signal boost: racism in post-earthquake Haiti fic

[meitachi]

I lurk on the SPN anon meme to see what people think of the Big Bangs and figure out if it's worth reading - so the recent drama I have seen develop since the very beginning.

Yesterday, gatorgrrrl posted a J2 fic set in post-earthquake Haiti. The summary reads:

The setting is Haiti, post-earthquake. Jensen Ackles is an American doctor who's running from his past, trying to make up for his mistakes in this broken place and live up to the promise he made to his brother half a lifetime ago. Jared Padalecki is a naive photojournalist who's hiding from himself, hoping to find one more story in a place already forgotten by the rest of the world. When he learns about all the good things Jensen and his friend, Haitian nurse Abraham Joseph, are doing around the ravaged country, he thinks he's found his story. Jensen, of course, thinks otherwise. But Jared is nothing if not persistent, and when circumstances work to throw them together, he quickly learns that Dr. Jensen Ackles is more than just a story and that sometimes, stories can become personal.

You want to know why this is a bad idea?

This is why it's a bad idea.

That post contains a summary of the fic; talks about its problems; and provides a lot of links to the ensuing comments by anon and logged-in LJers who raised their problems with the fic, the author's apology, other wank, and link to a lot of very interesting, very informational meta.

You can see snippets of the fic here (warning for massive racefail):
http://bossymarmalade.dreamwidth.org/502091.html

You can see critical discussion of the fic here:
http://spnpermanon.livejournal.com/5327.html?thread=21170127#t21170127
http://gatorgrrrl.livejournal.com/166197.html

You can see the author's apology here:
http://gatorgrrrl.livejournal.com/170704.html

I posted to my RL journal and ended up raging about it all day and most of last night. I am honestly exhausted. But I want to let other people see what's going on and what's wrong here, because we don't automatically know. We have to be told; discover; learn on our own. I learned a lot from this drama (as well as raged a lot) and I hope you do too.

One of my comments:

It's not just the "too soon" argument though that is definitely a huge problem. It's also about the erasure of actual, painful Haitian experiences for the sake of two First World white men (and their Romance). Seems like her characterization and portrayal of Haitians within the fic were also highly problematic. On the bright side, a lot of people have called her out on it and she has posted a public apology. I am dearly hoping she is thinking about the problems. Intent is not required for racism. Hell, most racism is subconscious and ingrained (from privilege or other bias). And that's really a huge factor in why it's so problematic, you know? :/

To quote someone else's comment:

No matter how much research you do, it really doesn't do justice to the sheer magnitude of the event. I have close Haitian friends, some of whom are back in their country doing rescue work, and there is so much that is just - off, to put it mildly - about what they say and what's presented in the fic. Why is it that we always tell stories about the third world and our own racial minorities through the lens of privileged white westerners? That is predominantly how our fiction and our media present the rest of the world of the world to us. And no matter how good a story is, by foregrounding the J2 romance, there is inevitably a lot of erasure of actual Haitian's lives, experiences and stories going on. In light of what happened, I feel like their stories are still the most important, and we sadly don't get to hear too much of their pov.

This whole thing has caused me so much rage and so much disgust and disappointment. I just - I can understand cluelessness up to a point, but what gets me is the people who are still defending this even after all the problems are pointed out to them. I can't even begin to understand that.

meiface: most people were sane, y'know? saw the problems with the fic.
mardisgrasmaven: yea
meiface: the people who didn't see it immediately seemed to see it after it was pointed out & ok fine they're clueless and privileged but at least they were open to learning, including the artist and i think the author (reservations on the author)
mardisgrasmaven: (nods)
meiface: but there are some people still wanking away trying to defend the fic even AFTER it has been pointed out and i'm like WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU
mardisgrasmaven: why would they?
meiface: they keep saying stuff like "it's just fiction" and other shit about the tone argument
meiface: basically: if people are stupid and racist, you have to tell them politely so you don't offend them/hurt their feelings
meiface: someone even went so far as to say "my prof told me that the most impt thing about tolerance is accpeting the right of others to be wrong" or something
meiface: and yes i get that you woo more flies with honey than vinegar BUT WHAT THE FUCK
mardisgrasmaven: not when it's racism
meiface: WHY SHOULD WE HAVE TO BE NICE AND SWEET AND ACCEPTING OF RACISTS AND BIGOTS
meiface: i don't have to accept their opinion because THEY ARE WRONG.
mardisgrasmaven: not when it's about something so inherently and morally wrong
meiface: tolerating them at all is giving their opinion validity and saying "oh yes i see your point, let us have a civil discussion about it"
mardisgrasmaven: yea, that shit would've worked out well with hitler
meiface: NO. no you're bigot and a racist and FUCK YOU for hurting and offending minorities and still demanding that we be NICE and CALM when we tell you why you're wrong
meiface: ugh sorry. rage. /breathes

