#you are yet another thing that the system that oppresses and abuses us has taken away from me

[boysborntodie]

I drew the besties!!! (They are besties in my heart)

[sunspira]

i often feel like the male socialization claim against trans women is bullshit but also has some "passing privilege" discourse aspects to it to unpack. and yet the specific damage and suffering of someone forced to pass and hide is sometimes HARDER to put into words and eats her from the inside out more insidiously and with less support systems for it or even Words for it just having words for misogyny can help us cope with the oppression be heard and validated and fight it when when youre a cis woman and have always be sure and assured that you are. that's why so many trans women are facing material oppression like poverty and mental illness (like actual mental illness caused by lifelong pain and trauma not the transphobic idea). tho even then there are such insidious, invisible aspects of misogyny that all women even we as cis girls are still trying to identify unpack and uplift each other out of so it's still a concern that runs deep. for me a lack of girls in stem is still so insidious and i would even give priority to helping more cis girls into stem because that pipeline to arts and humanities (and domestication) vs stem is pushed on kids and adolescents more subtly than the more obvious blantant misogyny. they don't outright say "oh you look like a boy to me you should work on computers" it comes in the form of subtle praise for one academic or life skill and subtle discouragement for another academic or life skill from adults who assigned your gender. so we say ya ok cool :) they're so proud of me :) not even cis women have put good words to it yet or figured out a good fight for it so we aren't really better off than trans girls in this aspect as we are on like more well established fights like autonomy in reproductive health or the right to vote or work

the passing privilege discourse thing to me isvery similar to a white passing person of color or a person with an invisible illness or disability or a gay guy who has a traditionally masculine personality. like a fem gay guy who was considered obviously gay since birth have problems that people who can kinda hide it don't and their childhood homophobia experiences were so different. tho still homophobia. but the people who can hide it are also forced to hide it, even from themselves!!?!. trans girls in childhood aren't visible girls until they come out. being closeted isn't a privilege but we know that invisibility vs hyper visibility are different kinds of pain that don't really counteract each other. also to be clear it's the aspect of being a GIRL that is invisible. often a trans girl is very visibly marginalized for not conforming to whatever a boy ks supposed to be. tho feminine boys and girls still have different experiences under misogyny where someone seen as a feminine boy is the indirect target. and how horrific that must be to homophobically / patriachically marginalized for not being the right kind of boy and on top of that like IM NOT EVEN A BOY LEAVE ME ALONE. it must be hell. it's not supposed to be about how easy it was for trans girls for fucks sake that's so deluded or that trans girls had the same experiences as cis het boys. it is usually just helpful to look at like opportunities and protections afforded to you by not being a visible girl like Mulan being encouraged and taken more seriously as Ping stuff like that is actually very healing to go over in your mind and process.

for me it was the dichotomy of having a serious but invisible childhood neurological disorder or difference but never being diagnosed until late in life early adulthood because i had atypical symptoms and was good in school. and i can't tell you how important it is formatively to be good in school and be able to blend in well enough to not get called out of class for extra help and not get bullied. but also the lack of help and slow invisible descent into madness and detachment from myself and denial of my own emotions and stressors and detachment from my soul while 24/7 masking and confusion every time i felt differently from what was expected like averse and avoidant and anxious or overwhelmed over "abnormal" things, or struggled with something that should be easy for "someone like me", i would just self gaslight and self deny and self blame. culminating in complete and total nervous mental breakdown at like 21 and at least a decade of recovery. with all that of COURSE i am sometimes gripped by envy of people who were diagnosed as young children as intended and spent their whole life knowing the most simple neurodivergent stuff about themselves like sensory overload because without that label when experiencing sensory overload i'm telling you it just seems like random bipolar mood swings, no wonder they put me on lithium. it was hell. and yet when i look at neurdivergent people who are so much more openly and obviously impaired than me and that increased NEED and severity is part of the reason they were dx'd in the first place, who are forced into abusive aba therapy and go nonverbal and want a relationship but struggle to connect with people irl or even go out or be allowed to go out. well i would never pretend like i have it harder in that regard even tho the experience of being undiagnosed were awful. not the cleanest comparison tho but

that hypervisibility vs invisibility thing. and the ramifications of being abused or controlled and silenced for a visible marginalization vs the life long debilitating scars and damage done by suppressed repressed and gaslighted marginalization is how i look at cis girls childhoods vs trans girls childhoods. cis hypervisible girlhood vs trans invisible girlhood. is this anything

[north-of-annwn]

Ok so I'm not going to do this anonymously because i don't fear getting chastised for my own ignorance but there are other alternatives to abortion aren't there? I mean i honestly don't understand this bill nonsense but it mostly at least to me sounds like it's just to keep children alive. I mean there are adoption centers and people who will actually pay women who are pregnant to act as surrogates. Why is anti abortion so bad? And how is this a woman's autonomy probpem. Please educate me

First, I want to thank you for acknowledging that your perspective on this may be informed from a place of systemic oppression of AFAB people, and for seeking out information. When people add on to this post with the purpose to educate, I implore you all to remember this person is seeking information. Please avoid shaming them or ridiculing them.

Let’s first address your questions:

1) “There are other alternatives to abortion aren’t there?”

Let’s first define abortion. “In medicine, an abortion is the premature exit of the products of conception (the fetus, fetal membranes, and placenta) from the uterus. It is the loss of a pregnancy and does not refer to why that pregnancy was lost. A spontaneous abortion is the same as a miscarriage. The miscarriage of three or more consecutive pregnancies is termed habitual abortion or recurrent pregnancy loss”  (Shiel MD, MedicineNet).

¼ womxn will have abortions in their lifetime. Abortion is a medical procedure that can be requested or required for a lot of different reasons:

The pregnant person may not be able to carry an embryo to term safely.

The pregnant person may not have the financial support to pay for the medical bills that pregnancy costs in the US (prenatal and delivery alone can cost around $18k).  

I also want to add that people in this country are not given any kind of financial support for the time taken off for prenatal or postnatal care. Being out of work for this time could mean entering extreme poverty.

The pregnant person may not have the financial support or stability of lifestyle to support a child.

The pregnant person may not be physically up to the task of carrying a child to term and delivering. Not all womb-having people are up to what childbirth does to the body. Childbirth is one of the most dangerous things that a body can be put through.  In the US we’re just under 20 maternal deaths per 100,000 births, which is the highest in the developed world. Some undeveloped countries have better stats than we do

Abortion may be required as an emergency life-saving procedure for the pregnant person. And waiting for approval by a committee could mean the death of that person.

Medical interference can also be needed if the embryo has already been determined unviable (basically will not ever have life) because having dead tissue remain in the womb will kill the person. Wombs don’t always do what they’re supposed to and often they will still act as if the pregnancy is going along normally when the embryo stopped growing and forming.

Abortion as a medical procedure is part of basic reproductive healthcare. Denying it is like denying the use of a c-section or blood transfusions.

I also want to add that many of these GOP states are seeking to classify any and all contraceptives as “abortion” as well. This isn’t included in this bill specifically but it’s been named as part of their agendas.

2) “I mean I honestly don’t understand this bill nonsense but it mostly at least to me sounds like it’s just to keep children alive.”According to the CDC, 91.1% of abortions are performed at ≤13 weeks’ gestation. At this time, this is an embryo and fetal tissue. It’s not a child. Pro-life people are placing the eventual *possible* life of a being that isn’t even formed yet above the autonomy and rights of a living human being (the pregnant person). A zygote without a brain or the ability to survive outside the womb is not a person, and therefore not a child. We have determined that something without brain activity is not alive. People with wombs are not incubators. This is not the sum of our existence.

Right now you cannot force a person to give blood or organs in life-saving situations. Why should it be okay to force a person to donate their entire body as an incubator if they don’t want to, which has health complications, and long-lasting effects on the body? We even afford humans that are DEAD more rights than womb-having people in this country. It is illegal to take organs or tissue from dead bodies with no brain activity without consent, but it’s legal to force a living person to act as an incubator for tissue and chromosomes that aren’t even formed to make a person yet?

Also, this bill has SO much more nuanced support for the oppression of women than just keeping “children” alive. This affords the state the right to investigate any suspicion of “intentional abortion.” This means, if a person miscarries, they may be subject to invasive investigation and murder charges on top of grieving for their loss and recovering medically. This bill also in no certain terms basically considers all womb-having people in their state to be the property of the state by allowing people to be extradited and charged if they have a LEGAL abortion procedure in another state.

3) “I mean there are adoption centers and people who will actually pay women who are pregnant to act as surrogates. Why is anti-abortion so bad?” We currently have 108,000 foster children up for adoption right this second in the US. This doesn’t even include unwanted pregnancies being given to private adoption agencies. Adopt one if you want to save a child, but forcing people to enter crippling debt, put their body through the abuse of childbirth, and possible forced poverty because of lack of childcare or compensation for missing work isn’t okay.

Additionally, anti-abortion really only seems to be concerned with one thing - popping out children. There is ZERO concern for the health, wellbeing, or survival of that child OR the parent afterward. This is oppressive and forced childbirth expectations. And again, reduces womb-having people as nothing more than a means to an end. Their life and wellbeing aren’t considered - they’re incubators.

4) “How is this a woman’s autonomy problem.”All of the above. The entire idea of denying women normal reproductive medical procedures or criminalize a natural thing that our bodies DO is inherently oppressive. Deciding that a womb-having person is just supposed to do their best to carry to term an embryo regardless of danger to their life, medical needs, e, inability to care for the child, inability to pay medical bills, or the abuse that childbirth puts on the body��� and possibly condemning them to death, poverty, or life-long debt removes the ability for a person to choose what is done or what is done TO their body. It’s inherently oppressive.

Make no mistake, these bills have very little to do with saving the lives of children, and everything to do with keeping women impoverished, oppressed, and without any control over their own bodies and lives. These bills are also written and signed without ANY input or oversight primarily by the people they affect. This is not a choice that womb-having people made… these are oppressive laws being forced upon them.

Some final personal notes from me: I am currently in a place where I would suffer greatly from these laws if they were to be implemented in my state. First of all, if I were to get pregnant, mine would be a high-risk pregnancy. It is likely that I could lose the pregnancy anytime within the first two trimesters, which would require an abortive procedure to remove the remaining tissue. If I’m to get pregnant, I need to know that modern medical procedures that are agreed to be the most effective best practices would be available to me by a doctor without the threat of criminalization or debating on whether it’s necessary/legal. This affects all people who may ever become pregnant. This is a clear and present fear for us. It’s not just anti-abortion. If that’s all it was… the answer would be simple, don’t have one. If you need one to save your life, you can choose to say no. But it’s not. This is about controlling womxn, denying us healthcare, and we are afraid. We are all desperately terrified of this becoming the new normal across our country. ONE in FOUR pregnancies ends in the need for abortion. And if you need one, you get one. This is about whether or not we have access to SAFE and MEDICALLY sanctioned abortions. 

I really encourage you to do some additional research and reading from educational sites. Be wary of both FOX News, CNN, major news networks, and any journalists with a religious agenda. Further reading: https://prochoice.org/education-and-advocacy/downloads-resources/https://iwhc.org/2018/09/abortion-normal-and-vital/https://www.prochoiceamerica.org/issue/abortion-access/I’d really appreciate if any followers could tack on additional resources, statistics, and personal stories. This is SO important. 

[colorseeingchick]

The Inevitable Dystopia of My Hero Academia (WITHOUT manga spoilers)

As noted by your local political science anime lover.

(This is a summary/rambling about a political science paper I wrote on My Hero. This is only based on the anime. I’m not caught up on the manga)

Warnings: Vague reference to abuse (Endeavor), discussion of political theory, discourse.

A/N: It’s lengthy and all over the place. It also might be impossible to follow. So I’m sorry in advance lol.

THESE ARE JUST MY OPINIONS AND A FORM OF DISCOURSE. I’m open to discussing if you have thoughts! Political science is about understanding policy and structures, not taking a stance. Any comparisons to ‘modern society’ are in reference to 1st world/developed societies, as those are the governments that parallel the My Hero Academia government. 

The politics of My Hero Academia is... pretty morbid if you ask me. It’s not worse than the real world, sure, but maybe that’s why it’s all the scarier. Even with quirks and super powers, the impossible becoming possible, it isn’t enough to save them from the undesirable. Their society seems to have fallen into a cycle of suffering and oppression that has no end. 

Now, I know no one really gets excited about political theory (unless you’re like me, then please be my friend), but there are some concepts that you’ll need to understand in order to follow along with my argument. So bear with me. 

First, utopia. Utopia is probably a term you’ve heard casually, but the definition political theorists hold it to is simply- “a good place.” Often times it is depicted as a far away dreamland, only possible in the realm of fiction (and this makes sense given that My Hero is fictional). It is very important to understand that utopia is not necessarily perfect. It’s just better than average. There are a few standards that characterize utopia, one being the utopian focus on having very strict laws to repress the unstable nature of mankind [1]. I’ll come back to this. 

Next is dystopia. Dystopia as an idea was actually made in response to utopia. It’s the ‘not-utopia,’ and is lumped with ‘anti-utopia’ (this comment is in reference to the semiotic square, if you would like to develop a further look into it). The simplest way to understand dystopia is to know it’s ‘a not-good place.’ [2] But that’s surprisingly broad. Dystopias can be a failed utopia, or they could have developed on their own as a result of any number of reasons. You’ve probably seen all sorts of depictions of dystopia (climate dystopias, medical dystopias, technology-based dystopias, literally any YA novel from my childhood, you get the idea). Its key to note that unlike an apocalypse, where there is utter destruction and it ends with complete annihilation of humanity, there is hope* inherently written into it. 

*Hope here meaning there’s theoretically a way for the government to be changed/overthrown without death of the majority. 

Now that all that boring stuff is out of the way- let’s talk about My Hero Academia. 

I’d argue that, at first glance, Hero Society seems to be working towards utopia. When reading from Deku’s perspective, especially in the beginning, you would think that their society is close to becoming utopian. The impossible is possible, being a hero is a reality, and a symbol of peace tangibly and definitively exists. When you compare it to pre-quirk society, these changes would appear to be developments. As for the ‘in progress’ aspect, I think Hawks verbalizes it best when he says his goal is for heroes to have too much time on their hands. They aren’t there yet, but if that goal is achieved, it would be a mark of utopia. 

They’ve achieved some level of utopian standards by meeting the ‘strict laws to repress the unstable nature’ standard. Think about the concept of licensing quirks, quirk regulation, and the government institutions that regulate quirk society. Remember when Tomura cornered Deku at the shopping mall and mentioned something along the lines of, ‘all these people could wield their quirks at any moment they want, but choose not to? Instead they smile and laugh.’ 

He has a point. Why is that? From a political theorist point of view, it’s honestly very shocking. For centuries, theorists have argued about how to manage human nature. It’s a difficult task as is. Give everyone superpowers? That would have to be 10x as chaotic. But in the My Hero world, it’s not. It’s well organized. The government took action to regulate the physical instability of humanity which arose from quirks. What’s so impressive to me is that they managed to mitigate (not eliminate) the instability of human nature/behavior along with it.

But if you take a step back to look at My Hero Academia, slowing down and stepping out of Deku’s shoes, I don’t think the instinct is to classify it as a utopia in progress. Of course, its superpowered with quirks- adding to the realm of possibility. But crime of all sorts is superpowered, just as the justice systems/law enforcement in the country. 

When I made this realization, I understood I had kind of been drawn into the propaganda the society puts out. It’s a sort of cloak built up by the positive media around the heroes, the narrative being focused on young heroes and their great mentors, and the universal title of ‘villain’ being put on everyone that breaks the government’s laws (this really bothers me, and maybe I’ll discuss it another time). Things aren’t better. Crime rates have gone down I believe, but the anti-hero sentiments being harbored are more intense than in certain real world societies. Hero society hasn’t necessarily resolved any of the problems that our society would have. The balance is the same, but the possible actions people can take, or the behaviors that are exhibited, are scaled up on both sides of the law.

What’s worse is that- even if its not a universal experience, this society is also a dystopia for many people. The first hint of this society being less than perfect is when we hear from Stain and his pursuit of a ‘just society’ by eliminating fraudulent heroes. His ideals are surprisingly level-headed, and very rigorous in standard, even if it is based in questionable morals. But it’s easy to brush it off. However, its less deniable as you learn more about these characters. 

Shigaraki was abandoned and waited for heroes to save him, but they didn’t. Overhaul was also an orphan living on the streets. Eri was abandoned by her mother because of her quirk. Twice was villainized, when in reality he has mental health issues (dissociative identity disorder I believe). It broke my heart when Twice said “heroes only save good people.” Who decided they were bad people? Why weren’t they saved?

Also, can we talk about the quirkism? (Which I don’t know if that’s a real term within this fandom yet, it might be, but just to be on the same page, I mean quirk-based discrimination) You have people like Shinsou, who’s treated as villain even though he wants be a hero- solely because of his quirk. I believe Toga was also treated poorly because of the nature of her quirk as well (correct me if I’m wrong). And then you have Midoriya, who was harassed and bullied for not having a quirk at all. Clearly none of them have control over the way they were born, and yet they all had to deal with how society treats them because of the uncontrollable. (At this point I’m sure its clear there are a lot of parallels with the discourse around quirkism, racism, and sexism, which is a whole nother conversation).

