Conversations..
Aug. 18th, 2017 09:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatWoke up in a good mood, then alas I went to work and my mood slowly drifted downhill from there. Not helped by the weather. Whenever I went outside, I felt as if I was treading through water. The air was thick with perspiration and electricity...
1. This week, Sci-Fi fan Co-worker, the one who loans me books...which would be cool, except he likes to loan me books that have tiny print and he'd bought in the 1960s, so they make me sneeze...
Sci-Fi Co-worker aka RZ (short for Roger Zelzany fan): I saw the worst science fiction/fantasy series on television ever this weekend. And I do mean the worse of anything I've ever seen in my entire life.
(I take a breath and brace myself...just in case it's one I happen to like, there's so many to choose from. Also this is rare, because he pretty much likes all sci-fi/fantasy shows, even shows like Midnight, Texas. )
Me: Okay...what was it?
RZ: Twin Peaks.
(I burst out laughing.)
Me: Okay, do you mean the current one? Or the original?
RZ: Yes, the most recent..
Me: Did you watch the original?
RZ: No -
Me: Because the sequel won't make a lick of sense without watching the original, or so I've been told.
RZ: My wife saw the original...
Me: Did she like the sequel?
RZ: Really not. It made no sense. Everything about it was horrible...
Me: Well, you got to understand it's David Lynch. After the first two seasons of Twin Peaks, he sort of went off the rails...and decided to be surreal. So if you don't like pure surrealism, you probably won't like it...
RZ: Maybe. Except this was just awful.
Me: David Lynch is often an acquired taste. For me he's hit or miss. I liked the first two seasons of Twin Peaks, Mullohound Drive, and Blue Velvet. Not so much the other stuff. Dune was a disappointment.
RZ: Skip this.
Considering everyone online including my mother's cousin adores the sequel to Twin Peaks, I find this conversation rather amusing and somewhat informative.
2. Discussion with freshman roommate, who happens to be African-American, lives in Boston, and works as financial planner about that Racism chart that I posted the other day. This also includes my aunt, who had to pipe in her two cents. The national debate on racism...is necessary but extremely painful.
I don't know. Racism is admittedly a trigger for me. I have strong opinions regarding it. I think in part because I've seen up close and personal the consequences of it. I've met and talked and become close to people who were severely hurt by it. And I've listened to and sat with the bigots. I think I told you about my Uncle Earl, he died several years ago. The man would talk about "Nigger Ball" that's what he called Basketball. And he disowned his daughter for marrying a person of color. And at one point, he pointed out to my parents that they might want to worry about my brother marrying his wife, who was part Cherokee (and Jewish) because they tend be quite dark and will have...dark kids.
My father had to leave the room and could barely stand him. He called him "Lonseome Dove", half in jest.
I'm trying to listen. And not say too much. I think sometimes I say too much. I've been criticized a lot in my life for saying too much.
3. On a brighter note...Voyage to the Other World: A New Eulogy for Ray Bradbury by Margaret Atwood Okay, it's an eulogy, so maybe not brighter?
4. I don't know, I think several episodes of Great British Bake-Off need to be binged this weekend. I need a palate cleanser. Either that or the Defenders...although I think Great British Bake-Off would be better.
1. This week, Sci-Fi fan Co-worker, the one who loans me books...which would be cool, except he likes to loan me books that have tiny print and he'd bought in the 1960s, so they make me sneeze...
Sci-Fi Co-worker aka RZ (short for Roger Zelzany fan): I saw the worst science fiction/fantasy series on television ever this weekend. And I do mean the worse of anything I've ever seen in my entire life.
(I take a breath and brace myself...just in case it's one I happen to like, there's so many to choose from. Also this is rare, because he pretty much likes all sci-fi/fantasy shows, even shows like Midnight, Texas. )
Me: Okay...what was it?
RZ: Twin Peaks.
(I burst out laughing.)
Me: Okay, do you mean the current one? Or the original?
RZ: Yes, the most recent..
Me: Did you watch the original?
RZ: No -
Me: Because the sequel won't make a lick of sense without watching the original, or so I've been told.
RZ: My wife saw the original...
Me: Did she like the sequel?
RZ: Really not. It made no sense. Everything about it was horrible...
Me: Well, you got to understand it's David Lynch. After the first two seasons of Twin Peaks, he sort of went off the rails...and decided to be surreal. So if you don't like pure surrealism, you probably won't like it...
