Sena Bryer is right: the hatred that Smile gets is highly problematic

[Uncle_Jafar]

Don’t know about all that. But when i see someone use the words ‘woke’ or ‘DEI’ all of my doubts are erased.

[BigBoom550]

Don’t know about all that. But when i see someone use the words ‘woke’ or ‘DEI’ all of my doubts are erased.

I'm 'woke' by most metrics and think Sena Bryer's making a divisive *** of herself left and right, and her sycophants aren't helping.

This behavior would be unacceptable from a cisgender man or woman. It's unacceptable here. Acceptance means holding them to the same standards as everyone else.

[SongOfTheWind]

Can someone unplug her internet already? For her own good, really.

[Garruss]

Welcome to 2024 where you can't even dislike something now without getting accused of being something like this.....

[Carin-Eri]

Smile is good-ish. There is worse music in the game that people applaud with both hands and feet, but the Train building scene was the wrong moment to use it. Which was funny. I get that they wanted it to display the unity of Tural as people of all nations help to build this passageway towards this newfound threat, but... It feels odd. It is the same, to a degree, in Kholusia with the 'build giant golem' stuff, but there was no song there and both scenarios were equally forgettable, so. Odd placement. Probably Smile would fit better as a credits song only and not used for the Coronation of Wuk Lamat or Train Scene.

I think this post best described the inappropriate use of 'Smile' in the bomb-train sequence:

The whole train building scene is a problem, to be honest. I mean, like almost everything in Dawntrail, it's badly written and there's no buildup. It doesn't feel earned.
By using Smile we can tell the writer wanted it to be a happy, working together bonding moment where everyone we met on our journey helped us with our goal, but...why does it matter?! It doesn't! The music feels random, because it is. The whole sequence is random.
There was no struggle involved in getting all of those people together to build a train bomb, and nothing that makes us think "wow, after so much struggle, we can count on them now!", or even "I'm so happy to see those guys again!". At that moment, we are much more focused on our plan to break the dome instead of how to get the train together. The quest makes us think there's an element of urgency and thinking of the technical parts of putting the train together while we are worried for the people that were there, then it suddenly tries to be a character bonding moment where Wuk Lamat got everyone together by the power of peace and happiness. Open Sky would've felt just as bad.

They should've just played Machinations again.

[Ratikal]

The whole bomb scenario is just a rehash of the "world coming together to solve a big problem" that happened in Kholusia in ShB, Labyrinthos in EW, and now here in DT.

These "nice people" really love to use blackness to their advantage. It's simply emotional manipulation.

[Kunzite_Lockhart]

Why should we care about what she thinks or posts? Let her stay in her own bubble, but the fall might be painful.

[Manamaru]

Why should we care about what she thinks or posts? Let her stay in her own bubble, but the fall might be painful.

Because she's dragging the impression of Wuk Lamat, Square Enix, and the Final Fantasy franchise down along with her simply by association with them. When people think of Dawn Trail or now the song "Smile", her outlandish and blanketed vitriolic remark will be one of those thoughts that will come up, even just in the back of the head, thanks to her. Her prior statements with how she feels about her peers and her loathing also travel with her.
She's a PR and brand risk, and if they don't get her to clam up, she'll keep alienating people away by association. Taking a 2~3 week onslaught of run-of-the-mill slander for letting her go would be better than the longer lasting damage she's going to cause.

[Bonoki]

I think the hate Smile gets is a bit overblown. As a standalone song, it’s actually pretty decent. The problem is more about how it was used, and Sena’s reaction isn’t helping. By calling critics racist, especially when there are already issues with Sena, it just adds fuel to the fire. It gives people another reason to dislike the song.

[Antharaes]

I think the hate Smile gets is a bit overblown. As a standalone song, it’s actually pretty decent. The problem is more about how it was used, and Sena’s reaction isn’t helping. By calling critics racist, especially when there are already issues with Sena, it just adds fuel to the fire. It gives people another reason to dislike the song.

I think you're missing the point. The hate comes from that person labeling people who dislike the song as racists. That's what we hate, being labeled a racist, because of some tweet from a person...Damn, never knew how hard it was to stay polite when you're actually want to lash out...