#the person making the video essay has their own influences thoughts and opinions that impact how they view the thing

[starlooove]

Also sometimes it’s not reading comprehension sometimes people are talking about things they only digested second hand and pretend that biases don’t exist bc someone can pull up two panels and an explanation

[nightbloomsresorthotel]

A Controversial, but Fair Essay on Gabbie Hanna’s Poetry That Doesn’t Completely Shit on Her Writing

So I just finished listening to her youtube video where she addresses this topic. When I first saw her poems, I could see what everyone was talking about: her poems are simple, full of puns that seem to masquerade as a function of “depth”, with simple, easy to understand language juxtaposed with themes of growing up and trauma. She says that her influences include Shel Silverstein, Bo Burnham and William Williams, including his famous poem This is Just to Say.

(prepare thyself reader, this is a quick 2k analysis. I’ve included GOOD poetry recs at the end!)

She goes on to say that what drew her to these poems was there charm- Shel Silverstein’s works were meant for children, and they are easy to interpret- and could be read from the perspective of both an adult and child. As a child reading Where the Sidewalk Ends, I enjoyed the illustrations and the rhyming nature of these poems. I’m sure Gabbie Hanna did as well. Hearing her talk about these inspirations and what she wanted to do with her own poems, it’s clear that she was aiming for each piece to harken back to the whimsy and innocence of childhood, while addressing more adult topics.

I think that Gabbie Hanna missed the mark. She admits that some of the poems in her book were rushed and this makes me question if and where she ever got any peer feedback from her pieces. I also wonder if Gabbie has ever taken any writing classes or poetry workshops, but I am doubtful. The big difference between This is Just to Say and, lets say, her poem Chivalry is clear. Here is This is Just to Say:

I have eaten

the plums

that were in

the icebox

and which

you were probably

saving

for breakfast

Forgive me

they were delicious

so sweet

and so cold.

So much has already been said about this poem. But the biggest thing to take away here, is that Williams clearly put thought into syntax, imagery, rhythm and rhyme. You will notice that this piece doesn’t exactly rhyme, but it slant rhymes. Rhyming has become less of a marker for poetry recently, mostly because I think it makes people think of nursery rhymes or songs and traditional, older forms of poetry, and some poets don’t want that connotation. This may surprise some, but poetry is an ever evolving art form; poets are always playing with experimentation in their work. Here, imagery and the five senses make This is Just to Say great. Up until the last stanza, we don’t really get anything that makes us feel a physical sensation until we get to “so sweet/ and so cold”. This is where the impact of the poem lies. This is the climax of this poem. Every word before it is intentionally abstract, while sweet and cold are in comparison, concrete images and sensual images. This is why we can almost taste the plums the author is talking about at the end of the poem.

Let’s look at a poem I picked at random from Gabbie Hanna’s book, CHIVALRY:

I’m not some no-brained bimbo

and i’m not some helpless girl

i am fucking remarkable

and i deserve the world.

i don’t need you to open my door,

but the gesture would be nice.

i don’t need you to buy my meal;

the offer would suffice.

i don’t need to be taken care of,

but it’d be cool to know you care.

i’m a holographic charizard

highly desired and rare.

yo, i even drop pokemon references

‘cause i’m fuckin dope as shit.

i’m good with just me, i don’t need you

not even a tiny bit.

Let me address what I like about this poem first. Gabbie knows what she wants to do- she utilizes rhyming and repetition to make this an easy flowing read. She knows that a lower-case “i” shows that despite what she may be claiming in the poem “i don’t need you/ not even a tiny bit”, the narrator does not think highly of themselves— perhaps the narrator desperately needs the “you” addressed, but is not confidant enough to ask for their friendship/ relationship. The narrator is contradicting themselves, showing a low self-esteem, and maybe crying for help. This juxtaposed with the fun rhyming tone of the piece and the mention of pokémon succesfully gets this point across.

However, this poem seems to focus on utilizing these elements of craft only. Gabbie could enhance the reader experience by adding more concrete imagery: why type of meal? How helpless of a girl? These are instances where Gabbie could help the reader connect to the speaker, and she doesn’t do so. We could also argue that she’s emulating This is Just to Say by only including one concrete and colorful image, but I will address this further down.

Additionally, this narrator could be anyone. I could imagine anybody saying this, of any gender. Perhaps Gabbie did this intentionally- the more vague a narrator is, the more it could apply to anyone— the average teen/adult could connect to this poem. However, this gives the poem a generic quality. Perhaps others would like to connect to this narrator more, and get a better sense of who the narrator is. Also let me address why I keep using “narrator” instead of “Gabbie”. It’s a force of habit for me (that I got from poetry courses in college) to assume that the narrator of the poem and the author of the poem may not always be the same person. I think in this situation, these poems are undoubtedly from Gabbi’s perspective, but to remain neutral just in case, I will continue to use “narrator”. 

Something I’d also like to address is the matter of rhyming in the current poetry world. Many journals have gone so far as to say “we do not accept rhyming poems” in their submission guidelines. Not all, but some. People who just start out writing poetry believe that poems must rhyme to be considered poetry at all, but when you take your first poetry class in high school or college, you quickly realize that this is not the case. Here, Gabbie uses a simple end rhyme scheme to evoke poetry like Silverstein and childhood memories of reading poetry, nursery rhymes, etc. But I think to those who have been reading poetry for a long time, teaching it, or reading submissions for their journal, the mark of a novice poet is that everything rhymes, sometimes at the sake of using a better word in its place that doesn’t rhyme. I think rhyme has its place in poetry, but it can be overused. Since most of Gabbie Hanna’s poems do rhyme, it’s easy to see someone getting “rhyme fatigue” while reading. Another negative effect of rhyming is that the reader will begin to anticipate the rhyme- this can cause the reader to skip lines entirely, and focus solely on the rhyme scheme, rather than focusing on the meaning of the poem. A piece that harkens back to childhood and uses rhyme well, in my opinion, is This Be the Verse by Phillip Larkin:

They fuck you up, your mum and dad.  

   They may not mean to, but they do.  

They fill you with the faults they had

   And add some extra, just for you.

But they were fucked up in their turn

   By fools in old-style hats and coats,  

Who half the time were soppy-stern

   And half at one another’s throats.

Man hands on misery to man.

   It deepens like a coastal shelf.

Get out as early as you can,

   And don’t have any kids yourself.

I think the big difference between this and Gabbie Hanna’s poem is that it starts off strong right away with “They fuck you up, your mum and dad”. The condescending tone is always there right from the start, and the rhyming is more of a surprise than an expectation throughout- the line “it deepens like a coastal shelf” brings new imagery and meaning to the poem by veering off into another subject. This enhances the surprise.

I’d also like to address cliche’s. The cliche’s present in CHIVALRY are “I deserve the world” and “I don’t need you to open my door”. These are easy to understand from a readers point of view, but often, cliche’s offer nothing new and exciting to the reader. They are easy to skip over and ignore. These add to the poems generic atmosphere.

Let’s talk about the pieces title itself: CHIVALRY. When we read this poem with the title in context, we get a strange disconnect. The poem is clearly about a girl who says she doesn’t need chivalrous acts from a  friend or partner, and doesn’t need someone because they are “good with just me”. But the subtext of the piece is less about chivalry and more about self-esteem or a willingness to be loved. The piece has changed meaning two thirds of the way down. I think the title is too obvious and misleading, and gives the reader the wrong idea about what the poem is trying to say. In essence, the piece is named after a facet of the relationship between the narrator and other person, rather than the root of what the poem is trying to convey.

The pokémon references add color to this piece, and it is the only place this piece has any kind of concrete imagery. In the This is Just to Say the sweet and cold plum imagery is the very last line, heightening them. In CHIVALRY, they’re near the middle of the piece. Thus, the longer ending reduces the color  and lasting effect of “holographic charizard”.

Overall, I think Gabbie Hanna could benefit from workshopping her poems and getting peer feedback from other poets, in addition to reading poetry that isn’t thirty plus years old. I don’t know if she already does this, but judging from her poems, I can only assume that she hasn’t. At the very least, she should avoid rushing to get poems out before they are due.

Gabbie Hanna is a novice poet who put her poems out into the world and got a greater amount of backlash than any novice poet usually does in a workshop or classroom setting.  When in the classroom, there is such a thing as Critique Etiquette. Critique for poems are give honestly and gently, never in a harsh or mean way. Fellow poets point out possible interpretations of work, or possible unwanted connotations of sometimes, even a simple word at the end of the line. In addition, poets in the classroom are exposed to modern poets that are creating new and exciting work that is often published in highly esteemed magazines- reading the best of todays poetry. Gabbi Hanna’s work seemingly got published without peer review, and the quality of it was clear to those who read it. That being said, I do think that people who read and love Gabbie Hanna’s work do connect with it— no doubt because these poems are designed to be as generic as possible, so that others may see themselves in the words.This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I believe her work appeals best to newcomers to poetry, people who maybe have only ever read works from Shel Silverstein or Edgar Allen Poe. This can be a blessing and a shame. There are many good poets out there, that aren’t getting published because they don’t have youtube channels or brand collaborations, and they are just plain hard to find. However, Gabbie Hanna has opened the door for many would-be poetry readers, and has sparked a love for the art of poetry in them. Hopefully, this love leads them to become wider read, and to seek out more poetry from a multiple of authors to read.

I decided that I’d also like to include some published poetry from poets that are from a range of different backgrounds. Go forth and read!

POETRY THAT DOESN'T SUCK: Sonya Vatomsky's Salt is for Curing- poems by a non-binary poet that focus on themes of femininity, Russian food, Russian folklore and identity. Review Purchase 

Danez Smith- A black, queer, non-binary and HIV positive writer. A poem I really like of theirs is "Dinosaurs in the Hood" is a great poem that I personally love.

Claudia Rankine's Citizen: An American Lyric. This book contains poems that focus on the Black experience in America. Excerpt from the book here

Khadijah Queen's I'm So Fine: A List of Famous Men and What I Had On. This collection features conversational poems that focus on the narrators encounters with famous men in relation to what the narrator was wearing at the time. A piece that centers around the question "Well, what were you wearing?". Read two poems from the book Here. 

Fatimah Ashgar's IF THEY COME FOR US. Poems by a Pakistani-Kashmiri-American. These poems focus on race and identity. One of my favorites takes the form of a bingo card, titled Microagression Bingo (read here and two other poems from the book). As a poc myself, I was nodding along to every line, thinking "Yup. I've been through that too."

Tommy Pico is an indiginous poet, and Junk is a book length poem of couplets that uses modern, fast, text style language. From the Tin House website: "The third book in Tommy Pico’s Teebs trilogy, Junk is a breakup poem in couplets: ice floe and hot lava, a tribute to Janet Jackson and nacho cheese. In the static that follows the loss of a job or an apartment or a boyfriend, what can you grab onto for orientation?" Read an excerpt Here. 

I can assure you that none of these read like Rupi Kaur, Gabbie Hanna, or Atticus. These are serious poets that have spent years honing their form, submitting to journals-- they did the work. And it shows in the quality of their writing.

While I'm not a fan of Atticus and Rupi Kaur and Gabbie Hanna, I can appreciate that they've appealed to people who may have never read a poem before. Now those people have a  newfound love for poetry, and a hunger for more. Hopefully, those people will seek out other poets and expand their knowledge and repertoire of current poets, maybe lesser known poets that do amazing work.

[planetsanswer]

Is Cloud Abusive?

Recently, there was a bit of a drama in the Final Fantasy VII fandom over at the other social media network, Twitter. It was about a scene in the original game, where Cloud beats Aerith after giving the Black Materia to Sephiroth.

There was two sides to the argument. One, that Cloud was mind controlled by Sephiroth to do that. The other, that Cloud did that out of his own accord. I have a very strong opinion on this, based on my knowledge of the game and mental health. I’m no mental health professional, though. And also, we are talking about mind control magic. So this won’t end up being the most scientific piece you read in your life.

That being said, I must add that I have no bad feelings towards the people who disagree with me on this, that Cloud did do it on his own will. I just disagree with them, and I will explain my views in this essay. 

And before we start, some trigger warnings. This piece contains the following: violence, physical abuse, physical violence, mental abuse. At the end, I draw comparisons to situations where we are forced to do things we don’t want, and situations we are taken advantage of (like manipulation and/or forced to take drugs). Please don’t read this if any of that makes you uncomfortable. If it doesn’t make you uncomfortable, I hope you enjoy the essay. So, buckle up. Is Cloud abusive?

JENOVA is the calamity that fell from the sky and destroyed almost every living Cetra on the Planet. She had the power to take the likeness and memories of someone else in order to fool and manipulate her victims. And just like that, she spread an illness that basically consisted of inserting her own genes in her preys, transforming them into monsters.

When JENOVA’s parts are separated, they want to reunite with the core. That’s the Reunion Theory, when all victims with her ‘virus’ are influenced by her genes to reunite and become one once again. That’s how JENOVA has control over her victims.

Five years before the events of the original game, after the Nibelheim Incident, Cloud and Zack were tested on by Shinra scientists. Zack was a SOLDIER member, so his body was used to having JENOVA cells implanted on him, as SOLDIERs would have to deal with that. Cloud, on the other hand, was no SOLDIER member and was not used to the treatment. That’s why the testing took a bigger toll on Cloud than it did Zack.

So, both Zack, Cloud and any other member of SOLDIER would participate in the Reunion and would’ve been able to be manipulated by JENOVA. Sephiroth is her biological son, so obviously he has the virus within him, thus making him someone manipulated by JENOVA, correct? To an extent.

Sephiroth's will is much stronger than the average person, and stronger than JENOVA’s. Sephiroth is able to control JENOVA, who is able to control every person with the virus. In short, Sephiroth is able to control anyone with the JENOVA cells within them. That includes the clones, the people tested in Nibelheim and, obviously Cloud. Even Zack if he were alive.

...I'm not wild about the failure part, but the Jenova Reunion Theory has now been proven. You see, even if Jenova's body is dismembered, it will eventually become one again. That's what is meant by Jenova's Reunion. I have been waiting for the Reunion to start. Five years have passed, and now the Clones have begun to return. I thought the clones would begin to gather at Midgar where Jenova is stored. But my predictions were not entirely correct. Jenova itself began to move away from the Shinra Building. But being a genius that I am, I soon figured it out. You see it was all Sephiroth's doing. Sephiroth is not just content to diffuse his will into the Lifestream; he wants to manipulate the Clones himself.

— Professor Hojo, Northern Crater (CD2)

So now we know who was in charge of the manipulation: Sephiroth, through his mother JENOVA, was able to mind control Cloud throughout most of the story. It’s arguable that for most of CD1, that’s why Cloud was chasing Sephiroth with all his might. Not to set the score, but because he was manipulated to do so. Because his JENOVA cells wanted to attend the Reunion.

Now that we know how Sephiroth manipulated Cloud, we must dive into why. Sephiroth’s plan goes as the following:

Get someone with the JENOVA cells to find the Black Materia and take it to his body;

Harness the energy from the Black Materia in order to revive himself (Up until this, the Sephiroth we see running around is actually JENOVA taking his likeness. Sephiroth is controlling everything from the LIFESTREAM);

Again using the Black Materia, summon the Ultimate Destructive Magic: Meteor. This would leave a crater bigger than when JENOVA fell from the sky;

Sephiroth would, then, stand in the middle of this new crater;

The Planet, in an attempt to heal itself, would send an enormous amount of energy to the crater;

Standing in the middle of this, Sephiroth would then absorb all the energy from the Planet;

The Planet would die, Sephiroth would reach god like power;

He then would most likely use the remaining of the Planet to travel to other Planets and repeat the process, it’s not very clear.

There are two things standing on the way to his goal: not having Black Materia in his hands, and the power of the last living Cetra, Aerith. Even if Sephiroth successfully obtains the Black Materia, Aerith can still summon Holy through the White Materia and protect the Planet from Meteor’s impact.

How does he fix this? Well... When Cloud, Aerith and the rest of the party successfully obtain the Black Materia, Sephiroth bends Cloud’s will and mind controls him into handing it over to him. 

I will be using screen-shots from the scene Cloud hands over the Black Materia at the ruins of the Temple of the Ancients to illustrate my point. For further enlightenment, I would recommend watching the video after reading my analysis.

We, as the player, lose all control of Cloud. We are Cloud, what he does is our choice. What he says in some dialogues is our choice. Who he takes on the date is our choice. The fact that we, as the player, can’t control Cloud anymore shows that Cloud is being controlled by someone else. He is moving on his own towards Sephiroth.

While he’s doing that, we have control of a tiny version of Cloud. His 6 year old self, that later in the LIFESTREAM sequence with Tifa, we learn is ‘the real Cloud’. The fact that we can control this specific Cloud confirms he is the real Cloud. The Cloud the player has control over is the Cloud we choose the dialogue, who he dates, everything. That’s the real Cloud. And through the whole scene he is screaming ‘no!’ while trying to avoid the ‘delivery’ from happening.

We now know that having baby Cloud on the same scene as regular, adult Cloud, symbolizes that Cloud has lost control of his body and is forced to see the actions of someone else using him as a vessel. This is very important to the next scene.

Mind-controlled Cloud hands over the Black Materia to Sephiroth. At that moment, Sephiroth was very close to reviving himself. The plan he was scheming for over 5 years was finally bearing fruit. All he had to do was take that Black Materia up North and there was nothing that could stay on his way from summoning Meteor and achieving his gol.

Except for Aerith, and Aerith was right in front of a mind controlled Cloud. At that very moment, Sephiroth has an idea. An idea of having Cloud’s body beat Aerith to death.

Upon Sephiroth’s (well, technically JENOVA with Sephiroth’s likeness) leaving, Cloud regains control of himself. How do we know that? Baby Cloud is nowhere to be seen, so we can assume he is back in control of Cloud’s body. We are back in control of Cloud’s body.

Cloud falls to the ground, and Aerith consoles him, telling him what happened was not his fault. She is aware of what Sephiroth is doing.

Cloud stands up, and the moment he pushes Aerith to the ground, adult Cloud and baby Cloud are separated again. We learned in the previous scene that when that happens is because Cloud has lost control of his body once again. This is when ‘Cloud’ starts beating Aerith.

Baby Cloud disappears once again when whoever party member you brought with you climbs down and knocks Cloud out, in order to get him to stop beating Aerith. Everything turns white, and the scene ends. Just like when he handed the Black Materia over, Cloud does not remember what he did.

Taking these facts into consideration, paying attention to the scene once again and analyzing these details, it is impossible to say Cloud did any of this in his own accord. Something that further proves that he was being mind controlled, and that it was Sephiroth’s intent to have him kill Aerith, is that Sephiroth tries to mind control Cloud into killing her once again in Forgotten Capital.

Cloud himself is very well aware of what Sephiroth is trying to make him do. He voices this when he breaks out of Sephiroth’s control (for the first time!) and says: “Ugh... what are you making me do.” He knows these violent actions towards Aerith are not his, and after talking to Aerith in his dream, he is now able to break out of Sephiroth’s control. After all, the only plot scene about his mental health between these two scenes is their conversation in his dream. He mentions being scared to Tifa and Barret, but it was Aerith who told him to ‘really worry about it’.

When Cloud breaks out of Sephiroth’s control in Forgotten Capital, Cloud’s will is stronger than Sephiroth’s or JENOVA’s. That’s why Sephiroth decides to murder Aerith himself (technically JENOVA), instead of insisting on Cloud doing the job. Because it ended up being easier to do it than to battle Cloud for control over his body.

Cloud not wanting to do more harm to Aerith is what breaks Sephiroth’s mind control. This means that, with Aerith’s help, Cloud’s will to remain in control of his body was the strongest it would ever get. Sadly, Aerith’s death, his past and finding out his memories were all wrong weakens his mind and will, making room for Sephiroth to be able to control him more times throughout the game.

