The Thing Is: - 3 : The Ni99a In The Room.
HARD PLACE - by H.E.R. [I Used To Know Her]
[Music is a very big part of my life and I’m MOSTLY INCAPABLE of writing without music, so I just thought I'd share what I am listening to while writing this]
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Time to give elephants a break, so let’s talk about the ni99as in the room instead. So here I am offering my two cents, as one of your resident black people, cause I heard it’s about to be some tough years ahead, economically, so every cent will have to count I was not gonna say anything as I feel like this chapter 2 is surrounded by crazies, but the crazies done did it, so I needed to get this out of my chest. Oh and this sentence right here will be the only one where I will use the word nigga, as you’ve seen, I’m writing ni99a, in the same way in which I’d be writing fa99ot instead of faggot, which in a way is kinda related to what happened as Tae didn’t say the word, but regardless we all saw it being mouthed right? And, In case you just so happen to not know what went down, during his WEVERSE live, two days ago 28 August 2023, Tae was vibing to a song, during which, he didn’t say, but did mouth the word ni99a.
As ALWAYS solos, in this case Tae’s, and diet ARMY began to deny everything, to the point in which they were downright gaslighting people, when it is all out there to see. And as always every non-black person, and their mamas, begin to yap, yap, and yap; but not listen to those who are directly affected by the usage of this particular word; us. Black people. And let me tell you, there’s been all ranges of reactions and opinions in regards, and when I say all ranges, I mean ALL.
I, for example, once it was clear that it he had indeed mouthed ni99a, loudly sighed and mentally yelled at Tae “for fuck sake!”. I personally feel that Tae’s heart is in the right place, he is not the type of person to intentionally mean to harm anyone and it wasn’t like he was yelling ni99a, while wearing a durag over cornrows. YET it was made clear that he didn’t understand the fact that “just not saying it, isn't enough” meaning that there is a deeper level of understanding, which is still not clear to him and I, talking about me personally, can understand that. And how can this be fixed? BY ACKNOWLEDGING THAT IT HAPPENED IN THE FIRST PLACE AND CONSEQUENTLY PROVIDE MEANS TO FURTHER EDUCATE.
But how, I ask you, is he to even realise any of this well now that he caused a ruckus he knows for sure, if the first thing the majority of “his fans” did was pretend like it didn’t happen? In order to what? Continue to make him look stupid and ignorant? Aren’t we supposed to be walking this path with him, and all the other members? As friends rather than fans? If your friend says or does something out of order, won’t you let them know? Doesn’t the same happen to you when you make a mistake? The saying is live and learn for a reason. To be honest with you, all I did was hope that perhaps having people like Namjoon, Yoongi and Hobi around, who are actually rappers and as far as I know haven’t been going around publicly mouthing ni99as left-and-right, would sit his ass down and explain what’s up.
That’s how I saw it, and I am sure there are other people who thought the same, BUT there is a whole other section of black fans who were deeply disappointed, aggravated and just felt frustration and hopelessness; and THAT is ALSO VALID. There are black fans out there who can’t comprehend why it is that Tae doesn’t know, or understand, still, after all this time, that even just mouthing ni99a is just as bad. These people feel like black lives don’t matter after all, that perhaps it was all just a facade and that the extra mile wasn’t taken, and now it has made this whole experience, being his fan, tainted. “But Tae didn’t mean …”, “But Tae didn’t …”, etc, it doesn’t matter; none of that changes the fact that what happened, happened and nobody has the right to tell anybody how to feel and react about anything that directly involves them.
If you are a non-black person, and perhaps don’t understand fully, and maybe, all you want to do is make things better for Tae, then LISTEN TO YOUR FELLOW BLACK FANS. Understand their emotions, the positive and the negative in particular, understand why it is jarring in some cases, and why it is not seen as a problem in others, but don’t discount one for the other. ALL BLACK OPINIONS MATTER.
