#shooting cows vs preserving them

[cupcakes-are-ours]

isshu's worst nightmare is the

AMERICAN COWBOY

JIRAIYA???????

he fought a cow. this is also what every self respecting american looks like.

[janesviews]

Stranger Things 3 or Why Do We Mourn Abusive Men?

Another season of Stranger Things has come and gone and I have lots of thoughts and in this piece, all of them are going to be pretty negative. That doesn’t mean I didn’t like the season. I actively enjoyed it. But I want that joy somewhere else, somewhere far from here where I scream and shout and ask the vital question of why we are asked to mourn abusive men?

SPOILERS (and Scoops) AHOY for the whole of Season 3!

Listening to a recap podcast of the show before the season aired, there was a prediction that Billy would become the villain in season 3. This gave me pause as I had been under the assumption he had already been the villain. From the moment we’re introduced to him in season 2, he’s presented as intensely aggressive, and as the season progresses, he is physically violent towards almost everyone, racist and manipulative. Sure, he may not be a supernatural demon from another dimension, but is that what it takes to classify someone as a villain? He’s a quantifiable piece of shit. We get about 30 seconds of backstory on him, he’s had an abusive childhood himself, but is that 30 seconds enough to ignore/erase/forgive his actions? In my books, no. Despite this tiny peek into Billy’s past, we’re really only ever given one side to his character. We never get a glimpse of any sort of multi-facet he might possess. On the other hand, a character like Steve Harrington, who at first was presented as a one-dimensional douche (and we expect him to remain in this archetype as it’s an archetype we’re familiar with, especially in this 80s world we’re living in), evolved and shifted and has been on a continuous character growth spurt. Billy on the other hand is narrowly written and poorly defined. There is no nuance.

By the end of season 2, he’s been brought down, maybe by a peg, by his sister Max, and seems slightly cowed by her assertiveness towards him. However, once season 3 starts, he’s back to his old ways, screaming and fat-shaming a young boy at the pool where he lifeguards, manipulating married women into affairs and just being physically menacing. He is very shortly thereafter ‘corrupted’ by the Mind Flayer, thereby becoming the supposed villain I believe he always was.

I’m not going to get into his whole trajectory throughout the season only to say that it continues to be one-note. It’s hard not to think that this would just be the way Billy would be behaving had he not been possessed, maybe minus the drinking of chemicals. His real self vs. his Mind Flayer self are hardly different. He’s just as maniacal, only now he has super-strength and sweats profusely (a side effect of getting possessed by the Mind Flayer during an Indiana summer).

By the end of the season, after literally torturing people and killing many others, Billy decides to sacrifice himself because El says some words about him surfing as a child, and much like the universally panned segment in Batman v. Superman (Martha???), those words seem to snap him out of his haze long enough to get gutted by the Mind Flayer. This action does momentarily distract the Mind Flayer from ripping El to pieces just as Joyce closes the gate, vaporizing everyone near the Russians’ machine (including Hopper, who I will get back to) and killing the Mind Flayer, but the moment lacked any emotional depth or feeling. This heart-to-heart probably would have been better served from Max, the original target of Billy’s ire, instead of someone Billy mind-melded with for a minute. And this ‘heroic’ act of self-sacrifice is somehow supposed to balance out every other shitty thing we’ve seen him do for the past two seasons? I don’t think so. All I felt after it was all said and done was a mild sense of relief.

Max is BEREFT at the loss of Billy, her psychotic step-brother, and again, there is nothing to substantiate this reaction. They have literally never had a positive interaction and it is not fair to the viewer to have us pretend that this makes sense with no backstory to support it. It’s also disrespectful that now we are being told through music cues and Max’s reaction that WE are also supposed to be bereft by this loss. Billy may have done one selfless act in the 17 episodes we’ve seen him in but I will not mourn him. I will sing no requiem for the man who caused physical harm to his sister, almost ran over some pre-teens to scare his sister, violently assaulted his classmate until he had to be subdued by his sister… no. I will not be told to mourn that.

