sunkenplacethoughts - Tumblr blog

[sunkenplacethoughts]

Afrofuturism Blog Post #6

For my last blog post of this class, I just want to highlight some thoughts I had after watching all the short films of the student showcase. This is always my favorite part of this course, I’m sure along with many others. It’s super intriguing to see how everyone digests Professor Due’s lectures and what creative ideas spark from them. With Afrofuturism specifically, it was enjoyable to further see how diverse the work can be within the Afrofuturistic genre. Some people focused on slavery, some focused on revolution, and some on AI and capitalism. Personally, I think that all of these works did a great job overall using the technique of realism, which I believe to be one of the most important if not main purposes within the Afrofuturism genre. They all reflected very real events and struggles but in very creative ways. “The Truth of Slavery” was one of my favorites and I love how the director used to idea to film everything backward as it really reflected just how backward our society has been and how much of an effect, previous history has had on our entire population. Another film, Seeing Double, also was beautifully shot and super creative. I’m a big fan of technology-based science fiction stories and it was really cool to see their take on artificial intelligence and using androids as a variation of the human race while also pointing out what that looks like from a capitalistic standpoint. Their film also had me thinking about what the creation of all this technology means in terms of the control capitalism has over us. Obviously, we aren’t getting hypnotized but with all this technology at the tip of our fingers with endless feeds such as Instagram, Tik Tok, Youtube, etc, it’s easy to be influenced by the content these big corporations are putting out. It really makes me think about the fact of how hard it is to find diverse work within mainstream media and why that is. I recently watched an interview with a comedian who mentioned how, many big entertainment corporations are actually turning down original ideas and prompting writers to look back at work from the 80s and 90s that can be revamped. It’s crazy because you’d think they want to find new and exciting plots to captivate audiences but it further proves this need to stay within the same lane and maintain a form of control. It’s really eerie to think about, especially after watching these short films. Overall I really enjoyed this last lecture and the Afrofuturism class overall!

[sunkenplacethoughts]

Afrofuturism Blog Post #5

While going through the various works we’ve watched, listened to, and read throughout the course and hearing Professor Due’s thoughts on all of them, I’ve noticed myself making revelations and connections in my own personal life. It’s opened up my eyes very wide to the overall genre of Afrofuturism and helped me to come to a lot of conclusions I hadn’t realized I was seeking. As a Black woman myself, I found a new sense of pride and connection to our culture that I didn’t have before. It wasn’t necessarily the case that I ignored my culture, but rather I was never truly exposed to all aspects of my culture and like we’ve talked about in class many times, the importance of representation is an extremely real factor and one of the main reasons I feel I’ve gained this new sense of my culture. There are so many beautiful stories with a lot of important history around them and due to the structure of our social system, many of them have been muted or erased together. Part of me is frustrated that we have to fight so hard to get our stories told or to even just exist and prove ourselves constantly in many ways, but I am happy and find comfort in our people using art in the Afrofuturism genre to help further fight against the backward ideas society. Aside from Black stories alone, I noticed a big theme throughout Afrofuturism is the focus on taking care of our home and our planet. Many works such as Pumzi and Parable of the Sower give a lot of warnings as to how our current treatment of our society is very detrimental. It’s a bit scary because even though I see the effects happening and notice the warning throughout these works, I can’t help but feel like some of the problems are so far gone. However, they have still motivated me to be more conscious of my own actions and to look into other solutions that we do still have. Overall, the genre of Afrofurtuism has easily become one of my favorites due to how diverse, creative, real, and inspiring the art that is created can be. I wish it was more common in education but I believe in due time it will be as it’s inspired many like myself. It’s very true that Black people are here and not going anywhere and I’m proud and motivated to continue to be a testament to that statement. 

