#also stop making racism critiques about ships for the love of god

[catrector]

Book Review: A Great and Terrible Beauty - Libba Bray

I read this book when I was about 16, a good many years ago. I read it before I really understood feminism (believe it or not, it wasn’t always a popular topic with the youth), before I understood the nuances of racism, and before I understood... well, mostly anything. I’ve been telling people for years how good it was, and this year I was compelled to see if it stood the test of time.  I wanted to relive the moments I found most beautiful, and to see if it still spoke to me the way it once had. But I also confess, I wanted to see if the one star review accusations of racism and sexism were true or not. I don’t want to be running around saying “oh that’s my favourite book” if it’s a racist piece of trash that 16 year old me didn’t have the awareness to understand. 

So let’s talk about how it went. Nearly Zero Spoilers Ahead, though I will talk about themes. Besides, the book was published in 2003, you’ve had your chance.

A Great and Terrible Beauty is the story of Gemma Doyle being shipped off to boarding school to become a proper lady after the strange and perhaps mystical death of her mother. Having grown up in India (which was a British Colony at the time), Gemma isn’t accustomed to living by the tight lipped British societal expectations, putting her at odds with all the other young ladies. Mix this in with a slowly unwinding magical plot and a band of not-quite-friends, and you have a general idea of what this book is about.

I understand perfectly why I latched onto this book as a teen. It speaks to a lot of the things we know now to be feminism, but I had no words for at that age. Gemma wanted so many of the things I wanted. She craved a freedom that I could see just over the horizon, just past my graduation day, where I might finally run away and start living. And the magic in this book was my version of waiting for my Hogwarts letter. How could I get my hands on magic?

Libba Bray deals with some very heavy material, including self harm, sexuality, prostitution, illness, death, addiction, etc. Her characters, while a bit trope-ish in nature, are representations of many types of women, all running from something. As these secrets and imperfections are revealed, we see what makes them tick. 

I also thought her subtle yet accurate assessment of female friendship was spectacular. The girls are practically trained from birth to be at each other’s throats. It isn’t until removed from those expectations that anyone is able to start to love one another, because how can love flourish if they’re expected to be rivals?

She also has an excellent way with words, especially in the last few chapters. I’m not much for remembering lines from books, but there are a dozen in this book that have stuck with me for years, including: 

“I fear I will always have to chase the things I want. I'll always have to wonder whether I'm truly wanted or whether I've just been settled for.”

God, that still breaks my heart.

Now to the icky stuff. I got about halfway through a giant wall of detailed review on this part before I took a breath and backed up. Things get a little more spoilery from here on, because it hints at things, but maybe it will just convince you to read it ;)

I’ll start with this comment from Goodreads: 

“Most offensive, however, is the racial and sexual content within the book. The male lead (a young man from India) is sexualized and fetishized for his "exotic" appearance and culture; other Indian characters are shown as either submissive or violent. The Romani people wandering the schoolgrounds suffer from even greater stereotyping: the men are portrayed as slovenly, ignorant, and sexually aggressive towards the white schoolgirls; the women are docile and suitably mystical.”

I’m a white North American. I don’t have the final say on any of these topics. I think the Romani were written in a way I wasn’t comfortable with. Full stop. It sounded stereotypical, and having never spend time with any Romani in real life, I’m hesitant to believe it’s accurate. At the same time, from a first person perspective of a white girl in 1895, I think it’s probably an accurate amount of racist. The shit said about the Romani in the book is accurate to what I hear Belgians around me saying today. A better solution probably could’ve been found, but I’m also not sure that pretending no one was racist is the answer. This is not my field of expertise, just a complicated opinion of a complicated subject. 

I also didn’t see Kartik as being treated as a fetish. I think he was the only boy around for miles, and Gemma had grown up in India, where she probably grew accustomed to thinking Indian boys were cute. In the first chapter she says “I know I’m not supposed to find Indian men attractive, but I don’t see many young men and I find I’m blushing in spite of myself.” I see this as her nature (finding him attractive) vs her conditioning (white colonialist beliefs). Which brings us to the dreams. The sex dreams are a part of being a sexual human being. I had them, you probably had them, most people probably have them. I think it also served a purpose of showing an important part of showing the contrast of being a woman in those days of sexual repression. 

