I know this sounds stupid and obvious, but ive seen this kind of generic “representation” quite a few times. Fogado from fire emblem engage, I love Fogado and his sisters design sm but they’re one of those characters that literally are just white but have dark skin (like, the only Black features they have are their skin tone, without it they blend in with any other character in the game)

The reason I think characters like this aren’t good representation is because they fail to actually represent Black peoples or make them feel “seen”, dark skin isnt the only feature associated with Black people that sets them apart, they tend to have different nose shapes, plumper lips, wider eyes (this one most people dont notice), and most notably, kinky hair (which i rarely see represented btw, even in live action stuff most female black characters have weaves or wigs, which is fine but it’s kinda overdone. BTW i know everyone is different and overly relying on these features is OBVIOUSLY not good representation either)

When I see characters like Fogado they feel like token characters. Also it’s kinda messed up that a lot of the times when black people are represented, they always have the most Eurocentric features possible TvT (light skin, straight hair/silkpress, slim nose and lips) and it just shows that society still sees Black features as undesirable.

Now dont go yapping abt how everyone looks different and not every black person has these features, I know that, everybody knows that, the point of this post is that a lot is of black representation doesn’t actually represent Black people and isnt FOR Black people and it’s a little sad

So yeah, basically, dont be afraid to have your characters have “stereotypical” features as long as they’re done intentionally and respectfully, because then you are not stereotyping, you're representing (which is kinda the point)

Here are the characters who inspired this yap session:

Anyway, yall got anymore examples of lazy representation in media? (Doesn’t have to just be black ppl ofc)