[sunkenplacethoughts]

Blog Post #4

After watching Thursday’s lecture in Week 7, Professor Due brought up many great points of conversation about the advancements in artificial intelligence. The discussion prompted me to think about my own thoughts toward artificial intelligence. I’ve been conflicted on the advancements of artificial intelligence as I find it very exciting when new technology comes about as it paves the way for various kinds of useful and game-changing technology. However, I liked how Professor Due compared artificial intelligence to a knife, in the sense that a knife can be very useful when helping you to hunt or cut something or even use it as a mirror, but at the same time, it’s a deadly weapon. This is the same mentality I have towards AI as I believe while it can help our society in many ways, I have the same concern as many that it can be the demise of our society as well. Ever since movies like I, Robot and Terminator, I’ve been freaked out at the idea of artificial intelligence superseding human intelligence and taking over. People always joke about that idea but with ChatGPT and other software I’m probably not aware of, it’s starting to point to the fact that my fear is very valid and possible. During this stage, I find it very helpful to use ChatGPT to help me structure things such as a cover letter or even write out a list of tips on the best ways to look for a specific job in a specific field. It seems to work like everyone’s personally tailored search engine. However, I believe that artificial intelligence works so well and feels very personal because it is constantly learning as millions of people use it. The constant learning is what worries me that it will evolve past what it was built for and have negative repercussions. We see this already starting to happen with the writer strikes and other jobs. It makes me think about how it could possibly affect my own field of marketing. For instance, if artificial intelligence is able to recognize patterns and create perfected algorithms to help market jobs, that takes away many jobs within the field such as research and strategy. A lot of works we’ve looked at in class this quarter such as Black Panther, Pumzi, Janelle Monae’s Dirty Computer, and much more have had some form of AI in them and are not very far off from our own reality.  While these are concerns I’ve thought about, I’d also like to think that however advanced AI gets, I don’t think it’ll be able to properly emulate human-to-human connection, which is very much needed in creative fields such as writing, music, and marketing. Overall I’m very interested to see how the use and development of AI pans out and all I can do is remember Octavia Butler’s words “Change is ever present.”

[sunkenplacethoughts]

Afrofuturism Blog Post #3

For this post, I really want to give praise to Parable of the Sower. If I’m using full transparency, I was not looking forward to having to read a whole book just due to the fact that most of my classes during my final quarter are very literature-heavy. I started reading the book in preparation for the midterm and I found myself finishing the entire book in one sitting. The way that Octavia Butler is able to hit on so many important points and facts about society and history while also maintaining a high level of entertainment was extremely impressive to me. I was taken aback at first because a lot of topics would be casually brought up such as women getting raped or people getting killed but I understand it was in a way to show the state of the world and how it was happening so frequently that it’s become casual to them. Lauren’s mentality of getting ahead of the problem as opposed to staying in denial out of fear was something that really hit me as I feel like I’ve done this subconsciously as well as experienced it from those around me a few times. This book opened my eyes a bit more on really looking at why people may act the way they do including myself. There are many things both big and small in life that sometimes I feel like getting a bit more prepared and finding solutions as opposed to just letting it happen when it happens is very healthy and beneficial. This could be as small as beginning to reach out to various jobs I’d be interested in after graduating or changing what I choose to buy in order to help the environment. This book also showed me how we as a society have a lot to unlearn in order to better those whom the capitalistic system is designed to fail. Aside from the message, the ideas in the book such as the setting, the troubles they run into such as pyro drug addicts and climate change, and the overall idea of Earthseed were super cool and unique forms that Ocativa Butler used to create an amazing story. I see the various themes of Afrofurtisum such as Black women being a savior, dystopian societies, survival, conservation, racism, and much more. Butler laid it all out in a really smart and captivating way which made this easily my favorite work that we explored this quarter. I literally haven’t read an entire book in one day before this. 

[sunkenplacethoughts]

Afrofuturism Blog Post #2

1. Explain TWO (2) real-life issues that make it necessary to create your Earthseed community. What are you seeking shelter from?

Two real-life issues leading to the creation of my Earthseed would be the structure of our society and how it’s designed to let minorities fail and Global Warming. I feel our society is too far gone that we can get people to unlearn certain processes without fully abolishing the previous system set in place. In addition, I believe that creating an Earthseed community that is more aware of the effects of Global Warming would help to create solutions and work towards a better and more sustainable life on the planet. 

2. Quote two (2) Earthseed verses from Parable of the Sower and show how you will apply them to your community. You may be creative in your interpretation.