bookshop brings up a good point:
The most appalling thing about this is that the writer (presumably) had a team of betas who read this story while it was being edited. She had at least one artist who read the fic before posting as part of the challenge. She had 2 challenge mods who most certainly at least *skimmed* the fic to make sure it fit the challenge rules. And when the challenge was over she had grateful fans who read it and thought it was an "amazing journey."

impertinence does too:
Your apology shouldn't be "I'm sorry I posted this". You shouldn't think the only fuck-up was posting your racist writing publicly. The most important thing in this whole debacle is that people were hurt reading that fic. On a shallow level, that's because it was posted publicly, and they read it. But we're not children here: the fail started way earlier than that. Your thoughts do not exist in a vacuum. Our thoughts, our patterns of thinking, that is where the problem starts, that is the beginning that leads to PEOPLE BEING HURT.

deirdre_c has a good post about owning up to mistakes:
So here's the lesson I'm hoping we'll all internalize from this, and it goes beyond racefail: when you've (I've) done something wrong or hurtful, own up. Apologize. Don't try to excuse yourself (myself) or talk about your (my) intentions or make caveats. Just BE SORRY and say it out loud. And then stop doing the thing that's wrong or hurtful. And try as best you (I) can to figure out ways not to do it again.

And this anon user sums up how I feel about intent:
I would personally like to see an apology for what you did. Not what you did/didn't intend to do. I believe you that you didn't mean to cause harm with this, but the fact is regardless of your intentions you did cause harm. Other people have already detailed the harm caused better than I could. A real apology would acknowledge what you did. Not what you meant to/didn't mean to do. What. You. Did.

I am sorry if this seems harsh to you. I'm not trying to be mean, but the fact is... while intentions matter, ultimately your actions matter MORE.

Or this opinion:
Obviously, it wasn't your intention to offend, but you did offend, and you seem to be implying that if readers felt that way, they were reading your story wrong, and that's just not true. Whether or not it was your intention, if readers were offended (and they were) the blame falls on you for not treating a difficult subject with the respect and dignity it deserves. I hope you can understand that, because you're a good writer and it'd be a shame to see your talent wasted because you write ignorant stories.




...so that and the unbelievable rape culture fail has made the last few day unbelievably fun, don't you know?

I am not inviting disagreement in this post. I honest to god cannot stand another argument about how I (or any of the other dozens upon dozens of people upset with this fic) am merely "interrogating this text from the wrong perspective". Please feel free to to discuss the problems within the fic, feel free to discuss any of the meta in the links, feel free to discuss how sad it is that our society perpetuates this kind of privilege, attitude, and language like it's not problematic - to the point where it becomes default language and behavior for people to have to actively stop and overcome.

But not up for discussion is whether or not this fic is racist or problematic. It is.

We can talk about everything else. :)


(My next post will be happy and flaily about the World Cup, okay? Flail with me, I have been tweeting madly and learning things about football. I need the lighthearted break from these heavy topics and shallow footballers is right up that alley. ♥)

Comments

[herocountry.livejournal.com]

I HATE EVERYBODY SO MUCH ARGH FFFFFU

[meiface.livejournal.com]

Yeah. :(

♥

[meiface.livejournal.com]

Oh there are lots of discrete problem with the fic. One is the setting. Two is the racism (oh god the snippets of the fic). There is some overlap, but there are problems all over it. I don't have problems with stories set in tragedies, as long as it is handled with sensitivity and not used as a handy-dandy plot device for romance/sex/angst. This was done so poorly it hurts. :/

As for the football match... D: D: D:

Racefail focuses so heavily on white and black that sometimes all the other colors are overlooked. :/ No! There are problems everywhere!

