(no subject)
Mar. 17th, 2024 06:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatGoing to attempt to go back to the office tomorrow. Hopefully won't cough on the way, or at the office. Coughed less today - although I did launch into a coughing fit at the grocery store checkout lane for no apparent reason. I've no clue why. It ended after I left. I don't know if I inhaled something I was allergic too, or if something tickled the throat. But it was annoying and involved a lot of coughing into my my sleeve and apologizing profusely.
Every night like clockwork - I wake up at 3-3:30 am and cough for about an hour and a half, then when I'm about to consider od'ing on cough meds to put myself out of my misery - it stops. I do not cough most of day, just in spasms, usually in the evening.
Had another sinus migraine headache today - which I could not quite decide was due to the blood sugar dropping (having not had lunch) or sinuses. I decided to have the rest of the Red Bean Soup (Annie's Organic Soups) that I'd fixed last night. Along with an apple with lemon juice, cinnamon, dipped in chocolate. Up went the blood sugar. Took a walk to get groceries.
Down went the blood sugar.
But the headache appears to be gone at least. I started watching or binging the Web/Streaming Soap The Bay on Prime. It's fun. And there's no commercials - which is odd. I'm trying to figure out Prime's policy on this? And am at a loss. Each segment is thirty minutes if that. And it kind of requires a bit of figuring out - as to what is going on. Because the action like in all soaps starts in the middle, and we flashback as to what actually happened. It doesn't require a high level of attention.
Last night watched the movie musical The Color Purple - which had been nominated for multiple film awards this year and last year - it came out in 2023. It was better than expected. I've read the book and seen the Spielberg Film. But couldn't remember most of it. (I read the book in high school in the 1980s, and saw the Spielberg Film shortly thereafter.) This has Alice Walker involved in the adaptation. It's basically the musical based on Spielberg's film adaptation.
The songs are good, and it works as a musical. Not everything does. This does - because of Shug Avery who is a singer in it. Also, the musical aspects help bridge various stories and push the plot and character arcs forward, not to mention highlight the uplifting moments in the story - since there's bits that are rather brutal. (It highlights spousal abuse, and foster parent rape among other things.) I felt, however, that it kind of demphasized the sexual relationship between Shrug and Celie, that was more apparent in the book. I can't remember Spielberg's movie. But in the book - it's clear that Celie finds her pleasure in women, and falls in love with Shug Avery. At least that's what I remember from it - I may have remembered it wrong? The book - I adored as an adolescent - the epistolary style of it, and the idea of being beautiful but not seen.
Very heavy on Jazz, Blues and Swing - so I enjoyed it. I love Jazz, Blues and Swing.
Still making my way through Yellowjacket - which has several paragraphs on cultural sensitivity readers. I can't quite decide if I'm supposed to be annoyed at the idea of cultural sensitivity readers, appalled, or impressed that they have them now and all for it? Guessing the last bit. There's a clever bit - where the anti-hero (June's) agent is asked to get Candice (the junior editor) who is requesting the sensitivity read to back off. The agent (Brett) asks if Candice can't just be the sensitivity reader for a book about the Chinese Labor Movement during WWI by a non-Asian writer? Candice retorts back that no, she can't, because she's Korean not Chinese. I smiled. This is a common problem. Although let's face it - can you tell who came from Germany, Britain, Ireland, France, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, or Scotland? I can't. People look the same to me for the most part. Also can't tell the difference between Polish and Russian, or the languages - I am getting better. I can tell it better now than about ten years ago. (I've been living amongst them.) I also couldn't tell the difference between Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese, Korean, Vietnamese...although I've gotten better now - having been living amongst all these different cultures for several years - I can kind of figure out if someone is Chinese, Japanese, or Korean. There's subtle differences in skin tone, eyes, speech, and manner. But honestly, it's usually in the food and cultural practices that the differences emerge. I don't know about anyone else, but I can't tell which culture, nationality or ethnicity folks are from just from looking at them or listening to them talk - I need more than that. Race? Sometimes? Most of the time? No. At least not the details. I'm sorry most people who are Jewish do not look Jewish. My niece looks Chinese actually (she's not, she's Jewish, Cherokee, Italian, Welsh, Irish, Scottish, Scandinavian, etc.). My sisterinlaw doesn't look Jewish either. Nor did Paul Newman for that matter. A lot of people of Native American descent look either Hispanic or Asian, they aren't. You can't tell who someone is just by looking at them or hearing them speak - why can't people get that? Generalizations make fools of us all.
Living in NYC - you are aware of cultural distinctions. But if you don't live in a huge city - then probably not?
The difficulty I'm having with Yellowface is that RF Kuang's Athena and June kind of comes across as a wee bit...entitled to me. And whiny. I may need to read her fantasy novels to get a better read on this?
The cultural sensitivity thing I'm on the fence about. In fiction - should it matter? I get it in regards to non-fiction? It's basically fact-checking. OTOH? I'm admittedly not part of a disadvantaged culture, and admittedly wanted to burn Brett Easton Ellis' American Psycho for the misogynistic piece of shit that it is - however, others didn't see it that way. And you know, censorship. And that's not the same thing. And if there were as many books being produced and written by POC and disadvantaged minorities as there are from non-disadvantaged minorities this wouldn't be an issue. I mean, as long as you have Chinese writers writing books about British and Chinese Labor Movements or American ones, along side White or British non-Chinese Americans doing it, then sure not an issue. But when you don't and it's lopsided, with 60-80% white non-disadvantaged to 5-10% disadvantaged non-White? Than that is a clear problem, and unequal representation exists. So KF Kuang has a point, which she does get across rather well in her satire.