Having good quirks also seems to get you a pass, or puts you outside the reach of the law. The only example I need for this is Endeavor and his children. Despite all the abuse he’s done that makes him a villain in my book, he stays the number 2 hero. That’s all I need to say. 

The suffering of all these individuals is a direct result of the failure of the government. And this isn’t a ‘government should have taken extra steps to help them.’ This is a situation where the government’s structure, including the sensationalized media and monopolization of quirk use, has actively attacked and oppressed people who otherwise would have been untargeted. 

This is a world of misery for them- the people who make up the underworld. We call them villains and criminals because they are- but I don’t think its fair to call all of them bad people. They definitely didn’t start out that way. They are the results of suffering. They are created by a society that solely aims to remove them from existence. This hero society is so unjust that its faults create its own villains. The villains they aim to stop came to be because of the ‘heroes’ in the first place. The irony there is painful, and I hate that it’s a sort of self fulfilling prophecy. 

The reason why I think it’s morbid is because there is no escape. Quirk society in its current state is undeniably a dystopia for many. But the issue is (and this was the crux of my argument in my paper) dystopia and utopia inevitably and consistently coinhabit space. What is utopia to one will be a dystopia to another. There is no way to get everyone to uniformly view society. 

What that means is, somebody will always be suffering in this society. At least, that’s the cycle that’s been set up. In the episode where Tamaki got shot with a quirk erasing bullet and Kirishima fought the gangster on quirk enhancing drugs, that gangster did say that this was ‘their time’ to rise. “It’ll be the age of those who live in the shadows.” They’re not looking for resolution. They’re looking for revenge. They want to flip the script and be the ones living in utopia while everyone else is subject to suffering. The concept of everyone living happily in harmony and true peace isn’t even in consideration. 

There seems to be no middle ground, no solution to the push and pull between the ‘heroes’ and ‘villains.’ The unfairness will continue to be passed around, and unless someone can break the cycle, attack the corruption of the system at its roots,

the problem is not going to go away. 

Sources!

[1] Claeys, Gregory, and Fatima Vieira. “The Concept of Utopia.” In The         Cambridge Companion to Utopian Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013.

[2] Robinson , Kim Stanley. “Dystopias Now.” Commune, November 17, 2018.            https://communemag.com/dystopias-now/.

Copyright © 2020 Colorseeingchick. All rights reserved. 

[aion-rsa]

The Silence of the Lambs and Clarice’s Lifelong Battle Against the Male Gaze

https://ift.tt/3tKs3GZ

Special agent Clarice Starling is breathing heavily as she forces herself to turn the next tight corner. Between deep breaths, she knows somewhere in the back of her mind that she’s being watched. And she can assume those invisible, cold male eyes are making a judgement of her five-foot and three-inch frame: She’s in over her head. Yet she pushes past any condescending skepticism, and she perseveres  through the proverbial dark.

At a glance, this could apply to the climax of The Silence of the Lambs, Jonathan Demme’s masterful psychological thriller which finishes with a cat and mouse game of Starling (a peerless Jodie Foster) crawling through the dungeon created by Ted Levine’s Buffalo Bill. In that blackness, serial killer Bill most certainly watches her, playfully (mis)judging her aptitude for handling his house of horrors. Yet all of these elements are also evident in Silence of the Lambs’ very first scene.

On a sleepy late wintry morning in Virginia, we’re introduced to Starling already overcoming another manmade trap meant to exclude her. At the FBI’s Quantico obstacle course, we witness the quiet and earnest determination which defines Clarice as she ascends up a rope line and when she flips over a cargo net. She’s acutely aware that the deck is probably being stacked against her behind her back, but she remains unfatigued and undaunted. She doesn’t even wince when the FBI instructor who emerges from the shadows to summon her down to the office mispronounces her name: He calls her “Sterling.”

It’s only a few minutes at the top of Silence of the Lambs, but it’s shot with Demme’s signature attentiveness and subtlety. While the director never draws direct attention to his filmmaking and blocking techniques, his visual language is pristine and unmistakable.

From the jump, Clarice is in a maze, a labyrinth of manmade systems and challenges that appear to reject her very presence. And she never once steps away from their course. They’re with her at the finale in Buffalo Bill’s portal to hell, but they also manifest in the bureaucratic cages and then literal holding pens Dr. Frederick Chilton (Anthony Heard) ushers Clarice through as a power move—a brusque display of authority and arrogance after Clarice rebuffed Chilton’s sleazy pick-up line a moment earlier in the film. “See what an important man you missed the chance of getting to know?” he projects through a curdled sneer.

Chilton is, of course, taking Clarice to meet the man he calls “the Monster:” Dr. Hannibal Lecter (a mighty Anthony Hopkins who demonstrates the eviscerating power of stillness). And one doubts Dr. Lecter would disagree with that title. It’s easy to imagine the disgraced cannibal psychiatrist musing that if Clarice’s life is a series of mazes and evaded dead ends, then her lifetime amounts to a single, titanic struggle against a minotaur—the ultimate monster of Greek mythology who devoured young men and women fed into his maze.

Yet in Silence of the Lambs, the all-consuming Dr. Lecter is hardly the only monster in Clarice’s life, even if he is the creature at the center of Chilton’s labyrinth. Rather the real Monster (with a capital “M”) pursuing Clarice is just about every man she meets. Among them, Dr. Lecter is but an urbane drop in the ocean.

This is again foreshadowed during the film’s opening moments when, after coming down from the obstacle course, Clarice loads onto an elevator with a half-dozen other FBI trainees, each towering over her by at least a foot. Once more, Demme’s simple but eloquent framing of Clarice’s universe is devastating. In a snapshot, we can understand the white bread, buttoned up skepticism of the patriarchal institutions she’s attempting to join and improve. After all, in the next scene, her new boss Jack Crawford (Scott Glenn) admits she caught his attention when she grilled him in a classroom over the FBI’s sordid history in the civil rights era.

Crawford welcomes Clarice’s earnestness and repudiation of the good ol’ boys’ club in law enforcement. Still, he only picks her for this assignment because he sees her as a proverbial honey pot meant to entice Dr. Lecter—a pretty face meant to appeal to the lonely and incarcerated cannibal. Hannibal takes it a step farther too when he asks if Clarice has considered that the kindly Jack Crawford is attracted to her? Dr. Lecter relishes planting the idea of Clarice’s boss fantasizing about her in the young agent’s mind. How else would Crawford think to pick her to interview the monster?

But these taunts, which are intended to embarrass, are rooted in Lecter’s two most powerful weapons: acute observational skills and the ability to speak uncomfortable truths. He uses them again during their final encounter before his escape, when Hannibal asks Clarice, “Don’t you feel eyes moving over your body?” Don’t you feel the male gaze objectifying and defiling?

One of the most remarkable things about Silence of the Lambs 30 years later is its intelligent and (much like Clarice) frank way of addressing the overt sexism and misogyny in society. This is not done in the sometimes ham-handed way of modern media, with didactic speeches and easily defeated abusers who get their deserved comeuppance. Instead this problem is shown to be the uncomfortable truth of our reality, and a truth that’s sadly changed little in three decades.

Even before Dr. Lecter verbalizes the oppressiveness of the male gaze, Clarice and the audience know it’s there in the elevator, and perhaps also with Crawford’s more smiling friendliness. It’s sometimes not even unwelcome, as when Clarice flirts with the gawky bug specialist at the Smithsonian (he even gets to attend her Quantico graduation later); but it’s constant, and mostly insulting if not outright predatory. Whether in the gaze of all those criminally insane patients whom Hannibal shares a cell block with or in a dozen hard stares from a West Virginian sheriff’s department, it is always menacing Clarice.

It’s fair to wonder whether it was harder for special agent Starling to draw a gun on Buffalo Bill or for Clarice to tell all those country bumpkin deputies to take a hike earlier in the movie so she and Crawford can examine the body of one of Bill’s victims. When she entered the funeral home with her boss, once again all these other law enforcement types had a foot above her in height, and their eyes closed that distance to cover her body. No one says an outwardly sexist or sleazy remark; they don’t have to. In fact, the only cruel word comes from her own boss when Crawford preemptively bends to the local prejudices by marking Starling as soft and lesser by virtue of her gender while chatting up the sheriff.

Later Crawford offers a halfhearted apology, saying he only did that to ingratiate himself with the regressive rube he needed information from. But Clarice is never one to let the right thing go unsaid.

“Cops look at you to learn how to act,” Clarice respectfully but assertively pushes back. “It matters.” Crawford smiles and shrugs, “Point taken,” before dozing off. But obviously the point is not taken, and the patronizing tone of even a decent man like Crawford belies his kindness. It demonstrates why the insidiousness of patriarchal double standards persists. Hence how at the end of the movie Crawford gets to go on the ill-fated raid of where the FBI thinks Buffalo Bill is living—leaving Clarice behind to actually crack the case on her own.

Even from his cage, Dr. Lecter can see this perpetual struggle within the moment Clarice steps before his plexiglass. She is, after all, a woman trying to advance in the FBI. Not that Hannibal is immune from this nastiness or is some kind of “ally.” In the same scene that Lecter asks about men’s eyes, his own stare attempts to consume Clarice whole. Long before Demme’s camera puts Foster in an extreme close-up, Hopkins’ baby blues are dominating the whole screen as Hannibal demands to know about the screaming of the lambs. Unblinking, they’re like the eyes of a deity. Or a devil.

And yet, Clarice can at least appreciate Hannibal’s bluntness and honesty about it, as well as the fact he always shoots straight with her, even when he lies or obscures the truth beneath word games. He’s the only man who admits to the double standards, and he points her in the right direction to capture Bill, albeit by leaving Clarice to put the clues together herself.

At the end of the day, Silence of the Lambs is Clarice’s story. Sure, Hopkins is spectacular as Hannibal, but even with her Oscar win for the role, Foster is often overlooked for her contributions as Starling. It’s a role that’s been imitated a thousand times since 1991—including with several other actresses playing Clarice—but it’s never been duplicated. There is a steadfast resilience here, sure, but also a quiet awareness that’s just as observant as Hopkins’ supervillain. She sees everything, including her own insecurities. Dr. Lecter brings them to the surface when he extracts the story of the screaming lambs from her memory, but she already knows what the crying lamb sounds like. She hears it almost every night.

Read more

Movies

Hannibal: Did Author Thomas Harris Try to Destroy Dr. Lecter?

By Don Kaye

TV

Clarice Review (Spoiler Free): No Hannibal, No Problem

By Tony Sokol

It’s all there in Foster’s own eyes, which is what gives her steely determination to overcome staying power in our minds. By the movie’s end, subtexts become text inside Buffalo Bill’s dungeon. For here is a basement that a man retrofitted into a torture chamber for women, members of the gender he covets and despises. As with the obstacle course, Clarice enters this space brazenly and defiantly, finding its labyrinthine center where Bill has turned off the lights.

Hidden behind his night vision goggles, the killer thinks he’s master, and Clarice is his next victim. One more sacrifice to feed upon. Finally, the male gaze we’ve spent the whole movie dreading from Clarice’s vantage is flipped, and we watch her through Bill’s green tinted voyeurism. This is the metaphor taken to its most extreme, with the camera sharing headspace with a serial killer. Yet it’s not too far removed from the Monster that’s stalked Clarice all her life. The grossness of Bill’s hesitant attempt to touch her hair, to take possession of Clarice’s body and personal space, is a reach every male in the film, save for Clarice’s father (the only other male the camera shares eyes with in a flashback), has made.

When Clarice once again turns the tables on this assumed authority and shoots Bill dead, she’s slayed one version of the minotaur and earned her perch in a system that’s resisted her. We see her triumph via the graduation at Quantico. Now she is a celebrity among the FBI. We also see it in Crawford’s genuine affection and admiration for the young woman.

Nevertheless, the maze he helped maintain persists, and the Monster takes another form. Thus even in her success, Clarice ends the film still framed in tight shadows, hanging onto the words of Dr. Lecter, who’s just put down the phone. She has the respectability and authority Hannibal lost long ago, but he can still move through this world in a way more liberated than any path Clarice has ever known.

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The post The Silence of the Lambs and Clarice’s Lifelong Battle Against the Male Gaze appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3rDUWT8

[sepublic]

A dynamic I’ve been thinking about lately it Amity’s relationship with magic

Bc if I was in her position I would prolly hate doing magic

Her parents are elitist assholes bc of it- said parents control her life over it - not to mention that it separated her from her one true friend growing up: Willow

So what if Amity grew up resentful of magic that she still did everything as perfect as possible due to her parents but hating every second of it

So what if Amity went to the human world for a summer tried to live a life without magic and she realized that yes, she can be so happy without magic that she can experience so many wonderful things but that magic isn’t always bad

After dealing with these feelings Amity realizes that Magic can also be beautiful and make her happy as well

           The way I see it, I think Amity IS someone who legitimately enjoys learning about magic, and even the process of teaching others… She’s genuinely interested in magic in-part because of The Good Witch Azura and is inspired by her role model, and Amity clearly enjoys reading books to kids! Not only that, but…

           …It’s not exactly canon, but there was this one DisneyTVA post that showed a cardboard cut-out of a sad and lonely-looking Amity! The caption explained that she pitched an educational series to the Disney executives but was rejected!

           My read on Amity is that she DOES like to learn, and if allowed to self-actualize, would probably enjoy becoming a teacher actually! But because of the way she’s been taught, Amity has confused/associated learning with school as a system and an institution; That these two are synonymous, that if you like to learn, you ALSO like school and its environment! She sees the two as one and the same, a package that comes together, and I don’t think Amity realizes that you can still enjoy learning, while hating the school environment!

           For me, I think the pressure and standards that the Blight Parents have put onto Amity have ‘ruined’ her hobby and interest for her, as now she’s turned Magic and learning from a passion into yet another means of social advancement; Which means Amity can no longer unconditionally enjoy it and constantly has to measure her decisions by which one attains the highest grade for her, VS just having fun and being casual with her mistakes!

           I headcanon Amity as someone who initially started off as a Gifted Kid and did very well, enthusiastically enjoying Magic and having a natural talent and passion for it… Hence why the Blight Parents were so insistent on Amity not being ‘dragged down’ by Willow and her late-blooming, in addition to their own classist attitudes of course! But as Amity got older and poured all of her energy into doing well in school, eventually she got burnt out… She began falling behind on her past successes, as top scores came a lot less easily to her, and Amity’s passion for school began to dwindle.

           And, it’s another reason why Amity is so frustrated and critical of herself- Because in the past she used to ace school effortlessly and barely had to put in effort, why is it so hard and difficult for her now!? Why is she becoming so anxious over this, it used to be so easy, is there something wrongwith her? And now Amity is afraid of having built up her parents’ expectations, only to have secretly ‘lied’ and thus will let them down… In addition to ‘falling behind’ the development of characters like Willow and Luz!

           Of course, Amity would NEVER be against her friends being stronger than her, but she’d definitely internalize this into self-loathing as an example of how she needs to be better! Because she used to be at the top, so why is she falling behind? Was she really never meant for greatness, is this some cruel joke by the universe? And it’d be difficult for her to get back into learning magic, because now it’s just a constant reminder of her own inabilities and alleged failings…

           As you suggested, I can see Amity getting away from her parents’ abuse, and initially trying to unlearn it by rejecting the concept of school and learning in general… But as she goes cold-turkey from this, inevitably she’s still gonna be less happy; Happier than she was before, because no more abuse and more love from Luz and the others! But admittedly, Amity won’t feel completely fulfilled, she’ll find herself missing the idea of learning more about magic, and she’ll be confused, because wasn’t school an abusive and unhealthy environment for her??? 

           So in comes Eda. To me, Eda and Amity are both alike in that… I see them as characters who actually have a huge love and passion for learning, but the specific structure of school as an institution, as well as the pressure to succeed by the Coven System, ruined this hobby for them. And I think Eda is well-aware of the distinction between learning and education, VS school as an institution and a system meant to make kids orderly and pressure them to succeed… So I can easily see her explaining to Amity that there IS a divide between the two, that there is a difference!

          And just as Eda rediscovered how to love learning about magic on her own terms, by getting away from the oppressive school environment and doing things her own way, amidst her own recent lessons with Luz about Glyphs… I can see her helping Amity rediscover that same passion, either by having lessons with Lilith at the Owl House and/or attending school again, but this time without the pressure to succeed and be the best!

          I think it’d be beautiful, seeing Eda, Luz, and Lilith help Amity reclaim her love of learning and education that was taken away from her and ruined by the Blight Parents! Helping Amity get back to learning about things unconditionally, doing it on her own terms and converting it back into HER choice, rather than those of her parents…

          Amity can rediscover how to learn about magic simply for the sake of it, and not just to attain some other goal! Luz in particular legit loves magic and is intrigued by it, I could see Luz’s ramblings and passion helping Amity as the two begin to collaborate, as Amity’s negative memories with learning are replaced with the positive ones she has with Luz, Eda, and Lilith…! Luz’s enthusiasm for magic is likely bound to get contagious, and remind Amity of why got interested in the first place, amidst both girls enjoying The Good Witch Azura together and continuing to be inspired by it, and one another!

           If I had to guess? I think that in a scenario where Amity was allowed to figure out who she was and what she wanted to do… I think she’d be happy with being a teacher! But specifically, one fixated on her curriculum and lessons prioritizing the enjoyment of students, a teacher who cares about helping kids really get to know Magic and actually appreciate it up-close, with less regard for trying to get high grades!