RZ: Maybe. Except this was just awful.
Me: David Lynch is often an acquired taste. For me he's hit or miss. I liked the first two seasons of Twin Peaks, Mullohound Drive, and Blue Velvet. Not so much the other stuff. Dune was a disappointment.
RZ: Skip this.
Considering everyone online including my mother's cousin adores the sequel to Twin Peaks, I find this conversation rather amusing and somewhat informative.
2. Discussion with freshman roommate, who happens to be African-American, lives in Boston, and works as financial planner about that Racism chart that I posted the other day. This also includes my aunt, who had to pipe in her two cents. The national debate on racism...is necessary but extremely painful.
Ex-Roommate: I have a problem with us trying to define racism. What about people who march, make space, "put themselves in harms way" for other motives? Defy parents, low self-esteem, trying to prove something? What about POC who are racist against other POC? It's fine when people are obvious about racism, but you can't get into the minds and hearts of people, look at surface behavior and yell racism. I think this chart is fine, but its so much deeper then this.
Me: Thank you. I've been wondering about this as well. Can we define it so neatly? And is there a relationship between racism and "privilege", which should be emphasized? I think you are right -- it's much more complicated than this.
Ex-Roommate: I know plus size white women who say they can only date black men because white men aren't attracted to them. Is that racist? I know a woman who adopted a little girl from China, and she would constantly say racist things towards Asian people at work. When we called her out on it she said, "I'm not racist my little girl is from China." And I constantly have black people telling me, "You should have financial education classes just for black people as we don't know how to manage our money like white people." Racist?
Me: I think it's prejudice and racism but it is socialized racism. But not necessarily discrimination in all cases? There's a huge difference between racial prejudice and racial discrimination and profiling. I mean everyone is prejudiced in some way, right? I think we all make generalizations based on physical traits and develop prejudices many of which we are socialized to believe. But, that doesn't justify racist or prejudicial behavior that hurts another. So I think it depends on the action? I.e. The woman who prefers dating black men because they see her as beautiful is a bit different than the coworker who thinks it is okay to say abusive and derogatory comments about the Chinese even though she has an adopted Chinese daughter. If anything what she's doing is worse because she's reinforcing negative racial views regarding her own daughter. Just as it is different for black people to use the "N'' word and for a white person to use it. Or a white guy to say blacks can't manage their money as opposed to the black woman stating it -- however in both cases it's not true. My white grandparents and many family members are horrific at it and I work with a lot of black financial whites.
Aunt: The chart is not diagnosing your racism. It's a tool to open your eyes as to where you stand and then hopefully, you strive to improve yourself. It's not a judgement tool. It's a self help tool.
Aunt to Ex-Roommate: No. Mentally maladjusted. I've worked in the public sector and, let's face it, there are some out there who are just plain nuts! (Whoops, I hope I wasn't being offensive to the mentally ill).
I don't know. Racism is admittedly a trigger for me. I have strong opinions regarding it. I think in part because I've seen up close and personal the consequences of it. I've met and talked and become close to people who were severely hurt by it. And I've listened to and sat with the bigots. I think I told you about my Uncle Earl, he died several years ago. The man would talk about "Nigger Ball" that's what he called Basketball. And he disowned his daughter for marrying a person of color. And at one point, he pointed out to my parents that they might want to worry about my brother marrying his wife, who was part Cherokee (and Jewish) because they tend be quite dark and will have...dark kids.
My father had to leave the room and could barely stand him. He called him "Lonseome Dove", half in jest.
I'm trying to listen. And not say too much. I think sometimes I say too much. I've been criticized a lot in my life for saying too much.
3. On a brighter note...Voyage to the Other World: A New Eulogy for Ray Bradbury by Margaret Atwood Okay, it's an eulogy, so maybe not brighter?
4. I don't know, I think several episodes of Great British Bake-Off need to be binged this weekend. I need a palate cleanser. Either that or the Defenders...although I think Great British Bake-Off would be better.
no subject
Date: 2017-08-19 02:06 pm (UTC)Instead, I'll write exchange fic and read (and maybe watch the Defenders).
no subject
Date: 2017-08-19 10:57 pm (UTC)I'm not going, to witness or counter-protest. Maybe that makes me part of the problem, but I just don't want to deal with that in a venue where I can't turn it off, especially since stress sets off the Medical Issues.