“The Destiny of Earthseed is to take root among the stars.” This quote applies to the overall purpose of my Earthseed which is to create a better future overall and for life long after our existence. The other quote “Once or Twice a week the gathering of Earthseed is a good and necessary thing,” helps to apply the idea that communication is very important when trying to make a community thrive. If we were to have 1-2 meetings weekly, it allows everyone to hear each other out and hopefully be on the same page or at least acknowledge and understand our differences. 

3. Explain WHERE you will create your Earthseed community to be safe.

I’m not sure I have a specific place in mind, but I would like tol create my Earthseed in an area that has all resources relatively accessible. By all resources I mean a sufficient water stream, greenery, large land, and thriving wildlife. 

4. Who can join your community and why? Who can’t join? Why not?

I believe everyone should be allowed into the community, however, I think they can only be allowed after passing a sort of test to check their mental state and overall well-being. The goal is to allow anyone in regardless of their differences, but I’d think we need to be cautious of how quickly we let someone in. I want to avoid ignorance and harmful interactions with the community as much as possible without fully sheltering the community. Those who do not initially pass the test would be offered guidance and resources to help them understand the mentality used for our community. If they don’t agree with our ways then they are not meant to be in our community and I don’t think anyone would try to that doesn’t understand. 

5. What will your leadership model be for your community?

Leading by example would be the main choice for my model. I’d like to use a leadership model that doesn’t look to incarceration or violence as a form of correction. I’d like to show them the vision of what we’re trying to accomplish and why we take the steps we do. Those that are a part of the journey would be the ones motivated to help as well. 

6. Create a FUTURE TECHNOLOGY (one on the horizon, not something like teleportation or time travel) to help improve life at your Earthseed community.

One of the main futuristic technologies in my Earthseed community would have to be a device that allows you to turn any product biodegradable thus leading to reusable debris for soil. No matter how processed the material is, this device could still break it down and reuse it in some form. This eliminates waste and helps to keep the community flourishing

7. Explain/show how your Earthseed community will SURVIVE.

The Earthseed community would survive through the ideologies of sustainable living, listening to each other's needs and concerns, giving everyone space to explore the various trajectories of their lives with little judgment, demolishing burdens such as money and status, and overall hopefully being able to learn how looking out for each other not only helps the community but also themselves.  

8. Explain/show what TWO steps your Earthseed community will make to build a better future, i.e. education, housing, conservation, farming, etc.

I think one of the major building blocks is changing the way education is taught. It would be shaped to include many more topics that aren't covered in typical education with major focuses on conservation, mental health, social literacy, and many more. Another way to build a better future is to make sure we are not learning or practicing toxic habits for both our own well-being and the community. This would help to ensure that everyone takes care of the land and community that is being built. Selfishness is something they’d unlearn or never learn at all.

[sunkenplacethoughts]

Afrofuturism Blog Post #1

I was excited to start taking this Afrofuturism course during my last quarter at UCLA. I was excited partly because I had taken Professor Due’s class in the previous quarter, The Sunken Place, and partly because I had no idea what Afrofuturism was and knew this would be a great course to get introduced to. In all honesty, I assumed that Afrotursim was a focus on the technological advancements and science-fiction stories surrounding people from the African Diaspora. The first couple of lectures for this class showed me that while that may be a part, there’s so much more involved in Afrofuturism. We looked at various creative works such as Pumzi by Wanuri Kahiu, Janelle Monae’s Dirty Computer, and the animated Black Panther television series. I really enjoyed exploring these works as I had never seen them before, so getting to experience them for the first time while also learning the deep-rooted meanings that connect them to themes of Afrofuturism was really interesting and fulfilling. For instance, I really enjoyed the story of Pumzi and how it was executed. By building a story around the idea of a city that is scarce on necessities like water, Kahiu was able to touch on many important topics and themes such as repression, sacrifice, and the major one of Black women as the savior. I also noticed how Black women as the savior has been a very prevalent theme in Afrofuturism. We can also see it in the work of Monae and Coogler with Dirty Computer and Black Panther. They all center around Black women who end up saving the day or coming up with a solution which I had never thought about until it was brought up multiple times in lectures. This also leads to my next realization of how closely Afrofuturism reflects our society. As I said in the beginning, I really thought it was an acknowledgment of Black innovation but in reality, it’s essentially a way of showing Black history and helping Black people to find connections to their roots. This is especially important as Black culture has only rather recently started to become boosted by mass media and the general public. It makes me think about how great it would be if Afrofuturism was taught more commonly and it may be controversial but I feel that most Black people should have to take or at least be offered courses relating to Afrofuturism. I think creative arts such as music, television, and movies are a great start, but even someone like myself would watch these and not fully understand the history and connections to real-life themes in Black culture. Overall, this first week of the course has broadened my understanding and just leaves me excited to learn more!

