#like genuinely. i just think shes also a mega rich person who should be criticized

[autismvampyre]

hate how it's practically impossible to find anti sw*fties on here that aren't misogynistic.

"she purposely stays apolitical to cater to a conservative audience and uses activism as a trend"

yeah you're right-

"also she's an ugly bitch who should be crucified because she dated john mayer when she was 19"

uh huh. cool. so being sexist is fine if its towards someone you dont like. get it

EDIT: hey please stop reblogging if you're just gonna shit on her music. you're missing the entire point of the post. her music is literally whatever it is up to personal preference why do you care so much. the post is about people making valid criticism of sw*ft while being misogynistic, which takes away from any argument you may have had. now you're doing it with her music, focusing on that instead of her actions.

also, acting like you have to hate her music to criticize her is an absolutely useless way to try to explain her actions to swifties since it just creates an us vs them mentality. and if your goal isn't to educate, then why the fuck are you even bringing up your points?

[reasoncourt]

if anyone is wondering why i care about taylor swift discourse it’s genuinely just because i think people lose their point in their hate for her. and they lose perspective.

like she’s actually not the most evil woman in the world. she gives her workers insurance (bare minimum) and good bonuses (she’s mega rich so also bare minimum) and she buys carbon credits (bare minimum but also opens an interesting convo - i.e. how much should we value carbon credits?). she doesn’t use her voice enough imo but she also doesn’t speak out of turn (i.e. she doesn’t pretend to be well-versed and authoritative on topics she has no knowledge in (arguably she should educate herself on certain topics but tbh i’m inclined to view it as a positive that she doesn’t introduce global political issues beyond “trump bad” to her crazy af fan base… like she could do more but i also don’t have much faith in her politics cause she’s so so so out of touch so i prefer the silence)).

an important note here is that i do think she’s absolutely fucked for not condemning the genocide of palestinian people (especially when she’s supposedly close friends with the hadids who are outspoken on the issue and would greatly benefit from her public support (obv she shouldn’t just speak out bc it affects her personal friends but the fact that she isn’t speaking out when she has personal friends is honestly bizarre to me)).

but she's not unique for any of this. she does more than most of her peers and also way less than she should. that's all i see.

and yet ultimately it’s like - people side with kanye when he put a naked wax figure of her in his music video without her consent when she was 25. that situation was obviously misogynistic but people hate her so they largely glossed over it and decided she deserved it for "lying"about a phone call she didn't lie about. people also seem to think it’s funny that football bros are making ai porn of her (arguing she “deserves” it) despite that line of thinking obviously being detrimental to all women and especially those who are so much more vulnerable than her. people got angry at her for donating $250,000 to help with kesha’s legal fees in her case against ‘Dr. Luke’ because they considered it a publicity stunt even though taylor swift wasn’t the one to make that donation public. people called her performative for taking a man to court for sexually assaulting her and only asking for $1. and obviously they would’ve criticised her for asking for more.

the thing that really aggravates me is that there is so so so so so much to criticise her for. but it’s so so so so so obvious that a lot of people just hate her and don’t actually have any legit problem with the things they say they have a problem with. their favs could do the exact same thing and they won’t find any issue with it. cause they just really hate taylor swift and won’t step back a bit in order to just critically think about what their principles are and how those principles apply to this situation with taylor swift and whether they’re actually consistent with those principles and will apply them to someone other than taylor swift.

there are such valid points and important discussions i see being completely missed because the complaint is about Taylor swift and people seem to be incapable of thinking beyond the fact that they just, first and foremost, hate her

and let it be said that this is not a taylor swift defence post. i could not give a single shit about her specifically. i do find her music fun and nostalgic but i also think it deserves more criticism than it gets (but that’s not what this post is about). it’s just that she’s one of the most talked about people in pop culture and i feel like legitimate and productive discourse is rlly hindered by people’s disproportionate focus on her

[falafel14]

Okja Meta: It’s all edible. All edible except the squeal.

Is Okja is a vegan film or not? I want to offer my personal perspective on Okja's layered messages on the meat eating and factory farming and what responses the film proposes. I’m writing this as someone who has been a vegetarian since I was fourteen (Mija's age in the film) and this year I've been attempting to make the transition into veganism. I'm also a person who grew up in a house next to a cattle farm, walking family dogs through fields of cows that would disappear to slaughterhouses at the end of every summer. We’re raised to have very different feelings towards animals who are our pets and animals bred as livestock and most movies propagate this distinction rather than breaking it down. With Okja we have a film that introduces its titular animal character as a beloved pet, loyal and loving as any family dog, then we see her re-categorized as a product, as a piece of meat to be killed and consumed. This transition has led to some critics to complaining about the film’s "jarring tonal shift" from its cutesy child-friendly opening scenes to the graphic slaughterhouse scenes at its ending. But this is not propaganda. It is simply reality. This is the hypocritical way different animals are treated. Kids are encouraged to love their pets and eat their meat and now critics are worried over a film that highlights this? If the inescapable message of Okja is that the animals we love and the animals we eat are the same then what response should we have? Should we all go vegan? 

