeons and Dragons.

Jeff gets the entire study group to join in on the game. Each student takes on a different character, with Abed (Danny Pudi) leading the game as dungeon master.

Eventually, Pierce Hawthorne (Chevy Chase) forces himself into the game. And in the end, after he relentlessly tortures Neil and loses, the group learns that Jeff was only trying to cheer Neil up because he felt guilty for coining his nickname.


RELATED: Is the 'Community' Cast Friends in Real Life?

The episode is often regarded as one of the series' best
Written by comedy writer Andrew Guest and directed by Joe Russo, "Advanced Dungeons and Dragons" touched on subjects like bullying and suicide, and it also featured meaningful character growth. Among fans of Community, is often considered one of the show's best episodes.

"'Advanced Dungeons and Dragons' is the best-contained episode of anything I've ever watched," one fan wrote on Reddit. "The acting and characterization is wonderful, and it's totally sold by the cast. The narrative's funny, tight, and surprisingly emotional -- I can't get over how well they did this – it's just incredibly talented writing."

RELATED: 'Community': Chevy Chase Called Joe Russo a 'Napoleonic Pr*ck' During a 'Meltdown' on Set

Why the 'Community' episode was pulled by Netflix

Community found a new life on Netflix, with fans old and new revisiting the show and thrusting it back into the spotlight. But amidst the growing awareness of racial insensitivity, the streamer pulled "Advanced Dungeons and Dragons" because it features Ken Jeong's character, Chang, in blackface.

While the group is playing their game, Chang shows up with covered in dark black paint, wearing a white wig, and elf ears. He declares himself as a dark elf called Brutalitops the Magician.

"So, we're just going to ignore that hate crime, huh?," Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) asks the group, to which Chang responds, "I'm a dark elf or a drow."

So Netflix pulled the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons episode of Community because of blackface. But Chang wasn't in blackface. So no nuance or analysis here at all.

-- Breana Miller, M.A. (@brethebaker) June 26, 2020
But some Community fans are arguing that Chang's get-up was not racially motivated. And they're pointing out that he dressed up as a dark elf, just as he implied.

"@netflix removing the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons episode of Community does nothing to heal racial injustice," one fan wrote on Twitter. "Chang was dressed as a mythical creature from a fantasy world. Skin tone was not a social commentary or a representation of black culture. You did an oops here!"

"So Netflix pulled the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons episode of Community because of blackface," another fan tweeted. "But Chang wasn't in blackface. So no nuance or analysis here at all."

It's unclear if the episode is gone from Netflix for good. But the streamer may make an announcement in the coming days.
THE DELVERS DUNGEON


Mcbobbo sums it up nicely.

Quote
Astrophysicists are reassessing Einsteinian relativity because the 28 billion l

Tom Kalbfus
BANNED

  • BANNED
  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • ?
  • Posts: 315
Netflix pulls Community episode, "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons"
« Reply #1 on: June 28, 2020, 08:16:35 AM »
Quote from: thedungeondelver;1136620
https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/community-why-netflix-just-pulled-the-advanced-dungeons-and-dragons-episode.html/
...

RELATED: 'Community': Chevy Chase Called Joe Russo a 'Napoleonic Pr*ck' During a 'Meltdown' on Set

Why the 'Community' episode was pulled by Netflix

Community found a new life on Netflix, with fans old and new revisiting the show and thrusting it back into the spotlight. But amidst the growing awareness of racial insensitivity, the streamer pulled "Advanced Dungeons and Dragons" because it features Ken Jeong's character, Chang, in blackface.

While the group is playing their game, Chang shows up with covered in dark black paint, wearing a white wig, and elf ears. He declares himself as a dark elf called Brutalitops the Magician.

"So, we're just going to ignore that hate crime, huh?," Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) asks the group, to which Chang responds, "I'm a dark elf or a drow."

So Netflix pulled the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons episode of Community because of blackface. But Chang wasn't in blackface. So no nuance or analysis here at all.