And at no point would I call the women docile and mystical. We’re treated to many moments where the women in the story veer away from social expectations, to reveal themselves as simply human who even belch.  

To sum it up. I love this book. People with more in depth knowledge than I have could give me reasons why I shouldn’t, and I’ll happily take that critique, but if I’ve learned anything from being a Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan, it’s that you can love something while seeing it for what it is. This book gave me hope, and something to dream of. If you decide to read it, I hope it gives you that as well. 

[princesssarcastia]

BLACK PANTHER

IT WAS AMAZING!!!!!

(spoilers)

There were so many women!!!! women everywhere!! badass female warriors, strong female politicians, baby tech genius shuri!!!!! women can be different things and all still be fleshed out strong characters!!!! its like women are really people too!!!!!! I'm not sure if it was a bechdel test pass (actually I think it wasn’t) but honestly?? doesn't really bother me because it was almost like, you know, women exist and not just to be ur relationship eye-candy sexpot, and also take up half the population!!! a m a z i n g, I love women.

T’challa is wonderful, absolutely incredible.  real emotional conflict over his father’s actions, over having to kill his cousin, over Wakanda’s isolationism. a badass, but also a dork around people he cares about.  trying so. hard. to do what's best for his people. finding a balance between helping and becoming what he and the rest of his people abhor.  fantastic, 8/10 because?? almost too perfect.  I'm just kidding, there’s no such thing, its a 10/10.

shuri is the genius-teenaged-brother-dragger-memelord I was promised.  combines love of her people with a disregard for their traditions, which causes political tension with other important figures in her country, a fantastic subplot. but! that moment when she calls for her ancestors with her mother and Nakia shows she still has respect and faith for the core of their beliefs, despite being a modernist/futurist/teenager. a good balance.  two-thumbs up.

Nakia serves her country and her fellow women/people so beautifully I wanted to cry a little bit.  the opening scene?? her mission??? phenomenal. yes, she is a love interest a little bit, but u know what? she’s also her own person, with her own beliefs, and they wrote her very well.  would I have liked to see more of her being her own person? yes, but this isn’t a movie about her, its a movie about t’challa, so thats not necessarily a critique of the movie, just some vague needs fanfic can fix.

(is it possible to overstate how much I like the amount of women in this film?? no it is not.  the previous record-holder, Thor, at a grand total of four (4) women has been blown out of the water.  suck it, marvel, I'm gonna hold every other movie you make from this point on to this standard.  this many women, minimum, in every movie)

Okoye!! my fav.  badass.  hardass. is married/with someone pretty solidly, but its a footnote on her backstory/exposition until that rhino stops and she gives W’Kabi a fucking  l o o k. (damn is he gonna get it. I kinda wanna be a fly on the wall for that conversation. for the angst and the put-down).  The duty-bound warrior who has to choose between personal feelings, what is right, and what is tradition.  She fills the trope very well, and leads her squad of women(!!) admirably. there’s real conflict in her decisions that you can see, viscerally, in her eyes.  as you all know, I am here for the emotions.

(okay another word about the women.  there’s a moment, in the final big battle, where there’s a woman who shows up; she’s one of the Jabari warriors, there to kick ass, and I just...appreciated that there were women there who were devoid of emotional meaning to the main characters, and outside of the Designated All-Woman Group™. she had her teeth bared and she was in the full warrior get-up it was a moment.)

Ramonda seems pretty awesome, ngl. Classy older women are my jam.

