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Jun. 14th, 2019 10:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkat1. I listening to a SmartBitches podcast with Australian Romance podcasters -- because I like the Australian accent. I have a fondness for Australian, English, Scottish, Welsh, South African, Jamiacan, Nigerian and Irish accents for some bizarre reason that I do not understand. I also like the British Indian accent.
Unfortunately I spend most my time around nasal Long Island, Indian, Middle Eastern, Russian, and Pakistani accents...and uhm no. But I've gotten really good at understanding them. And Lando can imitate them...
Podcast is interesting in how it is discussing the struggle with writing about marginalized minorities. Which I'm doing, and potentially badly, but since it may never be shared with anyone, not a problem. My heroine is African-American former vet, who defused bombs, and is traumatized, the hero is a white bisexual sex therapist. I'm sure if anyone were to read it -- I'd offend the hell out of them, without intending to. It's really easy to offend folks in this day and age. And not like you might have 20 years ago.
The podcasters talk about how one of them is underqualified to write about the Jewish experience, because there's so much disagreement among Jews on this. The Australian states how difficult it is to discuss Aboriginal characters...and how everyone looks at differently. And how you look for someone who represents you (because lets face it people are so self-centered, honestly. Instead of reading a book to get in another person's perspective -- you want to be in your own or in a perspective like your own). None of the heroines I've read look like me (I'm tall and big and not...like these heroines, I just happen to be white, but outside of that, they look nothing like me, most of them are petite actually and thin.). But they mention what it is like to be a minority hunting heroines who look like them and represent them -- and they DO have a valid point. It's not until relatively recently that I've read books about non-white heroines and heroes in romance or other genres. But I've also searched them out -- because I want to be in perspective outside of my own. I don't want to be in my own perspective -- how boring.
And they are right -- that there's no black characters in these rural romances. I noticed this in Lian Moriarity's books -- the two I read. It may be different in others. I include persons of color in my stories mainly because 90% of the people I know are persons of color and writing a world without them seems odd. I also have written about LGBTQA, to such a degree that when my brother read the book (that I had not published), he decided I was gay. (I'm not.) Why? Half my friends are. Be odd not to at this point. I write what I know.
Then again -- it's really hard to write POC if you aren't. It's hard to write what we don't know. If you are a writer out in the middle of all white, all straight rural America, you are going to write THAT. And there's nothing wrong with that. They just want broader representation. My take? Eh, you have it now. Honestly I was born at the end of the 1960s, I remember a world where there was literally none of this or very little. Lando and Chidi were discussing it with me the other day -- about how 98% of the 1970s television shows didn't have ANY persons of color. Nor did many television series prior to it. Star Trek was groundbreaking because it did.
In minor roles. Think about that for a minute - in the 1960s, Star Trek was considered ground-breaking in how it represented persons of color and women. Amazing how far we've come.
Rules about marrying in Australia...if you are Aboriginal and someone is Maori or Curie, not worth it? There's not that many, and a chance of being related is really high. And they tell a story about an Aboriginal marrying another -- who discovers wait, sort of related. Best, to pick someone from the opposite of the country, the other side of the desert. But not same side. You might be related. So those romances do not work. Aussies...are well, interesting. There are warring nations -- one of the podcasters has a friend who is a warring nation with her nation, and she keeps trying to convince her friend to marry her brother -- as a sort of Romeo and Juliet scenario, the friend isn't buying it. LOL!
Whole racial discussions in Australia that don't translate in America, a lot of aboriginals do pass for white. (Actually that happens here too -- in Miami for example, with Hispanics who view themselves as black or POC but look white.) Also they use the term black fella, and use black over there. But people who look white are saying it, and people respond that no one who is actually black is saying that.
(They are wrong about the US not getting this -- it happens here too. I know people who are white, but have black parents and pass as white and refer to themselves as black. But it's not prevalent.)