          I think Amity would work on her lessons to encourage students to really think about and engage with what they’re learning, instead of just reading it out of a textbook or something… Less blind memorization and recitals, or filling people’s heads like an empty box; And more inspiring thought and creativity, like tending to a living flame! And I can see Amity working to change the school system to be more geared towards honest education, instead of simply indoctrinating and preparing kids for their roles in the Coven System!

          I like your idea a lot, @imamwolf, it makes sense with what this show has to say, and I know I’m literally just regurgitating what you already told me, but still! This show has a lot to say about the relationship between a student, education, and a teacher, and how a teacher fulfills their role!

[romioneficfest]

Soul Searching

Title: Soul Searching

Prompt/Summary: Hermione admits she was wrong.

Rating: K

Name:

Brief Summary: Hermione admits the way she went about House Elf rights when she was younger wasn’t quite how she should have handled things.

Content Warning: None

Notes: This is very AU and contains an in-depth discussion of house-elf rights.

“You know, Ron,” she said quietly, “you were right and I was wrong.”

Blimey, the Hermione Granger he knew never admitted she was wrong! Ron looked at her with trepidation.

“Um, uh, are you a pod person that’s taken over my girlfriend’s body?” They had watched a Muggle movie called The Invasion of the Body-Snatchers a couple days ago.

Hermione rolled her eyes and ignored him.

“I stand by my position that house-elves have a right to freedom,” she explained, “But I was wrong to try and hide those hats in the Gryffindor common room and trick the school house-elves into picking them up. And you were right to call me out on it. It was underhanded and very patronizing of me. I never asked them what they wanted, not even once. I fell short of my high ideals of equality and fairness and justice and…No wonder they were all so offended!”

Ron’s mouth closed with an audible snap.

“Don’t feel too bad, sweetheart,” He said gently. “Everyone fucks up. And I reckon we’ve both got a lot to learn about house-elves. I didn’t even see how rough they had it until you pointed it out!”

The words seemed to calm her down. A small hand slipped into his as they walked along the beach of Shell Cottage. The setting sun blazed and glowed the scarlet and gold of Gryffindor, like a phoenix soaring over the horizon.

“House-elves are oppressed,” Hermione mused. “and any legitimate movement for social change has to center their struggle and prioritize their right to self-determination. But I was wrong…I should have known better than to think I knew better than them. I see now that I have no right to tell them what their liberation should look like, or what their relationship to their traditional occupation should be.”

She sighed, and placed her hands over her temples. “As a witch and member of the very class that oppresses them, I was way out of line. And I honestly don’t know how to fix it.”

“Hermione, we’ve been over this before,” Ron said patiently. “you can’t be right all the time. None of us can. You wouldn’t be human if you could! And sometimes, there are no easy answers. Life isn’t a textbook, you know, it doesn’t come with an answer key at the back. Even the house-elves can’t seem to agree what’s best for them. And to be honest, we wizards and witches are so loud we kind of drown them out.”

They were silent for a while. Ron and Hermione were both haunted by Dobby’s near-death at the hands of Bellatrix Lestrange. But the elf had largely recovered from his injuries, thanks to the devoted care of Harry and surprisingly, Winky. Winky and Dobby had hated each other for a long time, due to their vastly different stances on house-elf rights. Still, Dobby was a hero of the War and highly respected by his people. Her friendship with Dobby helped Winky sober up and get over being dismissed by Mr. Crouch. Ron still didn’t get what she’d seen in the crusty old geezer, but he was glad to see she’d finally moved on with her life.

Hermione gave a watery smile. “Dobby and Winky’s political stances are not as opposed as they seem. Both of them support better working conditions for their people, and neither of them condone actual abuse at the hands of humans. It’s just that Winky has a lot of pride in her people’s traditional occupation of domestic labor. And we have to admit that labor has value and is important! Essential, even. Most of the wizarding world runs on it.”

“I mean, only rich people can afford house-elves,” Ron said, “my family hasn’t had one in like, centuries. But Hogwarts would be shot without them, that’s for sure. And I’m pretty sure the Malfoys would starve to death without them.”

“Isn’t it odd that much of the wizarding world can be so dependent on another race of beings and yet so contemptuous of them?” Hermione wondered. “The Death Eaters didn’t emerge in a vacuum. The systems of oppression that produced them are still with us in the form of violence against house-elves, Muggle-borns, werewolves, and goblins.”

His girlfriend used a lot of big words, especially when discussing her grand social theories about the world. But Ron always got the gist of what she was saying. He’d been around her long enough.

“Hermione,” Ron said in a low voice. “You got seven Os on all your NEWTS! Seven Os. That’s kind of a big deal. You could be anything you want. But you always said you wanted to do some good in the world. So why don’t you make SPEW a full-time thing and fight for the rights of these people? I think you’d be good at it. You’ve just gotta be sure you involve them and stay in touch with what they want.”

She looked up at him, startled.

“You don’t think it would be stupid?”

“Of course not! I became an Auror for you, remember? And I’d work double-time to support you if that’s what it took.”

He couldn’t really blame his girlfriend for doubting him on this stuff. Sometimes, he still wondered what she saw in a boor like him. Ron felt twinges of shame for the things he’d said about SPEW before the war. Auror training taught him that hatred and bigotry were powerful sources of Dark magic. Voldemort’s soul had been a shitty, rotten, maggot-filled cesspool of both. No wonder the twisted old snake had wanted to tear it apart.

George had offered him a post at the joke shop, but in the end, Ron couldn’t bring himself to replace Fred. He just couldn’t. Losing Fred had felt like losing a limb. Ron let the pain fuel him for his next round with the Death Eaters. He clenched his teeth and fists so hard his knuckles turned white.

“I swear, Hermione,” he growled, “I won’t rest until every single Death Eater and all the fuckers who sucked up to them are brought to justice.”

Hermione glowed, her face shining bright like moonbeams and starlight and all that mushy and dramatic bullshit he didn’t get. “I know you won’t.”

She curled into him. His face was very warm, and he could feel it turning as red as his hair. Ron swallowed hard and held her against his chest, feeling like one of the gallant knights in the stories his mum used to tell him. It was a damn fine feeling, he decided.

“I think I’m going to take your advice. My parents want me to apply for a post in the Ministry, but I think it’s as much my destiny to be an activist as it’s yours to be an Auror.”

The stars sparkled above them like a diamond in a wedding ring.

“I have a confession to make,” Hermione whispered.

“Oh, yeah?”

“When we were at school, I had a crush on you for so long that I was afraid of what would happen when we finally got together. My greatest fear was that we didn’t share the same values, and that it would drive us apart. I don’t have that fear anymore.”

“I was afraid of fucking us up, too,” he admitted quietly.

“You know, there’s a Muggle saying I once read in a book,” Hermione said. “Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction.”

Ron thought of the final battle of Hogwarts, when he’d been the one to remember the house-elves and warn them to leave the kitchen for their safety. They all fought valiantly at Harry’s side to protect the school and defeat Voldemort. His girlfriend was a tough witch to impress, but he knew he’d got through to her that night. He thought of how proud he and Hermione were of Harry, who’d fulfilled the prophecy and become the first DADA Professor in many decades to last more than one year in the post.

“Well, sweetheart, that sure does sound like us.”

Hermione beamed brightly up at him and snuggled closer. “Thank you, Ron. Thank you for supporting me in the cause we both believe in.”

The sun slipped over the horizon, and the blue water splashed onto the powdery white sand of the beach. Hermione’s face turned up like a flower in spring, and she raised her lips to his. Ron felt his mind go blank at the taste of her cherry-red mouth. He didn’t want to ruin it by talking, so he lifted her clean off the ground, just as he’d done for their first kiss. Hermione’s bushy brown hair tumbled across his face, smelling all sweet and fresh like new parchment and freshly mowed grass and the perfume he’d bought her long ago. And she giggled into the kiss. Ron had wanted this for half his bloody life, but he knew then he would never get enough.

[liskantope]

Some thoughts on BLM and our current unrest

[Content warning for death and violence and even sexual abuse (although that’s not part of this week’s issue) and, you know, discussion of a current topic that’s very upsetting for many people. I can’t guarantee that the opinion I express won’t be additionally upsetting although I’m hoping for an open-minded rather than strident tone here. Also, it turned out super long. And I didn’t even get around to the protest vs. rioting discourse!]

This post is long, and since Tumblr for some reason has done away with the light horizontal bars separating sections of writing (I can’t imagine why, and I wish they’d bring it back), I’ll adopt the style of Slate Star Codex and The Last Psychiatrist to mark different sections.

I.

(The following hypothetical situation is inspired by the crimes of Jerry Sandusky of Penn State and Larry Nassar of Michigan State.)

Suppose it becomes public knowledge that in many American universities there are officials working in athletics departments who are using their programs to gain access to children and teenagers for the purpose of sexually abusing them. Say it is discovered that this has been going on for decades at most of these universities, with the perpetrators using their privilege and power to keep the suspicions of the higher-up administrators on the downlow. This would of course become a dominating national news item and lead to a public conversation about how poorly structured the system must be at universities to allow for such despicable crimes to go on, how we as a society are putting people in power who care more about their power than about the basic safety of children and teenagers, and so on. If enough people felt like university administrations or state governments were refusing to take action towards dissolving these corrupt systems, or if they disagreed with the actions being taken, there might be full-scale protests or even riots along with the vigils that would take place in any case. I mean, I believe all of this is basically what happened when the Sandusky and Nassar situations broke out some years back.

Now suppose that in addition, when looking at all these horrific revelations from universities all around the country, it became noticeable that the victims of these sex crimes were disproportionately young people growing up in poverty; let’s say fully one third of the victims were growing up in households whose annual income was under $30,000. (I don’t recall the Sandusky case in great detail but something like that was probably true there to a more dramatic extent since he got access to his victims through a program designed for underprivileged children.) This makes the situation feel even more tragic -- don’t kids from low-income backgrounds suffer enough disadvantages already? These monsters that are protected by The System are adept at preying on the most vulnerable, and clearly this (hypothetical but altogether not unrealistic) phenomenon highlights the vulnerability of those who are not economically privileged.

Now in such a situation, class issues would definitely become at least a minor part of the discourse, but I have a hard time imagining that the entire main thrust of the public outrage would focus on classism, even if (and this is something I can’t imagine either!) the only cases being projected by the media to become common public knowledge, out of the whole series of university athletics sex crimes, were the ones where mainly poor kids and teenagers were targeted. In fact, I expect that if any media outlet tried to present the entire thing as being a class issue and implied that it affected only poor kids, there would be a lot of backlash especially on the grounds of this coming across as a big middle finger to the higher-income-background molestation victims. I just don’t see it happening. Primarily, the outrage would be centered on the fact that university administrations allow high-ranking people in their athletics departments get away with despicable violations of young people for decades. The fact that a disproportionately high number of those young people are from underprivileged backgrounds would be treated as sort of a secondary issue, if properly noticed by the broader public at all.

So, if you’ve read this far you probably see where I’m going with this. And I know that the above hypothetical scenario furnishes nowhere near a perfect analogy to what has people riled up right now. But why is it that in my hypothetical nightmare crime scenario, the prevalence of the crime itself (rather than which demographic is disproportionately on the receiving end) is what constitutes the outrage, whereas in the real-life scenario of numerous documented instances of police brutality and murder, the entire thrust of the public outrage is centered on the notion that this is all about racism, that yeah there must be something seriously amiss in a system that lets cops get away with brutal violence towards innocent civilians but pretty much every single statement expressing that sentiment will frame it in terms of racism while the existence white victims of police brutality is essentially never even acknowledged?

From what I can see, in this age where everyday happenings can easily be recorded by random bystanders and the recordings can easily become accessible to the public, we are seeing evidence that a number of American cops are way, way too liberal with lethal violence, either through direct training or through a tendency towards paranoia of how dangerous a civilian under arrest might be or through psychopathic tendencies that attract certain kinds of people to a profession where brutally violent behavior is too easily excused in the courts after the fact. I don’t know to what degree these relatively few pieces of documented footage reflect a large part of the police force rather than just “a few bad apples”, but on some level it doesn’t matter -- an event like the murder of George Floyd should not be tolerated and the fact that many such instances are happening every year seems unacceptable. This is true regardless of whether Floyd’s race actually played any significant part in Derek Chauvin’s decision to apply very excessive force. Then there are statistics to reckon with -- I don’t have the skillset that some have for knowing where to look up data and rationally analyzing it, but to my understanding it’s quite unambiguous that American law enforcement officers kill a lot more people than the police forces of most other countries, and this would seem to point to a serious problem. I have generally heard that in absolute terms, in fact more white men are killed this way than black men, but relative to the ratio of white people to black people, black men are killed disproportionately often. Of course there seems to be no room whatsoever for discussion of any possible reason this could be aside from purely racist motives on the parts of the cops, which is certainly one of my issues with the whole topic, but let’s set that aside for the moment and assume for the sake of argument that this disparity is entirely attributable to anti-black racism. Even with this assumption, does it make sense to present the entire issue of police brutality as a purely racial one?

Here is another analogy to something that is not only non-hypothetical but is an even bigger current situation: the pandemic. It’s frequently been remarked on that Covid19 has been killing at a significantly higher rate among racial minorities. And yet the broader framing of the crisis we’re in hasn’t been that it’s an African-American issue or that every failure of government officials to respond effectively is primarily an instantiation of racism. The racial component of this is treated secondarily, in fact with far less emphasis than the direct crisis which affects everyone in the country even if not in equal measures.

With the murders of George Floyd and Ahmaud Abery, as with every other story of a cop killing of a black person that goes viral, it’s not only that the narrative frames the race component as the primary issue -- the race component is framed as the only issue. This is done in such an absolute and unquestioning manner that I’m still a little taken aback whenever I see each new “We denounce racism!” announcement from almost every company whose mailing system I’m in: my Unitarian Universalist organization, the university I work for, Lyft, Airbnb, etc., not that any of them actually suggest a plan of action beyond donating to Black Lives Matter and other related organizations.

I think I can answer my own questions about why the narrative is coming out this way. Some areas of social justice enjoy a much more prestigious position in America than others do, and racism seems to dominate all the rest. (I’ve come to see this as a very American thing, no doubt due to the exceptionally dramatic nature of my country’s struggles against racial oppression, although it’s probably the case in Canada as well and maybe to a comparable extent in other Anglophone countries.) There is no surer way to make an issue more hot-button than by framing it as a racial issue, except in the unusual case (as in my Covid example) that the issue is actually of urgent and immediate concern to all citizens. Opposition to something like police brutality could have some momentum on its own, but as motivation for activism it has nowhere near the mighty strength in our culture that anti-racism does. In the hypothetical scenario about child abuse at universities, we have one type of social injustice, economic inequality, which has mostly been relegated to the background in the recent history of social activism (yes, Bernie Sanders has had a significant following, but my impression is that even many of his most diehard supporters get more passionate about racial inequality than economic inequality, at least when it comes to fiscal issues other than health care reform). Whereas child molestation is condemned in the strongest terms by our society perhaps even more universally than racism is (even though this universality makes it less of a cause for energetic activism -- I never hear anyone complain that “we live in a molestation culture” or anything like that). So, issues viewed as racial have far more memetic endurance than non-racial issues or even the exact same fundamental issues when not viewed from a racial angle.

Or, here is another way that I’ve considered looking at it: because police violence happens disproportionately to African-Americans, police violence could be considered to be “an African-American issue”, and since anti-racism activism is already quite a strong force in modern American culture, the issue of police brutality will naturally find an outlet to the public through the lens of African-American issues. Therefore, this is the only angle from which most of us will ever see it.

Of course the obvious thing that someone would surely point out here is that pretty much all of the examples of police brutality we’ve been seeing for years have white people victimizing black people (George Zimmerman did not present to me as white from the moment I first glanced at him, and by many definitions he is a PoC, but I guess he’s close enough to white that people were able to ignore this). Therefore it seems logical to assume that anti-black racism is the only lens to view these events through. Well, it would be logical except that we should all be able to think critically enough to realize that there are probably tons of videos out there of innocent white people being victimized by cops but those aren’t the ones that go viral. In fact, videos of black people being victimized by non-white cops probably also don’t get very far in the memosphere* -- it’s occurred to me that perhaps if the Asian policeman on the scene had been the one in the center of the frame pinning Floyd to the ground, this atrocity might never have become public knowledge!

(*Did I just make up that term? Google isn’t showing anything.)

And honestly, for this reason, I can’t help feeling particularly bad right now for loved ones of nonblack people who were victims of such crimes while being treated as if their cases didn’t exist.

This is not me trying to covertly imply support for “All Lives Matter” here. I’ve never felt the slightest bit of attraction to that counter-hashtag, which has always struck me as subtly obnoxious in implying that Black Lives Matter’s name is equivalent to saying “only black lives matter”, which of course BLM is not saying. Black lives do matter and in many ways still constantly get devalued and it is good that there’s an activist group out there whose main purpose is to stand up for them. But my discussion above does point to a specific issue -- probably the biggest of two or three issues -- I have with BLM. It would be one thing to say, “Police brutality can be considered a black issue since it affects black people disproportionately, so we should form a Black Lives Matter group and include it as one of the things we want to fight against.” Instead, BLM’s rhetoric strongly implies, “Police brutality is entirely a black issue and we’ll round off the entirety of it to racism and make opposition to it our main plank”. (Compare, from an secularist activist group, “Anti-gay bigotry often arises from fundamentalist religion and the justification for anti-gay-rights legislation threatens separation of church and state; therefore we should consider it an atheist/secularist issue and place gay rights issues among our concerns” vs. “Anti-gay bigotry and legislation is simply a manifestation of religion’s attempt to dominate non-religion so we should make opposition to it our main plank and not acknowledge or stand up for gay Christians.” Again, not a perfect analogy, but I hope it shows where I’m coming from.)

