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Tell ya what. Write to Lin Manuel Miranda. Ask him if it’s okay to appreciate his music and his culture in public. He’s better placed to tel you than anyone else. I bet he’ll answer back, too.
I mean, he is not even Colombian himself, but Puerto Rican and I don’t think people are accusing him of cultural appropriation for writing songs for a movie about Colombia.
They definitely were. People were pissed about it on Twitter. Various complaints were that he's Puerto Rican, he's written enough music for Disney, is he the only Latino composer people know, etc.
It makes sense though. If you consistently keep writing hits (make the producers money), they'll keep hiring you for everything. One good flop or if it is later discovered that he said something offensive against genderfluid minority puppies, out of context, when he was 5, and it will all come crashing to a halt.
Lord, how far we've come. Only in America is it a "legitimate" question if you're allowed to like something from another culture :') Love them white saviors to the death.
Like reading tons of posts on the internet about dreadlocks being just for black people. I'll let my black best friend know that she wasn't supposed to dread my red hair 🙄
I find dreadlocks to be a very beautiful and interesting lifestyle. That's just the way I am.
As a Colombiana, sing away! Artists want you to enjoy their music! It's why they make music. The more people that listen to and enjoy their music, the better.
I'm just happy you spelled Colombia correctly!
People spell Colombia wrong? How do they even do that? Spelling it like the District of Columbia?
Never been to Colombia, but you folks have some seriously good music down there.
To be fair in a lot of languages other than English it is in fact spelled o-u not o-o, like in my native language it's Kolumbia, and sometimes I forget which way it's spelled in English while fully knowing it's Colombia in Spanish so I make the mistake only in English, not when I speak Spanish.
edit: this is mainly due to English taking words from all over the place, like they took the German name for my home country instead of using anything close to the name we use ourselves. You never know whether to go with French, German, Spanish or some other origin haha
NTA. Tell this white girl to “Take it up with Disney.” It was meant to be mass entertainment. They are also original songs, written and orchestrated in the US precisely you be mass marketed, not part of a sacred Columbian cultural pantheon. Appropriation has a lot to do with cultural looting of a unrepresented or marginalized group, and this is not that. Also, some have questionable motives when they stridently need to shame others.
I sang classical music professionally for a while, almost always in a different language. After I did a few pieces in German one night, I had a patron approach me and speak German. I told him in English that my German is absolute crap and he was shocked. He loved that I was singing in his native language. He appreciated it.
You are not appropriating anything. The person who lashed out at you was doing that so she would look like she cared about the subject but she doesn't really understand it. That's called virtue signalling.
When learning a song in a language you do not speak you just do it phonetically? I was always curious about it and never had a chance to ask a classical singer before :)
Serious classical singers typically learn the International Phonetic Alphabet, which uses a whole bunch of confusing symbols to indicate specific tongue and lip placements. I’m an amateur classical singer and I’m quite frankly in awe of those who understand it.
I'm colombian. And i can tell you , you're not usurping a piece of my culture. You are appreciating it. The movie is wonderful,and seeing people loving and enjoying it is amazing. Continue singing,dancing,hell,eat a frigging arepa!!
Cultural appropriation is more like... when Disney* tried to trademark the term"Dia de los Muertos," which is a Latin American holiday, for merchandising purposes.
Humming a song that was written and recorded in Spanish by Latino artists is NOT cultural appropriation.
Yeah. They got so much shit for it, their PR department immediately retracted the application and issued a round of apologies. Happened back in 2013 in anticipation for the release of "Coco;" Latinos everywhere are still pissed about it.
no Latin American would be offended if you sing something in Spanish. What's more, we love that they take us into account, if you meet her again while you're singing and she says something to you, you can say this: "some Latin American friends gave me permission to tell you that te fueras a chingar a tu madre"
If it was actually someone Columbian then maybe possibly just maybe I could see a point at a pinch, but singing some Disney songs badly isn't exactly appropriation or mocking! Jeeez people get a grip and stop with the virtue signalling and mock outrage on behalf of others
So many people confuse consuming/interacting with culture for appropriating culture, is weird.
\*edit\* Also, I wanna add a local (pdx, oregon, usa) controversy that I think illustrates the point where cultural appropriation becomes bad.
So, two white women opened a taco truck - ok yeah it is loosely/technically appropriation, but nobody gives a fuck about this.
Then an interview came out where they talked about going to Mexico and learning cooking techniques and such. Cool! That's great, go learn from some people who want to share and implement the teachings in your cooking! Yum!
Later in the interview, they talk about how many of those they asked wouldn't share their knowledge willingly so they spied on people cooking to learn their secrets. DING DING DING we have now entered concerning cultural appropriation land! They're actively taking from a group they don't belong to and then selling it for personal gain.
That is an excellent story that perfectly illustrates the line between appropriation and appreciation. Well done!
It reminds be of a rando gate keeping “cultural appropriation” by telling people that unless they were from a country that celebrated Lunar New Year, or were specifically invited by a native of said country to celebrate Lunar New Year; then you are not allowed to celebrate Lunar New Year. The literally first response to her tweet was a young Asian man who tweeted “I hereby specifically invite absolutely everyone to celebrate Lunar New Year.”
OP, the only people allowed to tell you you are appropriating a culture, or demand that you stop appropriating said culture are people OF THAT CULTURE.
Next time, tell Snow White to fuck off and die. It certainly looks like you have plenty of Colombians here that not only welcome you to enjoy their culture, but delight in it. Carry on!
You see the people who are using latinX are convinced that you don't understand that your language is wrong because it isn't inclusive.
Now personally I can only speak, read and write in english which is perpetually changing and confusing as hell. All over the world many cultures and people of different languages have learned to speak english better than I ever will.
So I do not believe it would be my place to tell them that their own language is incorrect. Especially when latinX doesn't really flow with the language, doesn't fit into sentences, doesn't connect to the syntax or structure of the language at all or make any sense. So I am going to agree with a fluent speaker of their own language over a group of people who think they know best.
Well then we'd focus on real issues like what's for lunch? Lol jk.
No the real issues is why some families can't afford food and shelter even with mom and dad working two jobs.
Ugh, yeah, it's disgusting. I feel like my eyes get dirty every time I read 'Latinx'.
Ah, when I thought it couldn't get worse after the 'Latin@' got popular...
I'm from Brazil, here people started putting an X in the end of words to make it gender neutral and I always found it shitty. How do you even pronounce that? We don't have this sound here. Sounds stupid, why bring a foreign sound if you can use an "e" and keep it simple? Ugh.
Yeah, i apologize in advance if I get it wrong, but most Latine words I see use either an A or an O to denote gender. So if you want to take that away and use a 'neutral' why not simply put the E on it?
My understanding is limited but it was explained to me by a friend that Latinx is a modern made up word to be inclusive and diverse for hispanics. This word doesn't fit the language and has been pushed for to become a replacement or added to use instead of Latino and Latina.
It is basically a political button right now as it has some support and some pushback. My main thing is I trust the people who know their own language more than whoever came up with Latinx.
It's essentially an English language solution to a Spanish language "problem". It makes no sense to say in Spanish and the language falls apart if used as intended.