[2naonh3-cl2.livejournal.com]

:( I thought you were going to do the happy flaily post first. :(

[meiface.livejournal.com]

This was more time-appropriate because the fic/drama happened yesterday and I want people to know about it.

Plus I want to save WC flailing until after I've seen Spain play. :)

[meiface.livejournal.com]

It will only leave you more speechless and rageful the more you read. /shakes head.

[satora-chan.livejournal.com]

oh my god. My reaction:

The setting is Haiti, post-earthquake.

... umm, okay. I think it's kind of wrong to write a fic about this event, especially so soon, and I don't follow SPN, but isn't that based in US?

Jensen Ackles is an American doctor who's running from his past, trying to make up for his mistakes in this broken place and live up to the promise he made to his brother half a lifetime ago.

... oh fuck no I know exactly where this shit is going. and then my utter horror grew as I read!

And this was a big bang fic? How the -- how could you write 40K+ words on this -- wtf.

[meiface.livejournal.com]

It gets so much worse than just the fic. :/ I'll be honest, my initial reaction to the fic was discomfort that I couldn't pin down (that I attributed solely to how recent the earthquake was) and it wasn't until reading other people's problems with the fics did I pin down why I was uncomfortable. And now I have learned so much new things about exploitation and colonization and racism, etc. It gets worse the more you read. :\


...it was 82k+ and its writing spanned 5 months. Nowhere during that process did she or her betas think it was a bad idea.

[intomorning.livejournal.com]

I think the discussion about intent brought up v. good points and it made me think about how what I do/say when I apologize. The point isn't "Oh, I'm sorry that this (happened to) offend you" but rather "I'm sorry that what I did was offensive. I will do my best in the future to NOT repeat it." Thank you for the signal boost.

Also, am looking forward to your World Cup post. S KOREA PLAYS ARGENTINA ON THURSDAY!

[meiface.livejournal.com]

/loves. Yes, exactly that about intent. It was something I didn't get for a long time either until more lurking/reading happened. The point is that a lot of times no one intends to be hurtful or offensive, but the problem is that someone was still hurt or offended. And so the apology should address causing the hurt or offense, not dismissing it as "sorry if you were offended bc I didn't mean it" which implies that the problem lies with the reader/other person and if they weren't such a ~special snowflake~ then they shouldn't be offended.

But I'm preaching to the choir, I know. /more hugs!

Eeee excited to see Spain play tomorrow! The four teams of my heart right now: ENG, ESP, KOR, USA~

[black-goose.livejournal.com]

I'M SORRY but what the FUCK made her think it was a good idea? don't take something as horrific and devastating as a natural disaster and have it as the backdrop of your ~romance story~, what the fuck does that? If she was using the backdrop to comment on some of the issues or the handling of the situation at the time or WHATEVER, then maybe I'd understand (like, if the Haitian suffering was the main focus), but no, it's just "omg look white men finding true love!" just. absolutely no. don't take your stupid romance and turn a fucking natural disaster into the setting.

we should not be tolerant of bigots. you have freedom of speech but not freedom to incite hatred. I have freedom of speech to tell you to shut the fuck up.

[meiface.livejournal.com]

Ugh, yes. So much fail right there. And this is just the premise of the fic. The actual fic had very problematic (i.e. racist) portrayals of the Haitians. Problems, they are everywhere!

we should not be tolerant of bigots. ♥

[taylormercury.livejournal.com]

I'd be more surprised at the amount of racefail and wank going on, if something similar hadn't erupted over at fanficrants not long ago, with a lot of the same basic arguments thrown around (the inability of the offenders to just APOLOGISE, instead of all the 'but I didn't MEAN it!' bs, not tolerating the intolerant, and all the arguing in one of those links about not wanting to write POC [the correct term, right?]). And my goodness, it is tiring to read through and see all this happen. And it's tiring to see people constantly not understand and not know how to just apologise.

