#a society that can be fixed merely by a destroying a specific powerful villain is bad writing

[randomguy0ntumbir]

I wonder if some people can't draw the line between "person/people in position of power making decisions to fulfill their goal" and "conspiracy", because there is absolutely a difference, and the conspiracy mindset is rather easy to fall into.

not everything bad that happens in the world is because of an oppressive conspiracy actually

“the 40 hour work-week is deliberately designed to keep workers exhausted and downtrodden –” no the forty hour workweek was negotiated by labor power to block the eighty  hour workweek. “american food is full of corn syrup in order to make people obese and sick and weak and unable to revolt against the government –” there are a lot of reasons why Corn is the way it is in the US and this is not any of them. “the concept of ‘coming out’ is a straight conspiracy designed to murder queer people –” please stop

stop assuming that every bad thing that exists is the result of active malice. there is so much in the world that’s bad just by accident, or as an unintended consequence of something else – maybe even something with good intentions. please don’t turn yourself into a conspiracy thinker just with shinier woker labels

[dovebuffy92]

https://fandomopolis.com/2021/03/05/wandavision-episode-9-the-series-finale-review/

WandaVision Episode 9 ” The Series Finale” Review

Through the healing power of grief, Wanda Maximoff discovers new strength within herself.

Spoilers Below

In WandaVision Episode Nine, “The Series Finale,” directed by Matt Shakman, Wanda and Vision battle both Agatha Harkness and the Hayward led S.W.O.R.D. for their home. The miniseries ends with an emotionally poignant episode that is full of action and suspense. Has Wanda and Vision’s love come to an end?

The revelation of “Fake Pietro” real identity is supremely disappointing. Fake Pietro locks Monica up in his bachelor pad. In the first half of the episode, Fake Pietro seems like he is Peter Maximoff from the X Men Universe since the living room looka like his basement in Days of Future Past. But then Monica figures out Agatha is controlling Fake Pietro through his necklace. She pulls off the necklace revealing Fake Pietro to be local actor Ralph Bohner. I wish that the WandaVision writers had decided to write a more engaging storyline where Agatha had somehow kidnapped Peter from his world, opening the possibility for Multi-Universe storylines for the MCU. Instead, Evan Peters is wasted as a mere Easter Egg in this miniseries.

Wanda lets go of her illusions allowing for personal growth. The Westview Sitcom World has enabled Wanda to live in all the lost possibilities that Vision’s death destroyed. Scarlet Witch unconsciously chose sitcoms as the vehicle because it’s always been a comfort source for her, and it’s a space where nothing truly horrible ever happens. Anything sad or complicated is wrapped up in the episode it appeared in and is never heard about again. Wanda pushed all of her pain into the minds of all the Westview citizens that she controlled. They shared her nightmares and shared her emotional agony during the day. Agatha reveals this to Wanda when she lifts Scarlet Witch’s control over them. People lash out when they suppress their grief. Wanda needs to let go of all of her denial of death to help everybody she hurt.

When Wanda faces the truth, she is finally able to defeat Agatha. Agatha wants all of Wanda’s magic. She promises Wanda that if she lets her steal her powers, the ancient witch will fix the spell that created the Westview Sitcom World. Wanda, her family, and everybody in Westview can live a pain-free life.  Something that is impossible since life is never without its bumps. Agatha thinks she has won when Wanda can’t let her family go and save everybody by dropping all the Westview Sitcom World illusions. Instead, she starts blindly attacking the ancient witch, allowing her to absorb all her power. But like in Marvel Comics, Agatha “mentored” Wanda. In episode eight, Agatha instructed Wanda that only the witch casting specific runes in a room can use their magic. Scarlet Witch cast runes on all the spell barriers surrounding the Westview Sitcom World. Wanda makes Agatha think she won; instead, she is absorbing the villain’s magic. By embracing her Scarlet Witch persona, she becomes an actual superhero, even getting a new costume. Wanda is now ready to let go of her manifested dreams of what could of been.