II.

I already wrote a post exactly four years ago describing and criticizing what I called “protest culture”. My point in linking to it here is not to revisit the discussion about Bernie Sanders or even the question of protesters’ deep-down motives but to endorse the following paragraph describing the kind of protest activism I felt (and still feel) could be helpful:

I definitely think there’s an important place in our culture for organized protest.  Sometimes we ordinary citizens need to show our dissatisfaction to the higher-ups in a way that they are forced to notice and not ignore.  But I strongly prefer protests that express dissent from a particular action, propose a concrete solution, and include many people who are able to make nuanced arguments in favor of this solution.  If there is no good consensus as to a serious solution, then I’ll settle for some particular action that is being protested against.  For instance, I would have proudly joined the marches against the war in Vietnam had I been around for it, and would have joined the marches against the war in Iraq had I been a little older at the time.  I would consider joining protests against, for instance, particular amendments I feel strongly about.  I did not, on the other hand, feel comfortable with the “99 percent” movement.  What was it expressing a sentiment against, exactly, apart from the very vague notion that a few people at the top screw things over for the rest of us?  (And by the way, I suspect that demonizing the entire top 1% was too heavy-handed; it’s probably only some in the top .01% who have been doing the main damage.)  There seemed to be little organization to this movement, and little common purpose except “let’s protest for the cause of being vaguely left-wing!”  The best argument I remember hearing in its favor was when a student explained to me the main strategy behind the movement: they would essentially fight guerilla-style by occupying large areas for a very long amount of time in a way that the top politicians couldn’t ignore, never, ever giving it up until things change in Washington.  But I was still pretty sure that at some point, the movement would have to die down, and was willing to bet that this would happen before anything changed in Washington.

I’ve never felt as fervently as I do now that too many law enforcement officers in the US are out of control and some kind of reform needs to be done (or at least strongly considered, in a serious conversation) to the system so that it can be effective in keeping them in check and outlawing certain forms of excessive force. There’s a lot I don’t understand about the demands and risks involved in law enforcement, but I really can’t imagine how there’s any possible excuse for what Officer Chauvin did, or for his colleagues who stood by and watched him do it. One reason I’m bringing up everything I did in the section above is that a massive protest movement based entirely on opposing racism seems to me like the exact wrong way to bring about the kind of reform we need, in part because it fails to recognize that the link from the bare facts of these events to possible racist motives is far less direct than the link to the overpowered nature of American law enforcement.

What is a campaign centered on “Be less racist!” possibly going to accomplish? Yelling at the police to be less racist isn’t going to change the behavior of individual cops who might be subconsciously racist but don’t realize it, many of whom are likely to react with defensiveness (because racism on an abstract level is sufficiently shamed in modern western culture that nobody likes to admit to themselves that they’re being racist). It’s even less likely to change the behavior of individual cops who are maliciously racist. It’s not going to change the policies set in place for law enforcement when, in this day and age, it would be highly illegal and unconstitutional to have explicitly racist policies in the first place. (It can be argued that some of these policies are a part of systemic racism, but then in my opinion the activist movement should focus on attacking those specific policies.)

In fact, I can’t think of any situation, however race-related, where I expect it helps to yell “Be less racist!” except for when (1) you are protesting against a particular law which discriminates against people of a certain (minority) race; or (2) you are denouncing a particular candidate or person in power who has explicitly endorsed racism in public or in private. Both of these scenarios are highly rare in 2020. Maybe there are other neighboring scenarios I’m not thinking of at the moment, but I’m pretty sure our current scenario isn’t one of them.

I imagine that if we set race aside for a moment and focus on police reform, by waiting for background information on the Floyd case to come out and piecing together what led to this injustice and pinpointing which factors led to it, a difference could be made. I’m not saying that this should all be done dispassionately, and in fact acting with passion and emotional force is crucial. And I’m not saying that in the wake of such an obvious murder everyone should just stay quiet until more facts come out. It makes sense to cry out in pain and anger as an immediate reaction, and I’m not going to criticize anyone for doing this, especially someone who feels closer to the tragedy (yes, including through shared racial background) than I do. But letting this get immediately drowned in a rampage against perceived racism and only that, against a system that has shown time and time again that it clearly doesn’t think itself racist at all and perhaps (in at least most of its components) has no deliberate intention of being, doesn’t seem likely to produce anything but further acrimony and polarization.

[TL;DR for these last two sections: it would seem like a more effective response to focus on police brutality and overpowered-ness as the main issue rather than making it all about race.]

III.

I forced myself to watch as much of the video of George Floyd’s final hours and minutes as I could. I didn’t actually succeed in finding the full video, and maybe that’s for the best, because what I did see chilled me to the bone and distressed me more than almost any real-life footage I’ve ever seen. I’m not as eloquent as some at putting my raw emotions in writing and don’t know the words to describe how twisted up it made me feel to “witness” an obvious murder of a man whose greatest “crime” was resisting getting pushed into a police car, and to watch him dying one of the most undignified deaths I can imagine ever being forced on anyone. I felt momentarily physically ill and wanted to cry.

Others in my orbit -- mostly white people; my social bubbles have always been disproportionately white and Asian and certainly nonblack -- have expressed a similar emotional reaction to mine except with the added factor of disgust at the obvious racism present. This was just simply not part of my immediate emotional reaction. On a cognitive level I am aware that there clearly has to be some degree of anti-black racism in law enforcement, even independent of classism and other factors, and that could be of some relevance in any individual case (although it would seem very tricky to assess how much). But this awareness doesn’t have time to kick in when I open a video or news story that’s already been presented to me as “another black man killed by racist cop” which reminds me that this is embedded in a particular media narrative and makes me feel instinctively on guard against letting my perceptions be colored by it.

Black people seeing these apparently all feel on the level of deep, fundamental knowledge that this happened to Floyd because he was black and that it’s a fate they have to constantly fear happening to themselves, or at least that’s what the white people around me are constantly claiming. I feel epistemically helpless when it comes to knowing what the “average” (rather than one of those on the forefront of racial activism) African-American’s take on this is, or how fearful the “average” African-American is of the police on a daily basis as compared to a white person’s, especially prior to the age when videos of police abuse started going viral.

But I’m certain that a significant part of the African-American community is right now in a deep pain that I can’t really imagine, because I don’t quite know how it feels to perceive one horrible tragedy as indicative of something that is done to attack a specific minority that I belong to.

I expect that some of them learn about an incident like this, and an incident like the one with Ahmoud Arbery, and feel on the level of social intuition (I think I’ve sometimes called this “social sense”), developed from a web of personal experiences, that these individual terrible choices clearly had a lot to do with the victims being black. I would be a hypocrite to fault someone for reaching a strong conviction based on this kind of social intuition, because I do it myself all the time -- in fact, I often express such conclusions on this blog. I feel less qualified to rely on this social intuition and my own experience when it comes to race issues, but I invoke it all the time on this blog when I talk about male-female dynamics in order to argue on controversial position on gender relations, for instance, because I do have lifelong ample experience with men and women interacting.

If many black people in America have a deep instinctual feeling for the racial aspect of many of these attacks, then I do acknowledge that a lot of that is probably coming from somewhere other than media narratives. It might come from everyday interactions with police, observing that they are stopped and treated hostilely by the police than their white friends seem to be, or who knows what else. And those voices with their explanations need to be at least listened to. I wish it were easier to hear them through all the tribalistic noise and confusion.

So trying to better understand all this is part of my struggle at the moment. This post might not age well -- I wouldn’t be surprised if I view some of my turns of phrase in this section of it with some embarrassment even sometime in the near future -- but I need to commit myself to trying.

Anyway, I guess all of this is to say that my lengthy arguments above aren’t meant to claim that the instances of police brutality we’ve been seeing aren’t related in some way to racism, but that reflexively framing them in terms of racism seems guaranteed to bring only more pain to an already painful situation.

[crystalelemental]

Edelgard’s an emperor trying to expand her empire. Adrestia’s got that clear German influence. Flayn, Seteth and Serios can be killed in BE and they’re among the last members of their race, so that’s where “Edelgard commits genocide” comes from.

Damn, is that where it came from?  You know what, fuck it, I can appreciate a good asspull, 10/10.

But seriously, I feel like this must have started as a joke, and was taken seriously and became a real thing people now argue over.  There’s no way that started real.  Like...you took one data point out of context, and another you forced a convenient interpretation onto to make the claim.  That’s absurd.  Like...okay, first off, does Edelgard even know that Flayn and Seteth are dragonkin?  Because, like...I didn’t.  For a while.  They mention pretty early on that the saints and heroes could have ridiculously long lifespans, and it was pretty apparent that Seteth and Flayn were related to the saints, so for a while I just assumed that was all it was.  I can’t even remember when I started to connect they might be dragons too, and I think it was specifically when they start talking about how Rhea is like family.  Which happens in the Church route, an entirely separate reality.  Secondly, if we’re going to start counting “killed the last known dragon” as a form of genocide, then I’m pretty sure about every lord in Fire Emblem is guilty.  Killing dragons, especially corrupted or evil ones, is kind of a series staple.  Hell, apparently they’re not even the last, they’re “among the last.”  I’m really hoping that has to do with the Nabateans that Seiros mentions near the end of BE route.  God, please tie this in to some dragon society.

Moreover though, it’s just amazing to me that this is the direction we take with Edelgard’s character.  You know the first thing that happens when you join Edelgard against the Church?  She asks everyone if they’re sure they want to stay, and tells them they can leave if they’re not up for it.  What a vile, power-hungry fascist, allowing her friends and comrades to duck out of a conflict they may not be ready for.  When you take over major areas, her first declaration is for everyone to drop their weapons and cease fighting.  Again, so vicious.  Or hell, how about Hubert and Ferdinand’s B-support, where we’re told point-blank that Edelgard intended to allow their enemies to go free?  It’s Hubert who sends the order to kill; Edelgard had every intention of allowing her enemies to live.  What an unbelievable showing of cruelty.  Hell, even her motivations don’t line up.  Yes, her goal is to unify the continent within her empire.  I haven’t finished the game yet, but one of her proclamations is that the Church was explicitly responsible for creating the divisions between nations, and that this division held people back.  I dunno, maybe that’s right.  Even if it’s not, the Church is responsible for keeping a lot of secrets about relics, crests, and crest stones from everyone, and has shaped history to the current form where Crests are all-important, to a degree where many go to disgusting lengths to obtain them.  Edelgard’s entire MO is basically “Eat the rich.”  She hates the nobility that stole power from the emperor, and immediately used that power to torture children to essentially create weapons bearing two crests, and called it “research.”  She was one such kid experimented on.  If we seriously want to talk about who’s the oppressed and who are the oppressors, it doesn’t take both brain cells to figure out Edelgard was on the worse end of this.

Hers is the story of a child abused by society at large, recognizing those responsible for setting the conditions that allow or even celebrate these atrocities, and rising up to dismantle the systems that protect them.  At every step of the way, she’s resolute, but she’s clearly not happy that things have to go this way.  She cries when she has to kill Dimitri.  Someone out to kill her who would stop at nothing, and she cries over the fact that nothing would have been able to stay his hand.  I’m not saying she’s a perfect cinnamon roll who did nothing wrong.  She fucks up quite a bit.  She never once talks with Dimitri about the truth of what happened before the timeskip, which could’ve saved everyone a lot of trouble.  She could have been more detailed about the problems the Church is responsible for, because believe me, having played it, I’m still not entirely clear on their role, which made it harder to understand why they’re her target.  Her ambitions being largely for the greater good don’t excuse the fact that she’s willing to jump to subjugation through force in a case like with the Alliance.  Hell, you could argue that Dimitri, even consumed entirely by his lust for revenge, didn’t need to die, and that she’s simply justifying the solution that’s most convenient for her.  All of those criticisms I’m fine with.  But my god, it’s like you don’t know how to tell someone with complex motives and questionable actions from a sociopath.

Personally, I blame Fates.  I feel like a lot of Fire Emblem does pretty well with moral gray, and characters who can seem purely evil having a complex history or motivation.  Those qualities are what drew me in so much when I first played through Blazing Blade.  But Fates...did a terrible job of this.  Garon and his goons were so transparently evil as to be cartoons, and Hoshido was left to be the pure “did nothing wrong” victim good guys despite showing the more overt levels of racism and hatred toward their enemies.  They created this concept of picking a side as if they were equal and just butchered it so hard.  Awakening was...actually really not much better about this at all.  So I guess I shouldn’t be so surprised that many newer fans to the series are seeing this game play out and trying to fit it into a neat little pure good and pure evil box, but that’s not the way the series has traditionally played out.  I hate to be this much of a snob, but god Three Houses feels like a proper return to form.  It legitimately feels the same as when I played the Radiant games the first time through, only without the frustration of the fucking bridge.  This moral complexity is how the series is meant to run, and by god it feels good to be back in a game that has this kind of depth.

[bloodwarmed]

Shigaraki and the Pleasure of Destruction

“Central to the effect and fascination of horror films is their fulfillment of our nightmare wish to smash the norms that oppress us and which our moral conditioning teaches us to revere.”

-Robin Wood

Shigaraki’s backstory in BNHA is marked with excessive violence and outpouring of bodily emotion, bodily fluids, and bodily destruction. This destruction and excess arise as a reaction to the stifling paternalistic system under which Shigaraki / Tenko is subjected and abused. Horikoshi conveys the violence as a scratching of an itch – the relief of a persistent sense of discomfort. The destruction is repeatedly portrayed as a pleasure to Tenko – a pleasure that arguably extends to the reader who occupies his perspective. This post uses horror film theories to argue that Shigaraki’s pleasure in destruction comes from bliss and catharsis in destabilizing the oppressive system he and the reader are subjected to, and takes relief in abandoning socially sanctioned behaviour.

[Author’s note: This reading zooms in on chapters 235 & 236 only. Points here are made as opinions and hypotheses, not statements of fact, i.e. this is just one way of reading the text. Most theories cited here apply mainly to analysis of Western horror films; yet I cite these ideas believing they are applicable here, given the chapters’ horror elements, and American media’s partial influence on BNHA. This discussion covers aspects of the Japanese family unit and attributes some influence to Confucianist thought. This is not an attempt to disparage another culture, because I am, unfortunately, also subject to a society informed by such codes – filial piety especially. If you believe it is within your jurisdiction, critique where necessary.] 

The Symbolic System of the Paternalistic Family Unit

Tenko’s destructive outburst is a reaction to the symbolic system of his Father’s household. Here, ‘symbolic’ is a term used to refer to that which acknowledges and abides by cultural and social laws and rituals [3]. In the microcosm of the Japanese nuclear family,  the father is the daikokubashira (the man of the family, the central pillar on which the family leans on) [7], and Tenko is subject to paternalism, collectivism, and conformity. This helps us understand why his father has such a strong hold over his family – his power is not just financial; paternalism is deeply ingrained as a sociocultural norm:

In traditional Confucian thought, women were inherently subordinate to, and were expected to serve and obey men. This form of female subordination to male dominance and authority supports the social belief that males were responsible for protecting, defending, and guiding those inferior to and dependent on them. As Sugihara notes, “[T]he Confucian ethical system emphasizes a harmonious society in which a hierarchical structure is maintained…which assumes… men’s dominance over women and children.” [4]

The opening panel establishes the house which five-year-old Tenko is subject to. The home – both the physical space and the social ladder of the family – is an ordered system literally and hierarchically built by his father.  

This is fact is continually reinforced each time a restriction or punishment is imposed on Tenko, emphasizing his suffering as a result of his father’s heavy-handed rule. 

It is a house run on order, reason, and restraint, which necessitates repression and discipline. Shimura Kotaro’s rule against heroes appears a logical outcome of his own childhood experience of abandonment by his mother Shimura Nana – it is a restriction imposed to minimize risks to his family. This prohibition represses his own boyhood desire for his mother (suggested by his emotional response to her letter) and this repression is extended to and projected onto Tenko.

But unlike the adult Kotaro who is repressed and seamlessly interpellated into this symbolic system of discipline, Tenko is a child, and therefore immature – more impulsive and driven by infantile want (“children are more self-centred and straightforward than one would expect”) – his simple desire to play hero transgresses the order of the home, specifically, the rule against heroes. He is disciplined for this, leading the reader to view the symbolic structure as unfairly repressive, authoritative, and disciplinarian.

