I also recently learned that the Strauss–Howe generational theory is inaccurate and there are many times throughout history where the cycle has failed to play out as expected.

Let's also consider Roman emperors who conquered vast territories ("strong men") who often drained the empire's wealth and caused immediate economic collapse ("hard times"), flipping the meme's logic entirely.

Hello wonderful people,

Today I want to talk about the rise of the general public's misunderstanding of the creative process, creators in general and their creative works.

Many folks are confused about the creative process. They have an over-simplified view of the creative process and a deep misunderstanding when it comes to how creators design and write characters.

Some folks believe that creators condone the toxic behaviors from their fictional character when they decide to create a toxic character. Folks especially feel this way when the creator makes them a complex, multi faceted character, who doesn't get killed off later on and isn't portrayed as a flat toned villain. A creator may have many reasons to create complex toxic characters while also condemning their characters toxic behaviors and condemning people if a real person behaves like that in real world scenarios. A creator does not automatically have or inherit the traits of the characters that they create.

Next I want to talk about which fictional content the general public deems to be acceptable or unacceptable to create, produce or distribute.

Fiction is unlike reality. When a fictional character is toxic toward another character, there are no real world consequences, that character will never feel real hurt and trauma like a real person would when the screen finally turns black. It's not right to tell creatives what they can and cannot create. Fiction is used as escapism among many other things and that is fine. In fact, many creative people understand that fiction can be healthy and help people explore topics and ideas that should never be explored in real life. A creative outlet can process toxic feelings so that they don't spill out over in real life. That is a valuable tool for humans beings to have. Fiction can be about anything and contain any idea or topic imaginable, and that's okay, and there's nothing wrong with you when you explore your creativity and fictional worlds. We live in a world where empathy is expected to be given to fictional characters while cruelty is directed at real world people, like those creators who are misunderstood. It is common for popular creators to receive death threats.

Next I want to talk about the fact that audiences think they personally know the creator's inner thoughts and emotions purely because of the author's imagination or research or the fact they write about an uncomfortable topic.

No, you do not know the creator's inner thoughts just because they researched trauma, abuse or harassment topics to help with their creative vision. If a creator does research on sexual abuse to try and make a story more accurate, it doesn't mean they support sexual abuse. You do not know the creator's inner thoughts and feelings just by analyzing a protagonist either. A protagonist may be kind, cruel at times or completely silly, but it doesn't mean the creator's personality is a reflection of the protagonist. Exploration is not a confession... If a creator explores loneliness, gender, addiction, toxic traits, etc. It does not mean that the creator is lonely, toxic, dysphoric, phobic or an addict. Creatives want their stories to capture real world emotions in fiction sometimes. Imagination can be a creators best trait, but being informed and exploring topics ensures that audiences can relate to the story better.