#because media literacy is in the toilet

[elizabethzoopzoop986]

Quick question for those who understand the lore more than me:

Who gets to remember things in the new time? Like i know it’s probably just like the main cast but seriously Akane says here:

But I feel like on this logic Nene shouldn’t be able to remember because in this timeline she shouldn’t have any super natural connections. So why can she? And on that note why can Nene see LET ALONE touch supernaturals in this timeline?

I mean I get she’s the main character so therefore she’s kinda gotta but still it doesn’t really make much sense. Like on Akane logic because Amane doesn’t have any supernatural powers in the new tl he shouldn’t remember but he seems to??

Honestly idk pls give me answers

[cartoonchaos]

“gee i wonder why there’s still so much more fanfiction about male characters” “we need more morally complex female characters” “i love relationships that are doomed by the narrative” “more stories need to treat mentally ill characters with compassion and respect” “all his problems could’ve been fixed if he only went to therapy” you fuckers can’t even handle the ending of fionna and cake

[cuwalli]

lmao not tagging this because I have no energy but izc*urse girlies saying jokes about pirate vomit and pants-shitting are ableist need to reevaluate what they think a real problem is

[tramontane-fire]

It's a federal holiday (presidents' day) and so there are hardly any new jobs, like a weekend amount, and the recruiter has not Gotten Back To Me, no have any of the other jobs I applied to (because of the holiday, not because they don't want to hire me or anything. no one in their right mind wouldn't want to hire me).

Anyway what's so great about presidents anyway? the old ones were slave owners and war criminals and the new ones are tax felons and war criminals. when can we actually get a president worthy of a whole ass holiday?

[vlackevil]

I gotta vent, “longing-for-rain” has some of the most dumbest “Anti-Aang” takes on Tumble, and surprise, surprise they’re a Zutara stan.

They infantize Aang and adultify Katara, comparing Katara kissing him after returning he necklace to a mom kissing her child for pooping on the toilet for the first time.

They act like Tenzin being an Airbender and their third child, means Aang kept forcing Katara to have kids till he had an Airbender.

They also said “I know people love to act like Zuko is the most dangerous, toxic, and temperamental character... but there is exactly one (1) male character Katara was canonically responsible for calming down from violent, destructive tantrums at risk to herself and it wasn't Zuko”. Comparing Aang going into The Avatar State out of his control after find all his people were killed to a tantrum is ghoulish moronic behavior. Zuko literally threw tantrums multiple times, Katara didn’t do nothing because the were enemies and all their interactions were hostile initially.

ZK shippers like this moron are some of the most toxic idiots in the fandom, and they actually think they have good takes that their mindless follows suck up. This user isn’t a real Avatar fan, just an empty headed shipping fanatic with zero media literacy.

EXACTLY.

Even zk shippers say Aang is toxic but they ignore when Zuko have toxic behaviors with Mai and they don’t say anything.

Hipocrisy of zutara shippers.

[oscconfessions]

looking at some of the confessions on this blog, and some of the posts I see on osctwt and tumblr, I feel like I'm in a completely different fandom to these people because my experiences don't line up with theirs at all 😭

every other day it's "people need to stop acting like toilet plunger x crack pipe is abusive when it's clearly not" and then I go to another person's blog and it's "crackplunger shippers need to stop harassing ppl who don't like their ship, especially when crack pipe x meat grinder is obviously the better pairing" and then I go to another person's blog and it's "explaining why toilet plunger is literally the most toxic and awful character in all of osc history, and everyone who thinks otherwise is stupid and dumb and has no media literacy skills (part 63/227)"

and I'm just like damn. what are u people on about. this object show shit is not that serious 😭

anyway, every time i see a post like this, I'm just reminded of that one xkcd comic... sorry for the long confession lol

.

[zendayastylefiles]

Hi idk if you’ve been seeing the rumors circulating Tiktok and Twitter about the necklace Zendaya wore to the London Dune premiere being a blood diamond. I feel like you’re one of the few people who would actually know whether that is true or not. I did my own research and came across nothing that alludes to that particular necklace being a blood diamond necklace.

I saw that and it proves that media literacy is in the toilet because no one researches the information that they see on the internet anymore. There is no information available that verifies anything said in that TikTok video.

Their Creative Director also spoke about paying attention to the working conditions of where she sources the gems in their documentary because safe and humane working conditions contributes to the quality of gems that they use.

The press information related to the necklace that Zendaya wore states that the diamonds on the necklace was sourced from Myanmar.