Even as an aspiring vegan myself, I'd say Okja’s message is not that simple. I have read several articles now arguing that Okja is not anti-meat eating but anti-factory farming. Pro-meat eating Okja fans are quick to point out that Mija herself is not vegetarian. However I'd argue back that there's a difference between how our farm girl heroine eats meat and how most westerners eat meat. The opening of film dedicates a lot of time to showing how Mija consumes all food in harmony with nature. When Okja rolls into a tree to dislodge its fruit, Mija warns her pig not to hit the tree so hard it'll fall down. When they go fishing, Mija takes only one fish for her supper and throws the others back in the water. She also uses Okja's eco-friendly excrement to fertilize the pool and feed the fish. And it should be noted that while Mija and her grandfather don't abstain from meat, the vast majority of their diet is plant-based, their dinner table crammed with vegetables. We only see them eating their own free-range white meat as opposed to mass-produced red meats that are so damaging to the environment. Mija could be more accurately described as having a flexitarian diet. Plus she knows exactly where all her meat comes from because she prepares it all herself. So if you are a western viewer watching and thinking it’s fine to eat meat because Mija does, I have to ask - are you a farmer living in the mountains catching or rearing your own meat sources in balance with the natural world? Or are you eating factory farmed meat from the supermarket? Because if factory farming is what Okja is really railing against and factory farmed meat is what you personally consume then isn't Okja still anti the type of meat you’re eating?

While we identify most with Mija as the film's protagonist, if we don’t live on remote farms in the Korean wilderness then we have to look to Okja’s western characters for their stances on ethical and sustainable food consumption. And here's where the message gets complicated because all the western characters - whether pro or anti meat - are portrayed as flawed and questionable. First I want to consider the Mirando corporation characters, who are largely perceived as the villains of the film, though I'd say Lucy is probably more representative of the average westerner than any other US-based character. Does Lucy really care about creating a new livestock industry that is kinder to the animals and leaves a minimal carbon footprint? Or does Lucy only care because she knows that in a progressive western society these things make for a better company image? Like Lucy, the progressive westerner would like to say they are animal lovers and they care about the environment but most also want to eat meat that "tastes fucking good". Lucy promotes herself as a savior to the hunger crisis and she greenwashes Mirando’s very tarnished corporate reputation. But her primary motivation is to make herself and her customers look good, rather than really doing good. As soon as the ALF exposes the “little white lies” behind her super pig campaign and she faces bad press, Lucy just gives up on her supposed humanitarian mission and surrenders the company.

Another Mirando stooge who surrenders themselves to the company's corruption is Dr Johnny Wilcox, a character who I actually had some pity for. I don't think Dr Johnny would have become a qualified veterinarian and zoologist if he hadn't genuinely cared about animals at some point in his life. I can believe that Johnny loved animals as a child and he does seem sincerely awed and emotional the first time he meets Okja. I also felt there was a real despair in Dr Johnny ranting - "I shouldn't even be here!" while he is drunkenly abusing Okja in the squalid  Mirando laboratory. For ten years Dr Johnny himself has been the "prize pig" of the Mirando corporation and during that decade I imagine he has been party of a lot of animal mistreatment. But Dr Johnny has stuck with the company because he craves fame above all else and as a has-been celebrity Mirando is likely only real option that he has for continuing with his media career. Johnny's alcoholism could just be put down to his bitterness over his fading stardom and that after so long as the face of the company he is being “put out to pasture” too. But I think it is more interesting to view him as a former animal lover who's been driven mad by his complicity in animal abuse. Johnny seems sadistic in his torment of Okja but I sense that Johnny is lashing out, rather like Okja herself lashes out after being mated in the Mirando labs. Johnny offering Okja his bottle and telling her that the booze will "make her feel better" suggests to me that his alcoholism is the only thing Dr Johnny has to make himself feel better too.

The main character who embraces the meat industry’s cruelty without qualm his Nancy Mirando. The capitalist mindset that Nancy represents isn't evil so much as it is pragmatically amoral. Nancy is not sadistically motivated by wanting to murder a young girl's beloved pet pig. Nancy doesn’t care whether Mija’s pet lives or dies. She only cares about making a profit and when it comes to pig farming she reasons that she can “only sell the dead ones”. So when Mija offers Nancy gold in trade for keeping her pig alive, Nancy is perfectly happy to accept the deal. In the end Mija can only save Okja by bargaining with Nancy’s capitalist industry on its own terms. It is significant that this is the one scene where Mija speaks English because she is speaking Nancy's language in more ways than one in this moment. Appeasing the Nancy's desire for profit is the only way Mija can win. She has to hand over further riches to an already mega-rich company that is murdering hundreds of other super pigs just like Okja. Fighting for animal welfare is largely portrayed as a hopeless cause. At the end of their mission, the ALF team have been arrested and their stunt has only succeeded in destroying Lucy's company image and not in saving the pigs from slaughter. They inflicted some economic damage, likely hurting their sales with a scandal, but as Nancy reasons even with the PR damage they can still shift their product because "if it's cheap they'll eat it". It's not hard to imagine that Nancy is right given that in the real world most western consumers are more concerned with price comparison than ethical shopping. And in the case of hungry poor people worldwide, they will just eat whatever food they can best afford. 