2. Friends to lovers trope. A college friend didn't believe it worked. I don't know. My parents started that way -- although they were "dating" and my father pursued my mother -- after she came over to bug him during a party. Their dates consisted of long political and historical debates. Both love to argue. (Hmmm...this may be genetic? My brother and I do too...and you do NOT want to argue with us. We're good at it -- we were taught how at the age of six. And we can argue with each other for hours driving everyone around us nuts -- my niece is hilarious, we get into an argument in front of her, she decides to take my side and finds ways to undermine her dad. After a bit, I'll stop and just watch. Because she's better at it than I am, at the age of 14, I see a future lawyer in my midst. She thinks she is going to be a scientist, but that kid has a career as a Supreme Court Justice in her future.)
I don't think my brother and sisinlaw started as friends either -- he was sitting off on his own and she came and bugged him. (My brother attracts women like flies. You have no idea. Women stalk the boy. They've done this since he was in kindgergarten. This gift was not genetic and not shared, it is his alone. Not that I necessarily want to be stalked by women or men. I don't know what they see in him. He's apparently very charming. Personally, I just want to smack him whenever he turns on the charm.) Actually, I can't think of anyone that is in a romantic long-term relationship that has.
See friendship usually is platonic -- there's no sexual attraction. It's safe. That's what I love about it. You don't have that elephant in the room to deal with. You can just be. I like friendship even though it has been frustratingly fleeting in my life and some of my friends...sigh, less said the better, but ..I like the idea of just spending time together, without wanting anything from the other person. Just a few moments of time sharing something you both enjoy. That's it.
I tend to actually prefer to be around people I'm NOT physically attracted to. (Not attracted physically to anyone at my workplace -- it's lovely. And I'm automatically turned off by anyone who is married, engaged or in a long term romance. I do NOT do love triangles. ) If I am physically attracted to you -- I get nervous and chatty and tongue tied. I'm uncomfortable. And itchy. (Possibly because people I'm physically attracted to are generally speaking NOT physically attracted to me. Also, distressingly, people I'm NOT physically attracted to, are physically attracted to me. Indicating that the universe is a jokester and likes to laugh at me. So I gave up eventually.)
3. I need a good romance. Haven't read one in a long while or seen one. I feel bereft. Also, I've realized I really really don't like contemporary romances and/or new adult 20 something contemporary romances, which I find silly and offensive 98% of the time. The female character -- I inevitably want to throw off the cliff, followed shortly by the guy. This is not conducive to a good romance.
4. Cubicle wall mate is making fun of the movie I'm seeing tomorrow.
Cubical Mate: So your seeing that bad movie tomorrow?
ME: No, EW gave it a B.
Cubicla Mate: Everyone else hates it.
ME: No, it got a 64% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes..who hates it?
Cubical Mate: Martinez hated it.
Me: Martinez?
Martinez: I did not. You're all too critical of movies. It was fine.
I restrained myself from telling him that he liked Aquaman, Bumblebee, Batman vs. Superman, and Justice League. (Although I will admit there were good moments in Batman vs. Superman...mainly with Gail Gadot, and in Justice League -- ditto).
Yeah, I know a lot of critics hate it. But considering I've hated a lot of films they loved, I'm not taking the reviews seriously. That does not mean I expect to love the film. I'm going in with low expectations. This is directed and written by the same guy who wrote X-men Last Stand. Also they crammed a three-hour movie into one, and re-did the ending. And they cast Sophie Turner and Tye Sheridan in the roles of Jean and Cyclops...which, hmmm, not good fits. Neither have the required screen charisma. That's the problem with the X-men films -- the cast Mystique, Beast, Professor X, and Magneto and Wolverine with top players, but no one else.
Compare to MCU which casts EVERYONE with top players. They should have had a top guy playing Cyclops from the beginning and someone who could write him. Fantastic 4 had the same problem, as does the DC Verse.
Casting and writing are important, FOX and Warner Brothers sort of fell down on the job, with the exception of the Nolan films, which I admittedly can't rewatch. So.
But, I still think The Dark Knight is the best of the superhero genre, even if it makes the colossal mistake of focusing almost completely on the villains.
We'll see.