I am, however, surprised at how anyone thought that it was a good idea to write a fic like that. Even without the racefail, just, what. what. what. :|

I have read and seen too much mad wank today, I'm going to wonder off and think happy thoughts now. Just. People, wow.

[meiface.livejournal.com]

I'm not a part of fanficrants but I follow it regularly enough to catch the wank. It's really ridiculous how much racefail (and other fail) persists - it's daunting and disgusting and depressing. Sometimes it's also easy to forget because we choose the people we surround ourselves with, and usually we choose people who share the same fundamental values as we do. It can be eye-opening to see how truly intolerant and hateful the rest of the world can be, and to what extent.

I agree: it is so very tiring.

I can actually understand why someone would think it would be a good idea - but that someone would have to be very, very clueless and wrapped up in a lot of privilege to the point where she is at luxury to say (as she did in her "apology") that she did not even think about race when writing the fic. You know what? Some people do not have that luxury. Some people have to think about race every single day of their lives. And that kind of blind ignorance is not an example of lack of racism, as she thinks it is, but an example of the entrenched and ingrained racism in our subconscious that we have to actively be aware of.

It is such heavy stuff. I'm with you - I need a break. Time for some happy-making.

(OT: do you care about or follow football, bb? Any World Cup thoughts? I am pulling for your country, weirdly enough!)

[amazonziti.livejournal.com]

Hi! I'm just popping in to say thanks for boosting the signal by writing your own post and sharing your thoughts and for linking to me and for linking to other awesome links.

I admire you for saying up front that you're not interested in disagreement on this topic. I often really want to say that but then chicken out. I do think it's absolutely your right and it's absolutely appropriate when you're dealing with topics that hit home like this.

I have added this post to my list of links! If you'd prefer not to be linked just let me know and I'll take the link down.

[meiface.livejournal.com]

Hey! I should really stop by your post and thank you for the awesome write-up that we can link to. (Sorry I didn't drop a note earlier to let you know I was linking!) :) It's fine to link this post in yours.

I've made some post about similar issues before that ended up devolving into a lot of exhausting back-and-forth. Normally, I'm all for free speech and everyone's opinions in a discussion - but I just can't handle it at this time about this topic. Especially because, well, I know I'm right. The fic is problematic and I don't think people should get so caught up in debating that to miss the actual point of the post.

[peachpastiche.livejournal.com]

<3

[meiface.livejournal.com]

So much rage over the past few days, condensed. I couldn't even go c/p all the ragey IMs but thanks for being there to talk to/yell about stuff with. ♥

[kusarinokokoro.livejournal.com]

in a place already forgotten by the rest of the world

MY ASS.

There are so many ragey things I could say, especially because I've taken a bunch of classes about racism, classism, sexism, all that lovely stuff. Seriously. If it's a romance you want, put it in a movie theater (or the bedroom since OMG IT'S NC-17 /O\)

I will never understand racists, even though I've been the target of a lot of racist stuff (WOOHOO GO ARABS).

I really need a ragey mcrage icon.

Maybe someone should write a bigbang about combating racism. I would read that.

[meiface.livejournal.com]

If you're angry, you can speak up! Like amazonziti says:

There is nothing quite like experiencing racism and having the world around you ignore it. That is some damn hurtful silence. SO DON'T BE SILENT.

We can make posts or just leave comments - we should let our rage be known, because it lets other people (silent readers, for example) know where we stand on these issues. That we think that racism, racists are blatantly wrong. Egregiously wrong.

It's true, people are unbelievable but I take some hope in how so many people have rallied together to point out the Utter Epic Fail here and how more and more people are hearing the words and coming to realize why it is so much fail.

[pregnantcigar.livejournal.com]

this is sort of related to our twitter convo, but now i'm thinking about kpop fandom and whether we encounter the same kinds of problems without realizing them.

i'm just sort of thinking aloud, so this won't be very cohesive:

--a lot of kpop writers are asian, but as i mentioned on twitter, being asian doesn't mean being korean, or being chinese, etc. which reminds me that
--being a certain ethnicity doesn't mean that you can sum that ethnicity up for everyone else. it doesn't mean you can or should make jokes at the expense of people of that ethnicity, even though we often do.
--the reason i'm even thinking about this is because people on that anon meme were talking about writing non-white characters. this exchange, for instance, rubs me the wrong way:

2010-06-14 07:08 pm (local) (link)
I really liked that fic and wasn't the author actually asian.