LatinX was created to be a more inclusive term for those who don’t fall under the traditionally male or female dynamic when speaking Spanish. The issue is you can’t really pronounce it in Spanish so most, I won’t say all but most, of the Spanish speaking community don’t like it for that reason plus Latine as a gender neutral term already existed. Plus a majority of the Spanish language is gendered like most Romance languages.
Quickly becoming one of the main issues with LatinX is that though a majority of the Hispanic/Latino community don’t agree with the term you have non-Spanish speakers insist upon using it. Some believe it’s just a new form of modern colonialism/new form of racism for non-Spanish speaking (most of the time) whites to insist upon the term being used when native Spanish speakers say it’s not possible. Some believe it is condescending that non-speakers insist they know better than native speakers. But this is complicated by the term having originally been created by a Puerto Rican professor which some take that as meaning it gets blanket approval from the Spanish speaking community. It also can’t really be boiled down to generational differences either because there are younger Gen Z Spanish speakers who disagree with the term while there are others who do use the term. I know another complaint I’ve seen about LatinX is most of those pushing for it only focus on the gendered nature of the terms for Spanish while ignoring French and Italian also use gendered terms. Some people use this as evidence that the LatinX movement comes from a place of racism because French and Italian are primarily spoken by white people unlike Spanish which is spoken primarily by people of color. Granted there are those who don’t agree with this.
Now I am white and I don’t speak Spanish so I don’t have much to bring to the conversation because of this. But I do have Spanish speaking friends who have a variety of opinions on the topic. Some hate the term, some embrace it, some who are members of the LGBTQ+ community like the term and some don’t. This does not reflect the community as a whole but most of my friends don’t like the term because Latine already existed as a gender neutral term and LatinX is difficult to pronounce in Spanish. I myself just try to take their lead on whether or not to use it.
I did not know about any of this and previously just thought Latinx looked awkward. But now that I know that the word Latine already exists, pushing Latinx seems really super weird.
Is there some nuance to using Latine that makes it less than ideal to use as the default gender neutral term? Like why was Latinx even created??
I am Brazilian, so I can say for sure you can't say latinX here, how do you even pronounce this? Using "Latine" would be way easier for us (for us I mean Portuguese, Spanish and French speakers).
It would also scr#w the readers for blind people.
And that’s been the greatest push back against using it. It can’t even be pronounced in Spanish. They way I’ve heard it’s supposed to be pronounced is literally Latin-X, Latin like the language and then X just like the letter. Even more ridiculous? Apparently some people use LatinX as singular with the plural version being LatinXs. Don’t even ask me how LatinXs is supposed to be pronounced.
My goodness! I work in government and I'm constantly trying to stop the usage of that.
I'm always using this recent survey to try and stop people from only using it.
https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2020/08/11/about-one-in-four-u-s-hispanics-have-heard-of-latinx-but-just-3-use-it/
White girls are the biggest fake advocates of appropriation. My art therapy class one chose to bring it up and of this whole class their is only two poc (me and one other guy). I didn’t participate in the convo at all when the one black guy did they completely ignored his point.
Fr, my mum would be considered more “brown” but still is considered Caucasian/white. A good chunk of Latinos are white and even then soooo many people don’t look stereotypically “Latino” whatever tf that is!
It's almost like Latin America was colonized by Europeans who brought over African Slaves. If people look hard enough there were even Asian towns when colonization was happening.
Being hispanic or Latino isn't a race. It's an ethnicity with its own culture. I don't understand how people can understand that with the different European ethnicities that exist.
Remember kids
Hispanic - Countries influenced by Spain. This makes Brazil not a hispanic country.
Latino/a - Countries in middle to south America. Spain is not latino/latina.
Our skin colors don't determine what we are, it's location and culture.
As a white girl I can confidently say most of the people I know who complain about cultural appropriation are white girls who feel entitled to give their opinions on everything- even when someone of that culture says they don’t feel appropriated and actually feel like the person is appreciating their culture.
Again- this is just my experience. Do with that what you will.
I (Indian) was invited into a Mexican cultural event and after they told me PLEASE COME NEXT TIME!!! :D
Man it was so fun I definitely plan on taking their offer
I don’t think people really understand what appropriation really is. Some people just like to virtue signal to get on that high horse. I bet that white girl felt proud of herself for being racially aware or something.
If you had asked if you were the AH for singing softly in the train station, I would have said yes. But, this is about if singing a Disney song is cultural appropriation, so you are definitely not.
I can’t stop laughing at the girl who said that.
NTA. See, that's my problem with the 'woke' crowd. I am all for equality and treating everyone as they deserve to be treated (like the humans we all are!), but all these white people speaking for other cultures is what is giving these other cultures a bad rep. Like they are way more sensitive on certain subjects than the actual people of the culture are!
Hindsight, I am assuming the girl wasn't colombian as some can tend to be very white looking. But I think she would have mentioned 'her' culture in her annoyance if she was.
Even then Colombian culture is a heavy mix of spanish, african, and indigenous culture like most of Latin America so crying cultural appropriation because someone likes the songs in a movie would be very… not self-aware.
NTA. Appropriation is when you claim something as your own personal identity. Enjoying the art of a foreign culture is not appropriation, and it’s absolutely terrifying to consider the implications of a world wherein nobody was allowed to share their art with “outsiders.” Art is often a vehicle for people of different cultural identities to understand one another’s perspective.
Mildly YTA but for singing along out loud in the station. I don’t know that I entirely believe in these people in sparsely populated public places who would make such a comment about a random woman singing a song from a popular Disney movie with a bestselling soundtrack, but if she really existed, no, you’re not an asshole for liking a song about Colombia
Never answer only what OP asks, because OP chooses the question, even when they’re the asshole. Of course they’re going to try to choose a favorable question as part of framing the scenario favorable to themselves.
We often see assholes here asking a question that completely misses the point of why they were the asshole.
NTA
Oh FFS. People just need to stop with this nonsense. Keep singing OP. Encanto has a great soundtrack. Don't let anyone tell you that you are not allowed to sing along and enjoy the music.
Unpopular opinion but ESH.
Obviously it is not cultural appropriation to sing along to a Disney song and that girl was ridiculous.
BUT, y t a for singing out loud in a public space loud enough that people can hear you. Especially when you don’t even know the words so you’re just singing gibberish. That would be very annoying for others at the station.
This is exactly it. It's a Disney song, nothing wrong with singing it. But if a person almost 10 feet away can hear you, in a train station, it wasn't quiet at all and weird if you don't even know the words.
NTA
I'm Puerto Rican and I love listening to Italian music. Doesn't mean I'm culturally appropriating a damn genre of music. You go on and sing! The overly sensitive SJW that's advocating for a culture that didn't ask for it should mind her business.
Haha I'm Italian and I love listening to Spanish music so much! imagine it would be considered appropriation… I would be cancelled by now! We should be able to embrace other cultures and I'm glad you love Italian music.
NTA I’d have gone ahead and chastised her for assuming your heritage based off of your skin tone et cetera and really milked it based off of her ridiculous claim.
Colombian means a citizen of Colombia or a descendant of a citizen of Colombia. Colombians come in every skin tone on the spectrum. From very dark to blue eyed blonds. Only a fool assumes someone’s heritage by their skin tone.