That brings me to the other major death we had this season (that is, if you believe he’s actually dead, which, with the current evidence we have, is not certain, but I’m going on the assumption that he is). Breaking the rule that if your name starts with the letter B, the Duffer Brothers have it in for you, Jim Hopper bites it in spectacular fashion. After finally getting rid of the Russian monkey on his back, he is stuck next to the deadly machine that is opening up the gate to the Upside Down. With no way of getting back to safety, Hopper solemnly nods to Joyce and she vaporizes him and closes the gate, saving the day. This loss is definitely a bigger one, Hopper has been a huge part of all three seasons of Stranger Things, and integral to the story. However, for some reason, this season he just sucks. What came off as loveable grump in the first two seasons is now coming off as raging asshole in the third. As the legal guardian of El, admittedly rightly perturbed by the physicality and closeness that has developed between El and Mike, Hopper begins the season by flipping his lid. El and Mike are preteens swapping a lot of spit and that’s a lot for Hopper to take. I get that. I, as the viewer, found myself more than once hoping the kissing scenes would get cut short. This begins Hopper’s tirade of aggression throughout the season. He is seemingly unable to use his words thoughtfully and must resort to threats to separate Mike and El. It only goes downhill from there where he assaults the corrupt mayor of Hawkins and almost chops his finger off in a cigar cutter. Later in the season he shoots down a bunch of Russian soldiers for no other reason then he was tired of waiting for Murray (a welcome surprise to the season, and almost made me forget how much I hate Brett Gelman’s character in Fleabag) to calm them down. We’ve seen people casually killed in Stranger Things before. El has killed her fair share of people before in acts of self-preservation. However, all of this seemed more and more extreme with Hopper. Last season we see him almost exclusively fighting supernatural creatures and for him to turn that aggression on people felt scary. It didn’t help that most of this season found him yelling at someone for things not going his way. He began to come off as petulant with a gun.

So by the end of the season, when Joyce is left with no choice but to destroy him for the greater good, I was again left with a hollowness. My sadness was not for the loss of Hopper but for those who had lost him. Had Hopper been axed last season, it would have had a much greater resonance. He had just begun to become the father that El needed, he was the friend that Joyce wanted and though he may have screwed up here and there, you always felt that he was trying. There was always an underlying goodness. To have that loss last season would have been a gut punch. To have it delayed to the end of this season and to see his character shift so negatively, it felt shallow instead.

There were so many positives this season, like the evolution of El’s and Max’s friendship, the introduction of the intriguing Robin, bringing back fan-favourite Erica for a larger role, any and all Steve content… Unfortunately, I felt the season was weighed down by aggressive men and the unrealistic belief that we should come to care for them. The show may be set in the 80s, but it’s 2019. It’s time to stop relying on this trope. Now that those two characters are out, what will season 4 bring? Murray as a main character? More Mr. Clarke (who was criminally underused, but shone in his scenes)? No adult men at all? We play the waiting game once more to see what Hawkins ‘86 has to offer.

And tomorrow… my top 10 moments from Stranger Things 3.

[ininnsbruck]

Amman.

As I’m spending my last day in Jordan, I have so many memories I never want to lose- so I’m writing them all here. I booked this trip to visit Jude on a whim. I didn’t even know Jude that well when I did it (hence why I believed she could have had the nerve to block me before I came...) I wasn’t nervous at all until I got on the plane from CDG to AMM. Suddenly, all the fears that western media have filled me with my past 22 years came to my head. I was honestly scared. My mom didn’t help, because she too had these fears but she made them vocal to me before I left.

However, I got over all of these fears as soon as I saw Jude and her mom. They picked me up at the airport, where we happened to see a huge welcome home to a couple who came to Jordan from Palestine (something else I’ve learned so much about here.) There was music and laughter, everyone was so happy. I automatically realized: the Middle East is not as scary as western media wants you to believe it is. That night, we ate Kebab and went home and I got some rest. The way they drive here is so insane, the lines on the road as well as stop signs are merely suggestions, it’s basically a free for all. As soon as the light changes, everyone blares on the horn to go. It’s pretty cultural in itself! After we got home, I slept about 10 hours, which was good because the next days were sure to be full of exhaustion.