So, in conclusion, Cloud was never abusive. He was never violent towards Aerith, Sephiroth (with the control of Cloud’s body) was. The real abuser here is Sephiroth. He violated Cloud’s mind and body, and inflicted physical abuse on Aerith in two separate occasions, one leading to her death.

This is not “making excuses” to an abuser, this is understanding what happened in the scene. We can’t compare it to real life because there is no magical mind control powers. But there are drugs that can alter your behavior or make you unconscious. We should compare JENOVA cells being implanted on Cloud against his will, and this resulting in someone else taking advantage of him to a real life scenario, where people are drugged against their will so their assailants can take advantage of them and the situation. 

Both Cloud and Aerith were victims of Sephiroth’s abuse.

[rewrite-the-wrongs]

introductions / howdy, pardner

My first short story was about a fishboy and his human best friend. They battled a mutant piranha (whose name I think may have been Mutant Piranha, such was the monumental daring of my creative endeavor) and his army, who were out to destroy a mountain that held a whole planet together. The boys won singlehandedly, because scale was apparently a bit of a mystery to me.

This was the second grade. My teacher--who held me every day as I cried for weeks, confused and miserable and stranded in the throes of my parents’ divorce--understood before I did that I create to a ploddingly slow and steady drumbeat. A sentence is always so much more in my head than I’m able to let out, at first; I have to pore over it again and again, fleshing and flourishing (and often correcting) it, the same way I often have to reread paragraphs or pages or whole books to truly capture their meaning. In a word processor, this back-and-forth is as easily said as it is done; on double-wide ruled paper with dashed-line handwriting guides, the task is magnitudes more time-consuming, especially for somebody as messy as I am. So, while nearly everybody else played at recess on the sandlot and the jungle gym around us, a select few stragglers laid our reading folders on our laps and finished our stories.

My villain, that dastardly Mutant Piranha, found himself in prison at the story’s close. Awaiting trial, I guess; I never ventured that far ahead, seeing the big fishy bastard for a coward. “When no one was looking, he stabbed himself.” That’s the last line, stuck in my memory, not for its own sake, but for my poor teacher’s horrified face as she read my final draft there on the playground.

A mom volunteered to type up the class’ stories and get them printed and bound. For years afterward I reread that collection, always proud to have written the second-longest piece therein. I felt the weight of the pages, inhaled the tiny but acrid breeze that came from rapidly leafing through them. Knew it was a whole smattering of worlds inside, that one of those worlds was wholly mine, and I had the power to show it to people however I wished. Yes, I thought, I want this.

*

I’ve been introduced to writing many times over, by many people. Don’t get me wrong--I nightowled the first several chapters to many half-baked novel concepts all through my youth. But teachers have a way of showing a thing to you from new angles.

The first person to impact me as such was a high school teacher who was essentially given carte-blanche to construct a creative writing workshop in the English curriculum. The first semester was structured--you practiced poems, short fiction, humor and essay writing, drama, the gamut. Every semester after, the carte-blanche was passed on: A single assignment due a week, each a single draft of a poem or a minimum of two pages’ worth of prose. Forty-five minutes a day to work, and of course free time at home. By the time I graduated, I’d finagled my schedule such that I was spending two periods a day in the computer lab, and several hours after school every day working the literary arts magazine before I went home to get the rest of my homework out of the way and write some more..

My next big influence came in the form of  a pair of writers who taught fiction at my university, a married couple. One had me print stories and literally, physically cut them up section-by-section as a method of reworking chronologies. Told me stories happened like engines or clocks or programs--pieces that meshed differently depending on how they were put together, rules that held each other in place. The other showed boundless confidence in me, listened happily to some older students who recommended I be brought on board for a national arts mag. They both encouraged me toward grad school, but toward the end of my junior year I began to stumble, and by senior year I was, to be frank, a drunken asshole. Time I could be bothered to set aside for writing began to dwindle. I limped through the editorship with the help of my extremely talented, utterly more-than-worthy successor--and come to think of it, I’ve never truly thanked her. Maybe I’ll send her that message, now that I’m feeling more myself.

*

On feeling more myself:

That drunken rage was brought on by a myriad list of factors, the primary ones being 1) I am the child of recovering alcoholics, and our inherited family trauma runs deep, 2) An assault that will likely be mentioned no further from hereon in, as I have reached a solid level of catharsis about it, 3) Some toxic-ass relationship issues, and 4) I was a massive egg and had no idea (or, really, I had some idea, just not the language or understanding or even the proper empathy to eloquently and effectively explore it).

I had a recent relapse with drinking, technically--a mimosa at Christmas breakfast at my partner’s parents’ home--but I’m not honestly sure I can call it a legitimate relapse. I’m not in any official self-help group, I’ve never engaged in the twelve steps or a professional rehabilitation. I had a very wonderful therapist for a few years but reached a point at which I could not pay her any longer and we parted ways--I miss her dearly, as she truly became my friend and confidante; she was the first person I came out to, and very well-equipped to handle it, lucky for me--but I’m still on behavioral medication. That tiny smidgen of alcohol pushed my antidepressants right out of my brain, and I became terribly anxious and angry and sad all at once, and briefly lashed out during a conversation with my partner behind closed doors. Not nearly the lashing out I’ve released in the now-distant past--more on that maybe-never, but who knows, as I am obviously a chronic over-sharer.

Frankly, I don’t deserve my partner. She endured my past abuses, told me to my face I had to be better, and found it in herself to wait for me to grow. She’s endlessly and tirelessly supportive of me. She sat with me to help me maintain the nerve to start this blog tonight. I came out to her as a trans woman just under a year ago, now, and I’m happier than ever, and we communicate better than ever. Our relationship is, bar-none, the healthiest and stablest and happiest I’ve ever been in.

So, naturally, I apologized fairly quickly at Christmas, and continuing where I’d left off at two and a half years, decided I’m still solid without booze.

If we’re all being honest, though (and I’m doing my best to be one hundred percent honest, here, though I will absolutely be censoring names because no shit), I still smoke way too much fuckin’ weed. High as balls, right now. 420 blaze it, all day erryday, bruh. That self-medicated ADHD life. I should be on Adderall and not antidepressants, probably, but it’s been a while since an appointment and psychiatrists are expensive, so I’m at where I’m at for now. Sativas help a lot. It helps with the dysphoria, too.

I don’t have a legal diagnosis for gender dysphoria, but tell that to my extreme urge to both be in and have a vagina. I’m making little changes--my hair, an outfit at a time, no longer policing how I walk or run or how much emphasis I put on S sounds. If I manage to come out to my parents sometime soon--and it feels like that moment is closer every day--maybe I’ll tell y’all my real, full chosen name. For right now, call me Easy.

*

Anyhow. My goals here are pretty simple:

1) Share words, both those by people I like/admire/sometimes know! and occasionally words I’ve made that I like. See the above screenshot from my notes app. Steal some words if you want, but if you manage to make money off some of mine, holler at ya gurl’s Venmo, yeah?

2) Discuss words, how they work, and how we create them, use them, engage with them, and ultimately make art of them. I am not a professional linguist, but I went to undergrad for creative writing, so, hey, I’ll have opinions and do my best to back them up with ideas from people smarter than I am.

3) Books! Read them, revisit them, quote them, talk about them, sometimes maybe even review them, if I’m feeling particularly bold. No writer can exist in a vacuum, and any writer who insists they don’t like to read is either a) dyslexic and prefers audiobooks or b) in serious need of switching to a communications major (no shade, but also definitely a little shade @corporate journalism).

5) I added this last, but I feel it’s less important than 4 and does not deserve bookend status, and I am verbose but incredibly lazy, so here I am, fucking with the system. Anyway: Art! Music! Video games! I fucking love them. I’ll talk about them, sometimes, too. Maybe I’ll finally do some of the ekphrastic work I’ve felt rattling around in my brain for a while now. Jade Cocoon 2′s Water Wormhole Forest, looking right the fuck at you.

6) Ah, shit, I did it again. Oh well. Last-but-not-last: This is obviously, in some ways, a diary, or a massive personal essay. I will sometimes discuss people, places, or experiences that have informed my work just the same as other people’s art has.

4) Be an unabashed and open Trans woman. TERFs, transphobes, ill-informed biological essentialists not permitted. Come at me and my girldick and prepare to be dunked on and subsequently shown the door via a swift and painful steel-toed kick in the ass. Everybody who doesn’t suck, if I screw up on any matter of socio-ethics or respect for diversity, please feel free to correct me.

*

Punk’s dead, but we’re a generation of motherfucking necromancers. Be gay, do crime, fight the patriarchy, and fart when you gotta. May the Great Old Ones select you to ascend to a higher plane and learn the terrible truths of existence.

Much love--

Easy

[sht-ccshippers-say]

So since the tinhats have to follow each other with everything, kfs has followed Abby with their own essay response to the same anon ask. So time for another tinhat breakdown!

I was going to respond to an ask and reply found on @ajw720 blog (reblogged below), however, I thought I would do so as a post. 

Both the ask and the reply are brilliant and state the facts as we CCer’s believe. 

Just because CrissColfer shippers believe something does not make it a fact. A fact is something that is proven to be true. Nothing tinhats say can be proven. It is opinion and conjecture.

I found this transaction had a peacefulness to it which stimulated thought. To me this is what supporting D & C is all about.  The words are sincere and non-inflammatory while stating personal opinion. This is how, in my view, asks and replies should be – sticking to the facts as we know it, while trying keeping emotion out of it.

When have tinhats ever kept emotion out of anything? If you were keeping emotion out of it, you would not be so angered by the mere presence of a woman who has never done anything to you.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I know keeping emotions out of things is hard. We are all human after all. The question is, how do express them? Negatively or positively?

I have been advised by several CCer’s to ignore what many call ‘hate”, but I prefer to call it negative emotion. These types of emotions are often meant to provoke or will provoke an equal response. To be perfectly honesty, there are many of our posts which, I believe, impact us CCer’s in an adverse fashion. In my opinion, these emotionally charged replies or independent posts makes us look bad.

“I prefer to call it negative emotion”....is this tinhat trying to gaslight their own fandom? Is this what is happening here?

And FYI, every single Tinhat/ CrissColfer post makes you all look bad. Because every single one stems from hate and is based in insults.

That said, I have to admit, I found what I call CCland through a nasty tweet from M directed at @ajw720. 

Does anybody have any idea which tweet they might be referring to here? I haven’t heard this fabricated story from tinhats before. Seriously, Abby would be screaming about this 24/7, if Mia had tweeted her. Unless, of course, Mia was responding to something disgusting Abby had said. Also doesn't Abby constantly scream not to contact the “players” directly? This story here does not add up- like everything else in CC Fantasy land.

I do no know if @awj720 responded to that tweet, nor do I know what M was responding to (therefore you were making assumptions on something that you did not have all the information about)  however, it captured my interest. Such word (M’s) tend to be defensive and defensive people usually have something to hide. <---- This here is exactly gaslighting.

 I searched for @awj720 and what I found gave me reason to stop doubting what I thought about D’s sexuality and his love for C. 

You found other people willing to validate your fantasies without any actual proof. 

I have been involved long enough to see what is being said on the many sides of the CC discussion. Those who oppose us, call us ‘haters’ and we call them ‘haters’. They sprout nastiness and we sprout nastiness. Lately I have been considering my place in this fandom. A few weeks ago, I posted about ‘Hate’ and I found it disturbing how some in this fandom allow their ‘hate’ of one person or a group of people influenced their responses and posts. Hate is a negative emotion which consumes and blinds. As a Buddhist it is an emotion which clouds the minds to bigger and better things.

If you are so opposed to hate, then why do you engage with people and blogs who do nothing but hate?

We state we are here to support D & C. What is support?

But you are not actually supporting them in any way, unless we are talking financially when you purchase tickets, books etc. You are sustaining them in any way, or bolstering them or assisting them, because you are not a part of their life.

When I look at this list of words, I do not see negativity. I see positive. In my experience, I have found that negative emotion tends to breed two things: 1) usually negative emotion, 2) and, perhaps later, compassion. Positive emotion has a habit of breeding positive emotion. Anything that is negative can be made positive with careful thought and craftsmanship of words and deeds. It only takes one rash action to take something positive and make it negative. Reaction with emotion is easy but turning it into something positive can be difficult.

Let’s just add lots of words, when only a few would suffice, to make me sound like I know what I’m talking about.

Seriously, how long is this post?

Trashing a bar because of who owns it or ripping at what one person or photoshopping trashcans on someone’s face does not paint a good picture of us CCer’s.  All these things galvanize those who oppose our point of view making them angry and replying in kind. I am going to be blunt–it is childish. However, we can take the high road and make something negative a positive. That takes calm thinking and careful play with words. The idea is not to respond or post kind but to use calm, thought provoking words.

So you are calling out your fandom, but I bet you are going to continue to reblog the people doing these thing, thus reinforcing their choice to be cruel and nasty. This makes you no better than them. Practice what you preach, tinhat.

Supporting D & C is not trashing those who control him but rather by looking at these words and using them to advocate, sustain, bolster, buoy, stand behind the two of them. 

Yeah, again, you cannot actually do these things because you are not really there for them. Your platitudes are all for nothing.

 I see us doing this by highlighting the fact D loves to sing. C loves to write. They both love to act and have each won awards. Yes, D goes to that bar to sing but he loves to sing. I believe he is there as part of a contract, but it is love of singing and his fans which keeps him from losing it.

You do realise that you are speaking negatively about Tramp Stamp Granny’s by implying Darren is forced to be there? I thought that you said people need to be positive, not negative?

  Yes, there are things D (and perhaps C) must do for the sake of his contract and that is what is posted the most on SM. We do not see D or C out there enjoying themselves -It is only tinhats who never see these two enjoying themselves because your intense bias prevents you from doing so- (especially with each other- ummm, never with each other. Because they have nothing to do with each other.), or with friends unless it has been approved for release. (Well, we might if some passer by happens to capture it and post it.)

I have to remember that the media industry and the entertainment industry walk hand in hand, and they will not post or print things which hurt their brands. Thus, the common people see the PR story and they have to look elsewhere for the truth.

“Common people”. More gaslighting here. The common people, who are below those in CC Fantasy Land, right? Because anybody who does not subscribe to your version of the truth must be lower than you, right?

They find us, and then they see the negativity. Does that excite the or turn them off? I can’t speak to that, but we have to remember these things. We have to remember we CCer’s are part of the PR apparatus, even though we are volunteers and not backed by a massive industrial machine. We want to have the other side of the coin out there, but we have to play the game as well.

And now they bring in the tinhat inflated sense of self-importance trope. Believing that they actually play some kind of role in Darren and Chris’s life. You are not a part of the PR machine. You are a small fandom, sharing vile lies and insults. You are not playing any game. You are not making ant kind of difference. 

To that end, the ask and reply I noted above, is an outstanding example of good PR from our point of view. It did not make me angry.  It made me think. The result is this post.

When it comes down to it who is right, who is wrong. While I believe D is fighting to have a bigger say in his public life, he has an uphill battle on his hands. We must always remain aware that only those personally involved know the truth. 

^^^^^^^^^^^^!!!!!!!!!!!! In this whole long ass post, there is literally one sentence that makes sense.

They have seen the contracts and know what must and must not be done. Until we see these contracts, or it all becomes public, all we have is our interpretations of pictures, videos, and comments on SM. None of his will stand up in a court of law. But wait? Didn’t you start this post by talking about the facts that CCers believe? Are you now saying that none of you have facts?

Then I have to think, what D & C, their REAL friends and families feel about what we post? 

1. Real friends? You just said that only the people personally involved know the truth? You have no way of knowing who the real friends are etc.

2. THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT WHAT YOU POST. THEY DO NOT SEE WHAT POST!!!!!!

Do they laugh or does he cringe because he fears the backlash? We have to remember that what we post has a ripple effect and we already suspect there have been repercussions.

There is no ripple effect and there have been no repercussions. You are not that important. Sorry.

I and others, have concerns matters will become worse as those who oppose our point of view dig in. Let those who oppose our views speak with negativity, because it only hurts them. Let us show them the other cheek and be crafty with our replies and posts. Again, this is a public forum and there are others, reading along or silently observing, who may or may not like the negativity. There are those who are watching our words for legal reasons such a lawyer from all sides. We must always be aware of repercussions.

Wait? What lawyers do you think are watching your words? 

This does not mean we can’t state our opinions, but we need to do it carefully. If the end is truly on the horizon, we need to ensure we support D & C in a positive manner. A good PR team crafts the message with polish.

But when you state your opinions in a way that is cruel and insulting, that is a problem. And even if you don't say them directly yourself, when you are supporting those that do, you are validating them.

Now, to be clear, this post is a statement of my opinion and I know it may not be popular in some circles. However, I believe we be a positive force in support of our beliefs in D & C. If you feel your hackles going up, step back take a breath, have a tea and then go back to it. Craft your words well and with meaning. Do we always succeed in this, no. Am I innocent in curtailing my negative emotions? – HELL NO– Can I choose to change the way I respond to asks or posts – YES. Do I want to change – YES. I choose to do so because I think this is how we support D & C.

We have to remember, we are responsible only for ourselves, as individuals, because we have no control over what other individuals think or react.

Then stop putting yourselves in a position of responsibility over Darren, his team, Mia etc. 

[thespacebetweenworlds]

idk if you’ll care about this but your thing about the whole “fiction is just fiction” and “fiction doesn’t affect reality” argument is actually not true at all because let’s just say for example: having lgbt, poc, disability rep in books or media isn’t all that important because it doesn’t affect reality.... when it does? it makes a HUGE impact on people. but yes I see where you’re coming from and as a person who hates incest with a passion, I don’t think u guys deserve these threats AT ALL.

Thank you for not thinking I should die a violent death. And thank you for this ask! I love being asked things. And to respond to your point, that fiction does affect reality, with the example of how representation is pretty awesome: that’s a freaking good point you have there, that I agree with - partially.

This Essay is titled: Fiction and Reality and How the everloving Fuck do they interact and what by nathan wesninski’s underpants does that have to do with fandom discourse?

So, beyond the read more you’ll have a compilation of my thoughts on it (that didn’t take several hours to write and edit). I’ll talk about:

1. Definition Of Fiction, Definition Of Reality

2. (How) Does Fiction Affect Reality?

3. Representation In Fiction

4. Who Judges Fanfic?

5. ”this content is problematic,” says you. ”please don’t mention power dynamics,” replies I

6. Censorship

7. A Brief History Of Why Fanfic Is Awesome

8. Links to stuff that might interest you

I’m just gonna. Quickly do that part in radioactive with the deep breath.

To start this, I want to clarify that in the response I made to transneiljosten’s post, I never explicitly said “fiction doesn’t affect reality” or “fiction is just fiction.”

What I did say is this: “Incest in fiction is just that: incest in fiction. It’s. not. real.” And: “I believe everyone should be allowed to write/create what they want - as long as it doesn’t hurt people in real life.”

But yes, the phrases “fiction is just fiction” and “fiction is not reality” have been used often when discussing freedom to write fanfic and when defending content another might call immoral. Not many people have elaborated beyond that, and to be fair - it’s a super big fucking field of study with so many subjective ways to look at it that it’s difficult to put into words.

But I’m gonna go and explain what people mean with those two phrases anyway.

Disclaimer: Remember how I called this a super big fucking field of study? I am no linguist and I have not studied literature. All my knowledge comes from years in fandom and internet research of the topics I personally found interesting. I may be wrong about things I say here, and I am always learning, so feel free to message me. I try my best to discuss controversial topics thoughtfully, respectfully, considerately and carefully, but I am only human and do not know everything. You are welcome to join the discussion.