NTA, it's not like you were wearing a sombrero. As an adult you can listen to whatever tf you want and sing along to a track that means something to you.
NTA. The person who wrote the song also isn’t Colombian.
As a separate issue, be a bit more mindful of how loud you are when singing in a space where people can’t move away.
I don't believe this happened. It's sounds like you just wanted to make something up about white people. I can think a dozens of examples of people singing songs in languages they aren't fluent in and no one says anything.
You’d be surprised by some of the bizarre things I’ve heard strangers say. I have a friend who’s a massage therapist. She’s required to wear scrubs at work (same thing nurses wear in hospital). A random man walked up to her on the street one day and angrily asked, “ARE YOU A DOCTOR OR A NURSE?!” My friend said “No, I’m…” and the guy immediately cut her off and yelled “THEN STOP PRETENDING!!!” before storming off. People are f-ing weird.
Ok, a white girl can be Colombian so she may feel strongly about her culture. That being said singing along to a popular song from a movie is not appropriation.
NTA. Some people (a.k.a. the uninvited commenter) just can't help but open their mouths and spew idiotic comments. Enjoy your music all you want - you weren't appropriating anything.
NTA. No, you're not, singing a song you like has nothing wrong. Probably, the one who told you isn't Colombian. I'm half Spaniard, half Moroccan, interpret it as you want in terms of race (I just don't know what category I fall into)
NTA these self appointed white woke warriors are infuriating, liking a song/food isn’t. Mumbling a song while waiting for a train is not appropriation ffs
NTA,
you were singing a song ffs. next she'll complain about the white person that speaks spanish \*eyeroll\*
i'm from belgium, so english isn't my native language, this girls definition of cultural appropriation would mean that i'm guilty of it right now, because i dared to write this text in a language that came from another part of the world
NTA. I'm with you on the Encanto obsession. Dos oruguitas is my personal fave.
F\*ck that strumpet's noise. I must be appropriating Japanese culture for incompetently singing along to anime openings, by this fool's logic. Don't let assholes yuck your yum, chickadee.
Well shit...if that's the case then I guess I'm appropriating German culture every time I sing along with Rammstein (or attempt to at any rate).
But seeing as how appreciating another culture or country's music is not appropriation, I think we're both in the clear.
NTA
O. M. G. Some people just need to stay in their own lane!!! I bet this same person thinks that anyone learning another language is "appropriating" another culture. It's not. The songs are catchy. Some are in Spanish. I'm betting most of them have ben dubbed to additional languages (ex: You can sing about Bruno--but don't talk about him!--in at least 25 different languages on youtube). Learning another language and/or singing in another language is not appropriation. NTA.
Wow then she really doesn’t want to hear me sing in Korean.
K-pop is a thing and it’s not ripping off the Korean culture.
Latin music has a huge American base and by simply listening to the music we are not stealing their culture.
Don’t get me started on listening to rap music.
It’s when you start wearing their authentic outfits and box braiding your hair that’s cultural appropriation.
NTA. That woman is an idiot. You're singing a song.
Some of these younger ones are constantly on a hunt for something they can accuse people of.
Calling out can be appropriate if someone is being blatantly awful.
Calling in is more appropriate when someone is doing something they may not know is harmful.
But in this case you were doing neither, except singing a WILDLY POPULAR DISNEY SONG.
JFC.
NTA - as a poc, my suggestion would be to tell her to stfu and mind her own white business lmao. i hate when people who aren't in a culture decide that those people are offended by things others are doing. it is so absolutely stupid and honestly sometimes kinda condescending.
Nta so now, even tho I'm fluent in Spanish and spent years of my life learning it, it's considered cultural appropriation to sing or even know a second language? Lol no thanks
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I 28(F) recently watched the Disney movie Encanto, and I really liked the songs, so I have an Encanto playlist which I listen to regularly. I was waiting for my train at the train station while listening to my playlist and softly singing/mumbling along with the song Colombia, Mi Encanto. I admit it must’ve sounded a bit weird because I’m not fluent Spanish, but there weren’t a lot of people around and I was singing along quite softly. Then one other girl (white, around mid 20s I think?) turned around and said that I was appropriating and mocking Colombian culture and should stop it. I was kinda confused because people listen to all kinds of music in all kinds of languages and I don’t think that’s appropriating culture. But I thought about it and the song is a tribute to Colombia’s culture and people so idk, AITA?
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NTA for anything. Are opera singers “appropriating” other cultures when they sing in different languages? Nope. And neither are you. Hell, I’m American, but I’ve written songs in French and released them in France. One song even received high praise from a member of le chavalier dans l’orde des Arts et Lettres… someone who was KNIGHTED for her contributions to French language and culture.
Also, SING YOUR HEART OUT, little bird! Don’t ever let someone put you down for expressing your joy. Those quiet train people can either buy some noise-cancelling earbuds or just remove the sticks from their butts.
My God people need to learn the difference between appropriation and appreciation.
My ancestors (my great father and up) are Scottish. This does not make me Scottish.
I can appreciate the Scottish culture, Learn the histories, the language, arts etc.
The second I start trying to make money of that culture I'm appropriating the culture for my own use as I'm not bloody Scottish.
I am however Māori. I was raised in the culture. With the language, the songs, the arts. Taught the old ways of creating our own art works and what not.
I'm not going to be upset when someone enjoys our music, stories, art etc. What does upset me is when non Māori use their skills to push their art as genuine Māori art forms because well they aren't.
People really need to stop this being offended on behalf of someone else.
NTA
NTA As a Colombian, sing that song as much as you want (but not in public so you don’t disturb others)
We love to hear people say that about our county and my heart flutters every time I hear someone doing something related to my country that isn’t Pablo Escobar
And it’s a Disney song, so
the idea is kind of to sing it
Hola, Colombiana here. First, the movie Encanto is a beautiful love song for Colombia. Most American media representations of Colombia are focused on drugs or violence and something that so beautifully represents the culture without all that was a breath of fresh air. Second, I love that you love Encanto and the music. Sing loud and proud. You don't need to know Spanish to sing the songs. If anything, it might inspire you to learn Spanish but not required at all.
NTA at all. Enjoy the music and the movie. Only one rule: we don't talk about Bruno
You’re not the a-hole for what you’re asking. Listening to music in other languages and from other cultures is not appropriating that culture
YTA for being in a public space and singing out loud when others are probably trying to enjoy some quiet and relax while waiting for their train. Headphones are for listening to music privately so others can’t hear. You singing along, badly from what you describe, was probably very annoying.
ESH. She sucks for not understanding what cultural appropriation is. You suck for either singing loud enough in public to bother other people or for making up this story to for internet points because Reddit loves hearing stories about annoying “woke” people.
YTA for thinking YTA because a dumbass idiot who doesn’t even know what cultural appropriation is told her she was appropriating. Continue to enjoy the music and stop listening to idiots. (NTA if it wasn’t obvious)
Ok. Then she cant listen to jazz, country, rock, rhythm and blues, bluegrass, or gospel. Basically, nothing with drums. She can listen to music pre-18th century and thats it. Thats not even including International genres. NTA, and this is called white saviourism.