[sunkenplacethoughts]

Blog Post #6

As we are nearing the end of the quarter and this class, I’ve been reflecting on the works of horor that we watched, read, and discussed throughout the last 10 weeks. I find myself again comparing the themes and ideologies we learned about to my own experiences. Especially after watching the student showcase, the last film titled the “Break Up” was my favorite and I unfortunately also resonated with it (aside from the voodoo stabbing part). My experience was more of a friend break up but had the same deep rooted comments and feelings especially with the whole family of that friend. It’s very mind-boggling to me to reflect on those experiences mainly because while I was experiencing it,  I saw no problems. This class not only expanded my mind to horror movies but also helped me to collect my thoughts on different things I’ve experienced. I find myself going back and forth as to how I didn’t pick up on it but I can only explain that since I had grown up in that environment it was hard to see a difference. I would laugh off the comments even if I found them strange but I convinced myself that it was meant well when in reality even if it was meant well or not it still wasn’t okay and I’m proud of the growth I’ve made. I can happily say I cut that toxicity out. I also think reasons like this are what make taking and providing classes like this so crucial for our education system.

In terms of my overall thoughts on horror, I will say I’m still not the biggest overall fan of commercial horror movies just because they typically have a lot of gore and I’m very squeamish about that but my appreciation for the art has grown immensely. The amount of stories and accomplishments that have been told through these works is truly inspiring and has enticed me to be more open in terms of my movie selections. Although I say I’m not a fan of gore, I am a fan of the creators of most of these movies and I look forward to watching more of their work in the future. Jordan Peele was one of the main reasons I took this course and I’m so happy I did because I loved his work previously but now I’ve found a new love for it as I understand the work more and on a deeper level. 

[sunkenplacethoughts]

Blog Post #5

Professor Due’s short story Summer prompted me to start thinking about how there are different forms of horror that don’t always manifest around gore. I do believe most horror movies that are mainstream do use gore a lot and that’s why I tend to stay away. Jordan Peele’s Get Out was one of the first instances of a horror movie that didn’t centralize blood and slashings as the main horror and rather prompted the audience to look inward. This short story has a bit of that same effect for me in the sense that it’s a horror story with folklore but specifically based off of a mother’s horror story. The story highlights some of the difficulties that come along with parenting and then it has twists and turns throughout as the horror. Initially reading it, it made me categorize this story as more of a thriller than a horror. However, it started to think about the categorization of the two and came to the fact that horror elicits more fear while a thriller elicits more suspense. I feel like in society many people have a lot of fears other than just worrying about potentially getting killed or injured. I think the idea of highlighting these other fears is a really cool take for stories and definitely more refreshing. It’s prompted me to want to look into finding more horror stories and movies like this in order to help expand my movie taste.  I also think the topic of parenting in Summer itself is a very important and real subject matter that we don’t always see get a lot of light. I’m not a parent myself but I feel like everyone is expected to be perfect parents and know the right decisions to make and there is a fear that you’re not making the right one that a lot of viewers can resonate with. As I grew up mostly with only my mother I can only imagine how scary it could be at times for her to make the decisions for 2 babies on her own. For instance, when I was younger I remember falling in the garage and hitting my head on the concrete and the worry and fear on my mom's face. That’s just a minor story but I imagine between my brother and me there are many stories about the fear that comes with being a mother and especially when you don’t necessarily have both parental parties present. I’m sure this is a bit off-topic but it was one of the first thoughts that came to mind while we were discussing this short story in class. My main takeaway is that I’m surprised and impressed with the flexibility of the horror genre as I feel its potential is not always highlighted to mainstream media unless you are already a fan of horror movies.