Trust me, our experiences come in all shapes and colors. An African American life will most likely be radically different from the one of an African European, such as myself. I never was called a nigga, in fact just using the word black in the purposefully harmful was offensive enough, even though the equivalent of ni99a exists, but also that was never used on me. Yet, what really aggravated me, was for example being refused a house, no matter how much money they possessed, which happened to a friend of mine I’ve moved out of that country long ago, just like me black, and just like me born in that country. So for those like us being called ni99a is the last of our worries; YET doesn’t mean it is not a real problematic, damning and serious issue for an African American. And then there’s Asian Africans … chile, and etc etc. As I said, all walks of life, all different triggers, same fucking skin.
The way I’ve always seen ARMY, was a benevolent force that is there with the boys in the good times and the bad times. This is an example of bad times. This is the time where ARMY can, in an educated manner, let their fav know that “hey, we know you didn’t mean it that way, but look, this, this, and that”, and if in this specific case it is probably impossible to reach them through the useless loud noise of the majority of the fandom in this stupidass chapter 2, then at least don’t go around hypocritically gaslighting and invalidating people’s emotions. As I said an I’ll keep repeating, I really do think that Tae’s heart is in the right place and just needs, some/more guidance, the way I see it, if I had to cut every friend that made a mistake in my life, I’d have to move to Mars, and many a person would send me to Venus based on my own mistakes.
I remember the time my brother was so angry at someone, not present, and described them as a fa99ot, and I literally gave him the lecture of a lifetime, we were at my church and he’s sinned in front of his pansexual sister “You know i wasn’t talking about you” he said “But that’s not the problem, is it? …” I began. Took a bit for him to properly understand and a while longer for him to stop using the word out of habit, but I haven’t heard him say it ever since, at least not in front of me, or in public, and for now, that is the most I can ask for. What he does in his private time, is his own karma, but none of that shit will happen around me.
So I’m just going to hope that someone in his life is able to get to him, and help correct where needed. It would be great if ARMY helped as well where possible and all we have to do is watch and see how things change from here on. However, if there are people out there who are not ready to give Tae the benefit of the doubt, ever again, I’m afraid that this is a consequence of his actions and we have no place to tell these people otherwise. All we can do is listen, understand and keep it moving.
And that’s my 2 cents. I know I need to give y’all that CHAPTER 2 BPOST, keep bearing with me, that is a reaaaaaally long as blog, so it will come eventually. So be there for Tae if want, don't if you don't. It's a free world and once again, in such instances, all decisions and emotions are valid and ultimately, it is what it is. But most of all be kind with one another, don’t be scared of facing adversities, everything happens for a reason, and most of the time, it is not about the mistakes in itself, but is what you do after it or to prevent it from ever happening again.
Always respectfully yours.
Marengo.
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Listen, although I do find it pretty exciting to see Kendall entering his Evil Era and actually becoming a killer, I can’t stop thinking about the consequences of him leaking all the shitty mud information they have on Logan. Like yeah, PR-wise that might be a great idea, it might actually solidify his position as a CEO (and he is obviously going to try and fuck up Matsson deal and take over the Waystar - I don’t know why he would want to captain the fucking sinking Titanic, but okay). But on the other hand, all the dirt coming out about Logan will be potentially catastrophic for Roman. Apart from the fact that Kendall is very clearly betraying his brother, literally like 5 seconds after he preached about them being a team; Roman will very likely suffer the most if stuff about Logan being an abusive father comes out.
First, it will flip his whole viewpoint upside down - he is so deep in denial and so trauma-bonded to Logan that he doesn’t even acknowledge his abuse, not even when in happens in real time. He doesn’t want to see his father as a monster and as his abuser, because that would actually require him to accept that he was a victim, that he was this beaten dog that everyone already sees him as (to one degree or another). Not to mention all the lies he tells himself about Logan and him being a good dad will go straight down the drain, and can you imagine what happens when something you believed for 40-or-so years cracks down in front of you? Kendall is about to break his reality.