Unfortunately I spend most my time around nasal Long Island, Indian, Middle Eastern, Russian, and Pakistani accents...and uhm no. But I've gotten really good at understanding them. And Lando can imitate them...
Podcast is interesting in how it is discussing the struggle with writing about marginalized minorities. Which I'm doing, and potentially badly, but since it may never be shared with anyone, not a problem. My heroine is African-American former vet, who defused bombs, and is traumatized, the hero is a white bisexual sex therapist. I'm sure if anyone were to read it -- I'd offend the hell out of them, without intending to. It's really easy to offend folks in this day and age. And not like you might have 20 years ago.
The podcasters talk about how one of them is underqualified to write about the Jewish experience, because there's so much disagreement among Jews on this. The Australian states how difficult it is to discuss Aboriginal characters...and how everyone looks at differently. And how you look for someone who represents you (because lets face it people are so self-centered, honestly. Instead of reading a book to get in another person's perspective -- you want to be in your own or in a perspective like your own). None of the heroines I've read look like me (I'm tall and big and not...like these heroines, I just happen to be white, but outside of that, they look nothing like me, most of them are petite actually and thin.). But they mention what it is like to be a minority hunting heroines who look like them and represent them -- and they DO have a valid point. It's not until relatively recently that I've read books about non-white heroines and heroes in romance or other genres. But I've also searched them out -- because I want to be in perspective outside of my own. I don't want to be in my own perspective -- how boring.
And they are right -- that there's no black characters in these rural romances. I noticed this in Lian Moriarity's books -- the two I read. It may be different in others. I include persons of color in my stories mainly because 90% of the people I know are persons of color and writing a world without them seems odd. I also have written about LGBTQA, to such a degree that when my brother read the book (that I had not published), he decided I was gay. (I'm not.) Why? Half my friends are. Be odd not to at this point. I write what I know.
Then again -- it's really hard to write POC if you aren't. It's hard to write what we don't know. If you are a writer out in the middle of all white, all straight rural America, you are going to write THAT. And there's nothing wrong with that. They just want broader representation. My take? Eh, you have it now. Honestly I was born at the end of the 1960s, I remember a world where there was literally none of this or very little. Lando and Chidi were discussing it with me the other day -- about how 98% of the 1970s television shows didn't have ANY persons of color. Nor did many television series prior to it. Star Trek was groundbreaking because it did.
In minor roles. Think about that for a minute - in the 1960s, Star Trek was considered ground-breaking in how it represented persons of color and women. Amazing how far we've come.
Rules about marrying in Australia...if you are Aboriginal and someone is Maori or Curie, not worth it? There's not that many, and a chance of being related is really high. And they tell a story about an Aboriginal marrying another -- who discovers wait, sort of related. Best, to pick someone from the opposite of the country, the other side of the desert. But not same side. You might be related. So those romances do not work. Aussies...are well, interesting. There are warring nations -- one of the podcasters has a friend who is a warring nation with her nation, and she keeps trying to convince her friend to marry her brother -- as a sort of Romeo and Juliet scenario, the friend isn't buying it. LOL!
Whole racial discussions in Australia that don't translate in America, a lot of aboriginals do pass for white. (Actually that happens here too -- in Miami for example, with Hispanics who view themselves as black or POC but look white.) Also they use the term black fella, and use black over there. But people who look white are saying it, and people respond that no one who is actually black is saying that.
(They are wrong about the US not getting this -- it happens here too. I know people who are white, but have black parents and pass as white and refer to themselves as black. But it's not prevalent.)
2. Friends to lovers trope. A college friend didn't believe it worked. I don't know. My parents started that way -- although they were "dating" and my father pursued my mother -- after she came over to bug him during a party. Their dates consisted of long political and historical debates. Both love to argue. (Hmmm...this may be genetic? My brother and I do too...and you do NOT want to argue with us. We're good at it -- we were taught how at the age of six. And we can argue with each other for hours driving everyone around us nuts -- my niece is hilarious, we get into an argument in front of her, she decides to take my side and finds ways to undermine her dad. After a bit, I'll stop and just watch. Because she's better at it than I am, at the age of 14, I see a future lawyer in my midst. She thinks she is going to be a scientist, but that kid has a career as a Supreme Court Justice in her future.)
