One of the worst trends to ever come out of my Tumblr Dashboard is the concept that "Your fave is problematic." Users would essentially dig up every possible misdeed for certain celebrities and rake their names through the mud. Everyone from authors, celebrities, TV shows and video games became targets for someone to get offended by.

And while I do not condone this type of behavior, it did bring up a good point: absolutely no one is this ethereal angel who can do no wrong. And it's important we realize that to not only humanize our famed celebrities, but also keep a critical eye out for even the most humane people

Your fave is problematic, but that's probably OK.

We only need to look as far as Ouran High School Host Club to confirm this.

“Ouran High School Host Club,” more commonly referred to as its acronym, OHSHC, is an iconic 2006 anime, centering around an honors academy student, Haruhi Fujioka. After an expensive accident, Haruhi is forced to join the ranks of the Host Club, an all-male dating organization, to pay off her debt. However, the events are complicated by the fact that Haruhi is biologically female.

Without a doubt, the premise is extremely girly and probably offsetting to an outside viewer. Among an intriguing cast of characters and a simple, yet captivating plot, OHSHC is actually very progressive for its time.

For example, Haruhi's character existed before the concept of nonbinary gender identity came into the mainstream eye, but yet it isn't played off as anything other than normal. The other Hosts are cooperative and understanding of Haruhi's situation, and are very nonchalant about the whole situation. In addition, OHSHC's ability to portray a platonic male friendship is an organic and natural way to dissolve a lot of toxic masculinity surrounding modern anime.

But at the same time, OHSHC falls for a lot of the same mistakes so many activists have tried to fight. The members of the “Zuka Club,” from Ouran’s rival school, Lobelia Academy, are portrayed as stereotypical radical feminists, wanting to kidnap Haruhi and demeaning the boys of the Host Club for being inferior. Any potential LGBT moment, regardless of how common, is often played off as a joke or demeaning. This, as well as the majority of the humor surrounding Haruhi's economic stance, would be just enough to bring into question OHSHC's reputation as progressive entertainment.

OHSHC's conservative ideals are dangerous because it paints these positive movements in this antagonistic light, and diminishes the value of the media as a whole. While the show in its entirety should not be praised as the peak of progressive media, it's so important that it gets recognized for the good it did do, while not erasing its faults.

There’s this strange stigma around what activists call “Problematic Media.” Too often it’s to condemn offensive content forever: an irredeemable monster that should never be interacted with. The thing about “problematic” media is that it’s too binary to deal with such a diverse population. OHSHC is proof that even progressive media can't also be problematic at times.

But entertainment and media are just as fluid and diverse as the people creating it. TV shows can change, so long as an open mindset can be placed at the reigns. Keeping a watchful eye for this kind of questionable behavior, and being able to realize that there are many normalized behaviors that are actually damaging to society, can strengthen an individual's own understanding of the world.

There are topics and scenarios that are definitely cool and progressive in “Ouran High School Host Club.” Those merits shouldn’t have to be discredited because of a few conservative ideologies that were also present. Instead, it should be the start of a progressive conversation.

The biggest problem with the "Your Fave is Problematic" meme is that it became "cool" to get offended by things. And that's not what social justice is striving for. There is a difference between looking out for people facing oppression and fetishizing a victim complex for the sake of one's own identity that should never be crossed. Activists need to realize that there are circumstances where the people they are fighting for can only speak for themselves.

As for the "problematic fave" trend, Tumblr has thankfully grown up. The trend has since turned into a low effort "shitpost" meme calling out petty inconveniences rather than outright attacking people: a fitting end to one of the most toxic trends of the last few years.