[sunkenplacethoughts]

Blog #4

Something that was mentioned in our lecture on Eve’s Bayou that stood out to me, was the idea of how aside from the film already being beautiful cinematography wise, it also had a refreshing take on Black life in the South. It displayed the upper middle class of Black life. Professor Due mentioned how before segregation was dissolved, Black communities were closer together regardless of status, but that familiarity and closeness was lost post immigration. This part was interesting to me because although I did not grow up in the South, I grew up in Los Angeles and New York, I related to this perspective and the ideas mentioned by Professor Due. 

I had the privilege of growing up as upper middle class on both coast and even attending schools on both coast. Something very specific was the idea that you become isolate when you move away from your community, such as being the only upper middle class Black family. I experienced this while attending school in New Jersey. We lived in the upper class suburbs and I attend a public school. My brother and I were the only Black people in the entire school. At the time I was in 5th grade so I did not think much of it, but as I grew up I realized how crazy that was. The experience didn’t last long and we moved back to LA literally the day of my 5th grade graduation. We moved back because we missed the feeling of familiarity we had in LA, which was more diverse at the time. As a kid I didn’t recognize it as this I just thought I missed the comfortability of the West Coast. 

I feel like if I was exposed to more media when I was younger, maybe not as heavy as Eve’s Bayou, I would’ve been able to identify that what I was lacking was a community. It’s a very real thing that happened in not just the South and for a while. Things are more diverse now but those memories definitely stick with me and I find it hard to think of other exposures to different takes on Black life other than The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. 

There are more Black communties within LA such as Baldwin Hills or View Park which are the areas I grew up but even now, the only media I can think of that has that regular exposure was shows like Issa Rae’s Insecure, which had one of the main points to display the beauty of Black neighborhoods that were deemed ghetto most likely due to the mere fact that it was frequented by Black people primarily. 

[sunkenplacethoughts]

Blog #3

Disclaimer: This blog post may be all over the place, but it’s the recent recurring thoughts I’ve been having while taking this class. 

As we dive further into the works of filmmaking and Black horror from earlier decades, I find myself surprised and not surprised at the same time at some of the work presented. I find myself not surprised due to the history of how Black people were treated and continue to be treated within our society. However, as we become more progressive and we are given more representation I am slightly taken a back at how we went about representing our people in the mainstream media community. I feel like a large part of it has to do with our predecessors and again how Black people were portrayed in media and the stereotypes that were created. I don’t know how I feel about the fact that if I were to have watched these movies before taking this class, I don’t think I would have even been able to recognize or acknowledge the silliness and even sometimes disrespectful nature towards our community. I also can’t help but think that there are many out there who don’t have access to this course who will continue to think with the same aloofness I had. Obviously not all work was racist or disrespecful, but an example of this would be our dissection of Candyman. Like i’ve said in previous blog posts, I’m not a big horror fan,  so I did not have previous knowledge towards the movie of Candyman. Even after watching the first one, if I were to take away the things I might be mindful of now since taking this course, I don’t know if I would have seen it as as much of a problem as it really was. Professor Due explained how we have to understand everything that was wrong with the first one to appreciate the second one and I have a much better understanding of that after class. It’s interesting seeing how they came to using the different elements such as Candyman being Black, a Black man pursing a white woman, the use of the notable Carbini-Green housing project, Black poverty, etc. Essentially we’re taught that the first version is Black trauma through White lens. Learning this made me reflect on most movies I’ve watched, espeically ones before 2010 when the media started to make this less obvious. I feel like there are so many instances of showing Black trauma through a White lens which leads me to think of things outside of movies like in June 2020 when people started just posting Black squares on Instagram as a form of showing support. I may not be 100% right in this analysis but what i’m gather is this idea of thinking you’re helping but in reality making situations worse or more incorrect. I feel like thats what the black squares on Instagram did and that’s what the first Candyman did. It set our people back more even if it was more “inclusive.” I first heard of Candyman through the 2020 version, I had no idea the gravity of this remake and how important it was because it corrected a lot of the themes and tropes presented in the first installment…but I’ll save that for another post. 

