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let's not dance this dance
I am in a bad mood today (being a Liverpool fan = despair, but even if we're relegated I'd rather be a Red than anything else ♥), so here are a few things I might've let pass without comment before but am going to bring up now. (Please don't think my concern is any less sincere just because I also happen to be in a bad mood.)
- Hey, everyone, guess what? Hipster racism and liberal sexism are not cool and not okay!
- This includes you, Lev Grossman, author of The Magicians, which I had to put down after struggling to like the protagonist (but that's a personal issue) and then coming across a passage where a Haitian character is introduced, upon which the narrative promptly spends the next paragraph establishing her as a racist stereotype (that is probably misogynistic too). Possibly unintentionally. Most often unintentionally! But wow it did not help my bad mood.
- Another thing that is not okay: ableist language. Yes, that means casual usage of words like "retarded" and "lame" and "insane" derogatorily. No, it doesn't bother everyone. But it does bother me and I do find it harmful in contributing to the general dismissive attitude people often have towards people with physical or mental disabilities. If you think saying "that's so gay" is harmful language, so is "that's so lame". Obviously I'm not here to police your language; you can say whatever you want. I'm just pointing out why it might be problematic and hurtful and why I might not like talking to you. Fair?
- I keep seeing people spell Yusuf's name "Yusef" and while apparently either one is an acceptable romanization from the Arabic, it still really bothers me because he's clearly labeled "Yusuf" on IMDB. So I'm gonna go with that being the official spelling of his name. Misspelling it and kind of handwaving it because they're both acceptable spellings is kind of like me telling someone my name is "Mei" and spelled that way - but them spelling it "May" because, whatever, they sound the same so it's the same thing, right? It's particularly problematic, I find, because this kind of thing more often than not happens with ethnic non-standard American names. (Please let's not have a conversation about how someone spells your name "Katie" when it's actually "Caty". My complaint is, I admit, mostly about non-Western names in a primaily Western fandom.)
- So the other day I was thinking that because we love Inception (obviously, thus our being in its fandom), the fandom sort of collectively and conveniently overlooks the fact that all mindcrime = mind rape. Yes, it's important to get up in arms about the fact that incepting the idea of love into someone ≠ love, it actually = rape. And absolutely we should call out taking advantage when one person is drunk and the other one isn't, because impaired consent ≠ consent. Sometimes, though, I feel like we're all so cavalier about the rest of the team's non-inception jobs as sort of de facto okay when it's not-- Extraction is just as much a violation of a person's basic human rights; it is equally as harmful and violating as inception or as physical rape.
Maybe this is a complaint better leveled at the movie, which establishes this premise as "okay". So I kind of understand where fandom is coming from, but at the same time that doesn't mean the canon is perfect or problem-free (far from it). I know the movie establishes all extraction (and inception) as a crime and thus a bad thing, but there is so little exploration on the harmful consequences of extraction because all the focus is on the consequences of (Mal's) inception. Maybe we could argue that because the mark is asleep/unconscious, they won't retain memories of extraction but...if we're drawing parallels to real life, that's equivalent to drugging someone and having sex with them while they're unconscious, then removing all physical evidence so when the victim wakes up, they won't have any memories or physical proof.
Which is - well, you know - horribly, horribly creepy and not at all okay and definitely rape.
ETA to clarify: It's not the distinction between extraction or inception - it's the fact that in either, someone is invading your mind without your consent. It is as much rape as invading your body without your consent. So I'm not trying to compare a bad thing to rape and by that trivialize what rape is, I'm saying, in both instances, this is what the definition of rape (assuming a world where mindcrimes could exist) would encompass. /ETA
I mean, I absolutely don't think this means people shouldn't write about rape or murder or horrible things - in fact, I think a deeper exploration of these topics might be nice. It's also not obligatory of anyone (god, I'm one to talk, all I write is cuddling), but it just strikes me that while fandom has problems with inception, they don't seem to have the same problems with extraction. Then again, maybe other people have talked about this topic and I've just been terminally clueless because I suck at fandom. (It's true, I do. All I pay attention to these days is Tom Hardy.)
- I'm just going to go for broke and say here, baldly, that there's a lot of stuff that goes on in Inception fandom that I'm not always okay with. Many things I don't like are just about personal taste (personally, I don't enjoy D/s but YKINMK and that's okay!), but a few things are actually behaviors or actions I find fairly problematic. And maybe I should step up and speak out from now on instead of keeping my silence for the goal of keping this fandom happy, friendly, and drama-free. Which is a great goal! But not so holy a one that important issues or discussions should be sacrificed in order to reach that goal.
...or maybe, honestly, I am just going to be exhausted and engage less. It's also a very real possibility. I cannot promise to be perfect (I am so not perfect), I can only talk about how I care and how I learn and how I fuck up and how sometimes I just want to be selfish and protect myself from endless frustration and rage.
NB: Please keep in mind that if I see anyone try to justify away any of these issues as "okay" by bringing up Moff's Law (At some point during a discussion on a work in pop culture, the probability of someone stating a variation of "Why can't you just enjoy it for what it is?" in order to dismiss critical analysis is high), I will freeze the thread. I am not in the kind of mood where I can handle that kind of discussion. :(
But that does not mean you can't discuss why you think certain trends in fandom are trends, or possible explanations for behavior or interests, etc. Please feel free.
NB 2: I am not trying to guilt anyone for not wanting to dwell on the problems inherent in Inception - there are problems in any work. It's not a crime and it doesn't make you a horrible person if you don't spot them or if you still enjoy the canon or fandom; if we were only allowed to like perfect things, none of us would have anything left to enjoy. Obviously I enjoy Inception and its fandom plenty. I am just...talking about some things I have issues with or have had thoughts about and would appreciate if other people also shared their thoughts. It's an awareness thing, not a demand that everyone jump into a crusade for justice and shame on you if you don't.