-- Breana Miller, M.A. (@brethebaker) June 26, 2020
But some Community fans are arguing that Chang's get-up was not racially motivated. And they're pointing out that he dressed up as a dark elf, just as he implied.

"@netflix removing the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons episode of Community does nothing to heal racial injustice," one fan wrote on Twitter. "Chang was dressed as a mythical creature from a fantasy world. Skin tone was not a social commentary or a representation of black culture. You did an oops here!"

"So Netflix pulled the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons episode of Community because of blackface," another fan tweeted. "But Chang wasn't in blackface. So no nuance or analysis here at all."

It's unclear if the episode is gone from Netflix for good. But the streamer may make an announcement in the coming days.


I wonder what happens if a white actor plays a CGI black character? CGI can go a lot further than black face makeup, and CGI is getting cheaper and more real all the time. You could have a black CGI character in a movie with the audience not even knowing that the actor portraying him wasn't even black. Black face paint is only a crude approximationmof that. The only thing that matters is the end product, which is the movie, not how it is made. You could have a CGI drow in a future D&D movie, it would look real, and black activists would complain if it didn't look like a black person. If for example if Drizzt had straight white hair instead of an afro there would be complaints.

Trond

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2743
Netflix pulls Community episode, "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons"
« Reply #2 on: June 28, 2020, 10:36:45 AM »
Quote from: Tom Kalbfus;1136776
I wonder what happens if a white actor plays a CGI black character? ......

You have to ask?

thedungeondelver

  • Advanced D&D
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 6039
Netflix pulls Community episode, "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons"
« Reply #3 on: June 28, 2020, 12:02:24 PM »
The answer to Tom's question is of course more "conversations" then "soul searching" and then cancel culture steps in and if that doesn't work, race riots like are currently ongoing.
THE DELVERS DUNGEON


Mcbobbo sums it up nicely.

Quote
Astrophysicists are reassessing Einsteinian relativity because the 28 billion l

oggsmash

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4007
Netflix pulls Community episode, "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons"
« Reply #4 on: June 28, 2020, 01:25:25 PM »
Read this a couple days ago.....I wonder how long before Blazing Saddles gets canceled off Hulu?

Trond

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2743
Netflix pulls Community episode, "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons"
« Reply #5 on: June 28, 2020, 04:23:28 PM »
Quote from: oggsmash;1136802
Read this a couple days ago.....I wonder how long before Blazing Saddles gets canceled off Hulu?

That's still up?? Why, don't they know it's current year?

oggsmash

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4007
Netflix pulls Community episode, "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons"
« Reply #6 on: June 28, 2020, 04:30:39 PM »
Quote from: Trond;1136824
That's still up?? Why, don't they know it's current year?

 I was honestly surprised to see it.

Ghostmaker

  • Chlorine trifluoride
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4013
Netflix pulls Community episode, "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons"
« Reply #7 on: June 29, 2020, 06:48:13 AM »
Forget Blazing Saddles. Two words: Tropic Thunder.

Of course, that worked because RDJ was almost disturbingly convincing as a black man AND they lampshaded the hell out of it to boot.

All of which will be lost on the current crop of race baiting morons because they don't want to understand.

oggsmash

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4007
Netflix pulls Community episode, "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons"
« Reply #8 on: June 29, 2020, 08:47:45 AM »
Quote from: Ghostmaker;1136914
Forget Blazing Saddles. Two words: Tropic Thunder.

Of course, that worked because RDJ was almost disturbingly convincing as a black man AND they lampshaded the hell out of it to boot.

All of which will be lost on the current crop of race baiting morons because they don't want to understand.

  The thing with that movie when it came out, people were OUTRAGED at Ben stiller.  Even today, people who have seen the movie JUST NOW remember that RDJ was even in it, and was the black guy.  It makes me laugh to see twitter deciding now they have to cancel him.  I am a bit surprised Tom Cruise didnt get crapped on for his stereotyped hollywoood producer role.