Wanda slowly erases the Westview Sitcom World giving herself time to say goodbye to her family. The most beautiful moment is right before the erasure hits their home. Vision and Wanda discuss how they have said goodbye before, meaning they will likely say hello again. The existence of White Vision makes the continuation of their love story highly likely. S.W.O.R.D. programmed White Vision to destroy “conditional” Vision. The programmed synthezoid has no memories of his past, making him easy to control. During the primary fight, “conditional” Vision uses the thought experiment of the “Ship of Theseus” (that’s all about what makes something the original object) to convince White Vision that he is the real Vision. He takes out the memory block from the resurrected synthezoid. White Vision’s eyes change as he remembers everything, then he announces that ” I am Vision.” White Vision flies off. Maybe when the newly minted Vision and Wanda meet again, their love story can start anew.

The end credit scenes open up all sorts of possibilities for future MCU media. The first one starts right after Wanda flies away.  A female detective tells Monica that somebody wants to talk to her in the old Westview movie theatre. When they enter the movie theatre, the detective transforms back into a Skrull. Skrulls are aliens that can mimic the form of any living being. The female Skrull tells Monica that a friend of her mother wants to meet her in space. The scene is an Easter Egg from Captain Marvel where Carol introduces Monica’s mother Maria to Talos, a Skrull General looking for a safe home planet for his people.

During the second end credit sequence, Wanda is living in a secluded cabin in the European countryside. These new living arrangements remind me of when Bruce Banner lived alone in a cabin trying to get his Hulk persona under control. There is an illusion that Wanda is making tea, but in actuality, she is floating in the air while reading a book about magic. The witch’s penance is learning how to control “the Scarlet Witch” inside her before re-entering society. Wanda hears one of her twins calling for help. Is this just a memory? A symptom of Wanda’s grieving process. Or do Tommy and Billy still somehow exist? There is no scene showing the twins disappearing at the end of the episode.

” The Series Finale” explores the beauty and pain in grief. WandaVision is a perfect television show for this time when too many people have lost family and friends before their time.

[thecrystalye199]

The Hero Archetype

The Jungian archetypes, developed by Swiss psychologist Carl Jung, theorized that everyone shared instinctive patterns and universal characters (Fordham, 2020). In simpler terms, Jung realized that there existed a number of these archetypes - model images of a person or a role - that everyone can recognize and personally connect to. And while these archetypes exist in people throughout society, the model images of these roles have largely been adapted in storytelling and are often incarnated as characters in myths, novels, and films (Psychologist World, 2020). 

An overview of the Jungian archetypes:

After reading about each of these archetypes, and completing a questionnaire to determine if I am living any of them, I found myself connecting the most with the Hero archetype - establishing that the Hero’s role and characteristics actually play a huge part in driving my actions and forming the foundation to my beliefs. 

The Story

When you analyze the narrative of the Hero throughout stories, films, and real life, the progression of the hero story line follows similar characteristics  - they start off as just another person (not the hero yet), finds themselves in circumstances that begins to challenge everything they are and believes to be through multiple trials and tribulations (Jeffrey, 2018). However, the end of the story typically results in success and closure with some gain of tremendous spiritual and mental value. Ultimately, fuelled by their desire to prove their worth, their goal is to improve the world by doing things for others while always believing that there is always a way to accomplish what they have their sights set on. 

Why the Hero?

I was initially drawn to the Hero archetype because of how prevalent the Hero role was in modern storytelling and film, and then it dawned on me how easy it was to relate the story and feel like I was living it. Growing up, movie nights at the cinema with the family were the days I looked forward to the most. On these days, pulling up to the parking lot already had me drooling over the popcorn we would always get, waiting in line had me anticipating the next superhero movie I had always begged to watch, and sitting in those big (at the time, for my size) comfortable movie seats ensured my eyes were always glue to the screen from the beginning of the movie to the end. Marvel movies were my favourite - and still are - because of the wins that always resulted by the end of the movie, the will to save humanity and those who couldn’t help themselves, and the pure fact that it was badass. Whether it was Iron Man, Spiderman, or Black Widow, I would always leave the theatre talking to my own version of J.A.R.V.I.S., pretending to shoot webs from my wrists, or believing that I could grow up to be a world-class spy. 