Tenko’s rule-breaking is not the only way the text demonstrates his segregation from his household. His difference and emotional turmoil manifests physically as excess outbursts of bodily fluids, bodily movement, and sound (these notions of “bodily excess” are derived from Linda Williams [5]). In other words, the text clearly shows us that he does not fit into his home’s strict system through:

Excess bodily fluid & discharge: tears, mucus, and broken skin from scratching, vs. the relative cleanliness of the house, and the complete, stable, contained appearances of his other family members

Excess bodily movement: scratching, flailing and shuddering, vs. the controlled stiffness and posture of his father’s bodily movements

Excess sound: weeping, shouting protests, begging for mercy vs. the communal silence and denial of his mother and maternal grandparents, who only protest quietly and ineffectually, silently consenting to “taking [his father’s] side”     

Of these tics and mannerisms, most notable is his itching – the clearest, most visceral manifestation of his bodily and emotional discomfort. The blemishes on his face visually mark him out as the odd-one-out in his family, the broken skin gives clear indication that he is in bodily pain. This uncomfortable affliction is a direct result of his father’s abuse and his family’s non-interference: it arises only at home, and he scratches most violently when his father’s violence (and family’s ‘betrayal’ of complicity) reaches a climax:

Tenko’s bodily excesses are physical materializations of his painful emotional slippages from the system. In other words, it is as if his (invisible) pain is rendered visible as material symptoms; as if the restrictions imposed on him literally hurt him and draw blood. This is somewhat relieving to see as a reader because when emotional pain is so clearly materialized and visible, it is an affirmation and validation that it exists – it is something you can see and feel, and is therefore undeniably real. In short, Tenko – simply by being himself, true to his immature desires and without the ability to repress this – is oppressed by his father’s household, which is run by a symbolic system of order. While this demands one’s body to be stiff, controlled, sanitized, clean, presentable, and containable, and behaviour to be quiet, compliant, and submissive, Tenko's excess of emotional thrashing, crying, bleeding, scratching and protesting is a clear transgression of this. As punishment, he is frequently expelled from the house – an individual outcast from the system. 

The Pleasure of Bodily Excess and Destruction

As a result of his natural childish desire and bodily excess, he is not ‘symbolic’ – that which abides by the social code – but ‘abject’: that which does not respect borders, positions, rules, and disturbs identity, system, order. [3]

“The abject threatens life, it must be radically excluded from the place of the living subject, propelled away from the body and deposited on the other side of an imaginary border which separates the self from that which threatens the self” [3]  

As mentioned, I’m employing theories used in analysis of horror films, which typically portray battles to reject and disavow the abject threat of the monster, to push them safely over the border to protect the symbolic self. Under the symbolic system of his house, Tenko’s father delineates the boundaries, i.e. borders, of the house; he retaliates when Tenko crosses the boundary into his private study, expelling and quarantining the abject, rule-flouting Tenko to the yard. 

This scene of discipline and restoration of order happens in garish daylight, under which people, actions, and the ordered space of the home is illuminated, visible, comprehensible. This gives way to night as we move from chapter 235 to 236: under the darkness and low visibility, things become incomprehensible, nightmarish, and a dream-like fantasy of vengeance unfolds.

This section asserts that the horrifying spectacle of Tenko’s unbridled destruction of his family and home is pleasurable for him and the reader because it is the moment he cathartically destroys the symbolic system that oppresses him, and all who are complicit. 

The first death enacted by his quirk is gory, unexpected and alarming. We share Tenko’s distress because it is uncontrollable and accidental. As it comes right after he pitifully despairs that he hates his whole family, Mon-chan’s demise is almost seen as a result of that hatred; it is as if his emotional, immaterial pain and itch for vengeance has finally taken material form, become a physical force, through his newly manifested decay quirk. Thus, even though panicked, there is an arguable degree of relief at this release of a pressure valve, and the deluge that follows is extreme.

The first person he kills is his sister. Previously she was positioned as a sort of helpless and fearful conspirator – she understands and navigates the symbolic system well: she lies to their father that she wants to be a housewife instead of a hero, and lies again about Tenko initiating the break-in to his study – and had managed to dodge punishment and remain mostly in her father’s favour. She had been allowed to remain safely inside the house while Tenko was expelled – physically and socially. Here however is a terrifying spectacle in which she comes to mimic his bodily excess – she cries, screams, bleeds just as he does. Because Tenko’s internal dialogue here begs for her to protect him as she failed to before, Hana’s destruction is possibly Tenko’s unconscious, uninhibited, primal desire to punish her for betrayal – to unify the both of them under his pain.

As the blood and gore escalates, so does Tenko’s own bodily excess. Speech breaks down as his voice does; a panel of his face contorted in an anguished scream as hair stands on end, eyes wide and bloodshot, vividly exhibit this emotional deluge and breakdown of sense and communication; a panel gives an uncomfortably close-up shot him clawing at his itching skin, drawing blood; he vomits loudly, uncontrollably, he trembles, shudders. His body releases, spills, spews excess emotion, fluid, destruction – manifestations of the extreme emotional pain and malaise that he’d built up from abuse, swelling inside him to a burst of excess spillage. This is further confirmed in his destruction of his mother and grandparents:

He explicitly demands to know “Why did you take dad’s side?” and professes his pent up fury toward their docile submission, leaving him to suffer alone. He reduces their whole, presentable, bodies to unsightly, dismembered corpses, and thereby reducing them to the same abject defilement as himself; he wipes away the patient, chastising comfort from their faces to elicit the reaction he had desired from them in his moments of need: panic and alarm. In this act, the communal silence towards his abuse is finally transformed to mutual suffering, screaming, and bloodletting.   

The Pleasure of Destabilizing Social Norms

Linda Williams asserts that horror is a genre that can “address persistent problems in our culture […] violence & emotion are a cultural form of problem solving” [5]. In Shigaraki’s backstory, domestic violence is the problem, and violence in equal or excess measure is the solution (while his mother and grandparent’s non-violence did not work against his father). Paternal control over the house is the problem, and a complete obliteration of that system and house is the solution. Furthermore, Tania Modleski cites Roland Barthes’ notions from “Pleasure of the text” to argue that contemporary (Western) horror films abandon plasir (pleasure from confirmation of one’s subject position i.e. confirming your perspectives, values of the world and your place in it) and instead offer jouissance (bliss from dismantling and undermining of one’s subject position; indulges in destabilization, pleasure of destruction, allows abandonment of normal modes of thinking) [6]. This is the pleasure Tenko describes when he fully indulges in the climactic act of destroying his abusive father and entire house, and in doing so, frees himself from subjection to the symbolic system. 

In a wider context, the family is a basic unit (and microcosm) of Japanese society, and the anxieties of said society are visualized through kaidan – ghost or horror stories. In such stories, the child ghost / monster conveys a fear of the young’s disregard for and role in destroying the family:  

In an interesting twist to the cinematic kaidan tradition, contemporary films' exploration of these familial and larger social anxieties revolves around the figure of the monstrous child ghost. In these films, the traditional figure of the adult female onryō is supplanted by a terrifying teen or preteen wraith. These films' representations of children and young adults transformed into disgruntled, vengeful, supernatural entities after (perceived) betrayals by their parents hints at dominant Japanese concerns that the growing dysfunction and disintegration of traditional familial and social structures have led to the emergence of a new generation of young people who have taken on distinct, potentially problematic identities, including otaku, the shojo, and the kogyaru, which are characterized by a detachment and disengagement with the larger (often adult) community. [...] Where earlier incarnations of the onryō were either appeased or vanquished after attaining vengeance (Oiwa, Okiku, and Lady Mamiya), contemporary onryō defy all attempts at containment; instead, their hunger for destruction is presented as infinite, perhaps reflecting society's deepest fears about the immature, unsocialized youth generation's incoherent and uncontrollable appetites. [4]

Thus, I read Shigaraki’s backstory as a fairly relevant presentation and critique of societal fault-lines – in particular, the hurt and dysfunction caused by unchallenged abuse of paternal, patriarchal power, possibly enabled by a society and family unit guided by Confucianist thought and ideology, including respect for parents, community over self, social harmony over personal indulgence among others. Tenko’s failure to contain the emotional burden of his abuse under such an environment, one that overflows in a deluge of excess bodily emotion, fluid, movement and force of destruction – offers jouissance through destabilizing the structure that binds subjects to the moral and social obligations of the paternalistic nuclear family. 

Arguably, the reader, forced to occupy Tenko’s perspective, experiences this pleasure vicariously. This monster child of sorts represents the kind of infantile and primal urge we suppress, fear, and reject. Through this fictional surrogate, we gain access to the act of fleeing moral conditioning and destroying the paternal / creator / rule-maker and his system, thereby liberating us for self-determination, self-definition, self-rule. Through this explicitly visceral excess, we are caught in his euphoria of empowerment and destruction, in a sort of involuntary mimicry. It is a power fantasy of subverting the hegemony that dominates.

Liberation to a Limit

In the wider narrative of BNHA, this liberation from the symbolic system is arguably limited. The chapters detailing his escape from the system are aptly named “Shimura Tenko: Origins”. 

His identity under his family and thus his family name are abandoned, and he is reborn as Shigaraki Tomura. The sequence of chapters suggest a progression from oppressed subject Tenko to liberated Shigaraki. However, given the fact Shigaraki is named and guided by All-For-One, it seems as if this merely substitutes one paternal figure for another. Perhaps subsequent plot developments might offer some opportunity for his self-determination, under an identity and following a path that he himself constructs. We can only wait and see.

References

1. Horikoshi Kōhei, “Boku no Hero Academia (僕のヒーローアカデミア)”, Chapter 235-236.

2. English-translated manga screencaps obtained from VIZ <https://www.viz.com/my-hero-academia>; Jamini’s Box  <https://jaiminisbox.com/reader/series/my-hero-academia>; and cross-referenced to mangastream <https://readms.net/manga/my_hero_academia>.

3. Julia Kristeva, “From Filth to Defilement”, Powers of Horror, 1982.

4. Valerie Wee, Japanese Horror Films and their American Remakes, 2013.

5. Linda Williams, “Film Bodies: Gender, Genre, and Excess”, 1991.

6. Tania Modleski, “The Terror of Pleasure: the Contemporary Horror Film and

Postmodern Theory”, 1984.

7. Thank you Luka for informing me of the term, translation help, and proofing.

[insteadhere]

Robert Jensen: Patriarchal Sex

I’ve seen an excerpt from Jensen’s Patriarchal Sex (one quoted by bell hooks in “The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love”) circulated around so I thought I’d add in a few more abstracts as it is a good piece.

Jensen, R. (1997). Patriarchal sex. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy. Vol. 17, Iss. 1/2: 91-115.

(Note: Jensen is a gay man, but has very clear and critical takes on pornography, patriarchy, and power in general and I find him to be a worthwhile read.)

I begin with a working definition of patriarchal sex: Sex is fucking. In patriarchy, there is an imperative to fuck-in rape and in "normal" sex, with strangers and girlfriends and wives and estranged wives and children. What matters in patriarchal sex is the male need to fuck. When that need presents itself, sex occurs.

From that, a working definition of what it means to be a man in this culture: A man is a male human who fucks.

I am not a prude, but I have come to realize that I am very much afraid of sex. I am afraid of sex as sex is defined by the do i culture, practiced all around me, and projected onto magazine pages, billboards, and movie screens. I am afraid of sex because I am afraid of domination, cruelty, violence, and death. I am afraid of sex because sex has hurt me and hurt lots of people I know, and because I have hurt others with sex in the past. I know that there are people out there who have been hurt by sex in ways that are beyond my words, who have experienced a depth of pain that I will never fully understand. And I know there are people who are dead because of sex.

Yes, I am afraid of sex. How could I not be?

A common response from people when I say things like that is, "You're nuts." Sometimes, when I'm feeling shaky, a voice in the back of my head asks, "Am I nuts?"

I have been doing research and writing on pornography and sexuality for about eight years (Jensen 1996, 1995b, 1994a, 1994b). In the past few years, I have been trying to figure out how to talk to people who think I am crazy and how to deal with my own fear that they may be right. I have been trying to understand why the attack on the feminist critique of patriarchal sex has been so strong and so successful, and how it connects to the backlash against feminist work on sexual violence.

Here's one tentative explanation: It is too scary to be afraid of sex. To go too far down the road with the radical critique of sexuality means, inevitably, acknowledging a fear of patriarchal sex. And if all the sex around us is patriarchal, then we are going to live daily with that fear. And if patriarchal sex seems to be so overwhelmingly dominant that it sometimes is difficult to believe that any other sex is possible, then maybe we are always going to be afraid. Maybe it's easier to not be afraid, or at least to repress the fear. Maybe that's the only way to survive.

But maybe not. Maybe being afraid of sex is the first step toward something new. Maybe things that seem impossible now will be possible someday. Or maybe we will find that we won't need what we thought we needed. Maybe being afraid is the first step out of the fear and into something else that we cannot yet name.

Here is the curriculum for sex education for a normal American boy: Fuck women.

Here is the sexual grammar lesson I received: "Man fucks women; subject verb object" (MacKinnon 1989, p. 124).

The specifics varied depending on the instructor.

Some people said, "Fuck as many women as often as you can for as long as you can get away with it." Others said, "Fuck a lot of women until you get tired of it, and then find one to marry and just fuck her." And some said, "Don't fuck any women until you find one to marry, and then fuck her for the rest of your life and never fuck anyone else."

Some said, "Women are special; put them on a pedestal before and after you fuck them." Others said, "Women are shit; do what you have to do to fuck them, and then get away from them."

Most said, "Only fuck women." A few said, "Fuck other men if you want to."

The basic concepts were clear: Sex is fucking. Fucking is penetration. The things you do before you penetrate are just warm-up exercises. If you don't penetrate, you haven't fucked, and if you haven't fucked, you haven't had sex. Frye (1992, p. 113) defines this kind of heterosexual, and heterosexist, intercourse as, "male-dominant-female-subordinate-copulation-whose-completion-- and-purpose-is-the-male's-ejaculation." That is sex in patriarchy.

Men in contemporary American culture (I make no claim to cross-cultural or historical critique; I am writing about the world in which I live) are trained through a variety of cultural institutions to view sex as the acquisition of pleasure by the taking of women. Sex is a sphere in which men (by this I don't mean that every man believes this, but that many men believe this is true for all men) believe themselves to be naturally dominant and women naturally passive. Women are objectified and women's sexuality is commodified. Sex is sexy because men are dominant and women are subordinate; power is eroticized. In certain limited situations, those roles can be reversed (men can play at being sexually subordinate and women dominant), so long as power remains sexualized and power relations outside the bedroom are unchanged.

Summed up by Andrea Dworkin (1987, p. 63):

“The normal fuck by a normal man is taken to be an act of invasion and ownership undertaken in a mode of predation; colonializing, forceful (manly) or nearly violent; the sexual act that by its nature makes her his.”

One of the key sites in which these sexual values are reflected, reinforced, and normalized is pornography. Domination and subordination are sexualized, sometimes in explicit representations of rape and violence against women, but always in the objectification and commodification of women and their sexuality Dworkin 1981, 1988; MacKinnon 1987, 1993). This results in several kinds of harms to women and children: (1) the harm caused in the production of pornography; (2) the harm in having pornography forced on them; (3) the harm in being sexually assaulted by men who use pornography; and (4) the harm in living in a culture in which pornography reinforces and sexualizes women's subordinate status.

In a world in which men hold most of the social, economic, and political power, the result of the patriarchal sexual system is widespread violence, sexualized violence, and violence-by-sex against women and children. This includes physical assault, emotional abuse, and rape by family members and acquaintances as well as strangers. Along with the experience of violence, women and children live with the knowledge that they are always targets.

So, the conventional view is that rape can't be about sex and has to be about violence, because if it's about sex then each one of us has to ask how deeply into our bodies the norms of patriarchal sex have settled. Men have to ask about how sexy dominance is to them, and women have to ask how sexy submission is to them. And if we think too long about that, we face the question of why we're still having patriarchal sex. And if we face that question, we may have to consider the possibility of stopping. And if we aren't having sex, then we have to face the dominant culture's assumption that we aren't really alive because we aren't having sex.

Women aren't victims, some say, and radical feminism has tried to rum women into victims by focusing on the harms of patriarchal sex.8 This is a deceptively appealing rhetorical move. When members of one class (women) identify a way that members of another class (men) routinely hurt them, those who are hurt are told they are responsible for the injury because they identified it. If women would stop talking about these injuries, the logic seems to be, then the injuries would stop. This strategy seems popular with some women and lots of men lately. I understand why men take this stance; it relieves them of any obligation to evaluate their own behavior and be responsible. And I understand why women don't want to see themselves as always at risk of men's violence and sexual aggression. But saying you aren't at risk because you don't want to be at risk doesn't take the risk away.

What does the word "victim" mean? Dworkin (1990, pp. 38-39) writes:

“It's a true word. If you were raped, you were victimized. You damned well were. You were a victim. It doesn't mean that you are a victim in the metaphysical sense, in your state of being, as an intrinsic part of your essence and existence. It means somebody hurt you. They injured you. ... And if it happens to you systematically because you are born a woman, it means that you live in a political system that uses pain and humiliation to control and to hurt you.”

We live in a world in which some people exercise their power in a way that hurts others. It has become popular to pretend the injuries are the product of the overactive imaginations of whiners. White people routinely tell non-white people that racism is not a big problem and that if the non-whites would stop complaining, all would be fine. Rich people tell poor and working people that there is no such thing as class in the United States and that if we all would just work hard together everything would be fine. Straight people tell lesbian and gay people that if they would just stop making such a public nuisance of themselves everyone would leave them alone and things would be fine. But things aren't fine. We live in racism. Poor and working people are being crushed by a cruel economic system. Heterosexism oppresses lesbians and gays. And men keep fucking women.