1. Definition Of Fiction, Definition Of Reality

Going to https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/ to properly look this up:

Reality: The state of things as they actually exist, as opposed to an idealistic or notional idea of them.

Fiction: Literature in the form of prose, especially novels, that describes imaginary events and people.

So I say I don’t study literature (I really don’t) but just a few weeks ago I was in a lecture on the absolute basics of literature science, where I learned this dope sentence:

Die Wirklichkeit in der Kunst ist nur eine auf die außerkünstlerische Wirklichkeit verweisende Wirklichkeit.

Which is German, yes I know. Basically we have the starting point that literature is art, so it’s: "the reality in art is only a reality that refers to the reality outside of art" or, in other words, fiction is only ever fiction and not reality, no matter how close they may seem to be.

In summary, what we can say for sure: Fiction does not equal Reality. They are not the same. Fiction exists because Reality exists.

2. (How) Does Fiction Affect Reality?

Reality affects fiction. But does Fiction affect Reality?

Allow me to quote tumblr user shinelikethunder, who put it very nicely:

“Fiction affects people. And people affect reality.”

Tumblr user muchymozzarella made an important addition (and the blog is really pretty) so to read the post, klick on this link: https://muchymozzarella.tumblr.com/post/167137950299/fiction-is-not-responsible-for-reality

If you read the above post, further reading that might interest you are texts by Immanuel Kant and Arthur Schopenhauer on Free Will. But that wouldn’t be fandom anymore, so like, find philosophy books in your local library and talk to you friends about it.

3. Representation In Fiction

But let’s come back to your question, dear anon: “... the whole “fiction is just fiction” and “fiction doesn’t affect reality” argument is actually not true at all because let’s just say for example: having lgbt, poc, disability rep in books or media isn’t all that important because it doesn’t affect reality.... when it does? it makes a HUGE impact on people.”

You have a great point. Representation in books matters. (If you rec me some nice wlw books I’ll love you forever, there are not enough.)

I am, however, gonna quote my friend of mine, who says it better than I ever could:

“There is a difference between media affecting behaviour and representation in media. Like, violent video games don't actually make you violent. Watching gay cinema isn't going to turn you to the lgbt side unless there was already a disposition there.

People read and write immorality constantly, and even when it's shone in a good light it's usually expected that we as human beings know right from wrong, know fiction from reality. Humanity has explored the happy shiny purity of the universe and the horrific grittiness since... Well probably forever, for a variety of reasons. And in recent years the way we consume media has intensified drastically. Our consumption is interactive, our interaction is globally influenced and sometimes that is good, but we've also given ourselves the right to witch-hunt without a lot of information, or because things don't go as you planned. Real people are always more important than fictional people.

Stand up for representation. Stand up for good representation. But if you're smart enough to understand morality in reality, that isn't going to suddenly go away if you read some incest fics... And hey if you do suddenly want to kiss your brother, that's something for you to deal with and it isn't fan fiction's fault.”

Representation in books matters. Why does it matter? Because the real world is so much more diverse than popular media might make you think. Fight against the patriarchy, not against random people on the internet.

4. Who Judges Fanfic?

Fanfic is written by fans. It’s also written for fans, but more than that, it’s written by fans. I’m not gonna say only teenage girls write fanfiction, because that’s not true. Fans write fanfiction. And everyone can be a fan.

Ozhawkauthor said:

“You are not paying for fanworks content, and you have no rights to it other than to choose to consume it, or not consume it. If you do choose to consume it, do not then attack the creator if it wasn’t to your taste. That’s the height of bad manners.

Be courteous in fandom. It makes the whole experience better for all of us.”

So why are “antis” suddenly here, declaring this ship and those characters off limits and to be hated on?

Specifically, what the fuck are fans that attack or judge other fans on?

To quote shinelikethunder (again): “Fiction needn’t be educational and fiction doesn’t always have clear-cut endorsements of who’s in the right. But the discussion that happens around fiction can include both.”

But to answer the question above: Who Judges Fanfic? Not. You.

5. ”this content is problematic,” says you. ”please don’t mention power dynamics,” replies I

Hypothetical situation:

I write a fanfic. My protagonist is Riko Moriyama, who is, in canon, a sadistic asshole that is so morally black that his own brother, Ichirou, who is also morally black, kills him in the end. It doesn’t matter what I write, or who I ship him with, in this hypothetical situation.

You appear, you read the fic or you don’t read the fic. You say: “This content is problematic.”

I quiver. I know you don’t like Riko Moriyama. I know you don’t approve of my shipping choice. “Please don’t mention power dynamics,” I reply.

“This relationship is toxic,” you say. “There are unhealthy power dynamics at play.”

And like, fuck, I know? I wrote it.

Obviously. Obviously I could reply with that ancient, age old phrase “Don’t Like Don’t Read.”

But I already made a similar post about that.

6. Censorship

I’m writing this post to fight against censorship in fandom. (The day I am typing this up on was the day I went to a demonstration against articles 11 and 17, earlier 13, in the copyright reform in the EU, and to protest for a free internet.)

Censorship.

What does that even mean? The Oxford English Dictionary says:

Censorship: The suppression or prohibition of any parts of books, films, news, etc. that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to security.

Here’s the wikipedia article.

In my opinion, every person, regardless of whether or not they call themselves “anti” who tells someone else that their fanfic is disgusting and wrong and should be deleted, based on subjective ideas of moral, is trying to enforce censorship. So don’t. Don’t do that.

“But,” you might say. “Riko is not a good person.”

And you know what? You’re absolutely right. He’s not. Neither is any of the Foxes.

And this is why none of the antis make sense. In one post, they condemn Roland - a perfectly normal minor character, and in the next post they call Andrew Minyard their soft angel child. Y’all. Not to hate on Andrew Minyard, but he literally drugged Neil? Even though he’s so big on consent, he drugged Neil?

So by saying this and that are problematic and should not be written and the people who do write it should be blocked, you’re kinda hypocritical. Because the All For The Game trilogy is one fucked up piece of media by itself.

And have you ever read a book?

Most books have characters that aren’t completely morally white or morally black, events that aren’t always sunshine, butterflies and rainbows.

And you know what else? That’s a good thing. Because the world isn’t like that either. And more often than not literature addresses topics critically.

Remember The Hunger Games? Exactly.

7. A Brief History Of Why Fanfic Is Awesome

In the beginnings of fanfic and fandom as we know it, slash was illegal in the USA. Fanfiction.net was made in like 1998, and during the first few years when fanfic got more attention with the rise of the internet, restrictions were made.

Much like tumblr in december 2018, except worse, fanfiction.net purged explicit content. Livejournal, the journaling platform where lots of fandom stuff happened before tumblr, is known for strikethrough, a big, unannounced deletion of fannish content. Because of those purges and restrictions, ao3 was originally made. I’m not trying to paint ao3 as the heroes that saved fandom, well I kinda am, and they are doing great things so that fanfiction can exist and remain accessible.

I think fiction is not just fiction. But fiction is just fiction in the sense that it doesn’t have any direct influence on the real world. We are all allowed to write whatever we want.

Disclaimer: We are all allowed to write whatever we want, except when we call for violence towards others in real life. Further disclaimer: Calling for violence towards others is illegal. Hate speech is illegal. Violent threats are illegal. Promotion of self-harm is illegal. Death threats are illegal.

To come back to fandom: Shipping or not shipping something has nothing to do with morals. Hating on people who ship “unhealthy power dynamics/problematic ships” does not give you the moral high ground. It makes you an asshole. For the love of Riko’s stinky socks, use the blocking feature.

My friend iknowwhoyouaredamianos said: “Hating people irl, lashing out against them, that's the real cruelty. That's so much worse than writing about something fictional.”

If you hate on real people, there is no trigger warning. You can’t don’t-like-don’t-read hate. It will affect that person’s life negatively, whether you intend to do so or not. Don’t be assholes, dears.

Thank you to my friend, and to iknowwhoyouaredamianos for letting me quote you and joining the discussion; and to foxsoulcourt for so many reasons.

Who knew that writing over 2000 words on fandom would be fun?

Dear anon, I hope I answered your question.

I’m gonna conclude this post with the Three Laws of Fandom:

I. Don’t Like; Don’t Read.

II. Your Kink Is Not My Kink.

III. Ship And Let Ship.

8. Links To Stuff That Might Be Of Interest

If you read all of the above and still feel like you don’t understand, have this awesome post by destinationtoast: How to not like fictional things (and not be a dick about it)

Podcasts on fandom culture by fansplaining:

Episode 84: Purity Culture

Episode 85: Age and Fandom

Episode 86: The Money Question

Episode 87: What we discourse about when we discourse about the discourse

Fandom positivity posts I reblogged (because y’all need it):

short post on staying positive in fandom

when discourse gets too stressful

important advice especially for those of you younger than 15 (but also older)

Tumblr user freedom-of-fanfic is writing lots of essays on lots of fandom things, here are some those more or less directly relate to this:

On criticising: Free to write whatever, free to criticise whatever?

A post on Fiction & Reality that answers a question very similar to the one I answered,

and Why fanworks are such a convenient social scrapegoat (kinda a socioeconomical discussion of USA-centric fandom)

There is also a very extensive FAQ by freedom-of-fanfic, with lots of very important writings on fandom culture on tumblr.

Unrelated, but if you’re interested in more of fandom, fanfic, and statistics of both:

http://destinationtoast.tumblr.com/stats

Interesting stuff on Fanlore: Purity Culture in Fandom, AO3 & Censorship, The Advantages of Fan Fiction as an Art Form.

An article on the free speech debate in fandom

Dreamwidth’s Diversity Statement, and Ao3’s Diversity Statement

A cool (and unrelated) thing: Femslash can save the world if we let it

Happy reading, and I hope you learned something.

[dueessay]

mingxinwrite为广大留学生朋友在线上提供essay代写、论文修改润色等相关服务，mingxinwrite不断努力，各个学科的代写专家分布于全球各个地区.我们以留学论文定制写作essay代写为主要服务方向，不管你是寻找英语母语写手还是开展留学申请文书精修、英文论文修改润色、北美论文代写等,我们都会提供最好的服务，不断努力，不断前进，不断提升服务质量，把最优的留学论文解决方案提供给您. https://www.mingxinwrite.com/zhuce 下面为大家整理一篇优秀的essay代写范文 -- Case Study: A case study of the "Always Be a Girl" movement，文章讲述自1983年1月以来，Always一直在明尼苏达州进行测试，并在不久后进入美国市场。同时，Always在欧洲和中东一些国家/地区都有销售。如今，Always的女性护理产品在世界各地都很流行。2013年，Always在全世界范围内发起了一场运动。它使用了常用的侮辱“像一个女孩”，并试图通过制作一些广告将其含义更改为“彻头彻尾的惊人”。因为当人们说“你做的像女孩一样”时，这听起来像是一种侮辱。这场运动制作了一段录像，记录了人们如何表达“像一个女孩”这个短语，并希望改变它的含义。 Case Study: A case study of the "Always Be a Girl" movement 1. Executive summary Since January, 1983，Always started to be tested in Minnesota and was brought in the United State market soon after. Meanwhile, Always was sold in Europe and some countries in the Middle East. Nowadays, the products of feminine care from Always are popular all around the world. In 2013, Always began a campaign around the world. It used a commonly-used insult "like a girl" and tried to change the meaning to "downright amazing" through creating some advertisement. Because when people say ‘you do something like a girl’, it sounds like an insult. The campaign created a video that recorded how people express the phrase "like a girl" and want to change the meaning of it. According to Judy John, the chief executive officer of Leo Burnett Canada, Always reaches out to girls who are likely to become the future of the brand. Girls usually rely on Always during their adolescence, a period that makes they feel unconfident and clumsy. Meanwhile, research of the campaign showed that many women expressed that their confidence declined in some ways at puberty. The purpose of the brand was clear, to give girls powerful support when they are experiencing a tough time. The aim of this essay is to use some PR theories to analyze the implication of the campaign in terms of culture, society and the public, and it examines the strategies that the campaign used.

2. Analysis

First, I present an overview of the main theoretical concepts associated with cultural capital and gender theories in particular. The theories about capital from Bourdieu will be used in this paper. According to Bourdieu (1990), cited in Ihlen (2009), capital is a trained product according to labour need, and it is not natural (Ihlen 2009). Meanwhile, Bourdieu divided capital into three specific forms: economic capital, social capital and cultural capital. Cultural capital contains knowledge, skills and educational qualifications. It is important to the formation of people's taste and value. According to Gayo-Cal.et.al (2006), cultural capital is based on family background and education, and there is a link between cultural capital and symbolic power. Bourdieu (1997), cited in Edward (2008), showed that cultural capital is the basic foundation of other forms of capital. Cultural capital is formed, with the aid of familial influence, by connecting different factors in social world such as the loyalty of family, and good manners. These behaviors help them to improve their individual quality. The abilities of cultural capital are transferred through the process of socialization. It seems like that different individuals hold different cultural capital and they can use it to find their own social position (Edward, 2008). Therefore, cultural capital is not only important to individuals, but also vital to the society. Society consists of different individuals, if everyone has a high standard of cultural capital, the society will be better.

On the other hand, the theories of gender are quite useful to analyzing the campaign. According to Bem (1981), differences between male and female exist in every society. Our society always gives the two sexes different tasks. Based on these tasks, people always define gender in the way that is imposed upon us by the society. Then the public will keep the mind and teach their children how to express their gender.

Based on Butler (1990, p179), gender is not totally natural because culture also shapes gender in some ways by expressing some connotations for a particular sex throughout the years. For example, men are strong, while women are weak; heterosexuality is normal, while homosexual is unmoral. People learned how to display gender from cultural customs (Butler, 1990). At the same time, gender schema is a quite unsure area in our society. It is hard to define women and men in public relations. However, our society began to think about the relationship between the two sexes, and thought about the power of public relationship in affecting the gender schema in society (Daymon, Christine, 2013)

2.1 Strategies of the campaign

Then, this paper will analyze the strategies and tactic which the campaign used. Meanwhile, the implications of the campaign will be shown and it will discuss the impact on culture, society and the public.

When girls reach puberty, they tend to exhibit a declination in confidence. Some harmful phrases will let girls to cast doubt on their own power at this sensitive time. Always found that the phrase 'like a girl' may have some negative impacts on girls' lives. Therefore, Always began this campaign to try to give a new meaning to the phrase 'like a girl' to help girls out of their sensitive period.

When assessing the campaign, it is important to examine the management strategies of Always. First, Always used leverage research data. Company used the insights and data in order to increase the news value and campaign credibility. Before the company produced the video, they did some researches. By performing those research, Always understood the elements and other insights of girl’s confidence at puberty. They found that girls experienced the biggest drop in confidence. The phrase 'like a girl' has become an insult. These results can help them to grasp the key ideas in the campaign. Then, the campaign introduced the hash tag. The company knew that if they want to change the meaning of the phrase, they must introduce the social hash tag #likeagirl as a slogan, to let the world know girls can do something amazing just 'like a girl'. Launching the video was important in our life. Mass media always attracts people in the first time. Always used the media's ability to expand the campaign's popularity. The Always 'like a girl' video was published on Always' YouTube site on June 26th. Before publishing of the video, some famous bloggers shared it on their social websites to help it spread. After publishing, the company used online and broadcast media to pay close attention to the gender trouble problem and feminism. The strategic media outreach ensured that the campaign receives high attention in the society. Celebrities were also invited to take part in the campaign. Celebrities including Tyler Oakley, Sarah Silverman and Kristen Bell shared the video and message in their blog or social website. The incorporation of celebrities undoubtedly attracted more attention for Always from the mass public. Meanwhile, Facebook and Twitter, the two most famous social platforms around the world, were used as a live news desk. They monitored and took part in the real time and maximized social sharing. At last, 'like a girl' was not a campaign in limited place, but a global campaign. Apart from success in North America, the campaign as also spread to 20 other markets across the whole world.

2.2 Cultural Capital Theory

When we analyse the campaign, it is important to understand the meaning of cultural capital. According to Bourdieu, cited in Ihlen.et.al (2009), cultural capital is a kind of accumulated labour. It can affect people's value and taste. It might shape a person to some extent. Bourdieu showed that specific resources or cultural capital were linked to taste cultures and it is able to divide people into different groups. On the other hand, it may affect people's estimate to the society and events (Leiss and Botterill, 2005)

That is why Always Company created the campaign. From this campaign, many people realized that our society has some misunderstanding of the meaning of 'girl' and forced girls to act like a girl in some wrong way. In the video of the campaign, when the producer asked grownups to run 'like a girl' or to fight 'like a girl', people always showed signs of weakness and shyness. It looks like the society considers girls' with only powerless images. However, when the producer asked the little girls to run 'like a girl', they just run like themselves, trying their best. In my view, it confirms Bourdieu's viewpoint that cultural capital could affect the action and concept of people. Little girls have not contacted with the society too much, a fact that allowed them to keep their own opinion about things in some ways.

The campaign is very meaningful. It tried to change the concept of cultural capital of people they had previously known before. Once the video of the campaign is produced, it began to spread the message and encourage females to rethink about their location in the society. Females are encouraged to exhibit critical thinking and cast doubt the message they receive from their culture instead of simply accepting everything that they were told.

Meanwhile, it makes people realize that using the phrase 'like a girl' to describe someone who did something bad is an insult. The campaign changed the public's awareness and transformed the way how people think about the phrase. It is another way to change the culture that people achieved. According to Ihlen (2009, p72), Bourdieu's work showed that the values and relations of social space are passed on from this generation to the next. Cultural capital always has this function. As a consequence, the campaign might change the things which were passed on to the next generations. It helps girls, women and the public realised how powerful females are. Maybe after the campaign, when using the phrase 'like a girl', it means you did something superb. On the other hand, by watching the video, girls began to think about which things are truly right for them to do. It means females have more freedom to do the things they really wanted to do. No one will blame them because the actions that they are performing does not confirm to the definitions of a girl or does not make them look like a girl. Hopefully this idea will be passed on to the next generation to form a positive and useful cultural capital.

The campaign is also quite meaningful for society. It started as a small social event and gained a remarkable achievement when it was spread all over the world. It makes #LikeAGirl video become one of the most popular videos in 2013. Meanwhile, based on the brand research, about 81% women support the campaign and was touched by the inspiring video. Additionally, the video achieved 76MM total global video views on YouTube from 150 countries, and more than one million people shared the video. The program achieved 4.5 billion impressions around the globe, including 1.7b in the U.S., 1.6b in the UK, 418m in France, 302m in China, 148m in Germany, 63m in Brazil, 41m in Mexico and 32m in Turkey. The program garnered more than 290 million social impressions and 133 thousand social mentions with #LikeAGirl.

Bourdieu's theory discovered the format in which the society is linked to the individual. While people is one of the main elements that created the society, the society in turn influences and changes people (Ihlen).

This theory signified that the event made a meaningful effect to our society. The more people take part in the campaign means that the more behaviour in the society will be changed. The people who watched the video or shared it with the others will gain a new concept. Individuals are linked to the society and no one can live along, separated from the society. If we make change the general mind set of individuals in the society, our society might be changed by us. Before the video, it seems as if the society is imposing too many limitations for females. Since the campaign, the situation might be able to change and it is believed that our society will transform in a positive way in the near future.

2.3 the Gender Theory

On the other hand, the society thinks highly of gender trouble in the recent years. Although the position of females is improved, gender trouble still exists. Daymon and Christ (1952) showed that gender inequalities do exist in our society. Feminist movement were always met with resistance, and the inherent gender relations were challenged by various feminist activities. Meanwhile, the society is changing every moment, which means that based on social activities, our society will produce a new environment and relationships of gender (Daymon and Christ, 1952). Therefore, the campaign from Always Company showed the common trouble in our society. According to the video, we can find that some people misunderstood the phrase 'like a girl' in a derogatory way. What is more, lots of public work showed that gender bias is common in our society. These researches almost focused on some issues such as wage variance and the under-representation of women in high positions (Daymon and Christ, 1952). The situation affects the relationship between women and the society. It might imply that females are weaker than males.