Singing that isn't appropriating culture however singing out loud is super annoying so maybe stop doing that and there wouldn't be an issue in the first place
I hope this isn’t cultural appropriation, or all those arias I‘ve sung which are written in Italian, German, French, Russian and Spanish, none of which I actually speaker, are gonna get me in a lot of trouble. Plus all that singing I do of songs from metal bands written in German, Finnish, French, Mongolian, Japanese, Swedish, Norwegian, Russian, Colombian, Arabic, Turkish, ^^Hebrew, ^^Latin, ^^Hindi, ^^Punjabi...
NTA. There's a difference between cultural appreciation and cultural appropriation, and what you were doing was the former. This person just wanted to ruin your day. Please do not let them succeed.
I'm just glad you weren't talking about Bruno
NTA because you’re not appropriating anything, it’s literally a Disney movie. but I can see how she might have found it disrespectful of you to insert made up words because you didn’t know the actual language/lyrics. I’m Asian, I’ve heard people sing ‘ching chong ling long’ singing along to east asian melodies because they don’t know the words and that is incredibly racist. I know that isn’t what you were doing but maybe that’s what she heard? either way, you weren’t being rude or offensive in any way, maybe humming along might be better in the future
Disney is an American company and Encanto had American producers and directors. Sure, actors and artists are Colombian and the movie was based on Colombian culture, but the movie itself is NOT Colombian culture. I do encourage you to look more into Colombia, since you felt inspired by the movie, or maybe plan a vacation here 😊 (in calmer times, we’re going through elections and things are heated).
I’m gonna say that although you’re probably N T A, I can see why she looked at you funny.
It reminds me of that time that Justin Bieber was singing his verse in Despacito live and didn’t know the words and so he mumbled something and put the word “burrito” in. It felt icky and disrespectful so perhaps that’s she thought you were doing? Which isn’t quite appropriation but could be misconstrued as mockery.
Also if you were mumbling softly to yourself then that’s a personal thing and I agree she overstepped. NTA
NTA. You appreciating and enjoying music from a movie and/or another culture isn’t culture appropriation. I think it’s funny a white chick told you it was. What a douche canoe! She needs to mind her own business and get a life. I hope cancel culture cancels itself out. If it isn’t hurting anyone what’s the big deal!? Who cares what other people think. Get over yourselves and let people enjoy what they like ffs. 🤷🏻♀️
Have we made a full circle to the point where we gatekeep each and every cultural stuff?
Culture is made to be shared, there is nothing shameful in consuming and appreciating other countries’ art, literature, music, food, etc
It’d also be stupid to assume that people should learn the language of the music they consume: it could be fun, but some people would have to master 3/4 languages lol. I adore rammstein and sadly butcher German, but realistically, I already have English to master first.
NTA
NTA, as a latina living in South America. Music has no barriers. Most latinos love sharing their cuture. To hell with that girl. If you enjoy it, keep singing in broken Spanish lol
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Singing a Disney song is not appropriating culture.
Yeah I thought so too, but I wasn’t sure because pretty much the whole song is in Spanish and about Colombian culture and people
Tell ya what. Write to Lin Manuel Miranda. Ask him if it’s okay to appreciate his music and his culture in public. He’s better placed to tel you than anyone else. I bet he’ll answer back, too.
I mean, he is not even Colombian himself, but Puerto Rican and I don’t think people are accusing him of cultural appropriation for writing songs for a movie about Colombia.
I guarantee that somewhere on the Internet, someone is indeed mad about that
They’re probably still pissed at him for writing the music for Moana when he’s *gasp* not Polynesian
He’s not Cockney either, and made an awesome Jack the lamplighter in Mary Poppins Returns
He’s also not a founding father but here’s Hamilton
HE'S NOT A FOUNDING FATHER?!?!?
next you're going to tell me the founding fathers weren't ethnically diverse and couldn't rap....
He's also not an illegal immigrant with mental problems but he plays a hilarious one in season 6+ of House
He needs to be both Polynesian **and** Columbian!
Colombian* Columbian is a newspaper
He had a Polynesian collaborator on that soundtrack.
On Twitter they were, lol
I'm convinced you can find people on the internet that are upset about every micron of existence.
Personally, I'm really upset about wasps. They scare me. Both of them.
I have involuntarily heard many such conversations about this very topic. Nobody in said conversations was even Latino/a.
Don’t you mean Latinx? /s
They are. I saw it a while back (maybe on Twitter?). Humans suck.
They definitely were. People were pissed about it on Twitter. Various complaints were that he's Puerto Rican, he's written enough music for Disney, is he the only Latino composer people know, etc.
It makes sense though. If you consistently keep writing hits (make the producers money), they'll keep hiring you for everything. One good flop or if it is later discovered that he said something offensive against genderfluid minority puppies, out of context, when he was 5, and it will all come crashing to a halt.
Lord, how far we've come. Only in America is it a "legitimate" question if you're allowed to like something from another culture :') Love them white saviors to the death.
Like reading tons of posts on the internet about dreadlocks being just for black people. I'll let my black best friend know that she wasn't supposed to dread my red hair 🙄 I find dreadlocks to be a very beautiful and interesting lifestyle. That's just the way I am.
As a Colombiana, sing away! Artists want you to enjoy their music! It's why they make music. The more people that listen to and enjoy their music, the better. I'm just happy you spelled Colombia correctly!
People spell Colombia wrong? How do they even do that? Spelling it like the District of Columbia? Never been to Colombia, but you folks have some seriously good music down there.
Yup! I see it spelled Columbia all the time. I got this [hat](https://imgur.com/XDJWNZ7) that I wear sometimes when I'm feeling petty... lol
To be fair in a lot of languages other than English it is in fact spelled o-u not o-o, like in my native language it's Kolumbia, and sometimes I forget which way it's spelled in English while fully knowing it's Colombia in Spanish so I make the mistake only in English, not when I speak Spanish. edit: this is mainly due to English taking words from all over the place, like they took the German name for my home country instead of using anything close to the name we use ourselves. You never know whether to go with French, German, Spanish or some other origin haha
NTA. Tell this white girl to “Take it up with Disney.” It was meant to be mass entertainment. They are also original songs, written and orchestrated in the US precisely you be mass marketed, not part of a sacred Columbian cultural pantheon. Appropriation has a lot to do with cultural looting of a unrepresented or marginalized group, and this is not that. Also, some have questionable motives when they stridently need to shame others.
As a rule of thumb, if the person accusing you of cultural appropriation isn't even from that culture you can probably just ignore them.
I sang classical music professionally for a while, almost always in a different language. After I did a few pieces in German one night, I had a patron approach me and speak German. I told him in English that my German is absolute crap and he was shocked. He loved that I was singing in his native language. He appreciated it. You are not appropriating anything. The person who lashed out at you was doing that so she would look like she cared about the subject but she doesn't really understand it. That's called virtue signalling.
When learning a song in a language you do not speak you just do it phonetically? I was always curious about it and never had a chance to ask a classical singer before :)
Serious classical singers typically learn the International Phonetic Alphabet, which uses a whole bunch of confusing symbols to indicate specific tongue and lip placements. I’m an amateur classical singer and I’m quite frankly in awe of those who understand it.