So from the young age of 5, I started fantasizing of what it would be like to be the hero. Being a child who loved to live in my own fantasies, I always thought about how cool it was if when the day would come where I would wake up with my own powers. I was convinced it would happen and no one could convince me otherwise. Needless to say, however, that day never came. I came to possess the ability to shoot webs from my wrists, superhuman strength, or some type of badass, superhuman anything. And yet, growing up, I still realized that the need to be the hero and living the hero story still very much exists inside of me. I am drawn to this archetype because, aside from the fantasy world these movies take place in, the ability to be the hero is not absent from my life. 

The Hero in Me

“When life puts you in a tough situation, don’t say ‘why me’ say ‘try me’.” (Brand Personalities, 2020)

To me, being the hero is about making a difference, standing up for myself and others, being someone that others can count on, and holding firm on the beliefs and values that drive me as an individual. Although my life may not replicate the storylines in the superhero movies that I love so much, the hero in me exists in her own way. Younger me always felt like just one-in-seven-billion, but the support of my family (pictured) made me believe that there was more to life than just feeling like I should merely fit in. Since I was old enough to have dreams for myself, my parents have always told me that I could reach for the stars if I wanted to. They taught me resilience, never giving up, and being a kind person which, in my opinion, are all qualities of the type of hero I am capable of being. Like the supportive people my parents were to me, I try to emulate that same help and support to those who I am fortunate enough to have in my life. Being a hero to me today means doing everything I can, when given the opportunity, to help those who might need the extra hand and to grow into the best version of myself that I can be when putting my best foot forward. 

One specific role I play that particularly makes me feel like a hero is the fact that I am a big sister. With an age gap of nine years, the best part of my brother and I’s relationship is the fact that I can support him through all of the different emotional and life stages that I have already experienced for myself.  No matter if it’s high school math, friendship/relationship problems, or just a pure bad day, knowing that I can be the person my brother can consistently count on and go to means the world to me.

The Caveat

The hero is a lot of great things but like everything else requires the balancing of the good and bad sides of many traits. Although persistent, eager, and confident, the Hero can evolve to be arrogant if not kept humble or reminded of the primary purpose for their actions. My tendency to always feel like I can “fix” everything has, on multiple occasions, resulted in my failure to complete or excel at anything at all. Sometimes, I have taken on too much than I can handle at work because I failed to evaluate how much bandwidth I had. Similarly, sometimes I have worried too much for other people and failed to leave enough time to dedicate to myself. As a result, it is necessary to not lose sight of why a task was important to take on in the first place and maybe even knowing when to give up when it might be needed. I ask myself:  Am I putting myself out there because I can, or just because I want to?

The Heros in Humanity

The biggest display of heroism are the acts I see other people do as a means to help those who cannot help themselves. If you took some time to observe others in the world, it can be amazing what you might realize about our humankind. Some of us have a voice, some of us don’t. Some of us are capable of helping, and some of us need that extra helping hand sometimes. While life may not be a story of the destroying of mythical villains to save humankind, it is the story of ridding of our own demons that hold us back from being kind to one another. Fundamentally, we all start in the same place, but our own life journey and story can be written to be whatever we’d like it to be. We all have shared dreams we want to attain: to be the best version of ourselves, to be able to be depended on by others, and to support the ones that we love and care for. But in between these fundamentals is finding the drive and passion that pushes us through the monumental moments of our lives in order to do so. Everyone’s hero story is different - some are fuelled by the unquenchable thirst for success, some are fuelled by the ever-growing need to help others, and some are fuelled by the combination of both. No matter what it is, being a hero is not something that is unattainable, but rather a something that anyone can, and should, strive to be. 