The first full day in Amman, we went to the Citadel which stands on top of a hill and oversees all of Amman (almost.) It was Ancient Greek, and very well preserved. Afterwards, we ate ice cream, chugged water, and went to the Roman ampetheater. Those steps were so high, we only made it to the second tier. But at the ampetheater, there was a museum of traditional clothing and mosaics which was so cool. I love the traditional clothing they have here, it’s all embroidered and people still wear it. That was the coolest part- it’s not rare like a dirndl. Afterwards, it was time to cool down. We went to a coffee shop and we met up with Jude’s friend Jad. We sat there and talked for a while, then made our way to the streets and walked around a bit. The downtown life here is so different, there are so many shops and cafes (I guess it makes sense because alcohol is banned in Islam.) After we walked around, we met up with Jude’s other friend Abood and went to another cafe and watched the soccer game (I don’t recall who.) Then, we came home and went to sleep. Long day!

The second day in Amman was very relaxed. We went to visit Jude’s aunt and her grandparents. Jude’s aunt was so funny- and she’s also a chef and so of course she had the best food. Afterwards, we went to a travel agency and booked our day at the Dead Sea. Following, we went to another cafe and watched Egypt vs. Saudi Arabia. It was an intense game, and even though Egypt lost, it was still fun. Following the game, we went to the mall and shopped around. I scored 2 scarves and only spent 5jds! We also tried this sweet corn thing, which was so different. You get it at a candy shop, and it’s sweet corn, drenched in lemon juice, with 5 different spices. Then you eat it as dessert- Jude drank the juice leftover. It was crazy, but it was so amazing so get to try the authentic stuff more than just the stuff you see online. After the mall, we went to a cafe with Jude’s friend Badhi. We came home, ordered McDonalds, packed for the Dead Sea, and went to bed.

The third day, you guessed it: the Dead Sea! We woke up and got ready and took a car to the Holiday Inn at the Dead Sea. Temperatures there were 100-108 while we were there. We went out to the pool, laid out, swam, and enjoyed the weather. We laid out from like 2-6, then we went to the sea. First we did a mud mask, which is mud pulled from the floor of the Dead Sea, so it BURNED. We washed it off almost as soon as we put it on, then made our way to the water. Since we did the mud first, the water didn’t sting as bad, but it still stung prettttyyy bad. I still got to float, which was pretty cool. I honestly thought it wouldn’t work for me, but it did. We took some pictures, then made our way up to the pool again. After about another hour, we came up and showered and got ready for dinner. We went to a wing restaurant which I think made me kinda sick. We came back to the hotel, and Jude was so funny. She literally was gonna order room service after we just ate (well we did- we got cheesecake.) The rest of the night we quoted vines, it was a good time.

Day four, we woke up at 5:30 to see the sunset, which we couldn’t see from our hotel but we walked down anyways. I threw up on the way (AMAZING) then we fell back asleep (kinda) and woke up, checked out, and went to the pool. This sun did us dirty, we both got burned. For lunch we shared a salad and got so ~skinny~ After we left the Dead Sea, we drove to Mt. Nebo where I got to see what is rumored to be where Moses passed and where he received the promise to the Holy Land from God. It was an amazing sight, because you can see the edge of the Dead Sea, as well as Palestine. I prayed for my dad, which moved me to tears. But no sappy thoughts. After we were done at Mt. Nebo, we met Juliana and took a cab to Madaba, where we got a guard to open the church with the oldest Mosaic on the floor. Then, we saw Juliana’s old school and the church next to it (she attended catholic school.) We went into the ground and saw a well that was a couple thousand years old and still pulls water out of the ground. Then we climbed to the top of the tower in the church, where we saw all of Madaba from above. It was very cool! Then we ate dinner and went back to Amman. Didn’t have too much time to relax though, because next day we left for Petra and Wadi Rum!

