>>96222279
There's three possible reasons why a group might be sensitive about cultural appropriation
>1. diaspora in need of an identity
For people growing up as a minority, identification with their ancestral culture may have traditionally been a way to set themselves apart. If elements that used to be considered exotic become widely used, they feel that they lose what makes them unique.
This is the group you can most credibly tell to just get over themselves and develop a personality of their own.
>2. demeaning stereotypes
If foreigners take over a cultural practice in such great numbers that they begin to define it, the very image of that culture becomes warped. A little bit is natural, but if they don't respect it, it can take on horrible caricatures, and serve as an ongoing humiliation for the culture of origin. Like geisha dresses for prostitutes.
>3. Fading History
The sense of history within popular imagination is highly influenced by pop culture. There's tons of historical revisionism going on with European historical fiction where the cast is made more modern and inclusive. There's good reasons for that of course; we want equal opportunities for actors and models of different backgrounds, and we want to create a media environment were all audiences get the sense that they're part of the normal and expected social fabric. (Not to mention it's literally baked into law in many places that representation must be diverse.) But this does have the effect of warping popular consciousness on these time periods, and setting off alarm bells when these alterations are not present. (Whitewashing!)
The fact that you're so dismissive of gothic horror tropes is kind of a demonstration of that. Mansions and Victorian dresses, gargoyles and church spires are just tropes to you, but they were once part of a particular culture group's racial heritage.
Like, you wouldn't race-swap an Asian martial arts world so easily, would you?
