Day #4 ...of Year 2
Mar. 21st, 2021 08:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatWell, after my mother interrupted my compulsive viewing/comparison of the Whedon vs. Snyder versions of Justice League, which surprisingly or not surprisingly depending on one's perspective, were not complimentary of Whedon (see previous post), I took a much needed walk to clear the head.
It was a beautiful day for it. And hey, I found a few little flowers.
Spring is here. Or trying.
It was a lovely day. See?
Crystal blue sky. No cloud marring the horizon. I could actually see a crescent moon. But couldn't take a photo of it. My eyes are sometimes more effective than a camera.
I didn't bring along the binoculars - I forgot them to be honest.
In examining the movies next to each other - it kind of left a bad taste in my chest and heart. Someone changed a movie that was inclusive and showed stories and gave agency to women and minorities, to be exclusive. And I liked that person's work. And I didn't see it until today. It makes me realize how easy it is to white-wash things, so we don't see them. And make the white guy the hero, when he's in reality the villain. It also haunts me, because the two characters in the Snyder films that could flip in the wrong direction are both white men, Batman (the vigilante) and Superman (who is scary powerful if you think about it). It wouldn't take much for Superman to destroy the world - if he loses touch with his humanity. A theme that gets white-washed and removed from the Whedon version. Whedon's version questions Cyborg, while Snyder's questions Superman.
It's amazing how differently I see a film, when I get a different perspective on it. That's the magic of art and film - it changes as we interact with it. We all bring ourselves to it. Our baggage, our expectations, etc. Yet, the problem with art - is often when commercialized or optioned by a studio or backed by a conglomerate or publisher - the art is less important than the returns. The executives want a shorter film, or a funny one that appeals to young white boys. People like themselves. Or they want to change your story to be more sellable, more marketable. To hit a specific audience. Can you just change this one thing? Can you change this story and make it a murder mystery? Can you change this one bit - to make the construction cheaper? Rush it a bit - we want it in four months.
It's hard to like people sometimes.
Yet. Yet. The pandemic has become an interesting thing. It's ripped the veil away. The empire is revealed to have no clothes. The selfish assholes now have a light shined upon them. Because of the pandemic - we see the Snyder version of Justice League, and Ray Fisher gets his moment to shine. The pandemic also shines a light on other things. We see that the terrorism that plagues the US, resides in the US, and is not just abroad. We see that nationalism, and tribalism are more the enemies than we expected...and divide us from each other...and make pandemics more dangerous, and us far more vulnerable. That was my take away from Snyder's film, a love letter to his dead daughter, that divided we fall into darkness, united we rise above it. And the darkness is always there, always calling, always threatening to drag us down into the abyss.
There's hope though. We can rise above it. In all of it - I've seen that. My friends who get vaccine appointments for strangers, and volunteer to vaccinate them. Or the people in my community who came together to feed those in need with a pantry and fridge on a street open to all, and money given to those who apply. Or my church which continues to fight for those who can't fight for themselves, provides sanctuary, and hope. Today they asked what keeps you going, what silences the bag of negative voices in your head, what helps you stay the course.
Or the health care workers, essential workers, etc who stayed in the city - while the wealthy fled, and kept going. One day at a time.
And the fact that Biden won. The majority of Americans approve of him. The majority approve of the bills he's passed. And how he rises above the divisiveness.
And ...the media, the stories, they are changing. 2017 - the films, and stories airing...are not the same as the ones that air now. For the first time in forever - the oscars nominated two women directors, and one who is the first Asian female director. Chloe Zhao who did Nomadland. We also have two black women nominated for best actress, and more than one POC of color nominated in the best actor categories. The movies are more diversified.
The world is changing. The dice are no longer loaded in favor of the assholes.
And that gives me hope. It's what has kept me going. Seeing how things are changing for the better - that soon, we'll all come out of this dark night of the soul, better for it.
Also on a bright note? I've heard back from both Wales and cjl, who told me they were okay and thanked me for checking up on them. And AH continued our email correspondence.
Mother also called to inform me that she'd been convinced by various other people, including two of her friends in Hilton Head, her cousin, and my brother - to seek a second opinion on her hip. One friend was adamant about it - and told her that the Surgeon who she'd been seeing wasn't very good, and to get another one - her primary care could most likely get her a referral.
So hope. Hope keeps me going. Focusing on the positive things I have. I have finally gotten the vaccine - and it has been as if a pile of bricks have been lifted from my shoulders. I feel safe for the first time in months. The fear is slowly receding.
And even though I have nightmares, which I do and have - lately I'm fighting with people in my dreams, and last night two people were stabbed while I was sleeping in front of them in the dream, but weirdly they were okay, and I woke up. I can always wake up from them to a brighter day ahead.
It was a beautiful day for it. And hey, I found a few little flowers.
Spring is here. Or trying.
It was a lovely day. See?
Crystal blue sky. No cloud marring the horizon. I could actually see a crescent moon. But couldn't take a photo of it. My eyes are sometimes more effective than a camera.
I didn't bring along the binoculars - I forgot them to be honest.