However, the campaign made people rethink about females and it created some advantageous effect on individuals. It provided a support for girls who needed confidence during their puberty. Always company tried to build a new understanding of the phrase 'like a girl' and rebuild the confidence of females. When girls first contact the brand at their puberty, their confidence is often at the lowest. If someone insults them by using the phrase 'like a girl', it will create some disadvantages in their life. Therefore, Always company tries to give girls power in the sensitive time.

Actually, the doubt about 'man' pointed that we can use 'man' to instead of 'man and 'human'. In addition to words, lots of pictures, magazines, books and museums use the images of men to symbolize humans. Based on the situation, females' rights and roles were covered. It results in another consequence: males became the leader of social development. In the history of females' development around the world, the difference of sex is an obstacle to limit female's progress. On the one hand, gender gap shows the natural difference between the two sexes. On the other hand, the gender gap focuses more on the behavior that the two sexes express. The connotation that females are weaker affects the occupation and education of females. The factor results in the low hierarchy of females in society. Our culture has constantly told us that females are not suitable to take part in competitions. Occupation belongs to males and as long as woman marry the right man, their lives are satisfactory and guaranteed. Therefore when some jobs are believed that they are more suitable to men, women might give up their confidence and choice. The experience from the outside shaped the thoughts of people. If modesty and shyness are the necessary characteristics of females, women will suppress themselves in lots of social places according to the social expectations of females. Hence, self-awareness is not only important for the individual, but also vital for social place of women. Women, even some of the most well-education ones, were always limited by traditional labels in the past. The real opposite aspect of women is not male, but the traditional social expectation of the role of women deeply rooted in their minds. Females got used to see themselves based on the male-biased conceptual scheme. Hence, their personal right is also limited. It is limited to make their dreams and wishes come true. It does not mean after the campaign, every girl can regain confidence and do everything they want to do without any limits. The campaign just opens a gap, providing females opportunities to be themselves. They will not be shameful because they are females. On the contrary, they should be proud of that. In young girls' minds, girl should be strong, powerful and successful. They tried their best to do things that the producer of the video asked them to do. Just like a girl said in the video, we can run like a girl, fight like a girl, even wake up like a girl. That is not something that we should be ashamed of because we are girls. If we do things like a girl and still be the first, then no one would say 'like a girl' is a bad thing.

[jordynsportfolio]

slo reflections

Rhetorical Situation and Genre

A. analyze, compose, and reflect on arguments in a variety of genres, considering the strategies, claims, evidence, and various mediums and technologies that are appropriate to the rhetorical situation

We used this SLO quite frequently this semester, and I feel it may be one of the most important SLO’s we addressed. Working on developing and synthesizing sources/information is critical in making your ideas impactful, and it helps you work toward a better outcome in terms of your assignment. I feel like I did a good job of this throughout all my assignments, and also feel I improved tremendously with finding valuable sources that have a meaningful contribution to my essay. In SWA 1, we had to find sources that would help us develop our speeches for  MWA 1. I chose to emulate Al Gore and his stances on climate change, and during MWA 1, understood the significance of searching for scholarly sources that would make my arguments stronger and more appealing. I decided to focus on climate change in the deeper parts of the ocean because it was something I didn't know a whole lot about, and honestly felt wasn’t talked about enough in the community. Soon enough, I found out why. It is extremely hard to find sources that go into detail on the matter without them being quite short and from sources I didn’t trust 100%. However, with a lot of searching, I found some scholarly articles that ended up being the most important parts of my speech.

Writing as a Social Act

B. describe the social nature of composing, particularly the role of discourse communities at the local, national, and international level

I think all writing is some form of performing social acts. With that being said, there are so many different ways in which opinions and facts can be expressed on a certain topic. For example, when writing about things such as climate change, it is critical to understand that at different levels, the conversation may be vastly different. The US has very different views on climate than the UK, and therefor sources from those two different conversations are going to have different facts and opinions. I felt this was a risky way to build a foundation, so I instead made sure to find objective sources that took into account both sides, but delivered the information in a purely scientific way. Everyone in the class chose a socially impactful topic and orator for their first sequence, and it was so interesting to view the many ways in which different topics were represented and told, and it goes to show the significance of having multiple different views and interpretations on a topic. These interpretations allow for more conversations to open up in their communities, and will--in my personal opinion--lead to more change and open-mindedness in social discourse.

Writing as a Process

C. use multiple approaches for planning, researching, prewriting, composing, assessing, revising, editing, proofreading, collaborating, and incorporating feedback in order to make your compositions stronger in various mediums and using multiple technologies

Dividing each major writing assignment into three parts was a really smart and thoughtful way to go through each of our sequences in class. I have never been one to outline any essays of mine, because I just go with the flow and write it, searching for sources as I write. However, this class has taught me how helpful it is to divide and conquer when composing an essay or speech, and I think my writing in the future will benefit immensely from this SLO. Doing our works cited pages at the beginning of the process was very new to me, and at first I wasn’t a big fan. Yet as I started the process of our MWA 2, I found this method beyond helpful. Gathering sources before beginning the actual writing made my essay ten times better and more effective, because I knew my information beforehand and built my argument on top of that already developed foundation. Not to mention, peer reviews and edits are always extremely helpful, and having a second set of eyes always proves useful. Usually people will find mistakes or flaws that I glossed over, and it helps my grade in the end.

Grammar and Usage

E. Analyze and describe the value of incorporating various languages, dialects and registers in your own and others’ texts

As a Linguistics major, I understand and value the importance of language and dialect inclusion in writing. It’s critical in including every voice and every opinion on a topic, and allows for social discourse on a wider spectrum. Especially on topics that are controversial. I ran into this SLO during the composition of my MWA 2, because of the touchy subject matter of racism propaganda during the Jim Crow era. When writing something like this that relies so heavily on race, it is absolutely vital to include raw pieces of history rather than just a retelling of it. It is very important to include Black voices in a respectful way, especially when they are a part of the subject matter, and if I were to just include random retellings of the Jim Crow era, I could possibly be silencing their voices. This is why most of my sources are from University museums, so as to not have much outside opinion on the matter that isn't a fact. I do think, though, that every topic should include information in other languages, dialects, and registers. Just because their information may not be in English, does not mean it is not valid and useful information.

Reflection

F. Evaluate your development as a writer over the course of the semester and describe how composing in multiple genres and mediums using various technologies can be applied in other contexts to advance your goals

I touched on this a little bit in my ‘about me’ section of the website, but I truly feel I have developed quite a lot as an academic writer during this semester. Writing in a multitude of different ways and in different genres was really fun and helped me find topics to write about that I felt very passionate about. Doing this work throughout the semester has allowed me to exercise my writing in a beneficial way that will further help me in the future, especially as my major heavily relies on research papers and synthesizing sources to my paper’s benefit. I love writing anyways, but I have watched my ability to write well, thought out essays improve a lot since I’ve been in college, and I hope I can improve even more. I especially enjoyed the creative revision of this project, because it was a fun and interesting way to convert a paper from one medium to another. I am a big fan of watching/listening to video essays on YouTube, so I was excited at the idea of turning my speech from MWA 1 into a longer and more detailed video essay. 

Research

G. Use writing and research as a means of discovery, to examine your personal beliefs in the context of multiple perspectives and to explore focused research questions through various mediums and technologies

I think one of the coolest things about writing essays (yes I’m an English kid, leave me be) is that you can integrate your own beliefs and perspectives while also educating your audience, and there is a way to make sure both go together smoothly. I also find it fun to write about topics you may not know about, and through writing and researching, you discover more information that serves you well not only in your writing, but in real life as well. An example of this is my deep dive into climate change for the entirety of sequence one. I knew the basics of climate change before this, and had even watched Al Gore’s documentary ‘An Inconvenient Truth”, so I figured I had a good understanding of everything. Despite this, I chose an aspect of climate change I was unfamiliar with, and it actually led me to new information that I found extremely interesting and compelling. This made writing my speech easier because I was excited to write about it and help other people learn something new like I did. I think we also explored this SLO in our Microsoft Teams discussions when discussing our perspectives on certain topics.

H. Integrate others’ positions and perspectives into your writing ethically, appropriately, and effectively in various mediums and technologies

The most important part of any research project is integrating information and arguments from other people that allow for the expansion of your topic into something that makes your reader think and reflect. Sources are the core of your writing, and help guide your essay throughout, sometimes even being the pure foundation of your topic. This SLO was best communicated through the fact that we always created our bibliographies first, because we had to search for effective sources and articles that would benefit the development of our writing topics. Especially when analyzing propaganda, like we did in sequence two, it is important to not just analyze the propaganda itself, but its effects on the people who view it and digest its content. With these viewers comes different perspectives on the meaning and intended effects of said propaganda, and these viewpoints are very important to include in research papers. Including how a demographic of people feel about propaganda or how it influences their feelings says a lot about how susceptible the public may be to messages communicated through propaganda. When writing about the Jim Crow propaganda, I found it effective to include how this propaganda influenced racism and hate crime justification, which contributes to the overall power propaganda can hold.

I. Compose a research-based academic argument in one of various mediums and technologies by identifying, analyzing, evaluating, and synthesizing sources, which must include secondary sources

This SLO is pretty self-explanatory, and was the basis of all the assignments we did this semester in class.  Composing our research-based assignments with the help of secondary sources is critical to the success of our writing, and how effective it comes across. I would say my most effective argument that came out of this semester would be my speech, due to the excellent sources I came across and was able to integrate seamlessly. Because we needed mostly academic, scholarly sources, I had to look pretty hard for sources that both pertained to my topic and fell under the scholarly category. When I did eventually find useable articles, they were usually very lengthy, making it very important that I synthesize them in the correct way to where I am not just throwing random information onto the page for the sake of having it. This required me to read all the way through the article and pick out certain quotations and information that I for sure wanted to include. Then, I set them aside, usually either writing them down or copy and pasting them in a word document. This allows me to get out the information I need rather than a lot of filler information.

J. Analyze and describe the writing and research conventions of an academic field in order to understand the different ways of creating and communicating knowledge

In English, it’s extremely important to communicate things efficiently and thoroughly while utilizing rhetorical strategies to create a good delivery of information. English really is the root of all writing, and leads into many different branches of writing. English is all about using language to spark and foster ideas within people, whether it be individuals or a group. We saw how speeches are created and used for argumentation and persuasion through sequence one. Through sequence 2 we analyzed the power language can have in a visual rhetoric, and how visuals can strengthen language. It does not matter if the intent is good or bad, because the feelings of the public determine the expression of the visual rhetoric. This opened the door to only a few of the many ways writing is used to communicate information and knowledge, and how writing and research conventions shape the way we view things in our world. Every academic field communicates knowledge differently, depending on the goal of the research, but it is all rooted in the fundamentals of English. Our understanding of communication through writing is always able to be expanded on, but this class did an excellent job of analyzing different mediums of research and knowledge.

[solarpunks]

#003 “Use biological solutions before technological” — Interview with Jesse Grimes — Pt2

Part 2 of our interview with Jesse Grimes, who’s one of our favourite Youtubers. He is currently running a gofundme to take him to the The Ecological Landscaper Immersion program (details below).

In Part 1 we talked Permaculture, Ant Village at Wheaton Labs and Standing Rock.

In Part 2 we talk Technology, bikes and the future! 

This post is mirrored on our medium here if you prefer. (it looks nicer)

Bikes

SPS! From your videos it seems that bikes and BMX played a big role in your life growing up. When did you start riding and how has it influenced you as a person?

I’ve been riding BMX since I was 5 years old. I lived right next to the first ABA race track in the country in Chandler, Arizona, and my dad started bringing me there. My bike was stolen, so I stopped riding for a while, but I got back into it in a big way when I was 12 and moved to Southern California. All through high school I rode BMX, and pretty much all my friends came from riding. I really think it kept me away from drugs and alcohol during my teen years. I had a social group that was organized around doing something active and positive, instead of around partying, we got our thrills through learning new tricks and discovering new spots to ride. To this day, riding BMX has given me a community that I can connect right into no matter where I go. I can just roll up to the skatepark or a set of jumps and instantly make friends with other riders.

BMX Road Trip, the #IdahoSkateparkTour, and Building a Better Bike Park

SPS! I’m not into BMX / trials biking myself, but I have a bunch of friends who are. They’re the sort of people that love spending their spare time digging up dirt in the woods not minding the rain is there a little bit of that in you?

Most definitely, I have been doing that since I was a kid. Creating dirt jumps is one of my favorite art forms. It’s like large scale, interactive, ceramic sculpture. Of course, the main motivation is the experience of doing the jumps once they are finished, but anyone who has a passion for creating jumps or trails will put their own artistic touch into the way the lips are shaped, or how the line twists through the woods. There’s also a community aspect to it, getting together with a group of friends and working long hours to create something that you all can enjoy.

SPS! You’ve talked passionately about the idea of combining permaculture with bike parks and really want to make it happen. Could you tell us a bit more about your vision for the Permaculture Bike Park?

Once I started learning more about water harvesting earthworks through permaculture, it changed the way I looked at building dirt jumps. Anyone who is an experienced trail builder thinks about drainage, but through permaculture eyes I started thinking about how all that water could be directed towards growing plants, to help mitigate the environmental damage that is caused by all that digging. Having trees around the jumps also happens to make the riding more enjoyable. Public bike parks are becoming more and more common, and I think that is a very good thing, given all the positive impacts that riding BMX can have a on a child’s life.

The sport of BMX is a gateway to a lifelong love of cycling. Talk to anyone who is riding a road or mountain bike in their 30s, and most of the time you find out that they started on a BMX bike as a kid. So, I think building more bike parks and providing the youth with a welcoming invitation to the sport of BMX is a great way to ensure that more people will be riding bikes in the future. I’ve been to a lot of public bike parks in my travels, and unfortunately, most of them are quite poorly built, and nearly all of them just look like bare dirt lots. Knowing what I do about building jumps, along with my knowledge in permaculture, I see a huge opportunity to create a much better bike park. To start with, permaculture design can be used to organize the cycling community around getting the parks built, to help make those connections and create those positive relationships that are necessary when working with public agencies to even get the idea of a bike park off the ground. When it finally gets to the point of designing and building the park, permaculture design can be utilized to take a more holistic view of how the visitors will interact with the park, and how the park itself will interact with the community around it. Another very important aspect, is making connections in the local cycling community and providing resources to trusted individuals to ensure that the jumps and riding surfaces continue to be well maintained. I’ve seen too many bike parks that are damaged to the point of being unsafe, because there was never any maintenance program set in place. By using permaculture design, we can better ensure that the park will actually be useful, fun, and safe for the riders, as well as a benefit for the neighborhoods around it. Instead of some forgotten mounds in a dirt lot, we could build a beautiful forest garden that is a draw for both cyclists and the general public. On top of the parks being a great place for children to gain a love of cycling, it would also be an incredible opportunity to educate the public about how permaculture can be used to create abundance out of damaged landscapes. I think that well beyond the possibilities of the permaculture bike park, there is a huge potential to improve the design and operation of public parks and public space as a whole.

The Future

SPS! Permaculture is a big part of Solarpunk and is certainly a real world origin point for it’s aesthetic. In your experience, what do people in the permaculture community think about new technologies?

I think there is quite a wide range of opinions on the subject. There is certainly an element that is trying to move away from technology as much as possible, but there are also those who fully embrace it, and everything in between. One of the principles of permaculture is to use biological solutions before technological. So for example, you would use a constructed wetland to treat and clean your grey water instead of some mechanical means of filtration. The biological solutions are almost always easier, cheaper, and more effective, plus by adding another biological element into a system, you are increasing the diversity, and therefore the resiliency of that system. However, that doesn’t mean technology is out of the question. There is a tremendous amount of work to be done to reverse the damage that our technological society has caused, and ironically some of that same technology is the best and quickest way to start doing that work. An excavator can be used to mine the tar sands, but it can also be used to create water harvesting earthworks that will improve the hydrology of a site for thousands of years. So, I think it is important when considering a new technology to look at the problem it is trying to solve, and strongly consider whether nature has already come up with a solution to that problem. Also, what are the inputs required to create that technology, and what are the outputs of using it? Can we partner with biology to find a solution to that same problem that requires a much lower input of energy and materials, while providing a number of beneficial outputs that might not be produced by a purely technological solution? There are certainly situations in which the best solution in technological, but I also feel that on a planet with finite resources, there is a real danger to the idea that all of our problems will eventually be solved through technological innovation. Technological systems almost always require outside inputs to continue functioning, and inevitably have a finite life span, while biological systems become more resilient with time, utilize the inexhaustible resource of sunlight as their primary input, and have existed on this planet for billions of years.

SPS! In his essay ‘Political Dimensions of Solarpunk’ Andrew Dana Hudson proposed the slogan “Move quietly and plant things” as a counterpoint to silicon valley’s “move fast and break things”. What do you think technology’s role will be in the abundant future we are all hoping for and what does it need to do differently from today?

An early vision of the solarpunk aesthetic, by Imperial Boy. Via MissOlivaLouise

I think technology has a huge role to play in helping us understand the problems we are faced with, as well as in helping us do the work necessary to transform our world in preparation for that abundant future. However, once we have built a world where all the necessities of life are provided by an abundant biological system right outside our front door, I think that many of the technologies we see as indispensable today will simply fade into obscurity. Why would everyone want their own electric car when they don’t have a need to drive every day? Would we need complicated medical equipment when everybody’s food is so nutritious and of such high quality that hardly anyone gets sick anymore? Technology is incredible when it comes to helping us communicate and gather information, and because of this I think it will continue to play a huge role in our social and intellectual lives. The problems come about when we try to use technology to deal with the biological problems of being an animal living within an ecological system. Nature has long ago perfected ways in which to feed us, clothe us, shelter us, and give us clean water and clean air. Somewhere along the line we decided that it was better to use technology to do these things, and so we started ignoring the importance of the ecological systems that were supporting us. We can’t continue to do this and hope to have a positive future.

SPS! Our Tumblr’s tagline is “At once a vision of the future, a thoughtful provocation, and an achievable lifestyle. In progress…” Do you think if everything humanity need to do, gets done, is there reason to be optimistic about the future?

Optimism is the only option in my opinion. It is certainly important to take a critical look at our situation and identify challenges, but only so much that we are aware and understand them clearly. If we focus on the challenges we will be more reluctant to act, and action is desperately needed in our world right now. A phrase that has been repeating in my mind for quite some time now is, “Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.” To me, it means that we could sit around all day and find flaws in our designs, or in our plans for improving our situation, but we can’t let that stop us from doing the work necessary to at least move us a little bit closer to our goals. Even if we do a lot of work for very little improvement, we are still better off than if we did nothing, and we are in a better position to start from the next time. The problems facing us are so numerous and so massive, that it is easy to get discouraged and start thinking that the abundant, equitable, and peaceful society we would like to live in is so far away that it becomes impossible to reach. We have to remain optimistic that we have the power to improve our society as a whole by making small improvements in our own lives. We all have to find some way in which we can contribute and just get to work, even if we make mistakes along the way. All of these small hopeful acts will build on top of one another until one day we look around and see that although the world is not perfect, it is much, much better off than it once was.