I no longer trust myself to chart the course for change, to refashion sex into something I can trust. So, I seek not-sex, something different than what "sex" means in the dominant culture. I want intimacy, trust, and respect from other people, and I hope that it is possible for those things to be expressed physically. But I don't want sex.13

To say that I don't want sex is not to deny my sexuality nor cut myself off from my erotic power, as Audre Lorde uses that term (see also, Heyward 1989). Lorde talks about the way in which women's erotic power is falsely cordoned off in the bedroom, made into "plasticized sensation," and confused with the pornographic (1984, p. 54). For Lorde, the erotic is a life-force, a creative energy:

“those physical, emotional, and psychic expressions of what is deepest and strongest and richest within each of us, being shared: the passions of love, in its deepest meanings (1984, p. 56).”

Lorde writes about expressing her erotic power in some ways that the culture does not define as sexual and others that the culture might call sexual; she writes of the erotic power flowing both in the act of writing a good poem and in "moving into sunlight against the body of a woman I love." My expression of the erotic at this point in my life need not include such movement against the body of another. What is crucial is not channeling my erotic energy into sex, but finding other ways to feel that power. Lorde writes:

“Recognizing the power of the erotic within our lives can give us the energy to pursue genuine change within our world, rather than merely settling for a shift of characters in the same weary drama (1984, p. 59).”

[the-chibi-devil]

The Best Transmigration and Isekai Mangas/Manhwas/Manhuas I’m Reading Right Now

Does anyone care about this list? Probably not, but I’m making it even if it’s only for my reference. So here they are, in no particular order.

* English Title: I’m a Villainous Daughter, so I’m going to keep the Last Boss * Japanese Title: Akuyaku Reijou nanode Last Boss wo Kattemimashita * Mangaka: Nagase Sarasa (story), Anko Yuzu (art) * Summary: “Avoid the BAD END! That's the goal of the villainess in this plot-twisting story!! She has been reborn into the world of an otome game as the villainess, Irene. Using her memories of her former life, she recognizes flags indicating she's en-route to the bad end, so she makes a plan to conquer the last boss (the evil king Claude), make him her lover, and see if she can open up a new route!” (MyAnimeList) * Why I Like This One: Irene is a very fun character! I love her sheer determination in everything she does. Her love interest (Claude) is nothing special imo - classic misunderstood character - but his relationship with Irene is pretty sweet. There are some interesting twists in the plot, too!

* Title: Miss Not-So Sidekick * Creator: Ellianyang * Summary: “Hyejung loved to read to escape her daily stress. But that’s before she woke up inside the bizarre world of her favorite novel! Instead of the main heroine who courts three eligible men, she is now Latte Ectrie – a minor villain that everyone hates?! One way or another, it’s a chance to live out her most beloved storyline, with popcorn in hand to watch all the drama! Taking charge of the narrative takes on a whole new meaning!” (1stKissManga) * Why I Like This One: Latte isn’t actually interested in romance! She would much rather watch how the narrative plays out than take an active role in it. Therefore, she decides to befriend the protagonist. However, just by virtue of being herself, Latte seems to have thrown the narrative off-course! (Not that she realizes that it’s her fault.) The developing relationships are fun to watch. However, this is very much a slow burn. Another fun thing about this manhwa is how Ellianyang throws in all sorts of references to other works such as Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure and Detective Conan!

* English Title: Of Course, I’ll Claim Palimony! * Japanese Title: Mochiron, Isharyou Seikyuu Itashimasu! * Mangaka: Soy (story), Mutou Tamura (story) * Summary: “"I'll annul our engagement!" my fiancé suddenly declared?! Apparently he's in love with the recently transferred count's daughter and is planning on making me the villain in order to annul the engagement. Although I have no lingering attachments about the engagement, I do have to claim a hefty consolation fee, don't I?” (MyAnimeList) * Why I Like This One: “Of Course, I’ll Claim Palimony!” does something very fun in that the otome novel that is being referenced exists within the story. The protagonists are very aware of this and the main heroine is most definitely willing to work within and with the narrative to turn things to her advantage.

* English Title: I Reincarnated into an Otome Game as a Villainess With Only Destruction Flags... * Japanese Title: Otome Game no Hametsu Flag shika Nai Akuyaku Reijou ni Tensei shiteshimatta... * Mangaka: Yamaguchi Satoru (story), Hidaka Nami (Art) * Summary: “ Katarina Claes is the eight-year-old daughter of a duke. One day, she hits her head and recovers the memories of her past life, and she comes a horrifying realization—she is in a world similar to that of an otome game she once played, and she is the main villain! To make matters worse, in every possible conclusion, whether exile or death, she is met with a terrible end. Using her knowledge of how the game unfolds, Katarina must now do whatever it takes to change her fate. Whether she must cultivate  her skills as a farmer or befriend every character that comes her way, nothing is ever too much for her to handle. As the years go on, everything seems to be going as planned. However, Katarina realizes that she made a mistake in her previous life, as she never actually finished the game before death; and so a new, secret route may just prove to be her undoing.” * Why I Like This One: This is the quintessential isekai! Katarina is a stubborn yet naive character. She is doing all she can to change the narrative, but she is always surprised by the results! Still, I like that the creators aren’t shying away from making lovely female characters besides Katarina. There were also some twists that I really wasn’t expecting from a manga like this! An anime adaptation is coming soon.

* English Title: Endo and Kobayashi’s Live Commentary on the Villainess! * Japanese Title: Tsundere Akuyaku Reijou Liselotte to Jikkyou no Endo-kun to Kaisetsu no Kobayashi-san * Mangaka: Enoshima Suzu, Sakakiri * Summary: “She’s always putting on that grumpy face even though she’s not actually that upset! Oh, why can’t she just be honest with herself…!? She is a tsundere, after all? When her embarrassment levels exceed a certain limit, she will explode into anger. However, the point that she’s suppressing under the surface is that she wouldn’t mind that sort of thing if it were in a less public place? As Endo-kun passionately reacts to the antics of Lady Liselotte, the villainess of an otome game, Kobayashi-san provides a painstaking breakdown of her tsundere behaviour. Suddenly, one person could hear their voices; Liselotte’s fiancée, Prince Siegward. That is where this story begins.” (MangaGo) * Why I Like This One: The characters within the narrative, Liselotte and Siegward, actually interest me way less than Endo and Kobayashi. I can’t wait to see how they handle this sudden change in their lives! And it seems that there is someone behind this magic game but the game wasn’t their intention? I’m curious.

* English Title: The Death Mage That Doesn’t Want a Fourth Time * Japanese Title: Yondome wa Iya na Shizokusei Majutsushi * Mangaka: Densuke (story), Kojima Takehiro (Art) * Summary: “Amamiya Hiroto is unlucky. His life consisted of misfortune after misfortune, culminating in an unlucky death during an incident on a school boat trip, trying to save a girl he barely knew. After death, he met a god of reincarnation who requested that the hundred or so dead passengers—one of them being the girl he tried in vain to save—be reincarnated into another world. Yet a series of unfortunate events forced Hiroto to reincarnate with even less luck than before, starting with nothing but a tremendous amount of Mana. His second life, far worse than his first, came to a cruel end. However, upon meeting the god a second time, he was informed that there would be yet another reincarnation—one that had already been set in motion and could not be stopped. Not wanting Hiroto to endure a third life filled with suffering, the god cursed him before he was reborn in the hopes that he would either die quickly or commit suicide. Hiroto was reborn once more as a half-vampire, half-dark elf. A dhampir. Not wanting a fourth life, he is determined to live this third life with the only things remaining from his previous lives—Death Magic and his enormous Mana pool. “ (Light Novel Bastion) * Why I Like This One: Holy crap, those first chapters were dark. This manga is certainly proving that isekai isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Honestly, the real thing that keeps drawing me back is the found family dynamic. I could do without all the fanservice though...

* Title: Cheating Men Must Die * Creator: The King * Summary: “One moment oppressing scum yields a moment of satisfaction. Continuously oppressing scum yields continuous satisfaction. Our female main lead, Su Lüxia is bound to the Female Lead Counterattack System and transmigrates to several small worlds. Using elaborate means, she beats up countless cheating bastards and bitches. Su Lüxia: “Only a cheating bastard's tears of remorse, and the pained moans of a bitch unable to get what she wants bring me solace.” System: “Has my host tapped into her humanity today? Nope.”” (Manga Rock) * Why I Like This One: This manhua is just a long ride of schadenfreude. The story goes in arcs, and there is no doubt that Su Lüxia is going to trample those cheaters, but how she does it is always a surprise! The art is beautiful and the story wildly entertaining. Readers beware, however, as this manhua features themes such as sexual assault, suicide, and abuse.

* English Title: Though I May Be a Villainess, I’ll Show You I Can Obtain Happiness! * Japanese Title: Akuyaku Reijou Desuga, Shiawase ni Natte Mesemasu wa! * Mangakas: Hoshino Osome, Nekomata Doremi, Sorakura SHIJIKI, Yuuki Satoru, Kuroe Yui, Reiga Utsuhou, Yamashiro Umemayuge, Mafuyubi, Oshitsuji Ei, Mizuno Saaya * Summary: "Annuled Engagements, Take That’s, Condemnation Events, Doting, Royals, Reincarnated Heroines, Banishment Endings…it’s fully loaded with all the charms of Villainess’!! A comicalization of 5 popular villainess stories from Shousetsuka ni Narou!! An anthology of 5 oneshots with happy endings!!” (IsekaiScan) * Why I Like This One: This is an anthology and all the stories are very different. My personal favorites are “The Tale of the Noble Girl who will go to a Monastery after her Engagement Annulment,” “Shall We Walk Hand in Hand Down the Flowery Path of Evil?” and “The Villainess Trifles with the Second Prince’s First Love.”

* Title: IRIS - Lady with a Smartphone * Creators: Soo-Wan Yoo (author), Hye-Yi Yoon (artist) * Summary: “ The husband was in love with her cousin and the family was taken away by cigar. The moment I fell into despair and to end my life; the memory of my past life came to my mind.The life of a white-haired worker in Seoul, returning to the past, she decided. “I will not be abandoned by them again. Now I will forsake them!”Ian stare full gazed at Iris’ eyes, “Do you remember what I said the other day? Are you asking for a different fee?”“Yes. I want to get it now.” Iris, was a woman who had nothing. “I did not have a strong parent like other noble princess, nor did I have much money.”“What do you mean by yourself?” Iris blinked. He laughed and said. “Let’s have a relationship with me.” The eldest son of the line, the best of the empire, the best dancer Valencia is the perfect husband. The rope for the revenge makes me crave for more.” (1stKissManga) * Why I Like This One: Iris’ evolution is a delight to watch. The smartphone hasn’t actually played much of a role at this point, but the importance of it’s existence in Iris’ world is slowly being revealed. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the beautiful art and story!

[lovehaswonangelnumbers]

New Post has been published on https://lovehaswonangelnumbers.org/full-moon-lunar-eclipse-in-sagittarius-june-5th-2020/

FULL MOON Lunar ECLIPSE in Sagittarius June 5th 2020

FULL MOON Lunar ECLIPSE in Sagittarius June 5th 2020

By Mystic Mamma

*FULL MOON* Lunar ECLIPSE in SAGITTARIUS

June 5th 2020  12:12 pm PDT | 7:12 pm GMT 

June 6th 2020 6:12 am AEDT

★

With things in the state that they are right now, it should come as no surprise that we are headed into Eclipse season beginning with this FULL MOON Lunar ECLIPSE in Sagittarius on June 5th 2020.

Eclipses usually come sets of 2, but this year they come in sets of 3, so this is the first of these 3 consecutive Eclipses which continue to precipitate life-changing shifts.

Current Gemini energies continue to reflect and communicate the reality that we all experience life through different fractals. 

Our collective lens has focalized the experience of our black brothers, sisters and relatives that continue to be subjected to racism rooted in white supremacy and abuse that has been systematically allowed to perpetuate.

Our expanding realizations are transforming into bridges of solidarity and action calls to the ways we can each proactively participate in the active dismantling of the oppressive systems that we consciously or unconsciously maintain.

We are in a time of collective and personal awakening to what has been in the shadows, oppressive and imbalanced across our implemented systems as well as our personal myopic realities. 

The process of awakening can be painful, because new realities precipitate trajectory shifts.

In the process of things dismantling, disassembling, and crumbling, we can feel unstable and this is why change is often so dreaded.

But we are the changemakers of this time, and we are here at this time for a reason.

We each carry our own truth, but a universal truth is that we’re all here ultimately to learn to love.

All those who have had crossed over and come back through near-death experiences, and those who are mediums between worlds echo this truth: Life is a school of learning, and we are here to learn to love. 

At this time, like Rumi said,  that is our task, and not only to love but to seek to dissolve “all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”

It is also a time to have courage and not be afraid to communicate, even as it makes us feel increasingly more vulnerable.

Vulnerability is the straight path of the heart, the direct access point.

Gemini continues to teach us that through communication we can heal our separateness and isolation.

As we’ve heard it said, the more difficult the subject, the more healing is to be gained from talking about it.

In what ways can we speak from our experience like elders, like our grandmothers and grandfathers, with compassion but with strength that illuminates another facet to be taken into account?

Like Einsten said “we cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them.” Let’s expand our thinking and let’s get massively creative with new ways to implement change.

Let’s use that surge of Sagittarius creative power to launch new Life affirming ways to support our existence and everyone’s right to Liberty. Because we’re in this together.

We are lovers, We are love. That’s what we are here to remember, here to learn, here to BE.

Here are the MYSTIC MAMMA Astral Insights from our beloved featured astrologers:

PAM YOUNGHANS from her NorthPoint Astrology says:

“Our Milky Way galaxy is part of a great river of galaxies that flows through space, being magnetically pulled in the direction of a massive galactic anomaly called Abell 3627, more commonly known as the Great Attractor (GA)…

“Our Lunar Eclipse this Friday is… aligned with the GA… (and) will be activating its influence in our awareness.

“Since the GA continuously draws us toward itself, it represents the inexorable pull of our Higher Destiny.

“When it is activated in our collective awareness through events such as an eclipse, new insights and unexpected viewpoints become possible.

“We can experience a major shift in our perceptions and beliefs, which in turn alters our trajectory. 

“Astrologer Philip Sedgwick, who has studied the GA in great depth, explains:

  ‘The enormous gravity of the GA actually bends light around it.

“It bends the light so much, that a glimpse of what is behind it can be taken.

‘This provides clear behind-the-scenes insights, while simultaneously offering other refractive illusions.’

  “Friday’s Eclipse, being conjunct the GA, represents a profound juncture in our evolution.

“As we stand at that crossroads, we must expand our understanding of reality, while also accepting that each person may rightly have their own version of truth. 

“Another quote from Sedgwick:

  ‘A narrow view (or opinionated nature) does not fit with the Great Attractor.

‘There is not one simple answer.

‘Perhaps each point of focus is only a fragment of the hologram of understanding.’

  “Sedgwick advises that in order to find our own truth, our own ‘fragment of the hologram,’ each of us must ‘Center the source of your light within the matter of your life. What matters clearly focuses your truth.’

“The last time we had a Lunar Eclipse that aligned with the Great Attractor was on June 4, 1993.

“Events that occurred around that time, and subsequent changes in our perspective, pulled us into a new future, perhaps a different destiny than the one we had thought we were building toward.

“We may have gone willingly toward that new future, but maybe not. And yet, looking back, we can see how essential that trajectory shift was, and how it forever changed the course of our life.

“We are at a similar time now. This Lunar Eclipse conjunct the Great Attractor alters the landscape, requiring us to reroute.

“In time, we will find that our new road is more aligned with that greater destiny we came here to fulfill.”

© Copyright 2020 PAM YOUNGHANS

  SARAH VARCAS from Astro-Awakenings.co.uk her says:

“An alliance between Chiron, Uranus and Mercury at the time of this eclipse unlocks fresh perspectives.

“But to benefit from them we must reclaim the fundamental right to honor our own experience and not have it dismissed, ridiculed or silenced if it runs contrary to the received wisdom of the time.

“This takes courage in a world where people are being demonized and discredited for daring to question… and reflect more deeply on the narrative they’re being fed.

“But if ever there was a time for courage it is now!

“Courageous thought, courageous speech, courageous hearts open to a new world in which we’re not told how things are but instead discern, through digesting many perspectives and listening, perhaps most importantly, to the voice within that knows truth..

“As we stand at this juncture in human history there are weighty choices to be made and we must each make them as best we can.

“This eclipse season will both reveal the shadow side of readily accepted sources of information – hidden interests, inaccurate assumptions, covert agendas –  as well as illuminate in their wake new sources of knowledge previously eclipsed by the might of received wisdom and unquestioned ‘truths’.

“The path ahead remains scattered with obstacles and the battle for dominion over the collective mind continues unabated.

“This lunar eclipse is just the beginning and there is much to be revealed and digested before we can decide, collectively, the quality of our future.

“Saturn is now retrograding through Aquarius before returning to Capricorn in July. (You can read more about what this means for us in terms of freedom of thought and speech in full here.)

“..Saturn is a key player in the unfolding of events this year. As signifier of the establishment and authorities, its alignment with Pluto speaks to the extension of government powers and the reduction of civil liberties.

“It illuminates who gets to shape a dominant narrative, how they do it, and the use of fear to suppress and control.

“Indeed, the Saturn / Pluto conjunction of January speaks far more deeply to issues of power and control than of health and disease, signifying the imposition of authoritarian power over the masses in ways never before seen on such a vast scale.