Ditto. OR I'm right there with you. I barely managed the Women's March in January in NYC with 400,000 people. I can't do it either. I don't do protests..bad for my mental and physical health. Best I can do is shout my support on the sidelines via social media. Also, I can't afford to go to Boston this weekend or North Carolina. Not everyone has that flexibility. We live in very judgemental society that likes generalize about people, which is also part of the problem.
Instead, I chose to sit in air-conditioning and spend the day watching "The Defenders" - it's not great, but it does get better as it goes on, particularly when the focus shifts more to Jessica Jones, Matt Murdoch and Electra.
no subject
Date: 2017-08-21 01:19 pm (UTC)Also: no spoilers! I got through episode 5. I'll watch the rest at some point this week, but I'm not entirely sure when. I liked what I saw, though. (But yeah: Matt is definitely the most interesting character so far, Jessica being second. Which is weird, because while I do like Matt best in general, Danny is actually my second favorite Defender. They just haven't really gotten his character right in this.)
no subject
Date: 2017-08-21 01:46 pm (UTC)Danny, unfortunately, hasn't been written well by the television writers. Not sure I agree that he's been horribly miscast as just poorly written.
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Date: 2017-08-21 01:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-08-21 05:19 pm (UTC)Yep, felt the same way. The actor can actually play him. It's just poorly written. The writing sort of went downhill after DDS1 and JJS1.
A lot of fans wanted Danny cast with a POC in the role, but that's not the role as written. He's written as a sort of Green Arrow type. Hence the backlash.
no subject
Date: 2017-08-21 05:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-08-21 05:50 pm (UTC)I hadn't read the comic version, so have a passing knowledge. You know more than I do. ;-)
But I've seen the TV version of Green Arrow, which is very similar, and read the character description of Danny online. The character was clearly conceived by Marvel as a response to Green Arrow in some respects, and Batman in others. Similar tropes.
no subject
Date: 2017-08-21 06:02 pm (UTC)Oh god, Arrow. I love Arrow so much. Only it is absolutely not the comics. It is so not the comics it's actually hilarious. I just watch it as though it's yet another DC re-spin on the character (which is sort of what they did, with the most recent reboot).
I'm waiting for Green Lantern to show up, because I shipped Hal/Ollie so hard as a kid. Just. The shipping. It was intense. I mean, for the show I'm pro-Felicity, because how can you not be, but I did spend a lot of time waiting for Ollie and Laurel to get their shit together. And then they killed her and my brain stopped trying to make sense of Arrow in relation to the comics. (Ollie and Dinah have never been married? NOPE NO LONGER GREEN ARROW.)
I can see the comparison with Ollie, though. Plane crash / shipwreck, lost, got trained, came back to Right Wrongs (though one is slightly more murder-friendly; DC is more murder-friendly than Marvel in general, though).
I COULD GO ON FOR A LONG TIME HERE.
no subject
Date: 2017-08-21 07:10 pm (UTC)I stopped with Arrow around the third season...sooo..they killed off Laurel??? Whoa. That does explain something I read about Sara, the original Black Canary, dealing with Laurel's death.
Marvel is weird when it comes to murder friendly. Depends on the character. Punisher, Wolverine, Deadpool, Cable, are all rather dark anti-heroes.
I was more Marvel than DC. Although I did jump into DC here and there.
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Date: 2017-08-21 08:42 pm (UTC)I'm definitely more Marvel than DC, but my favorite superhero is Green Arrow, so I've gotten to know DC via things he featured in. Marvel I read more broadly, but less deeply (exclusive of Iron Man, which I love, but am about six years behind on; it helps that Green Arrow is slightly less featured while Iron Man is fucking everywhere).
Oh, yeah, that's definitely true. I think for Marvel it's the exception, whereas for DC, it's more generally accepted.
no subject
Date: 2017-08-19 04:51 pm (UTC)I can add to your data set by saying that two of my friends who both saw the original TP have given up on the current one. Also, I was amused to see someone post on DW this past week that if they consider giving TP a third try they want to be hit in the face.
no subject
Date: 2017-08-19 11:03 pm (UTC)Hee Hee Hee. LOL.
I taped it for my brother when the original series aired. Loved the first two seasons, but the third was just a mess...and gave me nightmares for months afterwards. (I could have done without the spiders, thank you very much Lynch.)