Send Jesse to the ELI

The first time I ever heard the word permaculture was back in 2011, during a short introductory workshop. That day, a whole new world of ideas opened up to me, an entirely different way of looking at the people and environments around me. I saw that permaculture held the tools to create a better future, the possibility to teach us how to live on this Earth in a way that benefits not only ourselves and our communities, but all the rest of the natural world as well, all of our relatives here on this planet that is our home. My life was changed forever by this moment, and since then I have dedicated my life to learning more about permaculture and sharing this knowledge with others, in the hopes that they might have a similar life changing moment and join in the work of creating a positive future for humanity and the planet.

In the time since then, I have taken two permaculture design courses and various other workshops, gained experience and skills through many hours of volunteer work at permaculture farms and natural building projects, and dove head first into the world of permaculture homesteading by joining the Ant Village community at Wheaton Labs in Montana. Throughout all of this I have pursued my mission of sharing permaculture with the world by talking with people and hosting small workshops, but primarily by creating videos about my experiences and sharing them on the One Heart Fire Youtube channel. I have also started to build a right livelihood by doing permaculture design projects and installations for friends and family, turning my knowledge and energy into real soil, water, and permanent food sources for my clients.

The Ecological Landscaper Immersion Course: http://www.permacultureskillscenter.org/copy-of-ecological-landscaper-immer

Jesse’s GoFundMe Campaign: https://www.gofundme.com/sendjessetotheeli

Jesse’s Youtube Channel: Search “Oneheartfire” or https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpTOy6AFv_Qqr9J8n50f71Q

Jesse’s Patreon, which supports the youtube channel: https://www.patreon.com/jessegrimes

In Part 1 we talked Permaculture, Ant Village at Wheaton Labs and Standing Rock.

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J. K. Rowling: Ruined or Revered?

By Cayleigh Pine

When I was in fifth grade, my overly-Christian mother finally allowed me to read the famous Harry Potter series, the same books that millions of children became avid readers of to the dismay of conservative church-goers against witchcraft. I distinctly remember being obsessed with the series, reading one book after another before bed, in restaurants and even during my brother’s basketball games. I became attached to the fictional wizarding world, and I admired author J.K. Rowling’s description of characters that any reader could fall in love with. And readers certainly did, with Harry Potter spanning a blockbuster film franchise, a theme park, a Broadway play, a video game, as well as several controversies regarding its creator. In an age where the fanbase of Harry Potter is stronger than ever, it seems that there are complexities beneath the surface of this fandom, with many furious at Rowling for adding new (and admittingly, strange) details to the Potter-canon, as well as problematic statements posted online. Going from an idolized billionaire authorial goddess to someone almost as hated as her Voldemort antagonist, Potter fans have changed over the years in their support of Rowling and how they view the series due to her many controversies. Due to this, many are conflicted on if they should still be fans of these works, or if they should allow Rowling’s influence to taint the positive message behind Harry Potter. All of this leads into the question: Should readers separate the author from their texts, or is their intent all-encompassing? 

Readers tend to become fans of not only their favorite books, but of the authors that write them, leading them into learning about the author’s personal background and writing process. However, others tend to ignore who the author is in favor of not letting them influence how they read a story. “Death of the Author” is a literary concept that was created by Roland Barthes in the essay La mort de l'auteur published in 1967 (Barthes). This theory spawned off of the New Criticism literary movement, delving into the idea that readers should not have the author’s intention influence their understanding of the work being read, acting as though the author is dead or non-existent. Barthes argues that giving a text a single interpretation from the author limits the creativity and imagination the readers can develop off of that work, and how interpretive tyranny only works to the detriment of the reader, forcing an idea on them instead of having the reader come up with their own understanding (Barthes 5). This theorist explains that instead of looking to our authors as god-like and creating something out of nothing, Barthes tries to explain through this concept that there are no original works since writers are influenced by multiple factors, such as: mythology, religion, and other authors. This means there should be multiple interpretations since there are various sources (Barthes 4). In Ancient Greece, playwrights were open to where the sources of their stories came from, re-telling the tales of Achilles and Electra and others and never proclaiming to be original. However, in 1960s society, authors liked to pretend they were the sole, divine creator of their literary universes, and this has continued to the present. The popularity behind the term “Death of the Author” has risen and fallen throughout the years, but the support behind this literary concept has since gained traction with the recent advent of social media. Authors are now posting on their Twitter about character's motivations or secrets that were never expounded upon in their books, leading fans into an uproar against authorial intent. 

J.K. Rowling has always been an author in the public eye, her Harry Potter novels launching her into a celebrity icon due to how well-loved they are. With around 500 million copies sold world-wide, she became beloved by many who thought of her as their favorite author (Pottermore). One of the many reasons for this is due to the Barthes-like influence her readers hold in viewing Rowling’s work. Christian groups protested the series after every release, believing that what was in the books promoted Satanism and the occult (Halford 2). Despite Rowling being a Christian (Halford 3), these religious fundamentalists practiced “Death of the Author” to ignore Rowling’s background that is similar to theirs, instead viewing their own interpretation of the Harry Potter series as an unholy promotion of witchcraft for children, which is a very different perspective from what the author intended. However, this also worked in the reverse for readers of the same religion. Many other Christians that are fans of the series used Barthes’ theory to interpret many Christian allegories in the series that they could relate to their own backgrounds, a common example being Harry’s sacrificial death and resurrection in Deathly Hallows mimicking that of Jesus Christ’s in The Bible. Christians seem to find their religion in the stories Rowling created, intentionally or not, and use their interpretations as evidence to the series being in support of or against Christianity. 

However, religious groups are not alone in using “Death of the Author” to interpret Rowling’s writing. According to the study: “The Greatest Magic of Harry Potter: Reducing Prejudice” published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology, psychologist Loris Vezzali asked fifth graders to fill out a questionnaire about their attitudes toward minority groups, then had them read excerpts from the Harry Potter books that dealt with prejudice. Specifically, the blood prejudice that is a major theme in the books about how some “pure-bloods” consider themselves better wizards than “half-bloods” or “muggle-borns” due their different backgrounds. According to readers, this is an allegory for racism, and this theory shines through with how Vezzali’s study proved that young readers living vicariously through the characters in Harry Potter impacted their attitudes positively towards marginalized people in real life (Vezzali). Readers tend to use this as a basis for the series being progressive, interpreting the series to be against racism. Unfortunately, the series is not as cut and dry as this. According to the Midwest Quarterly, author Christine Schott argues that there is racism prevalent in this series, but fans ignore these instances. The house elves in this story are essentially slaves for pureblood wizard families and who “do not want to be freed” even when characters offer to help save them. Schott explains that the creation of creatures that desire to be slaves teaches readers a message that some beings are naturally inferior to others and want to be enslaved, which is a horrible message if these books are supposedly “progressive” (Schott). It seems here that Harry Potter can be, and has been, interpreted in various ways, all due to who the reader is and how they utilize “Death of the Author”. 

Besides there being many interpretations of this series, the majority of fans tend to look at the books as an allegory for sticking up for underrepresented groups. It seems that Rowling also gravitated to this positive interpretation, with how she began to make additions to her wizarding world in order to appear inclusive, but they all seemed to backfire. Her controversies began in a 2007 Q&A session at Carnegie Hall with fans of the recently released Deathly Hallows, where she stated Dumbledore was gay (Smith 2). This split the fandom into two groups: supporters who thought this was great representation for the LGBTQ+ community, and those that questioned why Rowling felt the need to reveal this if she never included Dumbledore’s sexuality in the books. The latter’s opinion has intensified over the eight years since this comment, and with Rowling’s new Fantastic Beasts film franchise—prequels including a young Dumbledore—that still do not explore his sexuality, fans are speculating that she has been using Dumbledore as a way to prove she is “progressive” with nothing to show for it, accusing her of the harmful marketing tactic “queer-baiting” in order to attract the queer audience while not offending conservative consumers (Bradley 3). This past comment led into more controversial statements, like her comparing her fictional werewolves to the AIDs epidemic in the US (Baillie 2). This shocked many people because most of the werewolves in her books were framed as villains that preyed on young wizards, so with Rowling’s commentary, this comment becomes a metaphor for gay people preying on children. Because of Rowling, the readers’ interpretation has shifted from viewing werewolves as mythological creatures to now gay predators in disguise. The add-ons do not end there, with Rowling beginning to use her characters to advance her political views, utilizing the titular character Harry Potter to say that he would support the boycott against Israel, so you should, too, as well as to deny describing characters’ races in her books in order to appeal to a more diverse crowd (Donaldson 4). She constantly uses her Twitter to inform fans of her new changes to her fictional universe, yet she disappoints them by not including her supposedly progressive ideals in her works outside of social media. Her race and sexuality-bending has become such a hot topic that it became a meme when a comedic article called, “J. K. Rowling Proves That You, the Reader, Were Gay All Along” was published in 2019 to The Hard Times, poking fun at Rowling’s new revelations about characters’ identities that are never shown in her books (Hernandez). Since then, thousands of social media users made Youtube videos, tweets, and memes, parodying her characters, and even her readers, finding out from her that they had an identity they never knew about. However, even with all of this, Rowling was never seen as a fully negative celebrity, at least until her most recent tweet. 

In December of 2019, Rowling posted about supporting a transphobic woman named Maya Forstater in her mission on spreading the message that transwomen steal the jobs of ciswomen, repping the hashtag #IStandwithMaya proudly for all of her 14.5 million followers to see (@jk_rowling). This was met with huge outrage from fans, especially those in the LGBTQ+ community. Readers became upset because they felt if they liked Harry Potter, they were supporting a transphobe, and many began to attribute this series with a negative connotation (Donaldson 5). Her fans were mostly upset with the hypocrisy behind this tweet and how Rowling could disregard a minority group, even though her books supposedly stood up against prejudice. However, others argue that Rowling can say and do anything she wants with her characters and their identities, and even the overall message of her book, due to the fact that she is the creator of the series. Writer Natasha Troyka states that, “Barthes’ argument in The Death of the Author focuses on the impossibility of guessing the author’s intentions. If we can’t read an author’s mind, we shouldn’t fixate on authorial intent when reading a story” (Troyka 4). In the case of Rowling’s use of social media, her fans are almost able to read her mind about her intentions due to her excessive tweets. But even with her explanations, fans are rejecting her new form of Twitter-storytelling, using not only Barthes’ theory to ignore her authorial intent, but a rejection of social media in itself. Due to the fact that Rowling is not writing any more physical Harry Potter books and posting add-ons to her Twitter, fans do not count these changes as “canon”, and Troyka argues that that is largely due to the lack of respect fans hold of Twitter versus a book (Troyka 5). This writer mentions how with every sequel the wizarding world changed, with turning from bad to good (in the case of Snape) or even additions to the lore (The Deathly Hallows being created). Troyka asks: What’s the difference between a sequel and a tweet? Who decides the boundaries of works, if it is extra or canon? If it happens on Twitter, does it make the writing any less “real”? The argument here is that even if fans disapprove of Rowling’s quasi-progressive add-ons to Harry Potter, it is still her writing and she still is the creator, so they should count as part of the series, regardless of what platform they are released on. Despite this, it seems that fans are using Barthes’ theory to not only kill off the author, but also any disliked changes she wants to make to the series. 

Even though fans hate Rowling’s new additions, considering them more fanfiction than canon, she has always been supportive of fans using her work to create their own fanfiction, with her spokesperson saying she is, “... flattered people wanted to write their own stories based on her characters” (Waters 1). This is not always the case with many authors, such as author Anne Rice (The Vampire Chronicles) threatening to sue her fans if they write anything involving her characters. And then you have former-Youtuber-turned-author John Green, who not only supports whatever fans want to do with his work, but the concept of “Death of the Author” itself (“Death of the Author.”). Green became a famous author off of social media, gaining a fanbase through informational literary videos that analyze classic novels, and then finally releasing a book of his own. In his book, The Fault in Our Stars, the protagonist Hazel gets to meet her favorite author, and learns he’s a reclusive alcoholic whose personality ruins his works for her. This is a commentary on how much influence an author can have on their works, and how an author can ruin their own books for their fans with their wrongdoings that can taint their art. In 2014, Green tweeted, “Books belong to their readers” (@johngreen), agreeing with Barthes’ theory that fans get to hold the interpretation of the work and ignore the author behind it, which is probably a stance he later regretted when he started suffering backlash from fans about his portrayals of teenage girls (“Death of the Author”). In a Tumblr post, a fan described Green as, “...a creep that panders to teenage girls to amass a cult-like following”, wherein Green responded saying he never sexually assaulted anyone (Jusino 3). It was an odd response considering the post never mentioned him doing this, so fans immediately were suspicious. This uproar faded into nothing, but it left many readers feeling uncomfortable with his writing, and in recent years, many posts online shame Green’s portrayal of teenage girls for being two-dimensional. This has led to many using fanfiction as a way to fix what Green created, having the readers utilize their own interpretations “for good”. This is also seen with Rowling’s fans creating fanfiction that they deem better than Rowling’s books simply because it follows their interpretations instead of hers. From this, it is made apparent that when readers begin to dislike the author, they either step away from their works, separate the art from the artist, or they rewrite it to better suit their own interpretations. 

Rowling seems to bank on the fact that her fans are so besotted by Harry Potter that none of her controversies can get in the way of people’s love for the wizarding world. Even with all of her problematic statements, Potter fans are still around, shown in how her recent prequel films racked up around $814 million worldwide (Mendelson 3), and the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child play based on the franchise breaking monetary records on Broadway (Chellman 3). It seems that even though there are those that are against Rowling and her political stances, the majority are not against her work and will not be boycotting Harry Potter any time soon. 

 Overall, it appears that J.K. Rowling remains one of the most famous authors in the world, and her problematic comments throughout her career have not done much to bring down her rule other than turn her into a comedic meme. Personally, I believe that it would take a lot more than problematic tweets to shut down this massive franchise, especially since Rowling has not faced any real-world consequences monetarily-wise. This goes to show just how much people love Harry Potter since they are willing to pay the bills of someone who may hold harmful beliefs that readers do not agree with. It has become such a phenomenon that people simply cannot leave this series due to a problematic author, and unless Rowling Avada-Kedevra’s someone, I believe that fans will keep separating her from her work in order to enjoy it without a guilty conscience. Fans are comfortable using “Death of the Author” to ignore Rowling’s controversial past, and even I am guilty of this. I used to automatically associate Harry Potter with Rowling, but now I view the series as its own entity with no relation to its creator in order to feel as though I am not supporting Rowling. It seems that there is no clear answer on whether separating the author’s work from them is morally correct or not, however it appears to be a popular choice for fans that want to take their own interpretation of the series and do as they please with it, even if that means blocking out—or just blocking on Twitter—the very creator of the wizarding world they love. 

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my mother for eventually letting me read Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling for writing the series, as well as for being such a fascinating topic, and Professor MKB for supporting me and this paper with her wonderful feedback. 

Works Cited 

Barthes, Roland. La mort de l'auteur (Death of the Author). Aspen Journal, 1967.

http://www.tbook.constantvzw.org/wp-content/death_authorbarthes.pdf

Baillie, Katie. "JK Rowling says Remus Lupin’s condition as a werewolf is ‘a metaphor for

illnesses with a stigma, like HIV and AIDS’ ." Metro News, 9 Sept. 2016, metro.co.uk/2016/09/09/jk-rowling-says-remus-lupins-condition-as-a-werewolf-is-a-metaphor-for-hiv-and-aids-6118903/.

Bradley, Laura. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald and Dumbledore’s Vexing

Sexuality, 16 Nov. 2018, www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/11/fantastic-beasts-the-crimes-of-grindelwald-dumbledore-gay-queerbaiting.

Chellman, Jack. "The Gay Romance In The Cursed Child: A Letter To JK Rowling." Huffington

Post, 4 Aug. 2016, www.huffpost.com/entry/the-gay-romance-in-the-cursed-child-a-letter-to-jk_b_57a2a99de4b0c863d4002748?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAKENG0nWy3.

Donaldson, Kayleigh. " J.K. Rowling is the Exemplification of Why We Need the Death of the

Author." Pajiba, 24 Dec. 2019,

www.pajiba.com/miscellaneous/jk-rowling-is-the-exemplification-of-why-we-need-the-death-of-the-author.php.

Ellis, Lindsey. “Death of the Author.” Youtube, 31 Dec. 2018, https://youtu.be/MGn9x4-Y_7A.

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www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/harry-potter-and-religion.

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with any consenting adult who’ll have you. Live your best life in peace and security. But force women out of their jobs for stating that sex is real? #IStandWithMaya.” 19 Dec 2019, 12:57 PM. Tweet. 

Jusino, Teresa. "What John Green Needs to Learn About Having a Dialogue With Female YA

Readers." The Mary Sue, 2 July 2015, www.themarysue.com/john-green-female-ya-readers/.

Mendelson, Scott. "'Crimes Of Grindelwald' May Have Destroyed The 'Fantastic Beasts' Saga."

Forbes, 19 Nov. 2018, www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2018/11/19/box-office-crimes-of-grindelwald-may-have-killed-the-fantastic-beasts-saga-jk-rowling-johnny-depp/#483bd42122a2.

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eighteenth century (this was a rare instance of wizards copying Muggles, because hitherto they simply relieved themselves wherever they stood, and vanished the evidence)…" 4 Jan 2019, 1:34 PM. Tweet.  

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https://youtu.be/n3fwERuvEqI

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problem." Vox News, 4 Sept. 2016, www.vox.com/2016/9/4/12534818/harry-potter-cursed-child-rowling-queerbaiting.

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Books, 1998.

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Youtube, 25 Mar 2019, https://youtu.be/CSXFdb_G4C8

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Ever.” Midwest Quarterly, vol. 61, no. 2, Winter 2020, pp. 259–273. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=141673717&site=eds-live.

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no. 3, 1946, pp. 468–488. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/27537676. Accessed 27 Feb. 2020.

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Applied Social Psychology, 23 July 2014, doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/jasp.12279.

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First Thought

For over a decade media has been influential to the lives, homes and perspectives of many. Media has been used as a form of self-expression, entertainment and to broadcast important information of its time. Technology is used as a tool of extensions of ourselves and media is used as a form to communicate with each other. Throughout the course of history there has been significant amounts of events that have been either first of its kind or that have been repeated in cycles. Media for example can carry both of these attributes, Technology used for media is first of its kind on this planet but because we are creatures of habits there are events that continue to occur and are published for all wondering eyes to see and read. In this essay I will express my thoughts on the history and current status of social media, racial disparities and social mobility.

           In order to understand the current state of black media we must first understand the history. Freedoms Journal was the first black owned and operated newspaper in the United States, published in New York on 1827. Taking in consideration at this time slavery was still prominent especially in the south. The 13thAmendment was yet not a thought and the population of freed black slaves was about 300,000 nationwide. The level of courage, activism and resilience these black folks had paved the way for many blacks to have self-expression, education, communication and curiosity. Courage, to go against the norm of a ‘uneducated black man’ and have enough ambition and trust to own and publish their own newspaper in order to appeal to other blacks. When you see someone that looks like you accomplish something you have not seen yet been done it allows you to build a schema in your mind. Creating room for a larger perspective on the world and yourself, also allowing you to perceive change. Writing was used as a form of communication, at the time they didn’t have the click of an email, a ‘like’ button or blog to share their political opinions. The best resource at the time in order to broadcast to a large audience they used newspapers, taking the skills and tools they had in order to expand, challenge and inform. Curiosity, this word brings me to back to the Fredrick Douglas in his autobiography he states that he never questioned his state of slavery until he learned how to read. What a vigorous statement, because if not challenged or given the opportunity to perceive more than what you know you remain like the cavemen in Socrates allegory of the cave. Courage, Communication and Curiosity paved the way for many blacks in technology and media to continue to fight for social and political justice, be it in newspapers, film maker, content creator, artist, scientist ext.