Day five, we left for Petra at 5:30am (amazing- probs why I fell down the steps) and we got on a bus to Petra. It was about 4.5 hours, and when we got there, it was so hot. We walked down to the trail and before you know it, I fell and ripped my pants and cut up and bruised my legs. Made for an amazing rest of the day!! The walk down to Petra wasn’t bad, my makeup was still in tact and it was a bit shady. Petra was amazing, I rode a camel!!! We had lots of photo shoots. Then, on the way back, HOLY COW I DIED. It was uphill, sun full force. We ended up riding a horse the rest of the way up the hill. Jude and I died, but it was definitely worth the 8jds. The rest of the day, we went back on the bus to Wadi Rum. We arrived at camp, and automatically did a Jeep tour. It was amazing and so fun. I wish it felt a little more dangerous, but hey, it was great. Then, after we got back to camp, I took the most amazing shower of my life. It was cold water in a 90 degree bathroom. The water literally rinsed off brown, so gross. I think I will have sand in my adidas for the rest of their life cycle. After we showered, we ate dinner and spent the rest of the night playing cards. We went to stargaze on a big rock which was honestly so cool. We listened to mellow music and just had a lot of time for self reflection. It is probably one of my favorite memories of being here.. When it came time for bed, we started getting so slap happy. The tent literally had a zipper for a door, but it was so hot we left it open all night. It was the dirtiest place I’ve ever slept, but I survived! Dogs and coyotes woke me up in the morning, and I also saw baby scorpions. On that note- I was out.

Day six, we spent literally the entire day in the bus. We rode the bus to Aqaba, where we ate at a Pizza Hut for like two hours. We were laughing so much, like I cannot get over how much I laughed during that meal. A mix of us all being tired and delusional I think! We went to Chinatown after, which was cool because I got to shop some cheap stuff for couvenirs. The rest of the day, we drove back to Amman. I got to see the Red Sea, which showed the coast of Egypt and Palestine again. I swear it took 10 hours when it should’ve taken 5. By the time we all got back, every single one of us had such bad stomach problems. It was wonderful!

Day seven, we relaxed a bit and went out with Jude’s friends to a cafe. We ate waffles in the morning, which were so good but so sweet. We watched the soccer game, smoked hookah, and I got to try real Kenefe! So much better than the one I tried in Austria. It was authentic and so tasty. After, we came home and went to sleep. Still exhausted from the other travels.

Day eight, after Jude got back from work, we went to Jerash. It was so hot, but we got to see the entire place. Everything here is so well preserved and it is honestly amazing to get to experience. That was in the north, about 40 min from the Syrian border. Jude’s mom used to take Jude to Syria for lunch, which is so crazy in my opinion. It feels more than just a news story being here... We ate dinner at a nice restaurant, then drove back to Amman and went to sleep.

Day nine, the final day. We went to the coolest auto museum today— all about the cars of the royal family. Made me really miss my dad. They had so many cars, especially the ones with cool stories behind them (like the one the late King rode after he received cancer treatment.) Then, we went to this monument/ museum where the martyrs of Jordan are honored. It gave me such a sense of pride and respect for the Jordanian government and culture. They paid respect to so many people, especially those that have died recently. That was really awesome to see because so many people have died and they are all remembered and honored at that place. I cried SO much and I’m not even Arab! Then, we went home and ate an amazing dinner cooked by her mom. There was soup, rice, salad, chicken, and these really good potatoes. It was an awesome last meal. Then, the dreaded trip to the airport came. Lots of tears ran down my face, but I was ready to go home after I left Jude. Long journey ahead of me!

I am sad to leave, but trying to not think about it. I have grown to know Jude so well and I love her and her family. This trip filled me with a sort of happiness I never want to lose again. It also taught me how to see things for what they are, and not what the media wants me to think they are. Arabs are the kindest people I’ve ever met and I am so thankful to have had this experience. I have experienced luxury, the desert in the middle of nowhere, the green, the family, the culture, the language, and so much more. I would have never thought I’d love it here as much as I do, but I am so glad I decided to come here. I have earned a sister, as well as gained a new appreciation for middle eastern culture. I am so blessed. On my way back to Pittsburgh now, and it is definitely bittersweet.

(Delta up leaving my luggage in Pairs, and after a 9 hour layover it’s the last thing I wanted to deal with.) I was excited to share my souvenirs with everyone, and share my memories that will last forever.