ERIK KILLMONGER! Killing it up in here with these visceral criticisms of colonial culture, the slave trade, global racism and politics.  here to start the fucking revolution.  he’s so angry!!! angry is my favorite type of character.  loves his father, tries to love wakanda for his sake, but in the end sees it mostly as a tool to meet his own ends.  great character, I wish they hadn't killed him but damn!! what a way to go out! that quote, man, imma put it here because I love it so much.  it speaks to his entire character in a way I don’t think I can: 

“Bury me in the ocean with my ancestors that jumped from the ships because they knew death was better than bondage”

he got his wakandan sunset with his cousin and I...enjoyed it so much.

m’baku was really good.  I think he was my favorite character from the political plot line.  yes he has legitimate criticisms of those in power, who he took direct action to try and stop, but he’s also a really solid dude who will do the right thing for his people, and wakanda as a whole.  (t’challa still totally owes him one, tho).  I’m not even sure why I like him so much, just that I really...really do.  maybe it was the vegetarian joke.  maybe it was promising ramonda would be safe and t’challa trusting his word absolutely.  maybe it was the last minute rescue.      ......(it was probably the vegetarian joke)

not too much Martin freeman, just enough to drive the plot foreword and prove Nakia’s point for her.  a solid, confused dude, following the orders of the teenaged-girl genius. 

One moment I loved was when Klaue brought up el dorado?? the incorporation of real myths into their world building was another moment I loved, and it makes so much sense!!! the fantastic rich future city, it was in Africa the whole time. excuse me while my world building-loving self cries in the corner.

You’ll notice there’s a lot here about the characters, and thats because they were my favorite part.  If I have any criticisms of the movie (and I do. gentle ones, but they exist) its that the plot was a little...easy.  Don’t get me wrong, the emotions these actors infused it with made it worth the watch.  But the plot was a little...”meh? okay.  yeah, I can see that.”  you know? it missed some of the foreword drive present in the best mcu movies.  

they focused a lot on world building, which didn't help their plot problem.  the world building was necessary, don't get me wrong. and god, what a world to build!! but still.

obviously, being, as mylordshesacactus puts it, “whiter than drywall”, I’m not the right person to speak to representation in this movie beyond the general female aspect (which. I think I've made my point about). but from what everyone who is the right person is saying, its amazing, so.

Does this make my top ten marvel movies? absolutely.  my top five? maybe.  I’ll have to see it again before I can know for sure. 

(women!!! ......okay I'm done)

[siavahdainthemoon]

'this is problematic’ culture vs ‘it’s just fiction’ culture

Look, here’s the thing. I know this site is super divided between ‘this content/your fave/that pairing is sUpeR ProBlemAtic’ and ‘sit up shut down let me enjoy the thing’, and it’s an argument that generally doesn’t go well, because on the one hand the people who cry ‘problematic!’ are often really black/white about it and waaaay too happy to abuse/attack/demonise people for mistakes, and on the other hand people who love their Things get understandably super defensive and protective of them when they’re attacked.

And there’s a whole lot of issues tangled up in there about puritan moralities and generational values and pre- and post-9/11 cultural ideology, and it’s all relevant and important, and if we’re going to have this conversation then it needs to be calm and rational and nobody doxxing or screaming abuse at anybody else.

Particularly at kids and teenagers, for Lilith’s fucking sake. Like any of us were perfect at twelve or sixteen or whatever. Like any of us are perfect now.

We are all human. That means we’re all flawed. We’re all complicated. When people fuck up, you point it out and give them a chance to do better. Equally, when you fuck up, swallow that defensiveness, own up, apologise, and do better next time. Fucking up doesn’t make you a bad person; you’re a bad person (or at least a fucking idiot) if you refuse to consider/admit that you might have been rude/done harm/hurt somebody and continue the behaviour. 

That said.

A story is never just a story.

It doesn’t matter if you’re the creator or the consumer: it doesn’t matter if we’re talking about books or films or shows or video games. If a human created it, it contains biases and opinions, deliberately put in there or unconsciously. The fluffiest sweetest romance novel has things to say about sexuality and relationships and gender roles. The most self-indulgent action film with All Teh Explosions reinforces cultural ideals of masculinity and heroism. 

This is a fact. You don’t get to debate about this. 

