User blog comment:BradP27/Why RR was the Best Season Since the Original TDI--if not better/@comment-1376932-20151014074350/@comment-1376932-20151014214713

Like the fact that every time there's a reference to homosexuality it's used as the butt of a joke? See: the kiss between Cody and Noah in TDI, Jo saying she wants to kiss a boy and Lightning saying he "doesn't judge" in TDRI, every single joke involving Owen and another guy... if you want examples from this season specifically, two I can think off of the top of my head are: the joke Noah made to Owen in Got Venom ("He's your boyfriend, you break up with him!") and the predatory male taxi driver making kissy faces at Devin in Darjeel With It.

Not only is it insulting when LGBT people can't get actual representation in a show, it's even worse when that show constantly makes LGBT people the butt of their jokes. The joke is always, "x character is gay/implying something gay, y character is straight and thus they react by being weirded out, the audience laughs at the expense of x character". Remember Duncan calling Chef a "transgendered troll" in The Princess Pride? That kind of stuff may be funny to younger, naïve audiences but it's hurtful to those who are aware of the implications they're making and they teach those younger viewers that kind of stuff should be laughed at.

The fact is that LGBT people still carry a negative stigma to the point where it's considered "taboo", "inappropriate", or "controversial" to add them to kids' shows. I know shows like Legend of Korra and Steven Universe have been great with adding these characters in but even then, we still haven't seen a lot of characters who are openly, proudly, unapologetically gay whereas heterosexuality and straight characters are considered the "default". Like we're supposed to have evidence and proof every time we assume a character is gay but we don't need to apply that same reasoning if we assume they're straight. That needs to change.

As for body-shaming, BradP27 hit the nail on the head: "Not sure why nearly every woman on the show has to have a waist literally a quarter the size of their hips, and anyone who isn't gets lots of jokes made at their expense (especially MacAllister)." Look at Owen, he's literally a walking fat joke. I didn't notice the lack of body diversity this season as much as I noticed the jokes made at the expense of fat characters, like Brody gaining a little extra weight, MacArthur rejecting him for it, and the whole thing is played off as a joke that we're supposed to laugh at.

Anyway, I know my opinions aren't exactly popular a lot of the time and I'm sure someone is going to say how I'm overreacting and looking too far into things (which I'm not but thanks in advance to whoever is going to comment this), but I just think Total Drama would be a lot more enjoyable for everyone if jokes weren't made so frequently at the expense of oppressed groups. Call me a comedy-killer but I don't really see why people need to be offensive to be funny. I guess there's nothing you can really do except enjoy the good parts; I just felt like I needed to get the bad parts off my chest.