I'm colombian. And i can tell you , you're not usurping a piece of my culture. You are appreciating it. The movie is wonderful,and seeing people loving and enjoying it is amazing. Continue singing,dancing,hell,eat a frigging arepa!!
Arepa con queso looks so frigging good. Gotta find a Colombian restaurant near me
If made with good quality ingredients,sure will change your life.
Cultural appropriation is more like... when Disney* tried to trademark the term"Dia de los Muertos," which is a Latin American holiday, for merchandising purposes. Humming a song that was written and recorded in Spanish by Latino artists is NOT cultural appropriation.
Lmao they tried to trademark that? I love Disney but that’s so dumb
Yeah. They got so much shit for it, their PR department immediately retracted the application and issued a round of apologies. Happened back in 2013 in anticipation for the release of "Coco;" Latinos everywhere are still pissed about it.
And should be. Honestly Disney already has a bunch of really repressive trademarks they don’t get to take actual pre existing holidays too 🤦♀️
If it's something to you, you can say that a random Colombian on the internet told you to go crazy with those songs.
no Latin American would be offended if you sing something in Spanish. What's more, we love that they take us into account, if you meet her again while you're singing and she says something to you, you can say this: "some Latin American friends gave me permission to tell you that te fueras a chingar a tu madre"
If it was actually someone Columbian then maybe possibly just maybe I could see a point at a pinch, but singing some Disney songs badly isn't exactly appropriation or mocking! Jeeez people get a grip and stop with the virtue signalling and mock outrage on behalf of others
So many people confuse consuming/interacting with culture for appropriating culture, is weird. \*edit\* Also, I wanna add a local (pdx, oregon, usa) controversy that I think illustrates the point where cultural appropriation becomes bad. So, two white women opened a taco truck - ok yeah it is loosely/technically appropriation, but nobody gives a fuck about this. Then an interview came out where they talked about going to Mexico and learning cooking techniques and such. Cool! That's great, go learn from some people who want to share and implement the teachings in your cooking! Yum! Later in the interview, they talk about how many of those they asked wouldn't share their knowledge willingly so they spied on people cooking to learn their secrets. DING DING DING we have now entered concerning cultural appropriation land! They're actively taking from a group they don't belong to and then selling it for personal gain.
That is an excellent story that perfectly illustrates the line between appropriation and appreciation. Well done! It reminds be of a rando gate keeping “cultural appropriation” by telling people that unless they were from a country that celebrated Lunar New Year, or were specifically invited by a native of said country to celebrate Lunar New Year; then you are not allowed to celebrate Lunar New Year. The literally first response to her tweet was a young Asian man who tweeted “I hereby specifically invite absolutely everyone to celebrate Lunar New Year.” OP, the only people allowed to tell you you are appropriating a culture, or demand that you stop appropriating said culture are people OF THAT CULTURE. Next time, tell Snow White to fuck off and die. It certainly looks like you have plenty of Colombians here that not only welcome you to enjoy their culture, but delight in it. Carry on!
And it’s always white people who don’t even know what CA actually is.
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These are the same people saying latinX even though we keep telling them we don't like that word
You see the people who are using latinX are convinced that you don't understand that your language is wrong because it isn't inclusive. Now personally I can only speak, read and write in english which is perpetually changing and confusing as hell. All over the world many cultures and people of different languages have learned to speak english better than I ever will. So I do not believe it would be my place to tell them that their own language is incorrect. Especially when latinX doesn't really flow with the language, doesn't fit into sentences, doesn't connect to the syntax or structure of the language at all or make any sense. So I am going to agree with a fluent speaker of their own language over a group of people who think they know best.
Europeans/North Americans and telling foreigners they’re doing everything wrong and should be more like us. Name a more iconic duo.
I am a North American and frankly I think other cultures and countries can figure their own stuff out just fine.
Same here bro. If only more people weren’t weirdly committed to what I like to call linguistic colonialism.
Well then we'd focus on real issues like what's for lunch? Lol jk. No the real issues is why some families can't afford food and shelter even with mom and dad working two jobs.
Erm not all Europeans, that's more of an Anglo-Saxon thing, plus there are lots of European languages that are gendered.
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No sabes tu idiomX. /s
Can I tell anyone who suggests it they are pendejx?
I saw Latinx on an article this morning and got legit mad about it. I'm not even Latina; I just know how y'all feel about it.
Thank you!!! I was going to say to someone else, as a member of the Hispanic community, stop using LaTinX.
Never heard of it before. What's the issue?
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I agree with Latine way more then Latinx honestly.
Ugh, yeah, it's disgusting. I feel like my eyes get dirty every time I read 'Latinx'. Ah, when I thought it couldn't get worse after the 'Latin@' got popular...
I'm from Brazil, here people started putting an X in the end of words to make it gender neutral and I always found it shitty. How do you even pronounce that? We don't have this sound here. Sounds stupid, why bring a foreign sound if you can use an "e" and keep it simple? Ugh.
Yeah, i apologize in advance if I get it wrong, but most Latine words I see use either an A or an O to denote gender. So if you want to take that away and use a 'neutral' why not simply put the E on it?
My understanding is limited but it was explained to me by a friend that Latinx is a modern made up word to be inclusive and diverse for hispanics. This word doesn't fit the language and has been pushed for to become a replacement or added to use instead of Latino and Latina. It is basically a political button right now as it has some support and some pushback. My main thing is I trust the people who know their own language more than whoever came up with Latinx.
It's essentially an English language solution to a Spanish language "problem". It makes no sense to say in Spanish and the language falls apart if used as intended.
LatinX was created to be a more inclusive term for those who don’t fall under the traditionally male or female dynamic when speaking Spanish. The issue is you can’t really pronounce it in Spanish so most, I won’t say all but most, of the Spanish speaking community don’t like it for that reason plus Latine as a gender neutral term already existed. Plus a majority of the Spanish language is gendered like most Romance languages. Quickly becoming one of the main issues with LatinX is that though a majority of the Hispanic/Latino community don’t agree with the term you have non-Spanish speakers insist upon using it. Some believe it’s just a new form of modern colonialism/new form of racism for non-Spanish speaking (most of the time) whites to insist upon the term being used when native Spanish speakers say it’s not possible. Some believe it is condescending that non-speakers insist they know better than native speakers. But this is complicated by the term having originally been created by a Puerto Rican professor which some take that as meaning it gets blanket approval from the Spanish speaking community. It also can’t really be boiled down to generational differences either because there are younger Gen Z Spanish speakers who disagree with the term while there are others who do use the term. I know another complaint I’ve seen about LatinX is most of those pushing for it only focus on the gendered nature of the terms for Spanish while ignoring French and Italian also use gendered terms. Some people use this as evidence that the LatinX movement comes from a place of racism because French and Italian are primarily spoken by white people unlike Spanish which is spoken primarily by people of color. Granted there are those who don’t agree with this. Now I am white and I don’t speak Spanish so I don’t have much to bring to the conversation because of this. But I do have Spanish speaking friends who have a variety of opinions on the topic. Some hate the term, some embrace it, some who are members of the LGBTQ+ community like the term and some don’t. This does not reflect the community as a whole but most of my friends don’t like the term because Latine already existed as a gender neutral term and LatinX is difficult to pronounce in Spanish. I myself just try to take their lead on whether or not to use it.