           Human race is an interesting phenomenon. From the paleolithic age we have drawn in caves, created tools and manipulated out habitat and order to state, ‘I exist, I am here, I was here’, self-expression is essential for our survival it is a way for us to relate with one another. We have found ways to relate with one another be that through, Religion, Culture, Race, Age, Gender or Habitat (experience). Because of the development of the United States and the historical event of slavery that took a large detrimental effect on the physical, psychological and emotional impact on black families and individuals throughout time. Black people have created an unspoken bond to rise curiosity in one another for political and racial justice. In newspapers we have had 20 black radical newspapers after the rise and fall of Freedom writers. Black southerners Like Ida B. Wells, created a platform for not only colored people but also women of color. Another example of someone showing great courage through her life. She kept in contact with people from the south in order to communicate with the rest of the nation the truths of the racism and in just happening in the south. She traveled overseas and returned the south in her later years risking her life for the right to speak truth. She was the representation of an educated, willful, intentional black women. From newspapers black people created magazines, and films. Oscar Michaux, was the black first director and producer in the united states to create films of black people to upraise the perspective of black people. In white films black people had 5 roles, the fool, the uncle tom, the house maid, the slave and the sex barbarian. Oscar used his expression of film writing and moving picture to illustrate and communicate to white and black people of his time that there is schema beyond the 5 roles of what they were taught to believe. With the development of technology and rise of social consciousness black people use the tools and skills they have to communicate to a broader audience.

           How does social media empower or oppress different representations of blackness? In white papers they used cartoons to belittle the black community. In films like ‘A Birth of a Nation’ by D.W Griffith humiliated the black race but portraying all 5 negative roles/stigmas played by black people at the time by using black face. Along with justifying lynching and the movement of the KKK. Today when you turn on the news you see black men being killed for just being black and when the journalist speaks on the victims behave, he was either 1. In the wrong place at the wrong time or 2. Affiliated with the wrong crowed. Also understanding the movement Malcom X and Fred Hampton, they were misinterpreted and manipulated by the media in order for society to turn against them. Malcolm x believed in “doing whatever means necessary” to protect himself and his family. These words were taken out of context and misconstrued to make people believe that he was violent because he was resilient and fearless. Fred Hampton was a part of the Black Panther Party, providing food, medicine and education to children in low income communities. His genuine and indestructible influence was portrait as rebellious therefore he was murdered. The Book Black Image in the White Mind quotes “media images still contain traces of long-standing cultural presumptions not only of essential racial difference but of the hierarchy that idealizes ‘whiteness” (57), People of political power fear the resilient and the fearless therefore they use money, death and jail as a threat to freedom. On the other hand, media has also been used to empower black people. 1.  empower black people to have a voice 2. to remedy character and remove disabilities 3. Justice and freedom and 4. Communication, to call them into action. When black people gained access to technology, they used the media and the press to show the lives from the black perspective. Creating influence and changing perspectives. This is also seen in cable shows today like Soul Train, Good Times, Blackish and Insecure. What all these shoes have in common is the values that are shared in the black community; Culture, Beauty, Music, Ritual, Celebration, Family, and Friendship.

           What is the current state of black media? It depends what lens it is being seen through. I personally don’t identify with black media that is degrading to women and men. This is seen in music videos where black men and women value money and sex as a means of power to degrade one another. Men rap about pistols and “tricks and hoes” and women wearing flashy items and rap about their performance in an intimate setting (in the act of sex) as a way to prove they are worthy. This is a really interesting question because black people have been degraded in the past but now in mass media black people are unconsciously degrading themselves by emphasizing value on money and sex. On the optimistic side there are black people recreating and showing successful black leaders in the media offering foresight, leadership in values of self-respect. Just to name a few there is Tracee Ellis Ross (director, producer, actress, activist ext.), Shannon Boodram (sex educator, author, content creator, activist ext.), Erykah Badu (writer, singer, producer, actress, ext.) These are just a few black women of our time challenging the eyes of the beholders and enhancing consciousness. I answer this question by saying, you can perceive the glass have full or half empty.

           What is more important ownership or authenticity/representation/responsibility? Authenticity is being one of its kind, which is a quality that everyone holds. Representation can also be seen as anyone walking down the street of a race, gender or sexual orientation. Responsibility is when someone walks in a room with an intention and shows up to the table time and time again for the cause they believe in.  When you look back at the history of the United States great leaders possess all of these qualities, preaching what they practice by being an example of the cause they stood for. Along with introspection, resilience and respect. The great leaders that came before us have created a pavement for communication, racial justice and social mobility.

Citation:

Entman, R. M., & Rojecki, A. (2007). The black image in the white mind: media and race in America. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

[garp19-johntaylor]

J Taylor: Research Statement

IDEATION

This was where I  came up with some of the first ideas for what I’d be researching. I started  off with 3 and a half ideas, the first one being talking about Illustration’s  place in the world of Art (among Fine Art etc) and if there’s any stigma  attached to being an illustrator as opposed to other definitions of “artist”.  Second I thought of the ideas of personas, how artists operate under a  persona, why they do this, how they do this, and how any of my own experience  with a persona comes in to play and affects my practise.  My third idea was like the first, however instead of talking about  Illustration I’d be talking about video games. There’s a lot of conversation  about video games as art, if they are art, why they aren’t art, the art in  them, their impact in the world of art and such other things. I wanted to  talk about something I’m interested in as I’ve tried writing and talking  about something that I’m not interested in and it bored me to the point that  the quality of what I was putting out was noticeably low. As this is an  opportunity to talk about something I like, I’m choosing to talk about a  subject I enjoy. I think I’ll produce better work by focusing on something I  like. But it’s also not something I’m hugely  interested in to the point where I’m not able to be critical, so I won’t  spend the entire time writing a one-sided obsessing think piece on “I think  this is good and this is why”.  I had another idea where I examine the art in and of video games, specifically  the art style used in video games and how it’s evolved as graphics technology  has improved. How it’s become a sort of “style” of its own and how this style  itself has influenced other art. If the idea I’m focusing on leads to a dead  end (or rather, too much of an open end) then I think examining the journey  of game graphics and art styles is a good alternative route to go down.

This can  interest others because I think games are a very modern and contemporary  medium that everyone’s aware of, and if someone isn’t aware of them they can  learn about an up-and-coming yet very present form of media.

RESEARCH AND  DEVELOPMENT (with CRITIQUE AND EXPLANATION)

Going off the  idea of art showcased in games, and games being an example of art,I started  off by researching a whole bunch of talks about video games and art. What  comes up first is a lot of Ted Talks so I watched and listened to those and  absorbed as much information as I could. I’m aware that Ted Talks are mostly  subjective and one single person’s opinions, but they’re always good food for  thought. I’m still in the stage where I’m not entirely sure just what I’m  talking about or the route I’m going to take for this research and anything  to help point me in a direction will help.

I started with  the working title, “Video Games: In, of and as Art” (or vice versa; art  in/of/as video games) and so my focus was in the place of validating video  games as an art form. I wanted to see what people had to say about video  games and find examples of why they’re special in a hope to articulate just  what it was I thought and felt about them.

 I started with  ‘Gaming for Understanding’(Romero, B. 2011) by  Brenda Romero. This wasn’t talking about video games, but I still found it  relevant and important. This talks about the various benefits of games and in  this instance the idea that they can be used for education and bringing a  greater understanding to difficult topics and issues. While also being fun  and engaging for people that normally wouldn’t be reached by conventional  methods of education. This was a good starting point, but I feel like talking  about any games outside of just  video games makes me lose focus and is far too broad, and games have  historically been around immeasurably longer. So from here on I decide purely  to focus on video games.

 ‘Video Games To  Cope With Grief’(Green, 2017) by Amy  Green tells a more sombre story of a game used for education and helping  evoke a feeling while teaching how to deal with grief. It came about after  the death of the creators’ child due to cancer, however was quite  philosophical. It was an inspiring way of coping with loss, while spreading  understanding. It’s an uncommon type of game, not simply about winning, but  having an experience. In the conversation of games as art, this is an  important example of the capabilities of games.

 ‘Are Games  Better Than Life’(Perry, 2006) by David  Perry was a talk given 10 years which optimistically talks about the  potential future of games, the capabilities of graphics, the amazing graphics  of the current (which have since been improved upon immensely) and the idea  that games are an extension of our own lives. There is then talk of our  ‘game’ selves and our real-life selves, how games are becoming like an  alternative reality people can really lose themselves in. There aren’t many  other forms of media that can achieve this, and I think it’s interesting to  look at games’ place in the real world and how they affect the players.

 ‘Gaming Can Make  A Better World’(McGonigal, 2010) by  Jane McGonigal talks of the positive aspects of gaming and she brings up the  concept of the ‘Epic Win’ which is the encouraging positive feeling you get  from doing well in a video game and succeeding. Almost the rush of adrenaline  and good feeling you get from winning, or conquering a challenge, and the  confidence that comes about therein. She says more people should play video  games because they’re good for people, video games can help people see the  best in themselves and if more people played video games or implemented how  they play games in the real world the world would be a better place. These  are all good talking points for the validity of games.

 ‘The Game That  Can Give You 10 Extra Years Of Life’(McGonigal, 2012) is another Jane McGonigal talk and has a similarly encouraging  and optimistic outlook but this time uses one game as a specific example (a  game called SuperBetter) and brings up the real life impact of games and  doing well at them. These effects can sometimes be unique to games. There are  ideas such as how having a quest and achieving it can manifest positively in  our mind, improving our social skills or even our happiness and overall this  can improve quality of life and even make us live longer, and she gives a  couple examples where she then says she gives everyone in the room around 7  extra seconds of life. It’s philosophical, and encourages a positives  be-good-t-yourself outlook, and all this in the context of games sounds like  another good point gained for Games.

 ‘Video Games  Turn Players Into Storytellers’(Cage, 2018) is a talk by David Cage, and outside of being a promotion for the  new-at-the-time games Detroit: Become  Human it’s an interesting talk on the narratives presented to us in video  games. If I go down this route, it could end up being similar to the argument  of why movies are art and what they had to go through in order to be  considered an art form. This is something worth considering, and perhaps I  could draw parallels between movies and games and the journeys each one has  gone to be considered a form of art. Here, Cage talks about players being  storytellers via choice-based narratives, so we get a unique tailor-made  story.

 CRITIQUE AND  EXPLANATION

 I decide to  further examine this point of players being turned into the storytellers.

Choice-based  stories are simply one type of storytelling in games yet are the most  presented example of “unique” stories possible only through games (and  perhaps game books, interactive novels, and very recent watchable media such  as Bandersnatch where you make choices as you’re watching to influence the  story) – games have done this for a while. Examples I think of are David Cage  games, Telltale Games, and some of DONTNOD’s games. There are decisions to  make to further the narrative. But games have been doing this since even the  90s, telling you different stories and giving you different endings based on  decisions presented to you throughout.

I believe this  can sometimes be considered the illusion of a tailor-made narrative, as the  experience isn’t wholly unique to you, and most of the time with games like  this it all comes down to the same final choice anyway or you even get the  same ending.

I don’t think  different narratives being presented to us is the only way video games tell  stories. I think we influence the story we are told by other less obvious  factors whether it be the characters we select, the directions we take, the  missions we do or the weapons we use.

Of course, there  are some amazing stories told through games, with examples such as God of  War, The Last of Us, Nier: Automata, Final Fantasy, Bioshock and Metal Gear  Solid etc. and there are endless discussions on whether games tell these  stories more effectively than other forms of media.

But I  additionally argue that games can make you the storyteller without handing  you a predetermined narrative.

I’m reminded of  a video I saw in 2017 from GameSpot’s “Reboot” series of game-based video  essays, it was about the then-new Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds and it was  ‘How PUBG Makes You The Storyteller’(Mahardy and Dekker, 2017), this game was an open-world competitive Battle Royale inspired  game where you aim to be the last man standing in 20-30 minute sessions.  There’s no narrative, no backstory, no ‘characters’, and yet people come away  from this with a wealth of stories to tell after they’ve played it. No match  is the same, and how you play and experience is your’s alone and it’s all  about the story you’re telling. There are so many other games like this,  where it’s all about the unique experience. Even games with narratives are  capable of this. As are games meant just for fun, or games meant for telling  your own stories (think along the lines of The Sims and such)

My point was:  You don’t need to be told a story, to tell a story. (with video games)

But then I got to  thinking, is this what makes them art? Is storytelling what I care about in  games?

So I end up  thinking about what’s important in games, is it the story told, or having an  experience? Does this make it art.

It depends on  the definition of art. I personally think games can be art if their intention  is to make you feel something, but then some people such as  Roger Ebert said (famously) that video games can never be art (Ebert, 2005).

Are games art?

Do I want to go  down the route of validating games as art? This is a conversation that’s been  had many times and is not something new. I don’t even know if I’d be able to  contribute anything new to this discussion. So, instead, what more  specifically can I talk about?

I adjust my  focus, starting with the Chis Melissinos book “The Art of Video Games: From  Pac-Man to Mass Effect” – there’s a quote on the blurb which reads “Video  games: Where art, culture, reality, and emotion collide”  (Melissinos, 2012), perhaps this is the focus I  should have.

I could talk  about the capabilities of games and the possibilities they have to invoke  feeling, be unique, give a sense of reward and purpose while connecting,  intriguing, and educating people.

Do I want to  write an essay on simply Why Games Are Good though?

 ACTION PLAN

 More research.  Play devil’s advocate and argue the case against games and see what negatives  people have to say about games. Ask questions and get real opinions on games.  Make comparisons (such as games vs movies) and also read some more books with  intent to get inspiration on something to talk about. Find more direction.

Work on some  case studies and focus on some specific examples of games that are important.

Consider a  question as a starting point, such as “can video games make you cry?”, “can  video games change your life?” or a statement such as “video games: the  interactive art form” so there’s not so much an “is-it-or-isn’t-it” issue in  the background of my subject.

There is also  the possibility of changing my idea and scrapping this. So I will give further  thought to my previous ideas and see if something happens to click, though I  am very interested in this idea and think I’m at a good starting point. And I  recognize I am only at the start, and am going to spend a long time  researching and absorbing information, some of which I have only touched on  here.

 LIST OF  REFERENCES

 Cage, D.  (2018). How video games turn players into storytellers. [online]  Ted.com. Available at:  https://www.ted.com/talks/david_cage_how_video_games_turn_players_into_storytellers    [Accessed 18 Feb. 2019].

 Caoili,  E. (2011). GameSetWatch Opinion: Brian Moriarty's Apology For Roger  Ebert. [online] Gamesetwatch.com. Available at:  http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2011/03/opinion_brian_moriartys_apolog.php  [Accessed 25 Feb. 2019].

 Ebert, R.  (2005). Why did the chicken cross the genders? | Roger Ebert.  [online] Chicago Sun Times. Available at:  https://www.rogerebert.com/answer-man/why-did-the-chicken-cross-the-genders  [Accessed 19 Feb. 2019].    Green, A. (2017). A video game to cope with grief. [online]  Ted.com. Available at:  https://www.ted.com/talks/amy_green_a_video_game_to_cope_with_grief?language=en    [Accessed 18 Feb. 2019].    Mahardy, M. and Dekker, J. (2017). Playerunknown's Battlegrounds  Makes You The Storyteller. [online] GameSpot. Available at:  https://www.gamespot.com/videos/playerunknowns-battlegrounds-makes-you-the-storyte/2300-6439887/    [Accessed 7 Dec. 2017].    McGonigal, J. (2012). The game that can give you 10 extra years of  life. [online] Ted.com. Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal_the_game_that_can_give_you_10_extra_years_of_life?language=en    [Accessed 18 Feb. 2019].

 McGonigal,  J. (2010). Gaming can make a better world. [online] Ted.com.  Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal_gaming_can_make_a_better_world?language=en  [Accessed  18 Feb. 2019].

 Perry, D.  (2006). Are games better than life?. [online] Ted.com. Available  at: https://www.ted.com/talks/david_perry_on_videogames [Accessed  18 Feb. 2019].

 Romero, B.  (2011). Gaming for understanding. [online] Ted.com. Available at:  https://www.ted.com/talks/brenda_brathwaite_gaming_for_understanding?language=en    [Accessed 18 Feb. 2019].

 Santiago,  K. (2010). Kellee Santiago: Are Video Games Art?. [online]  YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GjKCnPQlSw&feature=youtu.be&list=WL  [Accessed  25 Feb. 2019].

 Stephens,  L. (2018). The Last of Us Did Something Incredible. [online]  YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuW56l-bY84 [Accessed  27 Sep. 2018].

[stretchemersonarchive]

Not Just a Trope: How Mental Illness is Battling the Media

By: Hailey Norton

To mainstream medias like film, television and video games, mental illness has become a money making algorithm. In this algorithm, however, there is little truth to be found. There is usually a dramatic twist, or if you’re Hollywood film director, M. Night Shyamalan, a badass super villain known as “The Horde” brewing under the devastating illness known as dissociative identity disorder (DID). Or if you’re a video game developer like Red Limb Studio, your main protagonist actually turns out to be your antagonist who has killed their entire family in a psychotic episode. Or if you’re anyone working on 13 Reasons Why, from the hit Netflix original TV show, mental illness and suicide is a tool to be used for revenge on those that caused verbal or physical abuse.

All of these cases of popular media have a couple things in common. First, they’re problematic. They do not fully or accurately address mental illness in an educational light. By this, I mean, the lack of appropriate and complete depictions of mental health has caused many negative stigmas to build in our society surrounding violence, alienating those that suffer from mental illness. Second, they are aimed at teens and young adults.

The idea that mental illness is something to be capitalized on is not a new or shocking concept. Many things that are culturally sensitive are used as attention-grabbing tools to garner the most amount of money as possible with little or no regard for the implications it could have on an impressionable audience. In an article from the Journal of Community Psychology, it was stated that “Children, whose opportunities to encounter and learn about mental illness from other sources (higher education, job experience, etc.) are far more limited than adults, may be even more reliant than adults on mass media, and thus more susceptible to their influence” (Wahl).

In an article written for the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, Naomi Kondo gave a very honest opinion about the inaccuracies found in film in particular and how they can be damaging for society as a whole. She brings up the point that those that have no connection to mental illness other than in films and other forms of media, may believe that depiction to be true (Kondo 250). She states, specifically, “The greatest fallacy of mental illness purported by the film industry is that there is a direct link between mental illness and violence” (Kondo 250). As someone who lives with schizophrenia and has never had violent urges, Kondo feels alienated by these depictions. One of her most compelling statements was “Sometimes these films even make me wonder about myself, if on some level I have a secret evil side, a side tied to my illness” (Kondo 251). This shows how those that are in the audience watching these films that also identify with the disorder being depicted can be negatively impacted by stigmas even though they know them to not be true.

I, too, have been personally affected by the carelessness of these mainstream media depictions of mental health. As someone who suffers from depression and has attempted suicide in the past, the show 13 Reasons Why seriously unnerved me. Hannah Baker, the protagonist of the show, truly went through some very troubling situations from bullying to sexual assault and rape. Suicidal ideation and intent are very hot topics among today’s youth and so many teens are suffering from depression and anxiety. According to the National Institute for Mental Health, “Young adults aged 18-25 years had the highest prevalence of [mental illness] (22.1%) compared to adults aged 26-49 years (21.1%) and aged 50 and older (14.5%)” (“Mental…”). In fact, suicide is the second leading cause of deaths among the age group 10-34 (Center for Disease Control).

