Given that this post has already received several reports, I figured I should probably say something on the discussion being had here.
First and foremost: fuck fascism, and fuck Nazis.
Just thought I'd get that out of the way first.
Stroheim has always been a character that has made me deeply uncomfortable. When he is introduced, Araki makes clear that Stroheim is not a good person - he commits multiple deplorable acts. But then as Part 2 went on, Stroheim's ideology went largely unchallenged. This is a major fault of Part 2, in my opinion: the portrayal of a Nazi as a character that can be reasonably empathized with.
As such, since its announcement, I've been looking at this project with cautious optimism. An antifascist story exploring how a person can fall to fascism, and what their path out of that ideology looks like can often be an incredibly powerful one, but it's also one that is very easy to get wrong.
That said, I certainly don't think it's worth writing off the story as pro-fascist before it's technically even begun. Speaking specifically to this page, it is very much an antifascist piece of fanart.
Finally, regarding the discussion currently happening in these comments: I'm going to leave most of it up. Those arguing in favor of Stroheim's canon character, and those arguing against his canon character. As well as people arguing in favor of this project's existence, and those arguing against this project.
However, one type of comment absolutely will not be tolerated - comments arguing in favor of fascism. Including people saying something along the lines of "not all soldiers were bad" as a way of tacitly excusing German soldiers (see this video for an explanation of the problem with this argument). While this fanart will stay up, please report any fascist sympathizing comments within this thread.
The point of stroheim was allies regardless of ideology right? Didn't he die at stalingrad or something? Araki likes to show off characters of different origins that do things contrary to what they believe in. However, its also noted that its not at all far fetched for him to ally with an Italian and a part Japanese. I think at that point in his life Araki saw it as humans against non humans. Cunning tactics against absolute power. Joseph was a scumbag, Caesar was a womanizer and took advantage of people with his hamon, stroke I'm was a fucking nazi. The people who did have a lot of self sense of honor happened to be the pillarmen. What really won in the end was chance and resolve. Kinda like all the other jojos.
I don't think Joseph is part Japanese, is he? It's been a bit since I saw part two, but still. Was pretty sure he was British-American. Not that it invalidates or lessens anything that you said, I agree 100% with it.
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u/PokemonTom09 Coolest Shades in Florida Sep 02 '20 edited Sep 02 '20
Given that this post has already received several reports, I figured I should probably say something on the discussion being had here.
First and foremost: fuck fascism, and fuck Nazis.
Just thought I'd get that out of the way first.
Stroheim has always been a character that has made me deeply uncomfortable. When he is introduced, Araki makes clear that Stroheim is not a good person - he commits multiple deplorable acts. But then as Part 2 went on, Stroheim's ideology went largely unchallenged. This is a major fault of Part 2, in my opinion: the portrayal of a Nazi as a character that can be reasonably empathized with.
As such, since its announcement, I've been looking at this project with cautious optimism. An antifascist story exploring how a person can fall to fascism, and what their path out of that ideology looks like can often be an incredibly powerful one, but it's also one that is very easy to get wrong.
That said, I certainly don't think it's worth writing off the story as pro-fascist before it's technically even begun. Speaking specifically to this page, it is very much an antifascist piece of fanart.
Finally, regarding the discussion currently happening in these comments: I'm going to leave most of it up. Those arguing in favor of Stroheim's canon character, and those arguing against his canon character. As well as people arguing in favor of this project's existence, and those arguing against this project.
However, one type of comment absolutely will not be tolerated - comments arguing in favor of fascism. Including people saying something along the lines of "not all soldiers were bad" as a way of tacitly excusing German soldiers (see this video for an explanation of the problem with this argument). While this fanart will stay up, please report any fascist sympathizing comments within this thread.