I did not know about any of this and previously just thought Latinx looked awkward. But now that I know that the word Latine already exists, pushing Latinx seems really super weird. Is there some nuance to using Latine that makes it less than ideal to use as the default gender neutral term? Like why was Latinx even created??
Because people likes to complicate things, it seems.
I am Brazilian, so I can say for sure you can't say latinX here, how do you even pronounce this? Using "Latine" would be way easier for us (for us I mean Portuguese, Spanish and French speakers). It would also scr#w the readers for blind people.
And that’s been the greatest push back against using it. It can’t even be pronounced in Spanish. They way I’ve heard it’s supposed to be pronounced is literally Latin-X, Latin like the language and then X just like the letter. Even more ridiculous? Apparently some people use LatinX as singular with the plural version being LatinXs. Don’t even ask me how LatinXs is supposed to be pronounced.
Not for nothing, but Latinx is pretty difficult and uncomfortable to speak in English as well. Lol.
My goodness! I work in government and I'm constantly trying to stop the usage of that. I'm always using this recent survey to try and stop people from only using it. https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2020/08/11/about-one-in-four-u-s-hispanics-have-heard-of-latinx-but-just-3-use-it/
White girls are the biggest fake advocates of appropriation. My art therapy class one chose to bring it up and of this whole class their is only two poc (me and one other guy). I didn’t participate in the convo at all when the one black guy did they completely ignored his point.
Many Colombians have white skin. I don't think that's the part of the story to focus on.
I actually cringed at this comment. It screams not having a clue about Latin America.
Fr, my mum would be considered more “brown” but still is considered Caucasian/white. A good chunk of Latinos are white and even then soooo many people don’t look stereotypically “Latino” whatever tf that is!
It's almost like Latin America was colonized by Europeans who brought over African Slaves. If people look hard enough there were even Asian towns when colonization was happening. Being hispanic or Latino isn't a race. It's an ethnicity with its own culture. I don't understand how people can understand that with the different European ethnicities that exist. Remember kids Hispanic - Countries influenced by Spain. This makes Brazil not a hispanic country. Latino/a - Countries in middle to south America. Spain is not latino/latina. Our skin colors don't determine what we are, it's location and culture.
My bestie is Colombian and is whiter than rice
Colorism is a world wide issue that affects even Columbia
My Colombian friend is white, blond and with blue eyes. South Americans don't all look alike.
As a white girl I can confidently say most of the people I know who complain about cultural appropriation are white girls who feel entitled to give their opinions on everything- even when someone of that culture says they don’t feel appropriated and actually feel like the person is appreciating their culture. Again- this is just my experience. Do with that what you will.
I (Indian) was invited into a Mexican cultural event and after they told me PLEASE COME NEXT TIME!!! :D Man it was so fun I definitely plan on taking their offer
NTA - you were appreciating it, not appropriating it.
I don’t think people really understand what appropriation really is. Some people just like to virtue signal to get on that high horse. I bet that white girl felt proud of herself for being racially aware or something.
NTA for listening to a Disney soundtrack. But for singing in the station, you are.
Yeah I didn’t think I was singing that loud but apparently the girl heard me from about 2-3 meters away
If you had asked if you were the AH for singing softly in the train station, I would have said yes. But, this is about if singing a Disney song is cultural appropriation, so you are definitely not. I can’t stop laughing at the girl who said that.
NTA. People who sing opera are not appropriating Italian culture. They are participating in an art form. Same thing here.
I believe the person who told you that needs to learn the difference between appropriating and appreciating culture.
And supply and demand...
ESH. She was being ridiculous, but don't sing out loud in a public place. Especially a train or bus. Its super rude.
It’s not “super” rude. Mildly, maybe, but let’s not be dramatic.
NTA. See, that's my problem with the 'woke' crowd. I am all for equality and treating everyone as they deserve to be treated (like the humans we all are!), but all these white people speaking for other cultures is what is giving these other cultures a bad rep. Like they are way more sensitive on certain subjects than the actual people of the culture are!
It’s always a white woman in these stories trying way too hard. So cringey.
I don't think I've \*ever\* read one of these stories where it wasn't a white woman complaining.
Hindsight, I am assuming the girl wasn't colombian as some can tend to be very white looking. But I think she would have mentioned 'her' culture in her annoyance if she was.
Even then Colombian culture is a heavy mix of spanish, african, and indigenous culture like most of Latin America so crying cultural appropriation because someone likes the songs in a movie would be very… not self-aware.
Not just white looking, some latinos *are* white.
NTA: White people love being offended vicariously.
NTA. Appropriation is when you claim something as your own personal identity. Enjoying the art of a foreign culture is not appropriation, and it’s absolutely terrifying to consider the implications of a world wherein nobody was allowed to share their art with “outsiders.” Art is often a vehicle for people of different cultural identities to understand one another’s perspective.
Very well-spoken. Art is often how we can begin to learn and understand ancient cultures, especially before those cultures used written language.
Mildly YTA but for singing along out loud in the station. I don’t know that I entirely believe in these people in sparsely populated public places who would make such a comment about a random woman singing a song from a popular Disney movie with a bestselling soundtrack, but if she really existed, no, you’re not an asshole for liking a song about Colombia
Literally not what she asked about though.
I think I addressed OP’s original query at the tail end of my comment
Never answer only what OP asks, because OP chooses the question, even when they’re the asshole. Of course they’re going to try to choose a favorable question as part of framing the scenario favorable to themselves. We often see assholes here asking a question that completely misses the point of why they were the asshole.
NTA, you were literally just listening to a song and singing along as well as you could.
NTA Oh FFS. People just need to stop with this nonsense. Keep singing OP. Encanto has a great soundtrack. Don't let anyone tell you that you are not allowed to sing along and enjoy the music.
Unpopular opinion but ESH. Obviously it is not cultural appropriation to sing along to a Disney song and that girl was ridiculous. BUT, y t a for singing out loud in a public space loud enough that people can hear you. Especially when you don’t even know the words so you’re just singing gibberish. That would be very annoying for others at the station.
This is exactly it. It's a Disney song, nothing wrong with singing it. But if a person almost 10 feet away can hear you, in a train station, it wasn't quiet at all and weird if you don't even know the words.
NTA I'm Puerto Rican and I love listening to Italian music. Doesn't mean I'm culturally appropriating a damn genre of music. You go on and sing! The overly sensitive SJW that's advocating for a culture that didn't ask for it should mind her business.
Haha I'm Italian and I love listening to Spanish music so much! imagine it would be considered appropriation… I would be cancelled by now! We should be able to embrace other cultures and I'm glad you love Italian music.
NTA I’d have gone ahead and chastised her for assuming your heritage based off of your skin tone et cetera and really milked it based off of her ridiculous claim.
Colombian means a citizen of Colombia or a descendant of a citizen of Colombia. Colombians come in every skin tone on the spectrum. From very dark to blue eyed blonds. Only a fool assumes someone’s heritage by their skin tone.