“As Saturn completes its shift from Capricorn to its new home in Aquarius during the course of 2020, it illuminates the suppression of free-thought and open debate.

“The silencing of free speech and what happens when those silenced refuse to be so…

“Initially, Saturn in Aquarius can continue to manifest as the metaphorical boot that kicks dissenters back into line, stifles independence and acts contrary to collective well-being.

“It’s the fear of having to think for yourself in a confusing and paradoxical world.

“It wants to be told what to think and believe, who to love, who to hate, how to keep yourself safe…

“As Saturn tiptoes from the familiarity of conventional perception (Capricorn) to the uncharted terrain of independent thought (Aquarius) this year, fear arises: What if I’m wrong? They’re the experts. What would I know? How do I justify gut instinct when what it tells me goes against the grain of accepted belief? What if I’m left standing alone in my beliefs, ridiculed for daring to think differently? What if I’m roundly rejected, left in a group of one?

“But Saturn is nothing if not steadfast!

“Its presence in Aquarius empowers us to think for ourselves whatever it takes.

“To take responsibility for our own well-being. To enjoy maturity of thought and behaviour, not surrender our sovereign view to a surrogate ‘parent’ who tells us what to believe.

“Saturn in Aquarius reminds us that even the oft-uttered refrain ‘everything is happening as it should’ doesn’t mean there’s nothing to be done but let it all unfold.

“We don’t download awakening, we cultivate it, nurture it, question those aspects of self that mitigate against it.

“And in doing so we discover that wise action in this moment can change the next.

“That by being present to the full triumph and catastrophe of the human experience we can recalibrate it and shape the course of history rather than simply be shaped by it.

“And we’re currently living at a historical crossroads of monumental proportions.

“To choose well we need to harness the power of Saturn’s journey into Aquarius to engage courageous thought and nurture fresh perspectives.

“Not to stifle debate and feed the fear of dissent.

“Black Moon Lilith and Chiron were conjunct the Sun when Saturn first entered Aquarius in March 2020, highlighting the influence its Aquarian journey would have over our individual and collective sense of self.

“They affirm the healing radiance of the human spirit and the unadulterated power unleashed when we remember who we really are – divine through and through, and equally human. Of this world and all others everywhere.

“This power cannot be diminished by tyranny or lies, by manipulation or fear.

“It is unassailable. Always. And it knows the truth. We know the truth. This is the message of Saturn in Aquarius…

“It’s a long road ahead. Courage will be needed.

“As will a sense of humor and the ability to know when to speak up and when to keep one’s counsel for a more propitious time. No outcome is assured so complacency is best avoided.

“That said we need to know our own limits and take care of ourselves first and foremost.

“Saturn in Aquarius can be a game changer if we let it, opening up debate, revealing hidden truths and endowing each and every one of us with a deep sense of responsibility for what we believe, such that simply accepting what we’re told by anyone will be anathema to our finely tuned moral compass.

“Let the prevailing narrative place its evidence alongside that of alternative views. Let us debate and explore, question and analyze. Let us be convinced of an argument, not receive our beliefs by dictate.

“But most of all, let Saturn in Aquarius cement the sovereignty of our mind and our right to form our own opinion from external evidence and our internal knowing about it…

“For whatever’s going on in this world today, it is we the people, not the privileged elite with vested interests in our obedience to their cause, who can – and must – decide the shape our lives take from here.”

© Copyright 2020 SARAH VARCAS

  DIVINE HARMONY says:

“The North Node in Gemini is about coming back to beginner’s mind. This is about cultivating the mind of a child- full of openness, curiosity and generosity.

“This is about saying ‘show me where I am wrong’ and ‘hmm I don’t know- what is the Truth here? Show me the Truth Universe.’

“The Highest expression of Gemini is open mindedness.

“The karmic South Node in Sagittarius highlights where we do the opposite of this. This is where we have hubris, self righteousness and dogma.

“This is where we think MY beliefs are the right ones and yours are the wrong ones- you just need to listen to me, I will teach you the RIGHT way of doing things/seeing things/believing.

“In any conflict if anyone is coming from this position I can guarantee you it is a no win situation.

“But cultivating an open mind and willingness to see other perspectives and work to understand other positions WILL open doors in communication rather than close them.

“The thing to remember here is when we listen to another’s perspective it’s not about right or wrong. It’s about understanding where another comes from.

“Understanding another person’s world view and lived experience…

“Vesta is conjunct the North Node – drawing us forward to our Sacred Focus and Greatest Devotion.

“The North Node is in Gemini but Vesta is in Cancer- the sign of the Great Mother.

“One of the great necessities of this time is to honor and reinstate the Divine Feminine…

“The denial of the Mother has had horrific ramifications on our planet.

“The Feminine elements are Earth and Water- body and soul, physical reality and emotion…

“We need to heal our disassociation from our emotions and (Water) and our detachment from and abuse of the body (Earth).

“If we were fully connected to these elements we could NEVER harm another person, dump toxic poison in the water or air, abuse a child, kill, murder or go to war.

“If everyone’s heart chakra was fully open we would FEEL what we do to another and we would never be able to do the horrific things happening on the planet right now.

“Reclaiming and restoring the Divine Feminine to her rightful place is NECESSARY… (and to be clear- this is not about men vs women- as men and masculine identified beings have an inner feminine just as women and feminine identified beings have an inner masculine)

“Use this sacred Eclipse portal to question your assumptions, beliefs, attitudes and ways of perceiving the world around you.

“Use this time to anchor more deeply into your heart, compassion, empathy and love for all beings- human, animal and non-human- everywhere.

“Use this portal to open up to Higher Truths that go beyond ego-mind perspectives. See beyond the veil of delusion/illusion/manipulation so you can get to the Truth.

“Start with yourself (do your shadow work) and then extend that inner work out into the world around you.”

© Copyright 2020 DIVINE HARMONY

And ELLIAS LONSDALE interpretation of the Chandra symbol for this Full Moon Eclipse is:

SAGITTARIUS 16:A man shearing sheep.

“Practical fortitude. Resiliency to keep finding a way to do it, to keep discovering how to get through the deepest quandaries, the greatest karmic traps. Ingenious and resourceful. Paying attention to the cues, going to get it right.

“You’re involved within a path which requires discipleship or apprenticeship, learning the ropes. Building up fresh capacity in this lifetime to scale the heights. But you remain preoccupied and absorbed within honest tasks.

“A pervasive conviction grows and forms, of how it really is.

“You’re willing to take every step to reach a far goal, and attentive to what is really there. A throwback to the old ways of a rural past.

“Oddly comfortable in adopting forms and moving through phases and taking on the worlds.

“The journeyman learns the ways of the journey and gathers Earth wisdom in small bundles.

“Knowing how to be there when it counts.“

© Copyright 2020 ELLIAS LONSDALE

This has been a very tough week. For me personally, I lost one my very best friends and allies on this physical plane. This last line, “Knowing how to be there when it counts,” is what she embodied and reason we all continue to do what we must.

Sending so much love to each of our hearts during this trying passage,

With all my heart~

MM ☾☾☾

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[b0x]

i hate that post that's like “we would've gotten a better trilogy if they'd just let rian johnson write all three films than playing hot potato with jj” like i get the point it's trying to make but you're forgetting that rj was fighting tooth and nail for the tlj r*ylo narrative since day 1 so you do realise we would've just gotten the same trilogy as we got now.......

further Thoughts on the trilogy as a whole and a few troc spoilers under the cut

also you KNOW that even if jj COULD have had a hand in saving it... there’s no saving a screenplay written by the guy who did the justice league films

No Comment. No Thoughts. Head Empty. everything post tfa was doomed from the start

have you SEEN the screenwriters for tfa? THAT’S why that one was so good, THAT’S why tfa succeeded as an excellent reboot of a long-dormant franchise. kasdan and arndt and jj should've been on for ALL THREE, and if they couldn’t, then a hiatus was the way to fucking go. rian never should have Touched it, never should have even Looked in its direction.

tfa had the essence of sw BECAUSE the essence of sw wrote it! tlj and tros isn’t sw!!!! 

they rly just tried to make Anakin..... 2! with kylo... but somehow... even Worse. you can’t make an anakin story Without showing kylo’s motives and morals - oh, except, you Did show his motives and morals, and they were in no way redeeming whatsoever! anakin had a whole ARC of complexity that allows for endless discussion on morality and justifiability that led him to earn his redemption. all kylo had was a blood tie to han and leia, which!!!! if anything!!!!!! made his motives and morals WORSE, knowing that he had the most IDEAL most loving and perfect upbringing and he still chose the dark side. that makes any love received from han or leia or luka or even fucking rey completely insignificant because we ALREADY KNOW what it means to him. all of this shit was so worthless!!!!!!!! fuck!

and i have a lot to say about rian johnson because i Cannot for the life of me believe the guy behind BRICK (2005) was taken on for tlj, WHILE TFA WASN’T EVEN FINISHED YET. i really didn’t think this had to be said but that is just NOT how you make a Trilogy. that is how you make Three Separate Films and guess what! that is exactly what we got! and it honestly saddens me to think that the guy behind the beautiful 6 minute music video ‘oh baby’ by lcd sound system, inspired by some of his greatest work in looper (and even brick!), would then take the absolute worst of his worst and apply that to a star wars franchise that desperately needed his best. and there’s something hilarious about that too, that you have this huge sandbox FULL of belief-suspending ridiculousness and STILL somehow make it fail? make it atrocious? that takes skill. it’s like that one post that was like “you have to ACTUALLY put EFFORT into making something this bad” like it’s no longer silly mistakes or lacklustre energy, this was ACTIVE sabotage.

the fact rian Had the Understanding of the core concepts of star wars right in his hands, but somehow completely missed the entire point of them? if you look at the films he screened to his story group during the development of tlj... this handful of culturally and historically significant war films that just seem like he screened for aesthetic and reference purposes only instead of actually exploring and analysing the importance and criticism of the exonerating war propaganda and racist source materials and using these films to inspire the actual groundwork of some of the root themes of current climates and today’s culture in a sw universe... i bet big bucks on the fact that twelve o clock high was only screened to inspire the air battle on crait (red salt planet) and because of ‘VIII Bomber Command’ because ha ha hee hee tlj is episode VIII and hoo hoo hoo *you’ve been gnomed.mp4* 

the general rule is this: when reading ANY report on tlj and tros and something like “the characters came first” is mentioned, just exit out the window, it’s already a botched article/thinkpiece.

i’m also thinking a lot about how arndt translated his first draft for tfa into a script for eight months and said he needed 18 more, which disney and jj said no to, so he left, and IMMEDIATELY after jj kept saying how relieved he was that the release date was delayed and gave him more time that he also needed. like.. you had your lesson then and there. did they learn from it? *disney forcing rian to write tlj at the same time as tfa was still being made* No!

i am ALSO thinking about how they had considered fincher, brad bird, jon favreau, del toro, even getting development suggestions by spielberg.......... and rian johnson is who they called up for tlj.... my head is... empty.

just give the fucking thing to taika waititi he understands the nuances of the socio-political climates of sw’s narratives built around a guise of a fun sci-fi fantasy adventure-drama. he understands. that’s literally the very definition of his style of writing and directing. Makes You Think Why The Mandalorian Is A Hit.... they already gave him 2 mandalorian episodes just give him the whole franchise i cant take it anymore. 

AND NOW THEY’RE GIVING RIAN JOHNSON A WHOLE NEW TRILOGY? RIAN? RIAN JOHNSON? THEY’RE GIVING HIM A WHOLE NEW TRILOGY AFTER WHAT HAPPENED... HERE. SURE.. OKAY . ALRIGHT. IT’S HONESTLY MIND-BLOWING. THE THOUGHT PROCESS THAT GOES INTO CONSECUTIVE DECISIONS SUCH AS THIS. like i would LOVE to see footage of the board meeting for this. no sarcasm i am GENUINELY curious to hear what was said to greenlight this. i have GOT to know what post tros board meetings about this will be like. 

anyway! op of that post! i will be thinking about you when the new rj trilogy drops!

what’s worse about this whole trilogy is that.. they Had it. they had it in the bag with tfa. they HAD the original idea they HAD the power to make a sw trilogy set to current climates JUST LIKE THE PREVIOUS TRILOGIES DID, cos that’s what sw is all about! what it was ALWAYS about! a space opera reflective of current times and climates. but disney turned it into a Keeping Up With The Skywalkers reality tv show that’s nothing more than a sci-fi fantasy light show and vfx flex to keep the brand alive, and personally, i think that’s ultimately one of the reasons it’s so hated and why it failed (of course rampant misogyny/sexism, racism, homophobia under the guise of geek culture within the sw community and in the production itself is a whole other discussion and is another humongous part of why it’s hated and why it failed)

and it’s why hamill had every right to criticise tlj the way he did with rotj, why boyega and isaac and ridley had Every right to their commentary on their distaste of the second and third instalments. how the only reason they’d rescind what they said was due to their contracts. how their silence was necessary to squeeze every last dollar out of consumers because god forbid a potential boycott due to their own star’s “controversial” (Correct) judgements and disapprovals

they really had it in the bag..

a female protagonist who could be a chosen one regardless of her blood and family ties, a protagonist that reflected the importance and validity of found family, and the idea that Anyone can be a “Skywalker”, a symbol of hope and a fighter for justice and goodness and love in the world, especially in the darkest of times... a young woman being just as powerful, as Chosen, as essential as Luke and Anakin were... a narrative that couldve been commentary on the necessity of women needing to do double the work, make double the effort, to earn the same spot of her counterparts. and with the second and third instalments, especially NOW, with the growth and vocalisation of the MeToo movement, the narrative of strength to speak out against abusers, to fight back and to thrive, a symbol of justice, to teach that men such as kylo who refuse consequence, who actively and soberly choose violence and manipulation for the strengthening of the self, who will ignore and deny all opportunities to better the self, to know their guilt, to make up for their actions, are the ones who are irredeemable. that people like him are not owed any time or understanding or belief in, when that belief perpetuates the violent and oppressive nature they are indefinitely attracted to and make themselves defined by.

a black hero raised by violence and refusing to be defined by it and unlocking the force within as a symbol of that strength within over encompassing goodness, to have a hero that breaks that harmful narrative stereotype that black characters have had for decades and still continue to do so, to have a voice and a hero that fights with love and kindness, that is able to find family and support in a place beyond what he believes he is allowed to have, the significance of a hero being deemed a “traitor”, a term that holds weight in the shame of seeking your own independence and identity, versus the cathartic empowerment of thriving in the independence you make for yourself in the end. a black hero that defeats his oppressors, oppressors that belong to a policing fascist regime, a faction that has always from the very beginning been a depiction of nazis, of authoritarian nationalism. 

a canonical gay latino man freedom fighter, being the best in his career as a literal symbol of hope for the resistance, a literal symbol of the climates for lgbt folk in regards to resisting those same fascist nazi regimes, resisting laws against lgbt existence, lgbt employability, lgbt success. a man who grew into a legacy of heroism, surrounded by it, something that could have been powerful poignant commentary on the necessity to sacrifice lives so others like his didn’t have to, the very narrative to fight for a world that the innocents and the ones he loves could have peace in, could have a future in, could Exist in. poe fights in the skies because he knew damn well the effect of believing in someone that is human, like you, instead of a force that is bigger than anything you could ever know or believe in. poe brings humanity and realism to an otherwise fanatical universe of magic and religion and chaos of endless war that means nothing, that is based on nothing. poe is commentary on fighting a fight that you have no choice but to fight, that you are forced to fight from birth just for the very act of Existing. his humanity and realism is a significant grounding necessity for our two protagonist heroes and it is appalling that he’d just be discarded the way he was, shallowly played off as sideline comic relief, much like lgbt narratives and characters are expressed in pretty much ANY media today, so it comes as no surprise. 

the three most vital narratives that should have been told in this trilogy but no of course not (disney voice) gimme my Fackin MANEY. it’s the silence of marginalised voices cleverly disguised under hollow face-value representation.

honestly, even rey being blood-related to palpatine as his granddaughter was such a strong and perfect set-up for The Narrative That Could’ve Been TM, but instead they had palpatine make it a whole weird pseudo-marriage thing that was just so. backwards and unbelievably shocking that it was in a 2019 era star wars film.

wow marriage story and the rise of skywalker really is the same movie huh

yes we wanted a grey jedi protagonist hero that gets tempted by the dark side but this was the absolute worst way that could’ve been explored. like if they were just gonna recycle old characters and old storylines and make them worse they could’ve at least looked at darth maul or asajj ventress and the nightsisters

and NO WONDER oscar looked so DEFEATED every time finnpoe was mentioned cos he fought for that shit tooth and nail and they? ? ? they gave him a funny ha ha hee hee hoo hoo straight flirt scene? ? with like his ex or something, where they imply they get back together? COMPLETELY destroying the ENTIRE narrative of his character that was so lovingly built and developed in the Official Canon Comic Series About Him ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

NO WORDS. there are NO WORDS. head EMPTY. no not even empty there's NO HEAD at all i am BEHEADED

finn had NOTHING in this film. Nothing. how are you gonna make him a joint-protag with rey and give him Nothing? 

anyone with brain cells knows that what finn truly was trying to tell rey the entire film was that he was force sensitive, i will take this to my grave, and that should’ve built up to this grand reveal where they empower each other and take down palpatine and kylo as one, as the joint-protagonists they were Literally Fucking Written And Built Up To Be. they gave EVERY antagonist to REY. what was the POINT. rey had her significant clash with kylo across two films, hell, even in this one (before the Final one), tros was the penultimate film about her family, her bloodline, so her significant final battle should have been with palpatine a la rotj. the person who DESERVED to clash with and take down kylo once and for all was FINN, even a TODDLER would understand WHY. 