Works Cited

Brand Personalities. (2020). The Hero. Retrieved from Brand Personalities: https://brandpersonalities.com.au/personalities/the-hero/

Fordham, F. (2020, June 2). Carl Jung. Retrieved from Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Carl-Jung

Jeffrey, S. (2018). The Hero Archetype: Friend or Foe?Retrieved from CEOsage: https://scottjeffrey.com/hero-archetype/

Psychologist World. (2020). Carl Jung: Archetypes and Analytical Psychology. Retrieved from Psychologist World: https://www.psychologistworld.com/cognitive/carl-jung-analytical-psychology

[stabbedinthenameofscience]

The Radical History of Black Panther(s)

"Black Panther's" United States setting isn't Oakland just by chance.  Setting the rise of the miliant Black Panther in this city is deliberate and historically significant.  Though many people (read, many white people) don't even acknowledge this history, sigificant strides in black liberation were made in the city in the 1960s.

In 1966, Huey Newton and Bobby Seale founded the Black Panther Party for Self Defense.  The purpose of this organization wasn't the pacifist aim as Dr King, in fact, it ran counter to it.  The party formed after assassinations- one of Malcolm X, a pioneer black leader who demanded equality "by any means necessary" and the execution of an unarmed black teen, Matthew Johnson (and I say execution because these police murders are executions, no matter how you shake it- #BlackLivesMatter).  By 1968, the Black Panthers would have 2,000  members across the United States.

For those entirely unfamiliar with the philosophy of the Black Panthers, I refer you to their Ten-Point Program, a manifesto of their beliefs and goals.  

In response, the Black Panthers decided to take up arms and patrolled their community streets, guns in hand, to confront officers who would abuse their power and gun down their fellows (copwatching).  They had enough and they were determined to, like Malcolm X, stop the violence with countermeasures if necessary.  To this end, they protested the Mulford Act in 1967 that was specifically aimed to criminalize carrying loaded weapons openly in public and was a response to their community patrols.  This act was supported by Ronald Reagan, who stated he could see no reason why a rational citizen would carry loaded weapons in public.

Though we don't know his age at the time of "Black Panther," I'm going to hazard a guess that N'Jadaka (Killmonger) is likely in his 30s.  Given that it is set in the general present, his birth would have been in the 80s.  His father, N'Jobu, was in Oakland long enough to say leadership in the black community had been assassinated, though we don't know when he arrived.  It is entirely possible he has been in Oakland for a decade or more, though this is not necessary for the assassinations of Dr King and Malcolm X to be still reverberating through that community.  It is also entirely possible he's speaking of the murder of Huey Newton in 1989, killed as a part of a gang initiation in order to try to gain control of a crack ring.

N'Jadaka is born into this environment and into this philosophy- "by any means necessary."  He makes sense, a product of his environment, but also as one of the philosophies of the Black Panthers themselves.  He becomes the embodiment of this one specific aspect.  And yes, the Black Panthers did have a history of violence, both towards outsiders who threatened their community and within the organization.  They were not perfect.  But yet again, they were standing up at a time when Black Power was fighting back against a system of Jim Crow, Redlining, Segregation, and the legacy of slavery that kept black people still in economic chains.  Their actions were not occurring in a vacuum.

Black nationalism was not merely a small part of this movement.  Many within the Black Power movement as a whole believed that the black community had been so wronged and so dehumanized by the dominant white culture that they had to isolate and take care of themselves first and foremost- create black businesses, support black families, create their own economic centers and community programs.  This is what Wakanda itself does.  It isolates, it helps itself, and it is representative of an uncolonized centre of black power.  Wakanda is what the Black Power movement often sought, the society that doesn't rely on the colonizers/oppressors for their support and protection.  Shuri herself calls Ross "colonizer" when she first meets him and he has to learn to sit down and listen, to be an ally, not a leader, in a community that isn't his to dominate.