Unlike Mija, the ALF group’s mission against the meat industry is driven by their  ideology rather than by a personal connection to a specific animal. We are told in their character posters they are vegans and vegetarians, but I’d say that ALF leader Jay in particular represents what so many people find alienating about veganism. That to be vegan you must be a purist and you must be judgemental towards anyone who doesn't meet your high moral standards. Jay talks about his compassion for all living creatures, but in early scenes his manner is cold, formal and impersonal to those around him. Jay is always correcting his fellow ALF gang members and threatens to exile them if they say or do anything that conflicts with his version of their ideals. Jay is a perfect example of a “the left looks for traitors” mentality. After K makes an honest and reasoned confession to mis-translating Mija’s consent, Jay inflicts a beating on K even whilst telling him that he still holds him dear to his heart. Jay has clearly taught his little ALF gang to avoid hurting people during their missions, but Jay dishes out violence and a banishment on a friend maybe only to serve as a warning to the rest of his team to follow his idealism absolutely or suffer the consequences. Early on Jay shows more concern over strict adherence to ALF credo than he seems worried over one of his teammates starving themselves. Silver exhibits a dangerous extreme to ethical consumption where his ideals have led to him damaging his health for the cause. I think that is where a purist judgemental vegan mindset can lead - if you live in the western world and you are determined not to eat food that harms animals or the environment...where do you draw the line? With that mentality you will start to find even tomatoes objectionable.

Jay begins his mission with the lofty ideal of saving all the super pigs from slaughter even if it means compromising Okja's personal safety. But when this results in Okja being raped and abused, Jay finally does start showing his true heart and takes personal responsibility for saving the super pig he used for his own political ends. As Jay silently holds up his 'We love you' sign to Mija and then warns her not to look at the screen as the ALF expose Mirando’s animal torture to the world, he is trying to protect not only their lives but their emotions from further harm. There’s two more lovely moments of silent solidarity between Jay and Mija in the film; one where Mija stares at Jay removing the splinter from Okja’s hoof (as she would’ve done) and the other where Mija prevents Jay from striking Okja when the super pig is biting down on her arm. If Jay learns a lesson from Mija then I think it is that love should drive his activism, not his credo. After all, Lucy points out that the ALF’s pig-napping did little damage to Mirando but the image of one girl who loves her pig being dragged away by cops was a PR nightmare. This type of love was always there deep down in Jay. Even after his mission fails he goes with Mija all the way to the slaughterhouse just to save her pig, sacrificing his own freedom just to support her. And in the post-credits scene where Jay released from prison it is also implied that he took responsibility for the ALF’s activist crimes so his teammates could walk or at least serve shorter sentences. Jay's loyalty and self-sacrifice make me pleased that K came back to him even after his very violent expulsion. And just as Mija brings Jay back to his heart, I think it is fair to say that Jay inspires a greater idealism in Mija. Earlier on in the film, Mija only cared about her personal connection to her pet and refused ALF’s ‘greater good’ mission to attempt to save all the super pigs. But once she witnesses the horrors of the slaughterhouse, Mija is clearly devastated at having to abandon the other pigs and takes the risk of rescuing one of the piglets, which is an ALF action more so than a personal one for her. 

So after considering all the main characters viewpoints, I don't think Okja leaves you with one message, but rather three potential messages for how to respond to meat eating and factory farming from now on. First there's the response that’s represented in the Mirando characters which is simply to go along with it, accept this is how our ugly world works and keep handing over your cash to the factory farm industry. Or you could have the Mija response - have a flexitarian diet and care for the animals that you personally keep. But also if you buy something with your gold, pay for animals to live not die. Mija does this by paying for Okja, but metaphorically we can follow Mija's example by giving our money to cruelty-free products, which naturally includes vegan food. Going vegan or vegetarian isn't the simple solution to the issues raised in Okja but it is not the wrong response either. You could even follow Mija's example in a more literal way by donating to sanctuaries that rescue animals from factory farms and allow them to live out their lives in peace and safety, like Okja in the mountains. Lastly, if you watch all the way to the post credits scene, the ALF gang represents yet another possible response - that being to get involved in animal activism. Even though the ALF gang fail in their mission to save all of the super pigs, it gave me hope that they had not given up the fight and were even gaining new members. And if they are accepting former Mirando employees into their group then they aren’t being too purist and exclusive either. I loved the final beat of the ALF offering a ski-mask to the prim looking middle-aged woman on the bus. It felt like they were holding a mask out to the viewer too and saying "Wanna join?"

(If you read and liked this meta please help me out with a reblog because my hashtags aren’t working on searches for this post)