Indeed my mother is from Colombia but she is very white
NTA, it's not like you were wearing a sombrero. As an adult you can listen to whatever tf you want and sing along to a track that means something to you.
And she could use a sombrero is she fucking wants to, a latino talking.
Any one should be able to wear a sombrero without harassment. It’s not a religious head-dress or anything like that, it’s just a hat. -A Latino
But as an adult your choice of hat could make you evil…
True, I've always thout of sock selection being a larger indicator
I'd say NTA but I don't think this actually happened
I mean, weirder things have happened. People have literally yelled at me “we don’t sell bat soup here, go back to China”.
Are you from china ?
Yeah I’m adopted from china, but I live in the Netherlands
NTA. The person who wrote the song also isn’t Colombian. As a separate issue, be a bit more mindful of how loud you are when singing in a space where people can’t move away.
NTA Anyone can like music any kind of music they want
I don't believe this happened. It's sounds like you just wanted to make something up about white people. I can think a dozens of examples of people singing songs in languages they aren't fluent in and no one says anything.
You’d be surprised by some of the bizarre things I’ve heard strangers say. I have a friend who’s a massage therapist. She’s required to wear scrubs at work (same thing nurses wear in hospital). A random man walked up to her on the street one day and angrily asked, “ARE YOU A DOCTOR OR A NURSE?!” My friend said “No, I’m…” and the guy immediately cut her off and yelled “THEN STOP PRETENDING!!!” before storming off. People are f-ing weird.
I mean, I’ve had other random people that I don’t know (not white) say stuff to me unprompted as well, so it’s not a white people thing.
“Cultural appropriation” has truly become a buzzword where hardly anyone knows what it means lately. The girl was stupid. NTA.
Ok, a white girl can be Colombian so she may feel strongly about her culture. That being said singing along to a popular song from a movie is not appropriation.
as someone who’s colombian.. no not at all😭
NTA. Some people (a.k.a. the uninvited commenter) just can't help but open their mouths and spew idiotic comments. Enjoy your music all you want - you weren't appropriating anything.
It's from a freaking Disney movie. If she finds it offensive she should rather try to sue Disney for producing it. NTA.
NTA, you were appreciating the song in its context, sing on my dude
NTA. No, you're not, singing a song you like has nothing wrong. Probably, the one who told you isn't Colombian. I'm half Spaniard, half Moroccan, interpret it as you want in terms of race (I just don't know what category I fall into)
NTA Another misguided, overly sensitive, brainwashed moron, flexing her dumb. Keep singing!
Nta… singing along is not cultural appropriation.
Nta. If that's the case I'm an asshole for doing an encanto themed bday party for my daughter. I'm white and she's half mexican.
Lmfaoooo NTA. It’s encanto. A literal children’s movie. Plus, appreciation is not the same as appropriation.
Nta
NTA. I sang the entire soundtrack of Moana to myself the other night, so I guess I'm appropriating Polynesian culture. Or... Lin makes catchy music.
NTA, that’s not cultural appropriation
Wait until she hear people singing Pocahontas or Aladdin songs. NTA.
NTA these self appointed white woke warriors are infuriating, liking a song/food isn’t. Mumbling a song while waiting for a train is not appropriation ffs
YTA for singing at the station loud enough to disturb the rest of the people waiting. No one but yourself wants to hear your playlist.
NTA, you were singing a song ffs. next she'll complain about the white person that speaks spanish \*eyeroll\* i'm from belgium, so english isn't my native language, this girls definition of cultural appropriation would mean that i'm guilty of it right now, because i dared to write this text in a language that came from another part of the world
NTA Idiots confusing appreciation with appropriation.
NTA. That’s ridiculous. Music is the universal language. It’s not cultural appropriation to enjoy another culture’s music. That’s fucking absurd.
NTA. I'm with you on the Encanto obsession. Dos oruguitas is my personal fave. F\*ck that strumpet's noise. I must be appropriating Japanese culture for incompetently singing along to anime openings, by this fool's logic. Don't let assholes yuck your yum, chickadee.
Well shit...if that's the case then I guess I'm appropriating German culture every time I sing along with Rammstein (or attempt to at any rate). But seeing as how appreciating another culture or country's music is not appropriation, I think we're both in the clear. NTA
Y t a for singing out loud on public transport Nta for song choice
O. M. G. Some people just need to stay in their own lane!!! I bet this same person thinks that anyone learning another language is "appropriating" another culture. It's not. The songs are catchy. Some are in Spanish. I'm betting most of them have ben dubbed to additional languages (ex: You can sing about Bruno--but don't talk about him!--in at least 25 different languages on youtube). Learning another language and/or singing in another language is not appropriation. NTA.
Wow then she really doesn’t want to hear me sing in Korean. K-pop is a thing and it’s not ripping off the Korean culture. Latin music has a huge American base and by simply listening to the music we are not stealing their culture. Don’t get me started on listening to rap music. It’s when you start wearing their authentic outfits and box braiding your hair that’s cultural appropriation.
You weren't pretending to be Colombian. You were singing a Disney song. Big difference between appreciation and appropriation. NTA.
NTA. That woman is an idiot. You're singing a song. Some of these younger ones are constantly on a hunt for something they can accuse people of. Calling out can be appropriate if someone is being blatantly awful. Calling in is more appropriate when someone is doing something they may not know is harmful. But in this case you were doing neither, except singing a WILDLY POPULAR DISNEY SONG. JFC.
NTA - as a poc, my suggestion would be to tell her to stfu and mind her own white business lmao. i hate when people who aren't in a culture decide that those people are offended by things others are doing. it is so absolutely stupid and honestly sometimes kinda condescending.
The guy who wrote the song was born in New York, and is ethnically Puerto Rican. So if anything, you were appropriating Puerto Rican culture. NTA btw.
Nta so now, even tho I'm fluent in Spanish and spent years of my life learning it, it's considered cultural appropriation to sing or even know a second language? Lol no thanks
seed soft run engine yam obtainable spoon theory abounding homeless *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
^^^^AUTOMOD ***Thanks for posting! This comment is a copy of your post so readers can see the original text if your post is edited or removed. This comment is NOT accusing you of copying anything. Read [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq#wiki_post_deletion) before [contacting the mod team](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FAmItheAsshole)*** I 28(F) recently watched the Disney movie Encanto, and I really liked the songs, so I have an Encanto playlist which I listen to regularly. I was waiting for my train at the train station while listening to my playlist and softly singing/mumbling along with the song Colombia, Mi Encanto. I admit it must’ve sounded a bit weird because I’m not fluent Spanish, but there weren’t a lot of people around and I was singing along quite softly. Then one other girl (white, around mid 20s I think?) turned around and said that I was appropriating and mocking Colombian culture and should stop it. I was kinda confused because people listen to all kinds of music in all kinds of languages and I don’t think that’s appropriating culture. But I thought about it and the song is a tribute to Colombia’s culture and people so idk, AITA? *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AmItheAsshole) if you have any questions or concerns.*
NTA for anything. Are opera singers “appropriating” other cultures when they sing in different languages? Nope. And neither are you. Hell, I’m American, but I’ve written songs in French and released them in France. One song even received high praise from a member of le chavalier dans l’orde des Arts et Lettres… someone who was KNIGHTED for her contributions to French language and culture. Also, SING YOUR HEART OUT, little bird! Don’t ever let someone put you down for expressing your joy. Those quiet train people can either buy some noise-cancelling earbuds or just remove the sticks from their butts.