(Anonymous)
2010-06-14 07:10 pm (local) (link)
You really should educate yourself. On a lot of things. (And no, she isn't, afaik.)

if there is something offensive about the story, it doesn't matter whether or not the author is asian. people shouldn't be letting that factor into their "decision" regarding whether or not to be offended. that, to me, reads like real ignorance.

something more related to your entry: i've seen a couple comments saying that intentions don't matter, but in a world where there are still many actively racist people, intentions do matter, a lot. because if you are racist without meaning to be (which we all are, to varying degrees), you have the potential to change and overcome your ignorance. i disagree with people who simply accuse someone of being racist and call them names because that is not helping anyone's cause. that person will be forever clueless as to why or how they are racist; instead they'll feel defensive, which will likely exacerbate the problem (perpetuating the whole "woe is the misunderstood white person" mentality). the goal is not simply the act of pointing fingers; the goal is progress.

which is also why i don't like the term "people of color." because while, like you said, it might be empowering to unify against a common enemy of sorts, you're in effect ensuring that there will always be one. i don't like working inside that frame of thought. i know you often have to fight for equality, but brute force is usually not the best solution.

/exhausted. i'm awful at expressing my thoughts clearly and concisely.

[pregnantcigar.livejournal.com]

and i just realized a non-suju fan could look at my icon and think it's a derogatory depiction of a chinese woman fjasdla isn't that interesting, though? that makes me think about something else entirely:

i think that many white people are often confused as to what they should be looking out for. what exactly is considered being racist? how come it's okay when other people say it but not when i do? etc. i am going to assume that the majority of spn/j2 fandom is white, judging from their comments about not writing non-white characters. and here is my own racism coming into play... when i hear a white person criticizing another for being racist, especially in a snide manner, i almost always inevitably think that they're, subconsciously or not, trying to ease their own guilt for having once thought, said, or done the same things. i got that vibe from some of the comments on that meme. it's as though they're overcompensating. which reminds me (gah i'm sorry for this being all over the place), i read that article about rape, and the author had said something about her friend who was very open-minded and liberal in "real life" and then had to "relieve the tension" of being that way by saying all the sexist things he really believed in without realizing it. i feel that the same is true for some people who try so hard to not seem racist. which is why i felt equally uncomfortable re: the comments the author received as i did towards the story itself. i'm aware that this is not a popular opinion.

another thought: being sensitive is important. but at what point do you stop apologizing for the horrible things your ancestors did? i'm thinking about japan vs china, the japanese kids who have never heard about nanjing. there are things you cannot forget, but there are people who have never known or been taught. argh what am i saying?

life's hard :|

[thundersquall.livejournal.com]

... Oh my god I didn't even read the fic, all I saw was the summary and read a couple of quotes from your links and just clicked close because WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK? Not okay, author. Not okay to trivialise a disaster on such a huge scale, not okay to essentially undermine the devastation and rescue efforts of Haiti, not okay to somehow fucking portray Haitians as idiots and these two white men as ~gentle angels of love~. Shit. NOT FUCKING OKAY.

[meiface.livejournal.com]

I didn't read the fic either. I don't think anyone has to read the fic to see the problems inherent in the premise/summary. And the excerpts go to show the problems inherent in her actual portrayal. So there is double fail. There is so much fail, I can't even--

Yeah. But I am really encouraged by how many people are reading this and being outraged and speaking out about it.

[meiface.livejournal.com]

I feel a little bad for the author too because, I agree, she does seem sincere in her apology. And it is a very good, very important first step. However, while she starts off very well, about halfway through her apology becomes very problematic. Saying "I'm not racist" and "I didn't think about race at all" is actually the prime example of someone who is blinded with white privilege and does not understand it. The problem with that kind of racism is that it is subconscious. She has the luxury of not having to think about race, but that color-blindness is not an excuse.