Brad

  • Semper Qvantvm Potes
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3628
Netflix pulls Community episode, "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons"
« Reply #9 on: June 29, 2020, 10:28:01 AM »
"We just want to pull down these Confederate statues and then we'll be happy. We promise."
It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.

thedungeondelver

  • Advanced D&D
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 6039
Netflix pulls Community episode, "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons"
« Reply #10 on: June 29, 2020, 04:45:36 PM »


https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/dungeons-dragons-oriental-adventures-sale-wizards-of-the-coast/

"Dungeons & Dragons fans are pushing Wizards of the Coast to remove the First Edition supplement Oriental Adventures from the DMs Guild marketplace. Over the weekend, Daniel Kwan, the co-host of the Asians Represents tabletop podcast, called on Wizards of the Coast to pull the 1st edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting book Oriental Adventures from the DMs Guild marketplace, noting that the book pushed a number of outdated Asian stereotypes. "When you buy [Oriental Adventures], you show [Wizards of the Coast] that you are okay with Asian people being represented by blatant stereotypes," Kwan wrote on Twitter. He also noted that by having Oriental Adventures available for sale, it shows consumers that these legacy products are to be consumed despite their use of dated and racist stereotypes. Kwan pointed out that having Oriental Adventures available for sale runs contrary to a recent statement recently released by the Dungeons & Dragons design team, which stressed that one of the explicit design goals of the current version of D&D was to depict humanity in "all its beautiful diversity."

Oriental Adventures was originally published by TSR (the original publisher of Dungeons & Dragons) back in 1985. It was the first D&D supplement to focus on a non-European inspired setting, and introduced the concept of "non-weapon" proficiencies, which are now a critical part of the game. While the book was a best-seller at the time, none of its writers were Asian and the book has been heavily criticized by Asian fans and designers for its liberal use of stereotypes of various Asian cultures and by mixing those cultures together to form one homogenized fictional culture meant to represent an entire continent's worth of cultures. Dungeons & Dragons released an entire line of adventures based on Oriental Adventures, along with a campaign setting detailing the world of Kara-Tur, which features regions based on many different Asian cultures. Dungeons & Dragons also released an Oriental Adventures book for its 3rd Edition ruleset focused on Rokugan, which traditionally is used as the setting of Legend of the Five Rings.

Dungeons & Dragons' current Fifth Edition ruleset makes only passing references to a handful of the concepts found in Oriental Adventures, and it's been nearly 20 years since D&D last tried to navigate the outdated stereotypes baked into the world of Kara-Tur. Despite this, Oriental Adventures is a "Mithral Bestseller" on the DMs Guild, meaning that over 2,500 people have purchased the old supplement, and that Wizards of the Coast has received 50% of the profits from those sales. Even the use of the word "Oriental" is problematic, with many considering its use when describing people or cultures to be offensive.

Kwan goes into more detail about the problematic elements of Oriental Adventures as part of the "Asians Read" series on his Asians Represent Twitch channel. The episodes discussing Oriental Adventures can be found here."
THE DELVERS DUNGEON


Mcbobbo sums it up nicely.

Quote
Astrophysicists are reassessing Einsteinian relativity because the 28 billion l

Brad

  • Semper Qvantvm Potes
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3628
Netflix pulls Community episode, "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons"
« Reply #11 on: June 29, 2020, 04:56:06 PM »
Oh I see...will the new "Asian Adventures" accurately depict the rampant murders and genocide common in the region throughout the ages? What about the blatant racism? I want a realistic setting, not this idealized nonsense. I mean, why would anyone just want to play a generic ninja or kung fu monk?
It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.

KingCheops

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • K
  • Posts: 1272
Netflix pulls Community episode, "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons"
« Reply #12 on: June 29, 2020, 06:26:03 PM »
They'll make it okay by having everyone go through Foot Binding -- not just women.