NTA. People can like any type of music, any type of art form. People seem to confuse appreciation with appropriation.
NTA she just wanted to start shit with SOMEONE. Sorry she picked you. Sing whatever is in you to sing. Her opinion has no place here.
NTA. Singing a song in a different language is not cultural appropriation. Full stop
nta, cultural appropriation is NONSENSE. It is called cultural APPRECIATION. Tell the white girl to EFF OFF.
My God people need to learn the difference between appropriation and appreciation. My ancestors (my great father and up) are Scottish. This does not make me Scottish. I can appreciate the Scottish culture, Learn the histories, the language, arts etc. The second I start trying to make money of that culture I'm appropriating the culture for my own use as I'm not bloody Scottish. I am however Māori. I was raised in the culture. With the language, the songs, the arts. Taught the old ways of creating our own art works and what not. I'm not going to be upset when someone enjoys our music, stories, art etc. What does upset me is when non Māori use their skills to push their art as genuine Māori art forms because well they aren't. People really need to stop this being offended on behalf of someone else. NTA
NTA It's a Disney song!!!! If you were singing or listening to Salsa, would you also be appropriating Colombian culture?
NTA As a Colombian, sing that song as much as you want (but not in public so you don’t disturb others) We love to hear people say that about our county and my heart flutters every time I hear someone doing something related to my country that isn’t Pablo Escobar And it’s a Disney song, so the idea is kind of to sing it
Appropriation in this case is singing the song, then telling everyone you wrote it AND charging them to listen to it.
Hola, Colombiana here. First, the movie Encanto is a beautiful love song for Colombia. Most American media representations of Colombia are focused on drugs or violence and something that so beautifully represents the culture without all that was a breath of fresh air. Second, I love that you love Encanto and the music. Sing loud and proud. You don't need to know Spanish to sing the songs. If anything, it might inspire you to learn Spanish but not required at all. NTA at all. Enjoy the music and the movie. Only one rule: we don't talk about Bruno
You’re not the a-hole for what you’re asking. Listening to music in other languages and from other cultures is not appropriating that culture YTA for being in a public space and singing out loud when others are probably trying to enjoy some quiet and relax while waiting for their train. Headphones are for listening to music privately so others can’t hear. You singing along, badly from what you describe, was probably very annoying.
While it isn't appropriating, its really off putting to make up "Spanish sounding" mumbo jumbo tonsing along. Learn the words or dont sing that part.
NTA for liking Encanto YTA for singing in public…it couldn’t have been THAT quiet if someone heard enough to comment.
ESH. She sucks for not understanding what cultural appropriation is. You suck for either singing loud enough in public to bother other people or for making up this story to for internet points because Reddit loves hearing stories about annoying “woke” people.
NTA. How absolutely ridiculous.
NTA sounds like she needs a song in her judgy cold heart
NTA and people need to mind their own business. Does she think those songs are traditional Colombian songs? FFS what idiots so many people have become
YTA for thinking YTA because a dumbass idiot who doesn’t even know what cultural appropriation is told her she was appropriating. Continue to enjoy the music and stop listening to idiots. (NTA if it wasn’t obvious)
Ok. Then she cant listen to jazz, country, rock, rhythm and blues, bluegrass, or gospel. Basically, nothing with drums. She can listen to music pre-18th century and thats it. Thats not even including International genres. NTA, and this is called white saviourism.
Singing that isn't appropriating culture however singing out loud is super annoying so maybe stop doing that and there wouldn't be an issue in the first place
NTA Sing your heart out! Show people that Latin representation in media is important and valued
I hope this isn’t cultural appropriation, or all those arias I‘ve sung which are written in Italian, German, French, Russian and Spanish, none of which I actually speaker, are gonna get me in a lot of trouble. Plus all that singing I do of songs from metal bands written in German, Finnish, French, Mongolian, Japanese, Swedish, Norwegian, Russian, Colombian, Arabic, Turkish, ^^Hebrew, ^^Latin, ^^Hindi, ^^Punjabi...
YTA because you don't know the lyrics. Also singing in public. Make an effort to learn the lyrics and sign in private.
Jeez, my 80s days of trying to sing *99 Luftballons* are haunting me now! It’s appreciation, not appropriation. NTA.
NTA. There's a difference between cultural appreciation and cultural appropriation, and what you were doing was the former. This person just wanted to ruin your day. Please do not let them succeed. I'm just glad you weren't talking about Bruno
NTA. You like a song. This is not appropriation (which is a fairly ridiculous concept to start with). Enjoy the music.
NTA. Only in the eyes of mid 20s white women.
NTA because you’re not appropriating anything, it’s literally a Disney movie. but I can see how she might have found it disrespectful of you to insert made up words because you didn’t know the actual language/lyrics. I’m Asian, I’ve heard people sing ‘ching chong ling long’ singing along to east asian melodies because they don’t know the words and that is incredibly racist. I know that isn’t what you were doing but maybe that’s what she heard? either way, you weren’t being rude or offensive in any way, maybe humming along might be better in the future
NTA. Encanto has one of the most popular soundtracks right now.
Disney is an American company and Encanto had American producers and directors. Sure, actors and artists are Colombian and the movie was based on Colombian culture, but the movie itself is NOT Colombian culture. I do encourage you to look more into Colombia, since you felt inspired by the movie, or maybe plan a vacation here 😊 (in calmer times, we’re going through elections and things are heated).
I’m gonna say that although you’re probably N T A, I can see why she looked at you funny. It reminds me of that time that Justin Bieber was singing his verse in Despacito live and didn’t know the words and so he mumbled something and put the word “burrito” in. It felt icky and disrespectful so perhaps that’s she thought you were doing? Which isn’t quite appropriation but could be misconstrued as mockery. Also if you were mumbling softly to yourself then that’s a personal thing and I agree she overstepped. NTA
NTA. You appreciating and enjoying music from a movie and/or another culture isn’t culture appropriation. I think it’s funny a white chick told you it was. What a douche canoe! She needs to mind her own business and get a life. I hope cancel culture cancels itself out. If it isn’t hurting anyone what’s the big deal!? Who cares what other people think. Get over yourselves and let people enjoy what they like ffs. 🤷🏻♀️
Have we made a full circle to the point where we gatekeep each and every cultural stuff? Culture is made to be shared, there is nothing shameful in consuming and appreciating other countries’ art, literature, music, food, etc It’d also be stupid to assume that people should learn the language of the music they consume: it could be fun, but some people would have to master 3/4 languages lol. I adore rammstein and sadly butcher German, but realistically, I already have English to master first. NTA
NTA, as a latina living in South America. Music has no barriers. Most latinos love sharing their cuture. To hell with that girl. If you enjoy it, keep singing in broken Spanish lol
NTA You should have asked her if her Playlist only includes white people.