thatdiabolicalfeminist:

Consuming media critically is fundamentally incompatible
with a habit of valorizing any media as pure and unproblematic.
Trying to sort out which media has literally no problems and is therefore ‘ethical’ to consume is literally the opposite of taking a critical
approach to media consumption.

Consuming media critically
means thinking about what you watch, read, listen to, etc., and
identifying its strengths and weaknesses. It requires you to understand
and accept that there’s no such thing as media without problems, and it
also requires you to understand and accept that your personal bar for
where the problems outweigh the good bits is relative and subjective –
that just because you can look past certain flaws doesn’t mean anyone
else is required to.

Critical consumption of media requires you to
separate the content you love from your identity. If you over-identify
with the media you consume, you lose your ability to be a critical
observer, looking at it from outside and seeing its flaws and good
qualities. Instead, you risk becoming defensive and uncritical, leaving
you open to absorbing messages that make you a worse person along the
way.

In a society structured to benefit some groups at the
expense of others, there will be messaging in every single piece of
media that intentionally or inadvertently endorses, justifies, or makes
light of violence and exploitation. Being critical consumers of media
means identifying those problems, acknowledging them and making a
deliberate effort not to absorb them as we consume the media we enjoy.

You
will never find perfect media. Someone saying that the thing you love
has issues with misogyny or racism or ableism etc. is not a personal
attack on you. It doesn’t even always mean they personally dislike that
media or think it shouldn’t exist or that you shouldn’t consume it. It
is possible, and necessary, to notice the problems in the things you
love and to continue to enjoy things while recognizing where they fall
down.

Learn to identify the specific good and the specific bad in the things you love, and learn when and how to make the call that the bad makes the good unsalvageable for you. It’s an important skill to develop, and it will serve you
in every single area of your life – not just entertainment but relationships, work environments, and a whole host of other contexts.

Learn to examine the things you like
and see what they really are. Be brave enough to risk feeling
differently about something. I promise it doesn’t end in not enjoying
anything ever again.