Sure, and that’s understandable and fine. From a pure campaign background standpoint, I always used to get bored with Cthulu Mythos stuff if not adulterated by general other cult/supernatural stuff anyway. It’s just a very specific and narrow campaign background.
But artistically speaking, if you wanted to explore, say as random examples, an evil cult originating from Southern Italy rooted in pre-Christian rites, or in a Tong operating in Shanghai or something, the way to do it is to have the majority of Neopolitans or residents of Shanghai have nothing to do with the cult. They’re sub-cultures, “corrupted by evil” within the main culture.
But if done ham-handedly, well, its racist at worst, and insensitive at best.
I hope you dont stop posting I enjoy your contributions which seem perfectly reasonable to me. I thought the discussion was getting really interesting. I agree with this bit in large part .
There are many elements of the mythos that are clearly nothing to do with his views on race that I can detect* and as I say I have read quite a few of his letters on his work not just race. I find it interesting. The elder gods for example treat all of us (people of Earth) like well nothing, like insects, is fascinating. There is an equal playing field there we are all nothing to the great old ones regardless of our skin colour.
Good thread.
*I would welcome folks to give their perspectives on this. How do they feel about the monsters, the gods in the mythos?
In fact, no. There is no “maybe not” with this one. If we didn’t have Lovecraft’s letters and the accounts of his acquaintances, or it wasn’t such an abiding theme in his work, then there would be grounds to say “that’s just one interpretation.” But in this case, anyone who seriously looks at the work knows clearly what’s going on. Fish men out in the ocean isn’t the ultimate horror in Shadow Over Innsmouth: Finding out you’re related to them is.
Yeah, gradients, except again if you knew anything about him, you would know the truth, but you chose not to know and defend him anyway.
You tried and failed, by the way, to threaten my welcome on this board, and because that wasn’t enough for you, you extended that to yet another area you know nothing about, my participation in other communities. Your approach here is as superficial as your understanding of Lovecraft and his work. You think threatening someone’s sense of belonging means nothing, and that willingness to threaten a sense of self you share with an author who not only made his racism clear but weaponized it in his works, for a purpose.
I’ve been here for some time now, and you are not going to chase me away or by barely making veiled claims about other members of this site to try steal my sense belonging. It is not my job to meet whatever sense of entitlement you think you have over how I present myself.
I’ve seen this kind of response to Lovecraft facts over and over again, you are not the first and will not be the last to respond this way.
See. Not open to actually engage or know anything. This is just a pure defense tactic. It’s not even a new one. Sheep is not a person who wants to understand or engage in anything so the next step can be taken, and that is draw from the material and leave the vile behind.
As a white guy I don’t claim to know a lot about racism. It’s important to listen to people like Nesrie when they talk about this kind of thing because I really don’t have much personal experience with it.
I think it’s personal. And that’s OK. I’m still going to listen to Wagner frequently. I can still say he’s a reprehensible anti-semite. I can say that some tropes can be seen in his operas at times if you squint properly.
