I find "problematic" really grating, I think because it's usually civility libs saying it and they'll never elaborate beyond "problematic". Like if something's racist or homophobic or otherwise bigoted just say it's that, don't try to put the Star Wars prequels and Tina Fey and Stalin in one bucket and make me understand what point you're trying to get at.
It only has meaning if the person you're talking to is already on the same page as you so what's the point?
This one went over my head for the longest time. There’s always an intended implication that, not only is the thing problematic, but the person responsible is usually bad and the audience should already understand why
For sure — I think part of it is that the person who says it can't be bothered to unpack what exactly is bad about it, and "x is problematic" doesn't lead to any further discussion of the problems with it.
I find "problematic" really grating, I think because it's usually civility libs saying it and they'll never elaborate beyond "problematic". Like if something's racist or homophobic or otherwise bigoted just say it's that, don't try to put the Star Wars prequels and Tina Fey and Stalin in one bucket and make me understand what point you're trying to get at.
It only has meaning if the person you're talking to is already on the same page as you so what's the point?
This one went over my head for the longest time. There’s always an intended implication that, not only is the thing problematic, but the person responsible is usually bad and the audience should already understand why
For sure — I think part of it is that the person who says it can't be bothered to unpack what exactly is bad about it, and "x is problematic" doesn't lead to any further discussion of the problems with it.
it's such a clumsy appropriation of a critical theory buzzword lmao.
also sometimes the point is absolutely to cause problems.
"problematic" has the same vibes as "disenfranchised" or "institutionalized racism"
it's just libspeak that makes things sound less offensive than they really are