I can understand the appeal of wanting to open a conversation with teens about this big issue and raise awareness. However, I cannot stand for and will not sit silently while a TV show graphically depicts how to kill yourself even though the book the show is based on does not. The suicide scene with Hannah Baker was damaging, triggering and completely unnecessary. It, in essence, showed every viewer, no matter how old, how to commit suicide. On top of just the idea of showing a suicide, they depicted one of the most successful ways to commit suicide by cutting in an upwards motion up the forearm. This can sever an artery which, without immediate medical attention, is completely irreversible. I am not claiming that this show has or will take lives, but it can validate the thoughts someone has when they are already battling with suicidal ideation (ie. “no one would care if I died”) (Henick). Before watching the scene where Hannah cuts her forearm in the bathtub, I had several friends warn me about how graphic it was. I mentally prepared myself in every way that I could before watching the scene. While watching, though, I was still incredibly triggered by how absolutely horrific the scene was. For this reason, I do not advise that those that have attempted or have had experience with suicidal ideation watch this show, or at least skip this scene.

What I am asking for is not to stop talking about these subjects. In fact, I would love for there to be bountiful information and plenty of conversation. I am not writing to end the discussion. I demand, however, that there be more honesty and truth in these conversations that take place, especially in mainstream medias. It is the responsibility of these creators to accurately depict mental illness and the right of the audience to get truthful information. Platforms like Netflix, where 13 Reasons Why aired, and Steam, an online video game distributor that sells games like Rise of Insanity (2018), need to be held accountable for the false information they are distributing to the world and are making money off of.

The movie I mentioned earlier but not by name, Split, directed by M. Night Shyamalan, is a major culprit of demonizing mental illness. Like many other movies depicting mental health in a violent and unreasonable way, only the rarest and most extreme cases make it to Hollywood. Shyamalan depicts Kevin, a man struggling with dissociative identity disorder, as an immediately violent and unstable person. While instability is, in fact, a characteristic of some mental illnesses it does not define the subject as depicted in the movie. Instability in conjunction with violence, in this case, creates an idea that both come hand in hand, one cannot exist without the other.

This reminds me of what Naomi Kondo was saying about starting to question one’s own personality based on a film portrayal. Schizophrenia and dissociative identity disorder are two very different illnesses to live with, but the sentiment remains. The way we portray mental illness not only affects those watching that have no further knowledge about mental illness but also those that do know and live with it every day. Kevin turns out to be a super villain added to a universe M. Night Shyamalan created in his movie Unbreakable. For fans of Unbreakable, this may be an exciting addition to a long anticipated sequel, but for those who suffer from dissociative identity disorder, this can be very damaging. In a CNN article written by Michael Nedelman, an interaction between a patient with DID and their psychiatrist is discussed (Nedelman). This patient wrote an email referring to Shyamalan’s Split asking “Do I ever scare you?” (Nedelman). With nearly 1% of the population living with this disorder (Nedelman) it is hard not to think about the long lasting impacts this could have on those currently suffering.

James McAvoy, the actor who played Kevin, did not speak with anyone suffering from the illness because he could not find anyone that was willing to speak with him (Nedelman). Perhaps getting a firsthand account from someone that suffers from DID would have influenced the way the lead actor would have felt about portraying such a disorder as inherently violent. Nedelman also mentions in his article that Shyamalan was in contact with a clinical psychologist who aired concern over the hostile portrayal of the disorder to Shyamalan himself and nothing was done (Nedelman). Shyamalan even went as far as to say that no one that had seen the finished film gave any form of backlash (Nedelman). As someone who has seen the film, and was compelled enough to write this essay, I would like to prove him wrong. I had several issues with the film that begin with my already mentioned dislike of the irresponsible portrayal of violence that is directly linked to Kevin’s illness. My next issue came when Kevin’s psychiatrist, in the movie, went as far to say that those that suffer from DID are actually superior to the rest of the human race. That they, somehow, have found a way to surpass a normal state of being. Many recognize this moment as Shyamalan’s attempt to reconcile his harsh portrayal of the disorder, but this is also problematic. Instead of villainizing Kevin’s illness like the rest of the film does, it glorifies it. It gives an equally false and damaging image of how we should view those with DID. Glorifying DID and other mental illnesses does not accurately portray the struggle these people live with every day. They cannot climb on walls and do not have super-human strength like the protagonist in the movie. It is not easy to live with a mental illness and describing it as a tool to transcend a natural state of being is ridiculous and minimizes how hard it can be on a day to day basis for those living with it.

John Squires, in an article for Bloody Disgusting, a website where opinion pieces, editorials and reviews for popular forms of media, finds no issue in the way DID is portrayed in Split. Squires does, very early, acknowledge his lack of authority based on the fact that he does not suffer from any form of mental illness and that his article is, in fact, opinion. Squires, similar to Shyamalan, claims that those that take issue with Split have never seen it. He believes that the glorification by the therapist, as I mentioned earlier, is a main reason why the movie is unproblematic. He states, “Those with D.I.D. are not ‘broken,’ Shyamalan is telling us, but rather ‘more than’ the rest of us” (Squire). In fact, this is Squire’s entire argument as to why Split is not the correct “target” when discussing stigmatizing Hollywood roles. This argument, however, is based on the assumption that the glorification of this mental illness is positive which is not true. While Squire may be well-versed in horror movies, he does not use any sources to support his opinion other than another writer for the same website that wrote a similar article. There are no references to articles or journals written by medical professionals or those that suffer from DID that support his claim. It’s hard for a reader to be convinced of an argument when there are no sources in an article that states, specifically, “Here’s Why…” (Squire).

13 Reasons Why, as a TV show, is alarming and should have been a wake up call to many in the U.S. about how we glorify depression and suicide. It is clear that Hannah Baker had serious mental health issues and her pain was dismissed. This is a sad truth that many teens deal with in high school. I will not sit here and say everything portrayed in 13 Reasons Why is not factual. The atmosphere of the high school is an extreme case, but it is a possibility and should not be dismissed. The issue I have with this show is the lack of emphasis on mental illness. Hannah displays signs of depression that I can self-identify with but the show glosses over them to focus on the bullying taking place in the series. It is important to acknowledge that a focus on the bullying aspect of the show is needed, however, the show focuses on little else. Nothing is mentioned about any mental illness and her suicide is almost entirely blamed on the bullying she undergoes.

“Blame” is something this show grapples with a lot. In fact, the entire story is based on Hannah giving out tapes, thirteen to be exact, detailing how the listener added to her decision to end her life. This is possibly the most dangerous aspect of the show, next to her suicide scene as we have already discussed. Suicide, in Hannah’s context, is used as revenge. She is able to pass the blame of her own decision to commit suicide off of herself and onto those that caused her verbal and physical abuse. This evokes an idea that there is some kind of life after death and that Hannah lived on in her tapes. This emulates some kind of retribution that can be had from the grave. Mark Henick describes this perfectly in an article for CNN, “They advance the false notion that suicides are a way to teach others a lesson, and that the deceased person will finally be understood and vindicated. They won’t. They’ll still be dead.” For those already contemplating suicide, this show could cause serious problems. The path that the series takes can be very sensitive to those that have survived attempted suicide and those that have lost others to suicide (Henick). As Henick says, which I wholeheartedly agree with, the show will not “give people the idea” to commit suicide but it could add to what he calls “suicide contagion” or “copycat suicides.”

The blaming of those who were included in the tapes creates a larger conversation about who is to “blame” for a suicide. An article that comes to terms with the ideas of blame in suicide notes in the Journal of Community and Applies Sociology states, “In particular, accounts serve the strategic purpose of avoiding or assigning blame for what happened” (McClelland 227). Blaming those around Hannah for her death is one of the most damaging concepts I have ever seen enacted on television. In the end, it was no one’s decision but Hannah’s to commit suicide and no one else should be blamed. Her suicide was not the direct result of just bullying; it had a lot more to do with severe and untreated mental illness. Instead of directing attention to this fact and promoting that teens with mental illness seek help, the show passes off her suicide as a choice others made for her. Each time I heard “Welcome to your tape” I physically felt pain for those that were about to hear why she blamed them. Also stated in the article, “those reasons which are used to excuse the author for committing suicide can be seen as legitimations of an act which is normally illegitimate. Suicide notes therefore serve as evidence of socially shared beliefs as to the conditions under which suicide is seen as an acceptable act” (McClelland 228). 13 Reasons Why tries to normalize and legitimize suicides when they are “acceptable.” Is it never acceptable to commit suicide. I would not characterize the act as “cowardly,” but I also think it is very damaging to look for reasons for the audience to accept the fact that Hannah’s suicide was warranted because of the injustices done to her.

What is possibly the most shocking aspect of this show is how proud the crew is of their depiction of Hannah’s suicide scene. Nic Sheff, in an article for Vanity Fair states that he wanted and argued for a complete and graphic depiction of the suicide in episode 13. Sheff is a writer for the show and had his own experience with addiction and suicide. In his article he detailed his attempted suicide and what ultimately stopped him from going through with it (Scheff). He had swallowed a whole bottle of pills before remembering the story of another woman who had attempted suicide in which she began vomiting blood and stomach acid and shattered a glass door, injuring herself even further (Scheff). The realization that suicide is never peaceful caused Sheff to rethink his action and was able to throw up the pills he had just taken (Sheff) which is what he credits this show will be able to do as well. Sheff’s story is very powerful and should be heard, however, the young adults and teenagers watching this show do not have a similar experience to make them rethink their actions in the same way. Sheff claimed he wanted “to dispel the myth of the quiet drifting off” that is commonly associated with suicide (Sheff) but that is exactly how Brian Yorkey, the writer of the thirteenth episode, portrayed Hannah’s suicide. After the initial pain of cutting her wrists, Hannah lays calmly in the bath, relieved, which completely discredits Sheff’s argument that this scene would dispel any myths about the serenity of suicide or provide a similar experience as the horrific attempted suicide Sheff mentioned. This show does little to address those in the audience that may misinterpret the “well-meaning” actions of those working on the show.

A few weeks ago, I was watching a gamer on youtube, John Wolfe, play a game made by an independent developer called Rise of Insanity. In this game, your main protagonist is a psychiatrist that works with patients suffering from schizophrenia and dissociative identity disorder. The game begins with a radio broadcast about a crazed man who murdered his entire family. John, jokingly, made an assumption that the protagonist was actually the murderer and that the family was his own (“Rise of…”). Sadly, his assumption was all too right and I shared in on his frustrations. The storyline continuously describes a patient that has become violent and has possibly killed an entire family. This is a common storyline that I have seen among independent developers, and some larger developers such as Konami, the creators of the Silent Hill franchise. The entire point of the plot relies on the fact that the main character is not only mentally ill, but also unstable and violent. The only times that the homicidal ideation of mental illness is brought up is when it is carried out. This is just not a correct representation of the norm.

On their own website, the developers, Red Limb Studio, claims that this game was “inspired by the greatest psychological horror movies” (Red Limb Studio). This was particularly alarming to me because it truly showcases my point: these depictions of mental illness bleed into other aspects of the media and into popular thought. Is it really “just a movie” if it inspires others to adapt and recreate the same storyline repeatedly? It creates a hive-mind that the only way to depict the horrors of mental illness is through violence. I do believe there are ways that mental illness can be accurately portrayed in a strictly horror-centric movie or game. Mental illness is very scary, especially for those living with it every day. It is scary to not be in control of your own emotions. There are so many video games, however, that rely on violence such as Outlast, Remothered: Tormented Fathers, Descent: Silence of Mind, Please, and many, many more.

I cannot simply say that all video games that feature mental illness are entirely problematic, though, so I will mention one that I believe did quite well. About a year ago, I played a video game called Alice: Madness Returns that follows the character of Alice from Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. This game, in particular, really struck a chord with me because of its depiction of mental illness in context of trauma and memory. While I am not very fond of the title of the game, the word “madness” being one that provokes interest for the sake of insanity, a general money-making move, I feel the developing studio, Spicy Horse, attempted with great effort to create a game that did not villainize or glorify the force of mental illness and instead depicted the trying process of piecing a fractured memory back together.

In Christina Fawcett’s “American McGee’s Alice: Madness Returns and Traumatic Memory,” the true intentions of the game are discussed. As adjunct faculty in the Department of English at the University of Winnipeg, she has been researching the psychological and emotional representation of villains and monsters in video games (Fawcett). She discusses the problem with the therapy Alice is receiving in the game in which Dr. Brumpy focuses on repressing Alice’s memory which weakens her and leaves her vulnerable. The goal of the player is to piece her memory back together by finding fractured memories. Fawcett describes that this method is meant to “[restore] dissociated memories and return a sense of wholeness to the patient” (Fawcett 496). When I first began playing the game, I criticized this process because I felt it was too easy or concise. However, the developer was able to simulate the difficulty of the task by giving Alice side-quests that distract her from her main goal. Her path to recovery is not depicted as a linear, steady path.

This representation of memory trauma is what I hope to see more of in the future with other illnesses as well. The developers of the game never questioned how real Wonderland is to Alice. There is no expectation for Alice to remove herself from “silly fantasies” or discredit her experience. It also does not glorify her trauma as the closer she gets to remembering, the darker and harder the environment becomes to traverse. Wonderland is not a place where she can escape her trauma, she lives in it no matter where she goes, which is very characteristic of mental illness. As the game progresses Alice also becomes engrossed in more combat but this is characterized as part of the game as Alice is never described as violent and it is never linked to her illness. This refreshing take on how mental illness can be depicted in video games is something that is rare and highly valuable as a lesson to other developers.

These stigmas manifest themselves from our television and computer screens into our everyday lives. These stigmas as described by writers for the Graduate Institute of Professional Psychology, “are acquired gradually over a lifetime and that their roots are established in childhood” (Wahl). A very specific instance of this stigma infesting how we view those with mental illness is crime, specifically gun violence. According to a database article written for the Salem Press Encyclopedia, about 64% (1.2 million) of those in jail suffer from a mental illness (Saral). Whether or not their illness was related to the crime they were sentenced for was not included. According to the National Institute for Mental Health, 44.7 million Americans suffer from mental health issues (“Mental Illness…”). This means, that less than one percent (.02%) of those living with mental illness are serving a sentence in an American prison. Saral also states, “among crimes committed by those suffering from mental illness, only 7.5 percent could be associated directly with the symptoms of the illness as a causative factor” (Saral). This information came from a study conducted by the American Psychological Association. Despite these facts, “According to the University of Washington School of Social Work, public perception of mental illness as connected to violent and dangerous behavior has steadily increased, spurred by depictions in news media and entertainment sources” (Saral). This is an interesting assumption for Americans to make since only about 4% of the violent crimes committed in America are done by those diagnosed with a mental illness (Metzl).

There are and should be restrictions on gun ownership based on mental health. That is a necessary way to protect not just the community, but especially the mentally ill person. It is unfounded and truly damaging to claim, however, that gun violence is an issue of mental illness because, “growing evidence suggests that mass shootings represent statistical aberrations that reveal more about particularly horrible instances than they do about population-level events...basing gun crime---prevention efforts on the mental health histories of mass shooters risks building “common evidence” from “uncommon things” (Metzl). The general idea that mental illness causes gun violence and jumping to connections without finding clear evidence ignores contributors like substance abuse, domestic violence, availability of firearms, suicidality, social networks, economic stress, and other factors (Metzl). Mental illness is not a pathway to violence. In fact, according to an article written for the American Journal of Public Health, “nearly 1 in 10 adults has access to firearms and also has a problem with anger and impulsive aggressive behavior” (Metzl). This does not state that the 10% included in this statistic has a mental illness. As this article states, there is plenty of talk of the small population that commits acts of violence but little about the victimhood the mentally ill can face daily and, “blaming persons with mental disorders for gun crime overlooks the threats posed to society by a much larger population—the sane.” (Metzl). Based on my reading of Metzl’s article, there is a much higher chance of a mentally ill person being a victim than they are of being the perpetrator. So, to assume that gun violence is an issue of mental illness, is ignorant and not factual.

I ask that we stop having the gun violence debate as if it is centered solely around mental illness, and talk more about the causes within small communities that could attribute to this larger problem. The issue of gun violence is an ever growing and hot topic currently in the United States but is clouded by the use of false claims and financial gain. It is time to pay more attention to how we give back to our small communities to create a larger change for the safety of all Americans.

Acknowledgement

I have always been very passionate about how the mentally ill are depicted in movies and TV and this was an essay I have been wanting to write since the release of 13 Reasons Why. I want to acknowledge everyone working to break down stigmas about mental illness in their lives that inspire me to do the same. I would like to recognize the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation for their amazing work with connecting researchers to funding. I would also like to thank myself for having the ability and courage to recognize when the media gets it wrong even when their ratings are good.

Works Cited

Brian Yorkey, creator. 13 Reasons Why. Netflix, (2017). Accessed 5 March 2018.

Center for Disease Control. “5 Leading Causes of Death, United States - 2016.” National Center

for Injury Control, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for

Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics System, (2016).

https://webappa.cdc.gov/cgi-bin/broker.exe Accessed 30 March 2018.

Fawcett, C. (2016), “American McGee's Alice: Madness Returns and Traumatic Memory.”

Journal of Popular Culture, Vol.49, Iss.3 (p. 492-521). doi:10.1111/jpcu.12414 Accessed

15 March 2018.

Henick, M. “Why ‘13 Reasons Why’ Is Dangerous.” CNN, (2017).

https://www.cnn.com/2017/05/03/opinions/13-reasons-why-gets-it-wrong-henick-opinion

/index.html Accessed 28 February 2018.

Kondo, N. “Speaking Out: Mental Illness in Film.” Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, Vol.31,

No.3  Boston University, (2008).

http://web.b.ebscohost.com.proxy.emerson.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=1&sid=0ec0687c-

ee81-4a9b-85db-f3f17c7bbf8a%40sessionmgr104&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ

%3d%3d#AN=2008-00786-013&db=pdh Accessed 10 March 2018.

McClelland, L. et al. “A Last Defense: The Negotiation of Blame in Suicide Notes.” Journal of

Community and Applied Social Psychology, Vol.10, Iss.3, p.225-240, (2000).

http://proxy.emerson.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&

db=aph&AN=11820052&site=eds-live Accessed 25 March 2018.

Metzl, J. PhD. et al. “Mental Illness, Mass Shootings and the Politics of American Firearms.”

American Journal of Public Health, Framing Health Matters, Vol.105, No.2, (2015)

https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdf/10.2105/AJPH.2014.302242 Accessed 8 April

2018.

National Institute for Mental Health. “Mental Illness…” National Institute for Mental Health,

(2017). https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/mental-illness.shtml Accessed 1 April

2018.

Nedelman, M. “What Shyamalan’s ‘Split’ Gets Wrong About Dissociative Identity Disorder.”

CNN, (2017).

https://www.cnn.com/2017/01/23/health/shyamalan-split-movie-dissociative-identity-dis

order/index.html Accessed 15 March 2018.

Red Limb Studio. “Rise of Insanity” Red Limb Studio, (2018). http://redlimbstudio.com/roi.html

Accessed 25 March 2018.

“Rise of Insanity - You Won’t Believe the Twist!” YouTube, uploaded by John Wolfe, 8 March

2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSnk3VxesYY Accessed 8 March 2018.

Saral, T. "Mental Illness and Crime." Salem Press Encyclopedia, 2014. EBSCOhost,

proxy.emerson.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ers

&AN=95342956&site=eds-live. Accessed 25 March 2018.

Split. Directed by M. Night Shyamalan, performance by James McAvoy, Blumhouse

Productions, (2016). Accessed 30 September 2016.

Nic Sheff. “13 Reasons Why Writer: Why We Didn’t Shy Away from Hannah’s Suicide.” Vanity

Fair, (2017).

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/04/13-reasons-why-suicide-controversy-nic-

sheff-writer Acessed 22 March 2018.

Wahl, O. et al. “The Depiction of Mental Illness in Children’s Television Programs.” Journal of

Community Psychology, Vol.35, No.1, (2007). http://proxy.emerson.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edb&AN=23289239&site=eds-live Accessed 3 April 2018.

