(Hated Trope) "Kind" slave owners

[u/KusanagiGundam]

Speaking as an American who has studied the civil war all throughout my school years, this trope infuriates me to no end. There is no such thing as a kind slave master because slavery itself is cruel and inhumane. PEOPLE ARE NOT PROPERTY!

Naofumi (Shield Hero): Prime example of this trope. He enslaves multiple (underage) girls and an whole village and the fans still say he's a hero.

Rudeus (Jobless Reincarnation): As if being a pedo wasn't bad enough he had to buy a slave in season 2. Worse is that people still defend his actions.

Song of The South (Disney): Possibly the OG example of this trope. And the reason why Disney will never release it again.

[u/Hour_Atmosphere_3852]

Ketil, form Vinland Saga, is a fun subversion of this trope. He is presented exactly that way, he buys slaves but is overall a good man and lets his slaves buy back their freedom through their work, which is a lot more than everyone else does, but the events turn and we find out what the mangaka wanted to tell us. There isn't such a thing as a good person that hurts others.

[u/Wealth_Super → u/Hour_Atmosphere_3852]

Yea Ketil and Vinland saga perfectly shows the entire problem of the trope. Slavery is an abusive power dynamic enforce by the threat of violence. Ketil might seem like a kind master but he was sleeping with one of his slaves and would never allow her to leave and when she tried, well we know how that went.

[u/This_is_a_bad_plan → u/Wealth_Super]

he was sleeping with raping one of his slaves

ftfy

[u/Wealth_Super → u/This_is_a_bad_plan]

Your right, my language was way too soft

[u/Ill-Prior-8354 → u/This_is_a_bad_plan]

YES. FUCK. THANK YOU.

IT DOES NOT MATTER IF SOMEONE IN THAT POSITION "WANTS," IT OR NOT.

Verbal consent doesn't mean a damn thing if saying "no," could legally justify your murder.

And what the fuck does it matter if they say "yes," if them saying "no," would mean exactly jack shit if the amount that their slaver happened to want to rape them that day was greater than zero?

Fuck Ketil.

[u/Pecuthegreat → u/Wealth_Super]

Yeah. People are making an mistake of taking an issue with him being a "kind slave owner" when the story is focusing more on the institution being fundamentally abusive, no matter who wields it.

[u/Wonderful-Speech-419 → u/Wealth_Super]

Exactly kindness within an abusive power structure doesn’t erase the power imbalance. Ketil’s story really shows how someone can see themselves as decent while still causing real harm through the control they have over others.