In examining the movies next to each other - it kind of left a bad taste in my chest and heart. Someone changed a movie that was inclusive and showed stories and gave agency to women and minorities, to be exclusive. And I liked that person's work. And I didn't see it until today. It makes me realize how easy it is to white-wash things, so we don't see them. And make the white guy the hero, when he's in reality the villain. It also haunts me, because the two characters in the Snyder films that could flip in the wrong direction are both white men, Batman (the vigilante) and Superman (who is scary powerful if you think about it). It wouldn't take much for Superman to destroy the world - if he loses touch with his humanity. A theme that gets white-washed and removed from the Whedon version. Whedon's version questions Cyborg, while Snyder's questions Superman.
It's amazing how differently I see a film, when I get a different perspective on it. That's the magic of art and film - it changes as we interact with it. We all bring ourselves to it. Our baggage, our expectations, etc. Yet, the problem with art - is often when commercialized or optioned by a studio or backed by a conglomerate or publisher - the art is less important than the returns. The executives want a shorter film, or a funny one that appeals to young white boys. People like themselves. Or they want to change your story to be more sellable, more marketable. To hit a specific audience. Can you just change this one thing? Can you change this story and make it a murder mystery? Can you change this one bit - to make the construction cheaper? Rush it a bit - we want it in four months.
It's hard to like people sometimes.
Yet. Yet. The pandemic has become an interesting thing. It's ripped the veil away. The empire is revealed to have no clothes. The selfish assholes now have a light shined upon them. Because of the pandemic - we see the Snyder version of Justice League, and Ray Fisher gets his moment to shine. The pandemic also shines a light on other things. We see that the terrorism that plagues the US, resides in the US, and is not just abroad. We see that nationalism, and tribalism are more the enemies than we expected...and divide us from each other...and make pandemics more dangerous, and us far more vulnerable. That was my take away from Snyder's film, a love letter to his dead daughter, that divided we fall into darkness, united we rise above it. And the darkness is always there, always calling, always threatening to drag us down into the abyss.
There's hope though. We can rise above it. In all of it - I've seen that. My friends who get vaccine appointments for strangers, and volunteer to vaccinate them. Or the people in my community who came together to feed those in need with a pantry and fridge on a street open to all, and money given to those who apply. Or my church which continues to fight for those who can't fight for themselves, provides sanctuary, and hope. Today they asked what keeps you going, what silences the bag of negative voices in your head, what helps you stay the course.
Or the health care workers, essential workers, etc who stayed in the city - while the wealthy fled, and kept going. One day at a time.
And the fact that Biden won. The majority of Americans approve of him. The majority approve of the bills he's passed. And how he rises above the divisiveness.
And ...the media, the stories, they are changing. 2017 - the films, and stories airing...are not the same as the ones that air now. For the first time in forever - the oscars nominated two women directors, and one who is the first Asian female director. Chloe Zhao who did Nomadland. We also have two black women nominated for best actress, and more than one POC of color nominated in the best actor categories. The movies are more diversified.
The world is changing. The dice are no longer loaded in favor of the assholes.
And that gives me hope. It's what has kept me going. Seeing how things are changing for the better - that soon, we'll all come out of this dark night of the soul, better for it.
Also on a bright note? I've heard back from both Wales and cjl, who told me they were okay and thanked me for checking up on them. And AH continued our email correspondence.
Mother also called to inform me that she'd been convinced by various other people, including two of her friends in Hilton Head, her cousin, and my brother - to seek a second opinion on her hip. One friend was adamant about it - and told her that the Surgeon who she'd been seeing wasn't very good, and to get another one - her primary care could most likely get her a referral.
So hope. Hope keeps me going. Focusing on the positive things I have. I have finally gotten the vaccine - and it has been as if a pile of bricks have been lifted from my shoulders. I feel safe for the first time in months. The fear is slowly receding.
And even though I have nightmares, which I do and have - lately I'm fighting with people in my dreams, and last night two people were stabbed while I was sleeping in front of them in the dream, but weirdly they were okay, and I woke up. I can always wake up from them to a brighter day ahead.
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Date: 2021-03-22 03:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-03-22 04:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-03-22 08:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-03-22 09:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-03-23 07:35 am (UTC)Does your phone have the ability to allow you to over-ride the auto-exposure feature? If so, try lowering (darkening) the exposure a little bit, and sometimes that will reveal things like the moon. Doesn't always work, and the darker parts of the image can get too dark, but worth a try.
I'll see if I can find an example from my own work, and ETA this reply.
Ah, here we go...
Above was original shot as the camera saw it. Don't see the full moon there in the tree branches? I could, but the camera auto-exposed to balance the overall brightness to what it thinks is correct, and frankly did a decent job of it, except... the overall is lighter than what my eye saw, since it's close to dusk here and so actually darker. I overrode the auto and bumped the exposure down two increments and got this...
Now we're actually darker than my eye was seeing, but now you can see the moon in the image. Question is-- are the houses too dark?
Ahah! Time for some hot sexy fun with software, and I fix the problem with our old friend the cropping tool, and dig the results! Others MMV of course, but, hey, my shot, and me likey!
no subject
Date: 2021-03-23 11:58 am (UTC)