I don't think my brother and sisinlaw started as friends either -- he was sitting off on his own and she came and bugged him. (My brother attracts women like flies. You have no idea. Women stalk the boy. They've done this since he was in kindgergarten. This gift was not genetic and not shared, it is his alone. Not that I necessarily want to be stalked by women or men. I don't know what they see in him. He's apparently very charming. Personally, I just want to smack him whenever he turns on the charm.) Actually, I can't think of anyone that is in a romantic long-term relationship that has.
See friendship usually is platonic -- there's no sexual attraction. It's safe. That's what I love about it. You don't have that elephant in the room to deal with. You can just be. I like friendship even though it has been frustratingly fleeting in my life and some of my friends...sigh, less said the better, but ..I like the idea of just spending time together, without wanting anything from the other person. Just a few moments of time sharing something you both enjoy. That's it.
I tend to actually prefer to be around people I'm NOT physically attracted to. (Not attracted physically to anyone at my workplace -- it's lovely. And I'm automatically turned off by anyone who is married, engaged or in a long term romance. I do NOT do love triangles. ) If I am physically attracted to you -- I get nervous and chatty and tongue tied. I'm uncomfortable. And itchy. (Possibly because people I'm physically attracted to are generally speaking NOT physically attracted to me. Also, distressingly, people I'm NOT physically attracted to, are physically attracted to me. Indicating that the universe is a jokester and likes to laugh at me. So I gave up eventually.)
3. I need a good romance. Haven't read one in a long while or seen one. I feel bereft. Also, I've realized I really really don't like contemporary romances and/or new adult 20 something contemporary romances, which I find silly and offensive 98% of the time. The female character -- I inevitably want to throw off the cliff, followed shortly by the guy. This is not conducive to a good romance.
4. Cubicle wall mate is making fun of the movie I'm seeing tomorrow.
Cubical Mate: So your seeing that bad movie tomorrow?
ME: No, EW gave it a B.
Cubicla Mate: Everyone else hates it.
ME: No, it got a 64% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes..who hates it?
Cubical Mate: Martinez hated it.
Me: Martinez?
Martinez: I did not. You're all too critical of movies. It was fine.
I restrained myself from telling him that he liked Aquaman, Bumblebee, Batman vs. Superman, and Justice League. (Although I will admit there were good moments in Batman vs. Superman...mainly with Gail Gadot, and in Justice League -- ditto).
Yeah, I know a lot of critics hate it. But considering I've hated a lot of films they loved, I'm not taking the reviews seriously. That does not mean I expect to love the film. I'm going in with low expectations. This is directed and written by the same guy who wrote X-men Last Stand. Also they crammed a three-hour movie into one, and re-did the ending. And they cast Sophie Turner and Tye Sheridan in the roles of Jean and Cyclops...which, hmmm, not good fits. Neither have the required screen charisma. That's the problem with the X-men films -- the cast Mystique, Beast, Professor X, and Magneto and Wolverine with top players, but no one else.
Compare to MCU which casts EVERYONE with top players. They should have had a top guy playing Cyclops from the beginning and someone who could write him. Fantastic 4 had the same problem, as does the DC Verse.
Casting and writing are important, FOX and Warner Brothers sort of fell down on the job, with the exception of the Nolan films, which I admittedly can't rewatch. So.
But, I still think The Dark Knight is the best of the superhero genre, even if it makes the colossal mistake of focusing almost completely on the villains.
We'll see.
no subject
Date: 2019-06-17 08:40 am (UTC)Spelled "Koori", FTR.
That sounds like a fascinating podcast! Must go and google it...
no subject
Date: 2019-06-17 12:10 pm (UTC)Ah, sorry, forgot to provide a link to it.
Thanks, Curie seemed wrong somehow...