To quote what someone else said: "I don't feel bad for the author. As much as it may suck to have people angry at one due to one's racism, I promise that the victims of one's racism always feel worse."

I do have some sympathy because I know how hard it is to have people disagree with you, much less dogpile you for something you honestly did not know and could not see. But that goes back to her intent - "Regardless of the writer's intention, racism is an act of aggression and oppression that doesn't just piss people off, that isn't just disrespectful, but actually causes pain."

And that is why I think the focus needs to be on her actions and not her intent. But I really do hope she learns. Even then, though, the main point of the comments and outrage is not to educate her (or any other privileged person): it is to express genuine hurt or rage that has been caused by her (inadvertent) actions.

[catskilt.livejournal.com]

...I went through the quotes post and I'm still stunned at the comparison of Disneyland to Haiti. What on earth was she even thinking? And that 'Disneyland isn't half so exciting'....exciting is not the adjective to use in describing an earthquake. That quote too, where one of the J's says that he was thankful when the earthquake happened so that he could redeem himself or something...I really cannot believe it. How she could trivialise it to this extent; that the earthquake has become a place for him to redeem himself and for these two dudes to fall in love?

Also, I have major problems with how minority races have to be the "sidekick" while the white guy is the main. This mentality is always perpetuated through Hollywood and onwards to the masses who watch it. The white guy is the knowledgeable good citizen of the world looking to save lives with his humanitarian attitude. The local guy is the one who helps him around and sometimes does good things too. America saving the world! America being the good democratic nation! America being the champion of human rights! America the land of the free and home of the brave! Ugh, it is so, so frustrating.

And an even bigger problem is, I feel that this Western influence is working here too, in the East. If it's Western, it's good. If it's Western, it stands for everything that's freedom and democratic and smart and peace-loving, etc.etc. If it's Asian (from China to SEA to India) it's inferior and to be made fun of. If it's Asian, it's most likely inhumane. (I am going way off topic here) but it is interesting and frightening to see the amount of influence that the media can have on its audience. And because this media has, for so many decades, been Western-dominated, the mindset that the Western guy is the brave, good, caring, wise, democratic, skillful, etc. guy is actually viewed as normal.

I didn't mean to type so much, but my thoughts just went off on a journey of their own. Sorry, bb <3 I really feel your disappointment and rage. Really, people should realise that if they want to base their fics on actual tragic events, they have a responsibility to portray it in a well-researched, respectful, and sensitive manner.

[forochel.livejournal.com]

basically: I KNOW RIGHT


like when people say things like "wah your mp3 is so full of cheena music" I'm like OKAY WHAT IS WRONG WITH THAT? "CHEENA" AND ITS PROBLEMS ASIDE, WHY DO YOU ASSUME THAT WHITE MUSIC IS BETTER THAN MY WANG LEE HOM? WHY IS IT A BAD THING OF MY iPOD HAS MORE CHINESE AND JAPANESE AND KOREAN IN IT THAN WESTERN MUSIC. WRY.

man, racial politics here are just tied up with imperialism and colonialism and it is so painful and annoying and just. GEH.

Forgive the multiple posts, LJ was deleting part of my comment.

[mardigrasmaven.livejournal.com]

I dunno how I ended up on amazonziti's page but I posted there thinking it was your journal so this is a repost.

You know what? She should've known better. Fuck if she shouldn't have known better.

My favorite quote is the one where they named the black cat Abraham cuz it's huge and black with big fuckin paws and a big ass grin so of course it = the Haitian "magical negro" who's just so goddamn big, he even intimidates Jared, who's a big mother fucker in his own right but not abnormally so, like Abraham.

I've got a good idea, let's set the backdrop of a J2 butt-sex story in the very real, very recent tragedy that is the Haitian earthquake which leveled buildings left and right and destroyed life after life after mother-fucking life, including those "non-graphic children's deaths" that are also used as a goddamn plot device for getting these two privileged white boys- one who ran away to escape his brother's death and the other who's just looking for a damn extraordinary story; a story complete with pictures that aren't as common/ordinary as those depicting the pain and suffering of poor POC whose lives have been forever changed in the worst kind of way- together.