It’s also not at all a bad thing, intrinsically. It’s just how the world works, how our minds work, how we tell stories. If nothing had any meaning, nothing would matter. Stories wouldn’t affect us the way they do, the way we need them to as human beings, if they didn’t speak to us this way, on a conscious or subconscious level.  

The reason it becomes an issue, sometimes, is because what stories say affect us.

It doesn’t matter that you don’t ‘see’ the message, the bias, the opinions. It doesn’t matter that you’re just enjoying a fluff fic or a thriller, gods, stop making it political. You don’t have to take a book apart in English Lit for it to literally affect how your brain works. It just happens.

Don’t believe me? I have receipts: here’s a study proving reading Harry Potter reduces prejudice. Here’s an article about the neuroscience of how film clips create empathy (or a 5 minute video running through the same info and study, if you prefer). Here’s another on how the brain basically can’t differentiate between actions and senses read in a novel and real life ones, and, again, heightens empathy for others. Here’s a Ted Talk by neuroscientist Uri Hasson on how our brains sync up while communicating, and how a single sentence can make us think like other members of the group. Here’s an article that sources several different studies on how our brains confuse metaphors with reality and how it affects our behaviour. Here’s a video rundown of the neuroscience of empathy and mirror neurons, and here’s an article full of citations on how not only can fiction make you feel, but readers and writers both score higher on empathic tests than the general population. Here’s a brief Ted Talk linking cultural folklore to gender inequality; here’s an article about how facts don’t change our minds, and here’s another about how stories do. Here is a tumblr post (because it’s the best explanation I can find of the subject) about how our brains learn visual ‘shorthand’ that doesn’t differentiate between real-life experiences and what we see in film and tv, and why that makes the stories we tell sometimes dangerous and always important.

So, again, this is not something you get to debate. Stories, both fictional and not, affect our brain chemistry, our empathy, our prejudices, our beliefs, and our behaviour. Scientific fact, not up for discussion. 

This is why it is, actually, fucking important to discuss problematic elements in our fiction. Because without conscious and deliberate critical thinking, the vast majority of us do just absorb the things we see and read. @fozmeadows, whose blog you should be following as a matter of course, said ‘depiction is not endorsement, but it is perpetuation’. When a story depicts a harmful idea or concept (I would like to add, in the wrong way, because it is absolutely possible to tackle or explore dark gritty topics in way where the narrative makes it clear that This Is Not Okay In Real Life Kids, even if you are dealing with messed up characters who think that it totally is; no one with any sense is demanding that All Fiction 5ever Must Be Only Cotton-Candy And Puppies, how boring that would be), it normalises that concept. Having every black guy (or the only black guy) in your film be a vicious criminal reinforces the cultural mythos far too many white people have that All Black Men Are Ebil. This does not just apply to racism. I will defend the obsessive loves of tween and teen girls to the death, but the romantic relationships in the Twilight series are objectively abusive and framing them as romantic is dangerous; not because young girls are stupid, but because if you absorb without critique a story that tells you your Love Interest taking the wheels off your car so you can’t visit someone he disapproves of is romantic, then why would you not believe the same behaviour is romantic in real life? That has become your definition of romance, and applied to real life, that is scary.

I think the important point here, though, is, if you absorb a story without critique. Everyone is allowed to like what they like; you don’t get to sneer or snarl at someone who likes Twilight just because there are problematic elements in it. What you should do, particularly if you’re talking to a young person, is check in that they know real-life romances shouldn’t work like that, and then move on once you’re sure they understand. You can ship unhealthy ships and you can guiltily or proudly enjoy any piece of media you want, as long as you acknowledge, within yourself, that there are pieces of this story you should not add to your Template For Real Life. 

And content creators - you can also tell any story that you like. But don’t for one second pretend, ever, that your story is only entertainment. It isn’t. It never is. Do with that responsibility what you will - nobody can stop you - but be aware of it.

That’s it. Don’t scream at or doxx or abuse anyone who likes what you don’t like, even if it’s problematic. Don’t defend the problematic elements in what you like, just acknowledge them and continue on with your lives. Try and tell stories that are fun and epic and also make the world a little better.

As you were.