Several points here,
most of which I’ll cover tonight in a more detailed post:
– Hetalia’s not racist. It includes some offensive
stereotypes, but that’s inevitable given that stereotypes are its premise. Point
is, everyone is made fun of. No one’s singled out.
– The stereotype is that Italians are useless and
inept in battle. It has nothing to do with inferiority.
– Hetalia doesn’t cover atrocities. It glosses
over them completely, using satire to subtly criticize nationalist and racist
sentiments while also pushing for an agenda of peace and consolidation.
– It was well-known to the world what the Nazis
were doing far before there was any sort of intervention. Instead of WTF Axis,
it should be more like WTF world with more heavy criticisms aimed at the Axis.
– Still, the Allies shouldn’t have any moral high
ground either. Ex: Canada and America were already practicing eugenics and
committing genocide against their indigenous populations.
That said, I’ve actually found a university publication with
a whole scholarly article dedicated to debunking misinformed critiques of Hetalia.
Its main thesis is
much of what I’ve already argued:
Hetalia is not racist nor does it promote Japanese
imperialism and nationalism; it subverts it.
It also does an excellent job showing what content depicting Japanese imperialism and nationalism looks like and then compares it to Hetalia.
Post with references coming up tonight.
Ellawritesficssometimes 