but considering everything, i would take the thing finn was trying to tell her the entire film being that he loves her ANY DAY if it meant whatever the fuck we got instead Never Happened.

finn got made general and not only was it a blink-and-you-miss bit but it adds NOTHING, yes it’s something to celebrate and of Course he deserves it, but it holds zero significance to him as a character. like i mentioned earlier, when han was made general, that never defined him. he was still han solo and it took a Dozen other significant scenarios and twists to make him a significant and vital memorable character. han solo isn’t known for “being a general”. he’s known for being han fucking solo, a critical puzzle piece in the taking down of the empire, a scamp-turned-deeply-loyal friend and lover, a man who not only got his own personal storyline concluded to the level it deserved to be (the repercussions of his bounty hunter life, the importance of the falcon, his relationships with lando, luke, and leia, his triumph over his captors even when it was luke and leia who freed him). 

side note, this was maybe the one thing that tfa screwed up, the entire point and development of the original trilogy, it sort of felt a bit moot with how they put a “twist” on han, leia and luke’s relationship, especially when it came to kylo. but i think there are some forgivable aspects to it for the sake of the new trio, and that’s why those executive decisions kind of Worked! this is, of course, for another discussion bc this is about the new trilogy.

leia IS known for being a general because part of her entire storyline revolves around it and the significance of it!!! which is why finn being made general just feels so... i don’t know! just completely disrespectful, to both him as a character, and to generals who are defined by this position (such as, hello!!!!! poe!!! poe fucking dameron!!!! a man raised by the resistance!!! a man who’s entire life and prior legacy was entirely dedicated to the resistance!!!! him being made general MEANT something). it’s like rubbing salt in the wound of the fact that finn has been discarded as the protagonist he was meant to be, the story, development and conclusion he never got, just to slap general on him and call it a day and then write about his actual development in a novel that 3/4ths of the ppl who watch the films will never read. 

and that's just the core story stuff!!! do NOT get me started on the general lore proposed in this shit. i’m talking about the force ghost nonsense and the convenience of some of the timing choices (rewriting the way death works in sw, claiming that rey “didn’t really die/wasn’t really dead” since she didn’t fade which in itself completely destroys the entire plot they were going for with the resurrection scene, the timing of the fades themselves bullshitted for “dramatic cinematic purposes”), the entire palpatine storyline, the bullshit with snoke and the lack of explanation, all these one-off characters that have the lore capacity of an overwatch character when instead they could have developed the ones that already existed and had the opportunity to be fleshed out and CARED about

the FACT that HUX (hux!!!!!!!!!) had a more interesting storyline in all three films with a total screentime of maybe 10 minutes than these one-offs whose only purpose is to stroke the cock of sw nostalgia seekers and lore aficionados. to make these characters so inaccessible that to fully appreciate them, fans have to dive into hundreds of different novels and comics and games and whatnot. like if you make it so that the Only way someone can experience a character’s full essence is by reading their wiki page then you’ve failed in creating them, in writing them, in including them, in using them, in whatever them. you’ve just failed as a creator.

and the ONLY reason hux got a reaction (a barebones reaction but a reaction nonetheless) out of me was because they essentially just turned him into phasma 2 which is SO telling of the climate of this trilogy.

it’s a recycled trilogy. that’s all it is. it’s a recycled series of films where tfa’s originality was completely entirely scrapped and ignored because rian wanted to write his personal fanfiction more than he wanted to continue the story he was given, and did everything he could to insert that whenever he could, and kennedy, of course, let him, because she realised giving herself indulging content other than fifty shades and radfem articles that she could jerk off to was more important than telling a critical story where its wonder and valuable, influential morals could’ve stayed in this generation’s minds for years to come.

if you want to watch tros just watch the prequel trilogy instead you'll get the same story except actually good.

[celebrateher]

Improving the Black Lives Matter Movement

All lives will matter when Black lives matter.

Through this blog, I will attempt to identify some ways to improve the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, as it operates today. We will discuss the origins of the BLM movement, fraud on the part of perverted activists within the BLM movement, the missing pieces of the BLM movement, and why the BLM movement is ineffective due to its one-dimensional nature. Juxtaposed to the Civil Rights Movement, BLM cannot even equate to the status of a legitimate movement. BLM proponents always hit the streets to protest whenever an unarmed Black person is shot and killed. What else stimulates the movement though? The BLM movement has been in existence for five years, but innocent Black people continue to lose their lives as if they mean nothing. No real change has been realized. Not only are people still being killed, but guilty police officers are not being charged or convicted at the same rate they are killing Black people.

There are many exciting things about the BLM movement. I think that in many cases, people get excited whenever protests spring up. In my personal experience, after the Parkland school shooting, my high school participated in the national school walkout. Due to safety concerns from our administration, instead of walking out, we remained in the gym for the designated fourteen-minute protest. A lot of people were upset by this. They believed the purpose of the protest had been stripped away. Conversely, I think the message of the protest was still felt despite remaining in the gym. I do not believe the location of a protest matters as long as its message is accurately portrayed. Later in the afternoon, on the same day, some very “politically driven” students initiated their own walkout. They left the school building, went outside on the sidewalk and began to protest. Before I continue with my personal anecdote, I think it is important to establish the importance of knowing who stands with you in the midst of a protest. There are many people who try to blend into a movement with the sole intention to feed on the energy a protest provides. That cold day in March, there were many people outside on the sidewalk protesting the Parkland shooting, but I do not believe they were all gun control advocates. I think many of them were drawn to the excitement of protest. They were drawn to the opportunity to skip class and be a part of something that was much larger than themselves.

I wish more people were aware of the harsh realities of the carceral state. There are many forces working against the Black family, but what are they?  To what extent do these forces work against the Black family? Where did Black oppression begin? To answer these questions, I look to Ta-Nehisi Coates, a Baltimore native and a columnist for The Atlantic. I have studied him extensively for the past month and I think it is important to analyze his work, as well as to reference it as a source to unfold the carceral state, as it engulfs the black family. Coates wrote an article in 2015, that addressed the historical failures of the American government in the support of Black men. I recently finished reading the article. I have studied it, annotated it, and written blog posts in response to the bold claims it presents. One of the key points in Coates’ article is identifying where the divide or mistrust came from between Black people and law enforcement. For me, I think it began with the release of Birth of a Nation. At the time of its release, it was an unprecedented cinematic work. The sitting president at the time, Woodrow Wilson, had an exclusive viewing in the White House. It was one of the first movie screenings in the White House. Birth of a Nation heavily criminalized the Black man. It depicted him in such a way that was animalistic and perverse. There is one particularly stirring scene in the movie, where a white woman throws herself off a cliff to avoid being raped by a Black man. I think it begins here, with the release of this movie, the widespread criminalization of the Black man. But I do not believe anyone could have been able to predict to what great extents it would expand to in coming years. The results are seen today when I walk down the street. The white response is to immediately become uncomfortable and assume I will harm them, only because I am dark and have 4c hair. Since white people fear black people so much, they will act on that fear in unsubstantiated ways, such as police brutality. As a result, Black people like myself will call into question white authority figures and Caucasians at large.

The BLM movement is lacking organization. It is also missing a prominent figure and an equivalent system to civil disobedience featured in the Civil Rights Movement. It was these three things that made the Civil Rights Movement so effective. Yet still, there were some shortcomings. The presence of a prominent figure can be both a good and a bad thing. In the case of the Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, and Huey Newton unified the people involved in the movement. After Dr. King’s murder, the movement did lose some traction. In the same way, the absence of a central leader in the BLM movement has its advantages and disadvantages. There are some historians who recognize BLM as a faceless movement. It is one of the reasons why it cannot be stopped. There is no one person that can be eliminated, causing the movement to stop. There is no address the police can raid. BLM is global and in some ways intangible. That is important because there is no way to stop a movement that cannot be located. However, there is an absence of a central figure that is able to “rally the troops”. There is no one person that people can look up to for inspiration.

The BLM Movement is lacking boycotts. I continue to see calls for boycotts on social media however, most of the time the great majority of BLM supporters are never upset enough to withhold their money from white businesses. If the Civil Rights Movement taught us anything, it is that true power is in the money. The bus boycott was not an overnight demonstration either, it lasted for fifteen days. It was a united effort. It was organized in such a way that everybody participated. The bus company needed to feel the absence of the Black dollar. If you revoke the Black dollar from any industry, that industry will plummet. There are many Black people that make up the middle class, which fuels America’s economy. If the Black dollar is subtracted from places like the gun industry, convenience stores, and other places involved in the genocide of Black people, I think then we will see real change. Business leaders and capitalist-driven Republicans would be forced to do something about the senseless killings of innocent Black men and women. Police killings of Black people are not the only problem facing the Black community.

The BLM movement is lacking protest of intraracial violence in the Black community. Police brutality is important, but we must also consider violence within the Black community, perpetrated by other Blacks. Black lives should not only matter when it is taken by a white police officer, but they should also matter when it is taken by another Black person. Activists within BLM movement have turned a blind eye to the intraracial violence that occurs in their communities every day. Nobody ever says anything to address this phenomenon. In many cases, these activists have become numb to the deaths of their own neighbors. That is a problem. The black community has to get away from this way of thinking. When this happens often they say, “Oh another Black person died”. That person could have easily been me or you. That is something I recognize every time I hear any news that somebody was murdered. I think it is important to consider, what if that was me that was shot and killed by my fellow brother or sister. I would want someone to care. I would want somebody to do something so that my death would not be in vain. I am not referring to retribution either. I would want guns off the streets, gangs to put aside their petty differences, and have the Black community reconciled and unified once again. I truly believe there is strength in numbers. Where there is unity there is strength. I think once Black people come back together, we will not have to worry about being oppressed from the outside anymore. That is how powerful we are as a unified force of Black people.

In its current state, the Black Lives Matter Movement is ineffective due to its one-dimensional nature. It is important to extend the movement to the issue of intraracial violence, as it pertains to the Black community. Black lives do matter, as well as Black deaths. Black deaths matter both when the perpetrator is white and when they are Black. If Black people want to see the manifestation of Black Lives Matter, they must adopt proven techniques from the Civil Rights Movement because of its success. Ideas like civil disobedience, boycotts and the presence of leading figures contributed to this success. Those same aspects need to be applied to the Black Lives Matter movement. That is how police brutality will be dismantled. That is how racist and abusive law enforcement officers will be brought to justice. When Black people are liberated, all people will be free. “For we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal”. Well, how come, my Black brother, Michael Brown laid dead in the street for four and a half hours? He lay there with a bullet lodged in his body with his blood pooled on the street. This bullet that was put there by the same man that was supposed to protect him but hated him because of the color of his skin. There have been too many times when white police officers blatantly abused their power to racially profile Black people and got away with it. It ends now with the improvement of the Black Lives Matter movement.

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Different political mindsets between Vietnamese people and Western people

Economic and political thinking between Vietnamese and Westerners is indeed different. Not talking about right and wrong. But it's really different. Before reading the next lines, I want us to agree on one thing, which is to respect differences - which is common in a pluralistic society like the West.

Normally, Vietnamese people can gossip about East and West, but there is an unwritten rule that is not to discuss politics. Because it's sensitive. Like a shy teenage girl holding her lover's hand for the first time. This is different from the West, when politics is a hotly discussed topic in every street corner, school, office, newspaper, to every corner of cyberspace. Therefore, there are Western views that are common, but may sound strange to Vietnamese people; on the contrary, there are thoughts that are deeply rooted in Vietnamese people also make many Westerners find it difficult to understand.

1. Vietnamese: "Paying taxes is patriotic"

This statement was made by Mr. Vu Tien Loc, Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), at the Ceremony to announce the 1,000 largest tax paying enterprises in Vietnam in 2017. The text is as follows:

If paying taxes is patriotic, then those who pay more taxes are patriotic.

Any. Let's admit, this is not just Mr. Loc's point of view, but most Vietnamese people have the same opinion. I used to be like that too. Most of us think of paying taxes as a way to contribute to the nation. Only if the government has money can the country develop. Therefore, when giving each of our tax dollars to the government, we feel like we have contributed to the development, invisibly that becomes a measure of each person's patriotism.

“Have you done anything for the country?” "I pay more taxes than you!" Sound familiar?

Western perspective

Taxes and fees are material categories. And patriotism is a natural attribute, belonging to the category of consciousness and spirit.

Taxes and fees are monetary, limited and implemented by government power – coercion. While patriotism is a sacred, noble, priceless, unlimited and completely voluntary gesture.

In Germany, the Constitutional Court once ruled that "the people are not responsible for paying much tax to the state, but rather, they have the right to legally calculate the tax to pay the least". That saying has become a slogan in many judicial offices in this country.

Paying a lot of taxes is also not a way to help the country develop more. High corporate tax will cause many companies to go bankrupt, workers lose their jobs, hinder technology development. The more taxes, the more control agencies must be established, the easier it is to breed embezzlement and corruption. Therefore, it is best that everyone spends money, respects individual liberties, taxes should be just enough for essential public services.

For Westerners, taxing is also considered an act of theft [of the government] – “taxation is theft”. There is even a saying among parents: “Want to teach your children a lesson about paying taxes? Eat half of their ice cream.”

Say it again and again, West also has West this West that. Not everyone wants a tax cut. Some lazy people tend to be in favor of raising taxes. Because if there is no tax money, they will be cut off from the government subsidy, which means they have to carry their ass to find a job. There are also many politicians who support tax increases, they are Socialists like Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders.

2. Vietnamese: “Peace will develop”

For Vietnamese people: When people are at peace, they can do business in peace. Peace is the only way to promote tourism. Peace is the country's development. There is freedom but chaos.

As long as it is peaceful, the country is rich and strong. This is a unique formula for national development that cannot be found in any economic-political literature or theory. So when someone condemns negatively in Vietnam, they are often attacked and threatened because they dare to "disturb" social stability and inhibit development.

Western perspective

The development formula of the West is encapsulated in two words "freedom". In which, economic freedom, political freedom freedom and personal freedom are the core for other freedoms.

Economic freedom gives people absolute private property rights, fully realizes the freedom of movement of labor, capital, and goods, and is completely free from oppression or limitation of economic freedom. except to the minimum limits necessary for them to protect and maintain that freedom.

Political freedom is the right to do anything that is not prohibited by law. As a result, people can freely speak, share opinions and access information and multi-dimensional knowledge; or free thinking helps us distinguish right from wrong and be creative.

Personal freedom gives us the freedom to choose and take responsibility for our decisions. No one has the right to impose our will in the name of anything.

Which Western political and social system is as peaceful as ours? Yet they are extremely developed. It doesn't need to be said far, even like Thailand, their people protest and riot often, but their country's tourism is more developed than ours. But thought that the unstable society would not dare to travel?

3. Vietnamese people: “There is a state to take care of”

Officials who commit violations and corruption have been taken care of by the State; election, the party also elects the people; policy making, the State has thought for and took care of it; Whatever they wanted to say, the state press spoke for them. Therefore, now Vietnamese people are quite peaceful. For them, peace is enough, why should they have to protest and worry about politics like other countries. How many years of war is not enough? So let's just ignore it, live in peace, live a carefree life, pay taxes regularly, everything is taken care of by the State.

Western perspective

Westerners value political freedom. Unlike Vietnamese who "have the state to take care of", Westerners have long seen government as a threat, not a solution to their problems. People have rights, and must participate in the State apparatus.

Montesquieu once wrote in the book The Spirit of Laws: "Many historical experience shows that people in power are often inclined to abuse power, and the best way to combat abuse of power is to fight monopoly, is to divide them in such a way that these rights contain one another.”

So how to do it? In order to reduce the concentration of power in one group, they divided the state into different agencies. The most popular model is the trias politica model, in which the three powers of the state are legislative, executive and judicial.

Legislature (simply understood, is the body that makes laws) expresses the general will of the nation. It belongs to the entire people, given to the assembly of the people's deputies, the National Assembly.

The executive (law enforcement agency, or government) implements established laws.

The judiciary (law protection agency) aims to handle violations and resolve conflicts between individuals. Judges are chosen from the people and the judgments are made only according to the law.

Such branching aims to balance the power between the agencies, no one type of power is superior to the other. Vietnamese people often call the US President "the most powerful person in America". It is not correct to call that. The President has only 33.33% of the power, the rest is held by Congress (bicameral) and the US Department of Justice.

While the Vietnamese do not care about politics, they view those who criticize the leadership as traitors; Westerners monitor the government very closely, they protest regularly to raise their voice, they do not "absolutely trust" any leader. As writer Mark Twain once said, “Politicians and diapers must be changed often, for the same reason.”

While the Vietnamese entrust all decisions to take care of their lives in the hands of the State; In the West, they think that the smaller the government, the better. What is small? Is to limit its power to a minimum. I would like to quote a passage from the inaugural address on January 20, 1981, of the late US President Ronald Reagan:

“In the current crisis, government is not the solution to our problem. It is the government that is the problem.

We are often indoctrinated that society is too complex for self-control. That government run by an elite minority is better than a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. So if none of us can solve our own problems, how can anyone be qualified to solve other people's problems?"

All credit goes to trantuansang.com.