Inactivity

I am sorry that I have been slacking the past couple days on this blog. Sunday was Father's Day, Monday I was packing for vacation, and right now I am just burnt out. I was in the middle of making a post about how majority America such as straight people, white people, cis people, and men are completely oblivious to a lot of minority issues, and I just found myself rolling my eyes. I was trying to be polite and level headed explaining how people say that LGBT people already have representation and whatnot and while I was in the process of explaining how wrong that is my tone changed. Mid sentence I found myself going from an informative explanation to suddenly talking about how ignorant and homophobic these remarks are and how fed up I am with hearing them. The level of awareness that I have developed for the people around me has become infuriating. I am stressed out about all these things around my house that I can't sit down and be logical when talking about these racist, sexist, homophobic people who I often address with these posts. Society has me exhausted and drained. So I need to get through my summer holiday with at least some degree of sanity. I will be back after that. Sometime early to mid July I will be back to posting regularly. Deeply sorry, I am simply busy and people are awful. 

Audience/Boundaries

Racist "jokes"

Homophobic "jokes"

Sexist "jokes"

Transphobic "jokes"

Ableist "jokes"

Rape "jokes"

I put jokes in quotations because these things are not funny, at all. When you talk these "jokes", you aren't being witty or clever, you are being rude and offensive. In this post, I have two types of people to address. The person who insists upon telling the "joke", and the people who are hearing it.

If you want to tell a controversial joke or make a potentially offensive remark in jest, you need to know your audience. Ask yourself, who's company are you in? Any of the following people, will probably not receive these jokes very well;

1. Someone you aren't very close to
2. People who have suffered prior harassment due to one of these things
3. [In regards to rape jokes] Most rape victims, especially recent victims
4. [In regards to ableist jokes] Those who have a mentally handicapped person close in their family
5. [In regards to ableist jokes] Those with recent diagnosis

Phobias and Isms in Disguise

Homophobia. Transphobia. Sexism. Racism. 

It is 2015, we have a black president and a woman ready to run in the next election, every day it seems we find gay marriage become legal in another state, marijuana is getting legalized in various places, and still despite the progress as liberal ideals slowly creep over the nation, we are still dealing with these four things. There are still people all over the country who cannot open their minds to what is really in the world around them. And no one wants to admit that they are closed minded bigots, so they find a way to disguise it. They say little simple things that aren't a big deal, but you can tell there is more to it than meets the eye. Maybe it's body language, maybe it's their response to you disagreeing with what they say, maybe it's as simple as their tone or demeanor. Whatever it is, big and obvious or small and subtle, it's clear that it isn't just a little comment from someone who is uneducated, it's someone who isn't comfortable with progress. Here are some every day problematic thing that we hear, to help you identify that person in your life.

Rules for Reboots

Lately I have been seeing a lot of reboots of older or already successful movies, comic books, and other ideas as it pertains to consumer media. I think that is fine, but I also see a lot of people getting up in arms about certain things and it becomes a great war between those who support it and think its wonderful and those who don't. Now What I am talking about more than anything is those reboots that aren't just to give a fresh and more modern perspective to something that was originally set in a time where the ideals or technology don't hold up in today's world. I, of course, am talking about controversial reboots. Reboots that change a key aspect of the original piece, mostly in reference to the main characters. Things like changing the race, gender, sexuality, or something that takes a long standing iconic character and changes something about that character. Before explaining how I feel about it, we should probably visit the two perspectives on the matter.

1. Support;
These people say go for it. We need a fresh perspective and we need better representation for minorities. They see nothing wrong with these reboots under any circumstances and call anyone who opposes them racist, sexist, and homophobic. They think those who oppose these reboots are simply a dying breed and society will progress without them. I think these people are right sometimes.

2. Oppose;
They say it's never okay. These are the stories and characters of our youth. They say that these character becomes almost a brand that is identifiable and changing it takes away from those who grew up with it. They think anyone who is on board is taking from the creator of the original and call it a disservice to modern media. I think these people are also right sometimes.

Now, while I agree with some of what I am seeing in either argument, I don't feel either is entirely correct. We do need representation of strong, powerful, women saving the day. We do need to see black, hispanic, asian, and other minority races in relatable roles. We do need LGBT+ people in our films to help slowly erase heteronormativity, which I will further address in the future. We don't need to erase a long standing and complex universe to do so.