on the World Cup, racism, and national identity

So I've been flailing about the World Cup a lot lately and it's been a tremendously needed distraction from the constant fail of humanity. I love humanity but I hate it at the same time; we are capable of such goodness and yet so much hatred and hurtful behavior. Once you open your eyes, you can't close them again: you can't unsee all the problems. Sometimes it gets incredibly frustrating and disheartening; sometimes, we need a break. But it's never something that goes away or something that doesn't matter to me, and it's something I keep track of in my mind because it is always important. I can't close my eyes if I tried.

So I want to talk about some of the racism and classism and viciously ignorant displays of privilege that I've seen lately in regards to the World Cup.

( Full of text and not pictures, for a change. )

So those are some thinky thoughts I've been having. I am on the ranty side and may be somewhat incoherent in this post. I always worry I'm not communicating what I'm trying to communicate, or that I'm contradicting myself or not being aware enough of my own biases and privileges. But please let me know if that's the case; I need to learn too. As a reminder, The Last Airbender comes out this week and PLEASE DO NOT PAY TO SEE THIS MOVIE.

Now back to being nerve-wracked about the Spain v. Portugal game tomorrow!