[sunkenplacethoughts]

Blog #2

For this week’s blog post the only thing I can think about is Jordan Peele’s Nope. We recently watched, well re-watched, the movie Nope and further discussed the themes presented.. When I first watched this movie I thought it was just his take on an alien sci-fi movie and that was that. I will admit I went into the theater expecting some deeper meanings and was a little confused and felt like the movie was anti-climactic. While Professor Due was going in details about the various themes and symbols throughout the movie, it felt like a lightbulb went off in my head and everything clicked. The first instance of this was the toxic allure of Hollywood. I had not picked up on the monster being Hollywood picking chewing you up and spitting you out. Not only was that a major theme in the plotline, but it also reflected on Jordan Peele’s own experience and feelings towards being successful in Hollywood as a Black man. This of course ties into another major event in the movie which is the plot with Gordy the monkey. While I watched the movie I could see the idea of how they used the monkey and the horses as these caged animals plucked out of their natural habitat and trained to perform and how it reflects not only animals but people and trauma. A big give away was the popping of the balloons and how it sounded like gunshots that triggered PTSD. This could be compared to veterans and people who have PTSD for wars or other traumatic events like even slaves being brought overseas by force. 

This was one of the major ideas that stood out to me along with the overall idea as to how important family and community is. The idea that family and community are important is an idea that I’ve grown up with and recently learned is common amongst Black communities. In my previous class “Intro to Black Studies,” we discussed the importance of family and community as it was a form of resistance for Black people. By developing a culture/community, it gave Black people the abilitiy to prove that they are a human beings within a system that treats them otherwise. Families were an important anchor that slave owners couldn’t control. These same ideas can be applied to Nope and the theme of family being important. They stick together as a family and strive to keep their family business alive. OJ is trying to keep his father’s legacy alive while Emerald is trying to support the family business as much as she can while also focusing on other endevors. In the end they have to work together as family and survive this alien monster (Hollywood) together as a community. That community also includes their new friend Angel, who’s name Professor Due also mentioned could be a nod toward him being a “guiding Angel.” 

Exploring all these themes within Nope definitely led to me gaining new respect and appreciation for the movie and all the messages within it. Contrary to my initial thoughts on the movie, there are so many ideas, symbolisms, and themes that I barely scratched the surface of in this blog post. 

[sunkenplacethoughts]

Blog #1

Starting this class has lead me down a path I did not realize I lacking or would want to take. To be fair I took this class because of it’s unique subject matter and because I did want to take a Black studies course before graduating UCLA. I’m a Black woman myself, but i feel like due to my surroundings growing up I had a bit of a sheltered life that also included not knowing about the ideas of Black Horror. Professor Due explains how this course examines questions such as what drives us to create and appreciate horror, why do we like being scared, and what we gain from reframing history as horror. Being that I’m the complete opposite of a horror fan, all of these ideas are new to me. 

While I can’t answer these questions the course examines yet, I hope to document my process and realizations through these blog posts and projects in this class. I will say some things that have stated to connect for me are ideas that date far back in history. Professor Due brough up an interesting idea in our second lecture which was how the effects of social media exposed us to police brutality which raised awareness, but also showed how this was a new form of entertainment. This can be compared trolls on social media who like to watch police brutality and who don’t see Black people as fully human. Those trolls have the same mentality as public spectators who would watch Black people get lynched every day. 

I am someone who is not a fan of horror, but especially not a fan of realistic violence as i find it more unsettling than entertaining. This lead to another topic briefly touched on in class which was the mistake of using lynching ass horror. This mistake is commonly being made in new Black Horrors or by creators who considered themselves Black allies. As I reflected on the this topic it automatically made me look back to an event that had something similar. Kanye West performed him song “Black Skinhead” at the MTV Video Music Awards. Although the perform of a song with that kind of title clearly brings attention to a message Kanye wan’t to portray, he also had an image of a “lynching tree” which is suppose to have a shock factor but as a Black viewer I found it very unsettling. However this made me feel guily in a way of like “should i be feeling unsettled” especially conisddering one of the biggest Black music artists was the one to do it.  

I’ve quickly learned that this is an unsettling message and to a certain extent is unprogressive to whatever message people try ot portray. The history of Black people should of course be taught, but using things like a lynching tree to be a shock factor is not the way to go about it.