[ch93ma01]

Ben Wanat Essay Questions

Ben Wanat has very kindly responded to my email and answered all of my questions. All of the answers are very interesting, helpful and give such a good insight into Ben’s process as an artist and also how the Horror genre and how Body Horror can work and, interestingly enough, not work. I will copy and paste his answers below, I have also highlighted Ben’s answer by making the text Bold for convenience.

1) When tasked with designing a horror character that utilises Body Horror, how do you start this process?

Like any design, you have to know what role the character is meant to play in the story, where they come from, and why they are the way they are. In the case of the Necromorphs from Dead Space, I knew human bodies would be the medium the alien infection would use to create the organisms it needed to start taking over. I invented a system by which they spread and propagated and figured out how that would affect human bodies it came in contact with. The body became raw tissue which could be violently molded into a puppet to carry out the organism’s master plan.

The more you know about the purpose of the character, the more it will feel like a necessary and planned part of that world.

Specifically with horror, you’re trying to elicit fear from your audience. To that end I look for things that I find scary or unsettling. Obviously John Carpenter’s The Thing really stuck with me and you can see a lot of that DNA in my concepts. Similarly, the 1978 Invasion of the Body Snatchers had a big impact on me. The way it blended body horror and psychological horror was brilliant. The worlds of fungus and disease, which are pretty freaky in their own right, were natural fits for the spreading, contagion-like aspects of the Necromorph corruption.

2) Have or would you ever use real life physical illness or injury as reference or influence for the design of a horror character and your reasons behind your answer.

I definitely researched real physical illnesses. I have a decent comprehensive reference book on viruses and disease. The descriptions of how they spread and replicated were very useful for generating my fiction.

I never use any actual human trauma reference since the sight of it makes me ill. But depending on the result you require, it can be very effective reference. Sometimes you want your audience to turn away in abject revulsion. Personally, I prefer a horror that is frightening but doesn’t make you vomit which is why I get a little more fantastical with my designs.

3) How do you make a horror character appealing to the target audience?

For horror, the character has done its job if it scares you. So that would be goal number one. Second, you need an original hook – something that makes the audience think, “I haven’t seen something quite like that before.” But then you need to temper it with some recognizable elements. There are some things humans react to similarly and faithfully tapping into the things that elicit those reactions is important. Not all body horror is successful. Sometimes it’s just too chaotic or just gory for the sake of being gory. When there isn’t finesse or style, it just isn’t memorable and can even make the body horror feel commonplace at which point it is no longer effective.

4) Bernard Perron (Artist , The Suffering 2004) has written in his essay The Survival Horror: Extended Body Genre that he themed all of his enemy creatures in the The Suffering after different methods of human execution. Perron goes on to say that this forced the audience to see the realities of human execution, whether they are pro or against it, making them realise the brutality of mankind and all without attending an execution. What are your thoughts on this?

Horror as a genre often contains social commentary so it makes sense that the characters in them echo that. In Dead Space, mankind has abused the Earth and all available resources. They tap into a planet to dig for more resources and unleash the Necromorphs. The Necromorphs are a species that requires resources as well: human bodies and lots of them. They’re a mirror of humanity. And their ultimate goal is a horrific unity, conformity which is why we see multiple bodies getting joined together into collectives that eventually become hive minds. And that kind of sums up my views on organized religion.

If your fiction does include themes, hidden or openly discussed, find a way to work them into the designs. It only strengthens their connection to the world and gives them greater purpose for being.

5) How do you feel about video games, horror genre in particular, being a viable method of releasing emotion similar to that of say people using sport to take out anger?

I’ve never really played games to release pent up emotion. I go to games for escape and experiences. I happen to enjoy the experience of running for my life against things that will rip off my face. I don’t want to do that in real life so video games are a great way to experience that in controlled doses.

I suspect taking out aggressions on a video game, while possibly therapeutic, could also be dodging a deeper question of why those aggression are there in the first place. And if that outlet doesn’t exist, what happens to that aggression?

Revenge fantasies make for great stories but if I were using them as an outlet for my own desire for revenge I would worry about why I have those feelings in the first place.

All of this said, there are some things that seem ingrained in us as human beings. Visceral violence in video games and movies can be gratifying. Maybe it’s tied up in the glorification of violence and being a society of violence. But maybe it was always there to begin with. Maybe there’s the primal side to us that was never really bred out that gets sated by those fictional experiences.

6) Some people believe the horror genre is a reflection of the human condition, do you believe this to be true or false?

Horror stories, like science fiction, are almost always used to reflect the human condition. And when they don’t, I don’t think they make for very compelling stories. Horror specifically begs some form of relatability to be scary. Digging into our hopes and fears and beliefs and making them topical and relevant makes the horror relevant and ultimately more effective.

7) Do you think the Horror Genre is important to the video game industry?

The horror genre is absolutely important to the video game industry. Horror is finicky. It needs the right conditions to be true to be effective. Players need to be manipulated in just the right ways in the right doses. And that means you have to understand players and some amount of human psychology to make it work. In a lot of ways, horror games pioneer what it means to truly connect to and have an effect on the player.

Plus, sometimes people just want the pants scared off of them.

8) What is your opinion on Video Games being superior in terms of applying the Horror Genre above other media?

Horror video games, when done right, are definitely more effective than a good horror movie or book. There’s something about having control over the pacing and decisions that prolongs the uneasiness and terror you feel. There’s something terrible in the next room and I know I have to go in there but I’m afraid of what I will face and what will happen to me if I fail. In a movie, I would empathize with the protagonist on a similar level but the movie advances and the protagonist’s fate is predetermined. In a game, I can agonize about going into the room. I can psyche myself up about it. And if I keep my wits, there’s a chance I might make it through the situation alive.

But creating good horror in video games is very difficult. Since so much of it has to do with timing and sightlines, player agency throws a wrench in the works. Those are areas where movies excel because they control the timing and the camera. When it comes to mood, video games have the advantage. You spend more time in a game that watching a movie. Players can steep in the mood until it starts affecting their psyche and softens them for the horrors you intend to unleash on them.

[jacquelinelaity-blog]

Sina Weibo: What makes it different and irreplaceable?

Introduction

Sina Weibo is one of the most popular social media platforms in China. Its function is similar to social media like Facebook and Twitter but it is unique among all the media because of its staying environment and political factors in China. The following essay will mainly expand on the political environment and restriction of Sina Weibo, how information disseminates as well as how it would be supervised by specific departments and the final part is about how Weibo help create a hotbed for the development of Internet celebrity economic.  

Political environment of Weibo in China

Sina Weibo, literally means micro-blog, is one of the biggest broadcast social media platform in China. It is a social network platform that allows the sharing of real-time information through a focus mechanism. Since it launched in 2009, it rapidly became the most popular social media platform among young people and it is often regarded as the equivalent of Twitter or Facebook. (Koetse, Manya 1) It operates like a combination of Twitter and Facebook with additional features making it unique among all the social media platforms. However, since Sina Weibo is primarily used in China, political discussions are often avoided unlike on Twitter where any topic, including controversial or politically sensitive topics can be discussed.

Despite the many restrictions on what can be posted on the internet and the blocking of various websites, the Chinese Internet was still referred to as “one of the most vibrant economic and social cyberspaces in the world”. This may be the result of the sheer volume of activity on Weibo as it is not only free but allows users to express their opinions, albeit in moderation, on various issues. Chinese citizens exercise their freedom of speech while abiding the relevant laws and avoiding the sensitive topics, something which is not regarded negatively in China.

However, China is continuously tightening its control over internet content. The Chinese government stipulates protocols of networking for web users to abide by. Every word that is posted on the Internet is supervised by specific department, and those which are not in line with the national audio-visual regulations or propagates negative speech are seen as spreading harmful influence that impacts the image of the country and the party. Therefore, those who post such things online would be punished. The public opinion is guided and moderated by the Chinese government, in other words, what users are able to see online are what the government allows them to see. Social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram are blocked in China because these media platform are able to react very quickly to incidents which doesn’t give the Chinese government enough time to filter through what the information are and whether they would spread harmful influence. Since Chinese government can’t control the comments outside China, the only thing that they could do is to stop the information from coming into China to prevent Chinese citizens from having access to it.

Sina Weibo was developed in such an environment. With a central government that monitors the content and users that have regulations and laws to abide by. At the same time, the content on Sina Weibo was constantly monitored and managed. According to the censorship on Sina Weibo, people who post any offensive news like false news, including any kind of pornography or violence would be recorded by a scoring system. For example, every user might start with 80 points and a certain amount would be deducted for every violation. When all the points have been deducted, the offending account will then be shut down. Meanwhile, those accounts which have not been approved by the moderators will also get deleted after a grace period. Besides that, there are around hundreds of articles posted in a day, but the offending items are quickly found out and taken down, with 30 percent disappearing in less than half an hour, and 90 percent deleted within 24 hours.

Since 2005, more and more people switched from the more public media platform like Sina Weibo to Weixin which is supposed to be a more private social media platform, because of the new rule that Chinese government required Weibo users to register the website with their real names. (Gao Charlotte) However, some people who insist staying in Weibo try to use some code phrases like “grass-mud horse”, “the square of 8”, “the teacher Liu” to express the sensitive things and to fool the censors. But these phrases might seem like nonsense because they would be quickly recognized by the censors and those who spread such things would be sent to jail.

Information Dissemination as well as Surveillance of Sina Weibo

It is generally agreed by scholars of qualitative analysis that the dissemination mechanism of Weibo is a combination of fission propagation and aggregation propagation.

Fission propagation means that the users actively receive the information, as well as actively re-propagation of information through forwarding and commenting, so that a message could rapidly realize the one-to-many virus transmission (1-N-N) through the user’s social network. (Yanhong Ma)

Aggregation propagation refers to the Sina Weibo categorising certain posts as hot post and certain words hot words ranking. (Yanhong Ma) Every post seems fragmented and insignificant, but it would help solve the practical problems when the posts gather together becoming the hot spots of interactions. The role of social technology in surveillance is not only collecting personal data and selling to companies, but also helping solve problems in society. (Marwick, Alice E 379) For example, in 2010, Sina Weibo users help combat trafficking in children by creating awareness through posts and also organising public welfare activities.

The quantitative analysis of information dissemination model of Sina Weibo is mainly based on social network analysis and content analysis. Sina Weibo users create their own social network by following other users, either friends or a person of interest. Accordingly, Weibo information dissemination is based on a certain network communication. Generally, most social media users are less concerned about whether the governments or corporations are watching their online activities than other people like their bosses or parents. (Marwick, Alice E 379) Which is why people more willing to express and share their own thoughts on social media even with the risk of having points deducted, but usually block their parents and bosses or use unrecognisable identities.

Two scholars called Liang Ping and Yongli Zong in China found that the dissemination of information is mainly through providing information, disseminating information and reading information. Their social network analysis of Sina Weibo shows that it can be estimated whether the users are celebrities or common users by analysing their followers, level of attention and the flow of information.

The existing analysis shows that the dissemination modes of Sina Weibo broke through the previous one-way flow pattern of information, with different ways of communication of information intertwining. The new dissemination method, on the one hand, increased the speed of communication, on the other hand, increased the sense of reality of communication. This kind of communication mechanism also affects one’s interpersonal relationship and help users to achieve Ambient Intimacy.

The development of Internet celebrity economy in Weibo environment

The above video explains the development of Internet celebrities in China and netizens’ attitude of them. Nowadays, “Wang Hong” (Internet celebrity) has become the hottest word in China. Internet celebrity economy is explained to the phenomenon that Internet celebrities in the social media, gathering popularity which is relying on a large fan groups as marketing target, then promote their purchasing desires. (Xiaofang Chao)

Internet celebrities gain a large amount of fans by sharing their lifestyle and spending plenty of time interacting with followers in the social media. Advertising is the preferred profit making method of Internet celebrities. For example, an advertising of Papi Jiang (who is known for comedy videos on Weibo) could rake in profits of 22 million. But also after being famous, they would not only gain the clinch lucrative product endorsements, but also establish a new type of money-spinning businesses by riding their own fame.

The characteristic of Sina Weibo make it popular for Internet celebrity economy. Firstly, unlike traditional advertising platform, advertising in Sina Weibo is more focused on “grass-roots”. Sina Weibo is a suitable platform for the ordinary people who want to be seen by the public and become popular but don’t have enough money for advertising. They can pack themselves and advertise themselves by posting articles and videos on it. When they write on their Weibo, they present themselves and perform to audiences making them more relatable and approachable. (Theresa Sauter 826) Secondly, Sina Weibo is open to all people. Sina Weibo and WeChat are supposedly the leaders of social media in China. The function of WeChat was set up based on friends’ group while Weibo is more interactive with the public. Ordinary advertising which was post on television or Internet are unilateral received by audience, however, Weibo users can do comments under the original post. Usually, it would increase the reality when seeing other users’ comments, also, it would decline the sense of distance between them and their fans through interactions.

Conclusion

Sina Weibo is a platform that create an environment for netizens to publish their own opinions, share their daily lives and get latest news. Although their every word and every action on the Internet is supervised by the government, netizens still exercise their freedom of expression on the Internet. Weibo is a suitable social media platform for viral spreading mode since information can be simply, conveniently and rapidly transmitted and reproduced. Even though the users sometimes only share insignificant life stories, when all the little moments gather together might become the key to break cases. In addition, when the attention of users increased (reflected on the increase of fans number), from business perspective, showing the expansion of companies, brands, popularity and the development of potential customers. Also, like most Internet celebrities in China, when their attention increase, they create their own brands and invest in different industries (mainly in clothing and make-up industries).

So Weibo is the product that in line with Chinese economic and political environment, enriching netizens’ daily lives and providing chances for ordinary people to gain attention from public.

Bibliography:

Gao, Charlotte. “Weibo Requires All Users to Register With Real Names by Mid-September.” The Diplomat, The Diplomat, 12 Sept. 2017, thediplomat.com/2017/09/weibo-requires-all-users-to-register-with-real-names-by-mid-september/. Accessed 25 Sept. 2017.

Koetse, Manya. “An Introduction to Sina Weibo: Background and Status Quo.” What's on Weibo, www.whatsonweibo.com/sinaweibo/. Accessed 25 Sept. 2017.

Marwick, Alice E. “The Public Domain Social Surveillance in Everyday life: Surveillance & Society”; Newcastle upon Tyne9.4 (2012): 378-393.

Theresa Sauter. “: ‘What’s on your mind?’ Writing on Facebook as a tool for self-formation: New Media & Society; Vol 16, Issue 5 (08, 2014): 823-839.

Xiaofang Chao. “Internet celebrity business mode developing under fan economy” China Academic Journal Electronic Publishing House, 15 Jun.2016

Yanhong Ma. “Research on the Effect of Weibo dissemination Based on Marketing content” Commercial Research, 10 Nov.2014

[drqid-blog]

Essay on my research on Aesthetics

What is the value of art and beauty?

Art and beauty are two concepts in our society that has an impact on our emotions or health and even to help broaden our minds. It makes us think of concepts that we wouldn’t usually be able to think about, for example Impact of Uncle Tom's Cabin, a book by Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) changed the way we think about slavery because she portrayed slaves as people with aspirations and desires just like everyone else and not a piece of meat to be sold and bought. Watching a certain film could make you change your view on life, or even influence you to change your lifestyle.

Art is not just seen in art galleries filled with paintings but also in written work, poems, novels and theatre. With the influence of the internet there is also an increase in online art work; GIFs, blogs and even YouTube videos could be classed as art, however what is the value of these? How can we say one piece of art is better than another?

The branch of Philosophy that concerns itself with art and beauty is called Aesthetics. It started in the eighteen century and although a lot has changed since then a lot of the work by philosopher is still relevant today. David Hume stated that taste in art may be relative to the individual but on the whole it is not random. People can judge how much a piece of art is worth; otherwise we would have no system put in place to determine how important some art is compared to others. For example Van Gogh’s art work is more valuable than a drawing done by a child, why is this and how can we tell?

Hume argued that his way of valuing art is a matter of taste and the idea critic. It seems to be a simple problem; if artwork A is better than artwork B than A gives more pleasure than B, surely by this logic we can value art? However we cannot just believe that everyone’s taste is equally legitimate. So what is the standard of taste? How can we determine the value/beauty of a piece of work? Hume believes you can develop over time a higher standard of taste that can be used to determine the value of a work of art. He calls this the ‘ideal critic’. For this person to be the ideal critic he/she needs five things;

1.       Delicacy (sensitivity to what is fine of appearance, elegance and refinement.)  

2.       Practice and experience (someone who has never seen a work of art would lack an understanding, just like someone going wine tasting for the first time would not be able to taste all the flavours in the wine, unlike someone who is experienced in the subject)

3.       Comparisons (with nothing to compare something to, it stands alone, leaving no room for value)

4.       No prejudice (if your emotions get in the way of you judging a piece of art than it cannot be done correctly. David Hume stated that when we think about art we should take care not to confuse it with the question ‘do you like it’ with ‘is it good?’ since these are two different concepts.

5.       Good sense (you cannot be random in your choosing, you must have reasoning or you have nothing)

These 5 things seem to make up the ‘ideal critic’ however there are problems within this concept. For example there is some art that people enjoy that would not be classed as a ‘good value’ by an ideal critic. For example Chris Simpsons artist’s work would not be classed as valuable compared to let’s say The Mona Lisa however the response and respect he has gotten on the internet would surely make his work be considered as valuable?

Another problem with the idea critic is that he cannot fully take away his thoughts and feelings to appraise and artwork as valuable without his prejudice getting in the way, as we are ruled by our emotion. Some artwork is also too ‘evil’ to be valued without thinking out the horror within it. For example a slasher film that portrays people getting cut up into pieces cannot be judged fairly because the concepts within the film cause strong emotions of fear. Or an artwork that has difficult moral values within it like Damien Hurt; using animals to create pieces of art. So how can we separate ourselves from the artwork enough to value it?

David Hume believes the value of art should be judged by the ideal critic however, what is the value of art and beauty comes down to the concepts behind the art? Immanuel Kant believes that as soon as you put an end (concept, meaning) to a piece of art it actually loses its value. ‘Most of the arts were impure because they involved a concept’ the only ‘pure beauty’ can be seen free from concepts, objectivity and obligatoriness. Pure beauty, in other words, simply holds out attention and asks for nothing else. Kant states that even looking upon an object gives it a meaning thus losing its pure beauty.

This idea is very different to Hume’s concept of the ‘ideal critic’ because it gets rid of any art work created by man for a reason. For Kant, the random colours in the stones on a beach may hold pure beauty, however the concepts behind a painting taints the beauty within the paining. With this concept in mind, is there any way to create a piece of art that holds pure beauty? Is there some way to create an arbitrary piece of work without concepts behind it?

Another view on Aesthetics and the value of art comes from Hugo A. Meynell. He believes that there is an objective standard within art; ‘the goodness of a work of art is in the impact on the consumer and not within its concept or use’ i.e art is not like a fork or spoon, an object you can determine how useful it is by just looking at it. You need to experience art, the objective nature of its beauty does not live in the object, but the impact it has on its viewer, reader or listener.

This is a popular view of art and value, as it lets people judge art based on a personal experience and therefore on a personal level. However where does it begin and end? Does it therefore make any piece of artwork only valuable on a personal level? If one person likes one piece of art but another hates it, is one person wrong? Are they both right?  

To summarize, the distinction between art and value is not as straight forward as we first imagined. How can we use this information within art? Does the ideal critic hold the only valuable opinion on which art is worth more, or is it down to the person own feelings? Or maybe art is only valuable when ‘pure beauty’ is seen within the arbitrary. There is an extensive amount of information on these subjects however philosophy is merely opinion, and maybe art is just what we make it.