- Hey, everyone, guess what? Hipster racism and liberal sexism are not cool and not okay!
- This includes you, Lev Grossman, author of The Magicians, which I had to put down after struggling to like the protagonist (but that's a personal issue) and then coming across a passage where a Haitian character is introduced, upon which the narrative promptly spends the next paragraph establishing her as a racist stereotype (that is probably misogynistic too). Possibly unintentionally. Most often unintentionally! But wow it did not help my bad mood.
- Another thing that is not okay: ableist language. Yes, that means casual usage of words like "retarded" and "lame" and "insane" derogatorily. No, it doesn't bother everyone. But it does bother me and I do find it harmful in contributing to the general dismissive attitude people often have towards people with physical or mental disabilities. If you think saying "that's so gay" is harmful language, so is "that's so lame". Obviously I'm not here to police your language; you can say whatever you want. I'm just pointing out why it might be problematic and hurtful and why I might not like talking to you. Fair?
- I keep seeing people spell Yusuf's name "Yusef" and while apparently either one is an acceptable romanization from the Arabic, it still really bothers me because he's clearly labeled "Yusuf" on IMDB. So I'm gonna go with that being the official spelling of his name. Misspelling it and kind of handwaving it because they're both acceptable spellings is kind of like me telling someone my name is "Mei" and spelled that way - but them spelling it "May" because, whatever, they sound the same so it's the same thing, right? It's particularly problematic, I find, because this kind of thing more often than not happens with ethnic non-standard American names. (Please let's not have a conversation about how someone spells your name "Katie" when it's actually "Caty". My complaint is, I admit, mostly about non-Western names in a primaily Western fandom.)
- So the other day I was thinking that because we love Inception (obviously, thus our being in its fandom), the fandom sort of collectively and conveniently overlooks the fact that all mindcrime = mind rape. Yes, it's important to get up in arms about the fact that incepting the idea of love into someone ≠ love, it actually = rape. And absolutely we should call out taking advantage when one person is drunk and the other one isn't, because impaired consent ≠ consent. Sometimes, though, I feel like we're all so cavalier about the rest of the team's non-inception jobs as sort of de facto okay when it's not-- Extraction is just as much a violation of a person's basic human rights; it is equally as harmful and violating as inception or as physical rape.
Maybe this is a complaint better leveled at the movie, which establishes this premise as "okay". So I kind of understand where fandom is coming from, but at the same time that doesn't mean the canon is perfect or problem-free (far from it). I know the movie establishes all extraction (and inception) as a crime and thus a bad thing, but there is so little exploration on the harmful consequences of extraction because all the focus is on the consequences of (Mal's) inception. Maybe we could argue that because the mark is asleep/unconscious, they won't retain memories of extraction but...if we're drawing parallels to real life, that's equivalent to drugging someone and having sex with them while they're unconscious, then removing all physical evidence so when the victim wakes up, they won't have any memories or physical proof.
Which is - well, you know - horribly, horribly creepy and not at all okay and definitely rape.
ETA to clarify: It's not the distinction between extraction or inception - it's the fact that in either, someone is invading your mind without your consent. It is as much rape as invading your body without your consent. So I'm not trying to compare a bad thing to rape and by that trivialize what rape is, I'm saying, in both instances, this is what the definition of rape (assuming a world where mindcrimes could exist) would encompass. /ETA
I mean, I absolutely don't think this means people shouldn't write about rape or murder or horrible things - in fact, I think a deeper exploration of these topics might be nice. It's also not obligatory of anyone (god, I'm one to talk, all I write is cuddling), but it just strikes me that while fandom has problems with inception, they don't seem to have the same problems with extraction. Then again, maybe other people have talked about this topic and I've just been terminally clueless because I suck at fandom. (It's true, I do. All I pay attention to these days is Tom Hardy.)
- I'm just going to go for broke and say here, baldly, that there's a lot of stuff that goes on in Inception fandom that I'm not always okay with. Many things I don't like are just about personal taste (personally, I don't enjoy D/s but YKINMK and that's okay!), but a few things are actually behaviors or actions I find fairly problematic. And maybe I should step up and speak out from now on instead of keeping my silence for the goal of keping this fandom happy, friendly, and drama-free. Which is a great goal! But not so holy a one that important issues or discussions should be sacrificed in order to reach that goal.
...or maybe, honestly, I am just going to be exhausted and engage less. It's also a very real possibility. I cannot promise to be perfect (I am so not perfect), I can only talk about how I care and how I learn and how I fuck up and how sometimes I just want to be selfish and protect myself from endless frustration and rage.
NB: Please keep in mind that if I see anyone try to justify away any of these issues as "okay" by bringing up Moff's Law (At some point during a discussion on a work in pop culture, the probability of someone stating a variation of "Why can't you just enjoy it for what it is?" in order to dismiss critical analysis is high), I will freeze the thread. I am not in the kind of mood where I can handle that kind of discussion. :(
But that does not mean you can't discuss why you think certain trends in fandom are trends, or possible explanations for behavior or interests, etc. Please feel free.
NB 2: I am not trying to guilt anyone for not wanting to dwell on the problems inherent in Inception - there are problems in any work. It's not a crime and it doesn't make you a horrible person if you don't spot them or if you still enjoy the canon or fandom; if we were only allowed to like perfect things, none of us would have anything left to enjoy. Obviously I enjoy Inception and its fandom plenty. I am just...talking about some things I have issues with or have had thoughts about and would appreciate if other people also shared their thoughts. It's an awareness thing, not a demand that everyone jump into a crusade for justice and shame on you if you don't.