But T'Challa adheres to another value system, one that also was represented within Black Power and within the Black Panthers themselves.  They did not only respond to the colonized United States with violence, but also with social programs- with free clinics, with educational opportunities, with free programs to feed the children within their community.  They had a vision of a world where they could depend on one another in solidarity, black communities united to decolonize the minds of those around them, to uplift their fellows, and to see hope in a world that sought to destroy them and strip them of their heritage and blackness.  Black Power led to the resurgence of traditional African fasion within the United States and a movement towards natural hair and "black is beautiful," movements that still exist today (and I will say sadly so, because our culture still doesn't believe in the value of blackness).  

The Black Panther Party fell when outside influences, as well as infighting, brought them to a halt.  No small contribution was made by the FBI, J Edgar Hoover calling them, “one of the greatest threats to the nation’s internal security.”  The FBI sought to undermine the social programs in addition to contributing significantly to a Chicago Police raid, the result of such being two party members shot dead in their apartment, asleep.  The police would later describe the resulting firefight as one in which hundreds of bullets were flying, but forensics would later determine only one bullet came from the Black Panthers.  Is it any wonder, with this history reflected in the title of the Wakandan king, that they do not want outside influence?  This is the story of black communities in the United States- one of violence and of a dominant culture seeking extermination of nationalist and self-determinist movements.

T'Challa approaches the world as the other end of the philosophy of the Black Panther Party- he does exactly what they did in the end of the film.  He creates a social welfare program to better the lives of Oakland residents exactly like those children fed in the 1960s by the Black Panthers to strengthen community and bring pride in their heritage.  Wakanda reaches out to prove what a black nation can be, what one is when it hasn't been colonized and stripped of its identity, its resources, its people.  

N'Jadaka isn't entirely wrong.  This is the beauty of how this film frames his death.  While his violence seems senseless, to him, it isn't.  It is a reaction and a reclamation of his right as a prince, a king, a man looking out for oppressed people everywhere by pulling down his oppressors to make them take him and his fellows seriously.  I can't find fault in this in principle.  He has been hurt, he has seen his community in poverty, violence, addiction, and going nowhere, and he is determined to fix it by putting his force where he finds blame.  In his mind, this is how to fight the powers that have destroyed the black community worldwide.  

T'Challa takes a different approach, but he respects his opponent.  As N'Jakada is dying, he still seeks to show him the beauty his father saw in Wakanda, in the land of his birth, a place where he was free and thriving.  There is a peace in N'Jakada's death that seems unique in this genre of film, as there is a depth of history and philosophy here that I really find inspirational and refreshing.  It isn't just two men fighting for the sake of fighting or power.  They are there with purpose, two counterpoint histories that can understand one another, even if they don't agree at all in their approaches.  They both, however, share one thing- they know they can't stay isolated while they watch their people die of starvation, execution, economic strangulation.  

I didn't think I would ever see a superhero movie that was this well made, this well cared for, and this well written.  It is clear that the writers, actors, directors, and designers put their souls into this film, making something truly special that was inspiring to all people and also incredibly moving to those who knew this history.  To me, it is utterly profound and stunning that a big studio actually allowed this to be produced.  Black history is largely ignored unless it is Dr King or the occassional black entertainer like Aretha Franklin, or a writer such as Toni Morrison or Maya Angelou, especially that history that cannot be sanitized to be nonthreatening to white audiences.  I left the theatre in awe of the boldness of this story, the history embedded in it, and the strength that was gifted to both the hero and the antihero (I won't call N'Jakada a villain- he does some dark and despicable things, but he deserves better than such a dismissal of his motives and perspective).

References: https://www.history.com/topics/black-panthers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulford_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huey_P._Newton http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/history/article148667224.html