[elliottsmithee]

Man I enjoyed poor things, but the themes are so annoyingly over-explained. It’s clear that film executives, even ones of more of an ‘arthouse’ disposition, have absolutely no faith in audiences now. I don’t even know if I necessarily can blame them either because media literacy is in the toilet, but this pandering shit isn’t helping at all.

[created-creator]

i think we need more media literacy, and i definitely think that for purely selfish reasons.

as someone who's living the life of a sitcom character or wAckY cOmEdY mOvIe EvErYmAn PrOtaGoNiSt or whatever in the real world, i'm gonna need more people to understand what it means to be doomed by the narrative and the genre you're assigned to.

when wacky shit happens to the kids on "saved by the bell" or whatever, are they acting out for attention, or is it literally the way they're written? when national lampoon or whoever the fuck eviscerates himself on the fucking christmas lights, is it because he as a person poses deep philosophical questions about modern morality and the grey areas within it, or is it because slapstick just kinda goes hard sometimes?

i rolled up to work today - raw sewage EVERYWHERE. yeah, i'm working on christmas; yeah, it was supposed to be my day off; yeah, raw sewage everywhere. if i get home and my family says a SINGLE goddamn thing about how i have bad luck but great comedic timing because i get hard from the attention it gives me, or because i can't handle being a real person in the real world and have to manufacture conflict and drama to feed a gaping void inside me... i mean, i dunno what the fuck i'm gonna do, but it's gonna be loud and messy and slapstick and possibly involving raw sewage, considering my pants are, again, soaked in raw sewage.

let people be people; let characters be characters. don't tell me i brought this shit on myself or manifested my own bad luck, because jesus motherfucking christ (happy birthday, by the way), i seriously did NOT KNOW toilets could do what i saw this toilet's done.

merry christmas, i'm a filthy animal. and maybe that's okay.

[bopinion]

When I think about...

...how some work colleagues leave the toilet, I don't want to be invited to their place for dinner.

...how the Taliban are banishing their women step by step back to the Middle Ages, I almost wish "Operation Enduring Freedom" back.

...how far artificial intelligence has already come, I understand why so few seem to attach importance to human intelligence.

...how many children still have no access to education, I am annoyed by parents who get upset when one single lesson is to be cancelled.

...how the right-wing populist "Alternative for Germany" manages to get back to 14-15% after every down, I wish "The Left" would return as a protest party.

...how consumer prices for electricity and gas are still rising, even though purchase prices have dropped significantly, I am afraid for my wallet.

...how the German minister of transport clings to combustion cars, I understand "Last Generation" and "Extinction Rebellion" better and better.

...how Europeans can be upset that the U.S. is so dominant, but at the same time not dare to lead for reasons of political hygiene, I find that pathetic.

...how many e.g. South American countries still refuse to see Russia as an aggressor, it makes me angry that morality and human rights still count less than economic and geostrategic interests.

...the way the government spends money on explaining its policies in advertisements and commercials because the editorial treatment gets too complex, I question the people's media literacy.

[vtori73]

I'm continually reminded that media literacy is down the TOILET because JJK fans keep making jokes about how the intro being put in at a critical point at the end of an episode in which yuji is hurting and upset was "out of place" & "didn't fit/was inappropriate," just...

Y'all are just ignorant fucks, that song was a great choice and makes sense considering it's (most likely) from the villains perspective and how yuji is their "special." Like, that song makes PERFECT SENSE in this situation and people trying to make jokes about it by playing it in others situations MAKE NO SENSE, like how the hell would the song be at all relevant to the story of One piece? Or some random persons fucking funeral? Tell me? How does this song make sense in those cases in which yuji is a vessel/puppet for the bad guys and is in essence "special?"

So the song being put in after yuji is used as a puppet to commit unspeakable carnage and destruction on innocent lives makes complete sense and continues the theme of the villains taunting and having fun with yuji but now even the soundtrack/narrative joins in...

Just... HOW DOES THAT NOT MAKE SENSE TO YOU FUCKS, this is why I can't be in fandoms y'all don't know how to analyze shit, id rather y'all just be horny and read/watch the surface of the media in question then ACTUALLY try to legitimately give criticism if THIS is how y'all partake because WOW were many of you failed by your teacher's, im sure some of them tried but they failed y'all still!!!

[thewillowbends]

Just blocking on sight anybody who thinks trauma cycles and the potential to fulfill them aren’t a part of the main thematic arc of the game at this point. Enjoying a tragedy is fine, rewriting it in your head to indulge is fine, but pretending it actually isn’t the story being told on screen? This is a level of media illiteracy I frankly don’t have patience for.

