Over the past few years there has been a growing divide between people who want the shows on our network to be a pure escape, and those who want to hear us address what is happening in the world. We’ve gotten a lot of messages and mail thanking us for taking on uncomfortable topics, but we’ve also gotten negative messages and reviews from people who feel that we should keep our political opinions to ourselves and just “focus on the material”.
Here’s our stance: media does not exist in a vacuum. It is created by people with a certain viewpoint (as well as certain limitations to those viewpoints) and then consumed by people with their own perspectives and interpretations. Nobody, no matter how much they may claim to, can talk about a book or a movie or a TV show without bringing their own baggage and beliefs to the table. It’s absolutely impossible, and it would frankly not be all that interesting to listen to if it were possible.
So we’re going to go ahead and take a firm and public stand, in writing, and if we lose listeners over it then so be it. Sometimes you just have to put your money where your mouth is.
Here at UNspoiled! Studios, we believe that systemic racism is a major problem in our country and we believe that Black Lives Matter. We believe in marriage rights regardless of gender. We believe that trans women are women, that trans men are men, and that they should use whatever bathroom they damn well want. We believe that immigration makes us strong, and that a wall is the antithesis of what America is all about. We believe that regardless of your religious beliefs (or non-belief), you deserve the right to practice (or not) free from persecution and harassment. We believe that the patriarchy and rape culture are very real, and that elevating women’s voices is necessary to dismantling it. We believe that a living wage and healthcare are human rights in 2018. We believe in respect and accessibility for those who are disabled and neurodivergent. We believe that Native American Lives Matter and that everyone deserves clean and safe drinking water, whether you live in Flint, Michigan, or on a reservation. We believe that this country has some major work to do when it comes to making amends for past crimes and abuses, and that Americans are seeing the consequences of our continual denial in this administration.
We’re not going to stop talking about it. We’re not going to prioritize listener comfort over defending our brothers and sisters and others who are being disenfranchised, disowned, assaulted, locked up, deported, and murdered. Speaking up for them is literally the least we can do. And if you want us to stop talking about it, you should double-check your own priorities.
We understand that this will make some people balk, and that’s fine. UNspoiled! will never budge from this stance, no matter how many Patreon pledges and listeners we lose. We will stand for what we think is right, because in the end we have to make choices we can be proud of. And we have faith that most of our listeners will continue to stand right beside us while we make them.