Also, someone who isn't Chinese is not going to understand the Chinese Labor Movement in quite the same way as someone who is Chinese would - and yes, people can tell the difference.
In other words? When it comes to cultural sensitivity? As in all things? It depends? I think it actually was needed in this case?
Every night like clockwork - I wake up at 3-3:30 am and cough for about an hour and a half, then when I'm about to consider od'ing on cough meds to put myself out of my misery - it stops. I do not cough most of day, just in spasms, usually in the evening.
Had another sinus migraine headache today - which I could not quite decide was due to the blood sugar dropping (having not had lunch) or sinuses. I decided to have the rest of the Red Bean Soup (Annie's Organic Soups) that I'd fixed last night. Along with an apple with lemon juice, cinnamon, dipped in chocolate. Up went the blood sugar. Took a walk to get groceries.
Down went the blood sugar.
But the headache appears to be gone at least. I started watching or binging the Web/Streaming Soap The Bay on Prime. It's fun. And there's no commercials - which is odd. I'm trying to figure out Prime's policy on this? And am at a loss. Each segment is thirty minutes if that. And it kind of requires a bit of figuring out - as to what is going on. Because the action like in all soaps starts in the middle, and we flashback as to what actually happened. It doesn't require a high level of attention.
Last night watched the movie musical The Color Purple - which had been nominated for multiple film awards this year and last year - it came out in 2023. It was better than expected. I've read the book and seen the Spielberg Film. But couldn't remember most of it. (I read the book in high school in the 1980s, and saw the Spielberg Film shortly thereafter.) This has Alice Walker involved in the adaptation. It's basically the musical based on Spielberg's film adaptation.
The songs are good, and it works as a musical. Not everything does. This does - because of Shug Avery who is a singer in it. Also, the musical aspects help bridge various stories and push the plot and character arcs forward, not to mention highlight the uplifting moments in the story - since there's bits that are rather brutal. (It highlights spousal abuse, and foster parent rape among other things.) I felt, however, that it kind of demphasized the sexual relationship between Shrug and Celie, that was more apparent in the book. I can't remember Spielberg's movie. But in the book - it's clear that Celie finds her pleasure in women, and falls in love with Shug Avery. At least that's what I remember from it - I may have remembered it wrong? The book - I adored as an adolescent - the epistolary style of it, and the idea of being beautiful but not seen.
Very heavy on Jazz, Blues and Swing - so I enjoyed it. I love Jazz, Blues and Swing.
Still making my way through Yellowjacket - which has several paragraphs on cultural sensitivity readers. I can't quite decide if I'm supposed to be annoyed at the idea of cultural sensitivity readers, appalled, or impressed that they have them now and all for it? Guessing the last bit. There's a clever bit - where the anti-hero (June's) agent is asked to get Candice (the junior editor) who is requesting the sensitivity read to back off. The agent (Brett) asks if Candice can't just be the sensitivity reader for a book about the Chinese Labor Movement during WWI by a non-Asian writer? Candice retorts back that no, she can't, because she's Korean not Chinese. I smiled. This is a common problem. Although let's face it - can you tell who came from Germany, Britain, Ireland, France, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, or Scotland? I can't. People look the same to me for the most part. Also can't tell the difference between Polish and Russian, or the languages - I am getting better. I can tell it better now than about ten years ago. (I've been living amongst them.) I also couldn't tell the difference between Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese, Korean, Vietnamese...although I've gotten better now - having been living amongst all these different cultures for several years - I can kind of figure out if someone is Chinese, Japanese, or Korean. There's subtle differences in skin tone, eyes, speech, and manner. But honestly, it's usually in the food and cultural practices that the differences emerge. I don't know about anyone else, but I can't tell which culture, nationality or ethnicity folks are from just from looking at them or listening to them talk - I need more than that. Race? Sometimes? Most of the time? No. At least not the details. I'm sorry most people who are Jewish do not look Jewish. My niece looks Chinese actually (she's not, she's Jewish, Cherokee, Italian, Welsh, Irish, Scottish, Scandinavian, etc.). My sisterinlaw doesn't look Jewish either. Nor did Paul Newman for that matter. A lot of people of Native American descent look either Hispanic or Asian, they aren't. You can't tell who someone is just by looking at them or hearing them speak - why can't people get that? Generalizations make fools of us all.
Living in NYC - you are aware of cultural distinctions. But if you don't live in a huge city - then probably not?
The difficulty I'm having with Yellowface is that RF Kuang's Athena and June kind of comes across as a wee bit...entitled to me. And whiny. I may need to read her fantasy novels to get a better read on this?
The cultural sensitivity thing I'm on the fence about. In fiction - should it matter? I get it in regards to non-fiction? It's basically fact-checking. OTOH? I'm admittedly not part of a disadvantaged culture, and admittedly wanted to burn Brett Easton Ellis' American Psycho for the misogynistic piece of shit that it is - however, others didn't see it that way. And you know, censorship. And that's not the same thing. And if there were as many books being produced and written by POC and disadvantaged minorities as there are from non-disadvantaged minorities this wouldn't be an issue. I mean, as long as you have Chinese writers writing books about British and Chinese Labor Movements or American ones, along side White or British non-Chinese Americans doing it, then sure not an issue. But when you don't and it's lopsided, with 60-80% white non-disadvantaged to 5-10% disadvantaged non-White? Than that is a clear problem, and unequal representation exists. So KF Kuang has a point, which she does get across rather well in her satire.
Also, someone who isn't Chinese is not going to understand the Chinese Labor Movement in quite the same way as someone who is Chinese would - and yes, people can tell the difference.
In other words? When it comes to cultural sensitivity? As in all things? It depends? I think it actually was needed in this case?