Last time I saw somebody call the ending “preachy,” I laughed because y’all really do not get how much you can hammer people with a point as a writer and still have them miss it. Media literacy is in the fucking toilet at this point.

[nakianshuri]

Not for nothing, but if more people in this online Stranger Things fandom had media literacy, knew how to close read scenes, and listen at the actual lines the characters were given...you wouldn't need a script to confirm or deny your interpretation of what characters were doing or what would/could happen next.

It's all there in the text/episodes, from Jonathan not wanting to "chase a dream that isn't mine," and Steve's "You're there. You've always been there," to how both Jonathan and Nancy look when she admits that Steve "has actually grown up a bit."

None of us know what's going to happen next, but the writers are going explore this triangle one last time. That's obvious. It's also pretty damn clear Nancy will have to sift through her feelings for Jonathan and Steve along with fighting evil and dealing with her own unresolved trauma (hopefully). They're setting up Nancy and Jonathan to be together in s5. However, if they'd broken up at the end of season 4, I'd say s5 could possibly see J*ncy reunite, but as they ended it similarly to season 1 (with Stancy together and Jonathan alone), I think the writers are saving the possible J*ncy break up for next season, as conflict/secrets slowly unravel things between them. They have shared history, but they're clearly not communicating about what their future looks like. That's a red flag. And they're not admitting there's a festering problem between them either, which isn't a good sign.

Steve...I predict will have some stuff with Dustin perhaps as he going through his anger/grief about Eddie and maybe something with Robin and Vickie, since they all share final scenes together at the high school. Perhaps Vickie will get wrapped up in the teen group dynamics next season, too. I also think Steve will get a chance to disprove Jonathan's dismissive "who would have been in charge? Steve?" comment (although he's already disproved this multiple times over multiple seasons). I haven't rewatched Vol. 2 yet, but I think the last lines he spoke were to Nancy about her always being there, right? If so, that's really interesting. Because although he is momentarily dejected about Nancy and Jonathan reuniting, he sees Robin with Vickie, which I think is a callback both to the beginning of season 4 where they both admit that they're "hopeless" and to their scene in Vol. 2 where Steve tells Robin says he still has "hope" for her and perhaps for himself). Basically, that scene ends with hope for Robin, which imo gives Steve some for himself.

If you don't like what you see and hear, create or read fanfic. Create headcanons etc. But if you're going to analyze what's happening onscreen, stick to what's happening onscreen. No additional props are necessary.

[rainbowsky]

Can bjyx be considered a conspiracy? I’ve seen solos calling it that

This is in reference to a previous post.

😅 Well, anything can be called a conspiracy (and often is by antis and toxic solos). That doesn't actually make it a conspiracy.

I could claim the entire pandemic is a hoax and a conspiracy aimed at boosting toilet paper sales. That doesn't make it true.

There are real conspiracies in the world. A couple of well known examples are the conspiracies on behalf of cigarette companies to hide and downplay the negative health effects of smoking for the sake of profit, and a very similar conspiracy on behalf of fossil fuel interests to conceal and downplay the threat of climate change for the same reasons. We know they're conspiracies because they are well-documented and proved.

Any idiot on the internet can claim anything is a conspiracy, and they can take small tidbits of information and embellish them to craft a narrative that will fool the average person. Some of the people doing this are not idiots at all, but highly skilled, well-trained PR companies, communications consultants and public opinion propagandists. This is a huge problem, and a major threat in the era of the internet.

A huge part of the problem is that society has failed to properly teach people how to think for themselves, how to evaluate claims and weigh evidence, and how to think critically.

However, those crafting claims know how to make them appealing to the target audience. They know which emotional strings to pull, what kinds of assumptions you'll be prone to making and the conclusions you're likely to jump to. In short, they know how to fool you. There are whole disciplines that exist entirely to persuade and deceive. The average person doesn't stand a chance.

That is part of why I'm always telling people to avoid antis and toxic solos and their messages. Because honest, kind-hearted people get sucked in all the time, and I'd like to assume you don't want to become an anti or toxic solo. It's always safest to stay out of that mire. We don't need to know what those people are claiming in order to be good fans and to support GG and DD.

PS] You don't have to take my word for it, and in fact I'd prefer if you didn't. I'd rather people develop strong media literacy and critical thinking skills, intellectual self defense, etc. and evaluate claims yourself. But that is a lot of work most people won't bother with.

[jenner-benjamin]

Xu Bing

‘Book from the Sky’ by Xu Bing, 1987-1991- mixed media installation (installation view at Crossings/Traversées, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 1998).