White boys that can just go home when they're done saving lives to repent and getting the pictures they need, that can just go home and butt fuck in a nice house on a nice bed with nice clean sheets away from the mass amount of (obviously) disease carrying, filthy, post-disaster Haitians.

And I have another idea. Let's not see what's WRONG with what we've written. Let's toss out the half-assed apology that's not really an apology because I'm basically saying I understand that you're offended, but I don't give a fuck cuz I'm a damn good writer and I think I write fucking well and I'll take artistic license with this effin disaster if I damn well fucking want to. I'll also ignore the fact that I'm privileged, boo hoo on all you POCs that don't understand that good writing can, at times, be controversial. I don't care that it hurts you guys. It's my story. And I don't appreciate you all coming in here and telling me how butt-hurt you are, so I'm going to freeze all comments after now and delete all comments before now because I'm wrong and I can't handle the fact that I'm constantly being called out on my racism.

Thank all you assholes, have a nice day.

>_> This sums up this whole situation according to gatorgrrrl and frankly, it's bullshit.

That you can take REAL people's REAL pain and suffering and use it as a backdrop- a fucking PLOT DEVICE- for the beautiful, privileged, white boy's romance BB fucking SMACKS of racism. Fucking BATHES in ignorance. Fucking OOZES buckets of the author's own privilege.

Forgive me, Miz Author, if I think your fic is bull just from reading the summary, but it is what it is.

And the fact that she can honestly say this racefail!travesty "became the best idea ever" after continuously seeing news about the sorrows and suffering in Haiti makes her even more despicable. People's bodies are still being pulled out of rubble, families are still in mourning, people lives are still in chaos and you're foaming at the mouth thinking "this will make for an EXCELLENT backdrop to a J2 fic! Lemme scrap my original idea and use this."

I can't feel anything but rage at someone like this. Rage and disgust. I don't care if she doesn't care about my opinion, my opinion is there and damnit if I don't post how I feel.

Long rant is long, I'm sorry, Mei.

Re: Forgive the multiple posts, LJ was deleting part of my comment.

[darleenk.livejournal.com]

PREACH IT.

especially this:

And the fact that she can honestly say this racefail!travesty "became the best idea ever" after continuously seeing news about the sorrows and suffering in Haiti makes her even more despicable. People's bodies are still being pulled out of rubble, families are still in mourning, people lives are still in chaos and you're foaming at the mouth thinking "this will make for an EXCELLENT backdrop to a J2 fic! Lemme scrap my original idea and use this."

what sort of crazy even CONSIDERS writing a romance story about something as horrific as this? why would it even have occurred to her? REELING.

[forochel.livejournal.com]

...wow... so this is what happens when I am away from the Internet for a while. (and by away I mean working and reading DCU.)


it's really amazing that people can read that summary and not just pull up short and go "UM THIS DOES NOT SOUND LIKE A GOOD IDEA". because in which Universe is this a good idea? Okay I've gone and skimmed through the first few quotes of the fic and. Um. Wow, revulsion TTM. that "Indians and Chiefs" quote? how is that not in any way racist, on top of, you know, the setting. JUST. GAH. SO BLIND. HOW SO BLIND.



ON A LIGHTER-HEARTED NOTE, I JUST WATCHED THE LAST 10 MINUTES (OR SO) OF THE BRAZIL VS NORTH KOREA MATCH AND HOLY FUCKING CRAP THAT GOAL WAS AMAAAAZIIIIIIING IF THE FIRST BRAZILLIAN GOAL (WHICH MY DAD TELLS ME WAS A GOALIE FUMBLE) HADN'T HAPPENED OH MY GOD IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A TIE AND THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN AMAZING AND JUST. FUCK, THAT GOAL. I REALLY WISH THE SECOND ONE (THAT I WATCHED) HADN'T GONE WIDE AURALSKDJALSJELkJALGJsdjlkgJE ALSO I AM SO EXCITED FOR SPAIIIIIIIIIIIIIN!!!

[meiface.livejournal.com]

SPAIN. ;_________________________;

As for everything else, you know what I think. Revulsion is a good word for it because some of those excerpts made me ill just to read. How on earth she could write them without seeing a problem honestly depresses me.