Another aspect is that exposing Roman’s abuse to the whole world will likely destroy any and all opportunities that Roman ever had when it comes to rising to power (even if I’m unsure how much he actually cares about becoming a CEO). He might get some sympathy points, although I very much doubt that he will ever accept that form of pity from anyone. His image will be forever tainted and solidified as “the abused one” or the “one that was hit by his dad”. Can you imagine Roman’s reaction when that whole shitshow leaks? He does say at some point in the preview that he is finished, and although it might allude to Gerri putting out the whole dick pic situation, it might also very well be that his public image will forever now revolve around how his dad hit and abused him (his dad who was essentially his god in more than one way, who he was, and is trauma bonded to, who he came back to time and time again).
Kendall has a tendency of using his siblings trauma to forward his own position (even when he wanted to one up Logan in episode 2 by bringing up Roman’s and Connor’s trauma) and this is no different. But it’s a very easy way for him to blow up whatever alliance was ever between sibs. So yeah, I think Kendall as a killer is a great thing to watch, but also… well, Roman girl in me is already screaming in the void from the possible pain we might come to watch unravel in real time.
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Okay, let's pretend for a moment that everything in Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken is exactly the same, but instead of krakens and mermaids, there are just normal people of two different races. Do you realize how iffy the statement "well, it doesn't MATTER if one race is pure evil and the movie comes off as incredibly eugenics-y, it's just set dressing and not the primary focus!" sounds in that context?
And plus, it's a pretty well-established rule in writing that if you're going to introduce worldbuilding into your story, you're going to be expected to elaborate on it. If the film was just trying to explore a young girl's adolescence and relationships with the adult women in her life, why even bother throwing in all that stuff about mermaids, krakens, and the war that broke out between them?
Ok but here is the thing, they aren't just regular people of two different races. I understand why it's the first thing people's brains are jumping to since we've had many movies recently who explore race through a lense like this, but that doesn't mean that is what this movie was doing. If you break it down to basics, we had a conflict between two differing entities. So how about, as another pretend moment, we view them to be regular people of two different political identities. Political parties usually have some sort of symbol, so it's not that far of a stretch that a movie could have their characters be representing that. And I'm saying this because people have no difficulties writing some political parties off as pure evil; I think we all agree that nobody should side with Nazis and that they should be wiped out. Tories and Republicans are also very much hated, especially on this site. I think most people can find those views understandable for writing someone off as evil; we do it all the time and we fully believe it's correct!
So you could also totally view the movie as a commentary on two different monarchy factions, one where the Queen did not want to expand her kingdom to the land outside her borders and pretty much let her subjects live their own lives, all she wanted was to wipe out the other potential Queen and her supporters. Said other Queen wanted to invade the land outside the borders to expand the kingdom and wished to rule over the people with an iron fist. While I'm not for monarchies in any way, I know I would prefer the first one over the second if I had to choose between the two.
You are the one conflating it with race when it doesn't have to be. I get it's easy to jump to, but that does not mean it's the intent. There are multiple ways it could be viewed. But all of it would just be conjecture because that's not what the movie presented itself to be about and we don't have enough info on the world to make any solid say about anything.
I can understand a disappointment in there not being more world building, it seems like a cool world to explore, but the reason the movie didn't was because it was not necessary for the story they wanted to tell. I'm sure everyone would have loved more info on the war and whatever is going on in the ocean in this world, but all that was not needed for this movie and so it wasn't put in. Wanting the movie to go into unnecessary detail of background info that isn't needed for the story is just entitlement. The war served it's purpose of being something that gave Ruby a goal and objective that led into the "twist" and climax of the movie. It was a vehicle to move the story along and that was all. They don't need a deeper reason to add krakens, mermaids, and a war other than "they sound cool" and "more movies aimed at younger girls should totally end in a giant Kaiju battle". It's frustrating, but sometimes that's just the way it is.
I also find it funny that people are soooooooo latched on to the "Krakens were trying to genocide the mermaids!!!" when Nerissa was trying to do the exact same thing to the Krakens. Pot, meet Kettle. So sure, let's say it was a race and eugenics thing, but at the very least don't be hypocritical by saying the mermaids were any better.
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