is there an issue with infantilization with socially anxious women in anime? | #Anime #cartoon  — Transcript

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1. 0:00Is women's social anxiety infantilized?
2. 0:02Let's talk about anxiety. Now, if you
3. 0:03don't know, being infantilized means to
4. 0:04be treated like a child or a baby
5. 0:05despite being fully capable or an adult.
6. 0:07Many people feel like Komi Can't
7. 0:08Communicate falls into this category.
8. 0:09This critique stems from the way that
9. 0:10the story and narrative handle her
10. 0:11social anxiety and the way that
11. 0:13characters around her respond to it.
12. 0:14Generally speaking, social anxiety is
13. 0:15deeply agonizing and at the very least
14. 0:17very messy. So, many people feel like
15. 0:18Komi Can't Communicate waters down the
16. 0:19depiction or making it look more cute
17. 0:21for the sake of audience endearment, the
18. 0:22likes of which disappointed some fans
19. 0:23because they wanted it to go over the
20. 0:25nuances of what it means to be socially
21. 0:26anxious. That coupled with the fact that
22. 0:27people say that Komi as a character
23. 0:29lacks a lot of agency as well as the
24. 0:30fact that her peers treat her like she's
25. 0:31ill-equipped to handle social
26. 0:32interactions leads a lot of people to
27. 0:33believe that she's infantilized. A post
28. 0:35of that characters like Hitori are
29. 0:36generally praised for their depiction of
30. 0:37social anxiety. And I feel like this
31. 0:38stark difference is primarily just
32. 0:40because of the way that they utilize
33. 0:41internal monologue. Viewers of Hitori
34. 0:42actually hear her inner monologue. You
35. 0:44as the viewer get a greater
36. 0:44understanding of her self-doubt and how
37. 0:46she spirals. This chaotic [music] voice
38. 0:47matches the exhaustion that comes with
39. 0:48having social anxiety. A post of that
40. 0:50you don't really hear Komi's inner
41. 0:51monologue. The story is largely told
42. 0:52from the perspective of other people,
43. 0:53whether it's the narrator or Tadano. So,
44. 0:55a lot of viewers feel like they got a
45. 0:56missed opportunity to actually see the
46. 0:57psychological state of Komi and get a
47. 0:59greater understanding as to why [music]
48. 1:00she generally doesn't talk. Essentially,
49. 1:01a lot of people feel like it's leaving a
50. 1:02lot of nuance on the table for
51. 1:04dissection in particular in favor for a
52. 1:05visual punchline. Nevertheless, I feel
53. 1:06like the nuances that come with social
54. 1:08anxiety can only really be explored if
55. 1:09you're watching it from the perspective
56. 1:10of someone who actually has it. The
57. 1:11failure to do so is why people think
58. 1:13these characters are infantilized.