Xu Bing is a multi-disciplinary printmaker who is world renowned for his prints, calligraphy and installations that discuss the purpose of language. In a year where I have been questioning where my practice fits in relation to print it has been useful to explore Bing’s past works. 

The body of work that he is most known for is ‘Book from the Sky’. This was a huge project wherein which Bing carved over 4000 woodblock characters that appear to be Chinese but were in actual fact completely void of semantic meaning. He explains that the conceptual reasoning behind the work was to provoke confusion and unease in his audience, given their attempts to read the illegible.

‘Book from the Sky’ is a great example of the combination of printmaking and asemic writing. Though it is not strictly handwritten, the character forms exude a handwritten feel due to the emphasis placed on the calligraphic mark. This is similar to the ‘lostalgia’ typeface that I made but lost faith in due to its inability to communicate gesture and emotion. The typeface became an experiment that exists ‘just because’. I think the most notable difference between 'lostalgia’ and 'Book from the Sky’ is that Bing made his characters intentionally to instil a discomfort in his audience whereas I came from a place of inquisitiveness. 

‘Book from the Sky’ by Xu Bing, 1987-1991- relief printed artist’s book.

I am motivated by the many ways in which Bing installed and presented these prints. A great many artists’ books laid in rows on the floor, scrolls hanging from the ceiling and suspended on the walls. It really looks to be an all encompassing experience, and one that confidently announces his cultural identity through the synergy of subject matter and presentation. 

My peers and I will not be experiencing an end of degree exhibition this summer, but I have been thinking ahead for future exhibitions nonetheless. In particular I have been contemplating how I might curate my drawings and prints in a creative way that highlights my own identity. Seeing the many ways that Bing has displayed his work has shown that there are unique ways that asemic works and book arts can be exhibited away from the standard white wall gallery, eye-level hanging aesthetic to which we are accustomed. 

‘Square Word Calligraphy’ by Xu Bing, ink on paper - 1994-present.

‘Square Word Calligraphy’ by Xu Bing, ink on paper - 1994-present.

‘Square Word Calligraphy’ is an ongoing body of work by Bing that shows the meeting of Eastern and Western calligraphy. He combines the two writing styles to create a new ‘species’ of language. Though the characters look a little uncertain, they feel different to the nonsensical forms found in ‘Book of the Sky’. The audience feel a sense of accomplishment and relief when they learn the characters are decipherable. 

This revelation is welcomed further upon entering Bing’s installation that is an imitation of an adult literacy class. The exhibition space includes textbooks, videos and practice papers to evoke the sense of being in a classroom. In effect the viewer becomes a student being taught how to write this new language. I think this interactive method of exhibiting is not only novel in its execution, but also inspires an excitement about writing by hand. This is an area of focus that I am keen to address at the moment. I intend to include this participatory notion in my ‘Fantasy Exhibition’ written report as a means of testing ideas for the future. Setting up some sort of participatory performance area would have been something I would have liked to have explored if the degree show would have carried on as we would have hoped. 

‘Book from the Ground’ by Xu Bing, mixed media - 2003-present.

The third and final example of Bing’s works that I have been reading about is ‘Book from the Sky’s companion volume, ‘Book from the Ground’. Bing noticed on his travels that despite where he was in the world he could understand the icons and symbols that directed him towards the shops or the toilets or where to eat. He began to collect these pictograms and curated this source material into a novel that tells the story of a day in the life of an office worker. 

He wrote this book in such a way that anyone from anywhere in the world could read it, regardless of their cultural background, educational history or linguistic ability. Bing realised that contemporary culture is so saturated with informational logograms and pictograms that this universality meant the story would not need to be translated. As such, the book could be published anywhere in the world and still be understood. In contrast to ‘Book from the Sky’, this novel aims to one day bring to fruition Bing’s vision of a universal language. I have come across this notion before from my research around ‘Esperanto’. 

The idea of a globally inclusive language seems to be one that asemic artists address quite often. This is such a big question to think about, and might be one to come back to in the future. I am looking ahead to the possibility of further research, and this inquiry is food for thought for a potential research proposal. 

‘Book from the Ground Software’ by Xu Bing, computer software and mixed media installation - 2003-present.

In terms of exhibiting this work, Bing made a database software of symbols that users can access, entering words in English or Chinese that will be translated using his lexicon of signs. In essence this software becomes a go-between method of communication between the two languages. This forward thinking project will regularly become outdated due to the rapid rate that technology is advancing, and so Bing will keep his software as up to date as possible - like the dictionary in the real world.   

These are three varying examples of how language has been explored to confuse, to inspire and to communicate. I am grateful to have happened across Bing’s work, I feel so excited that there are artists that are using linguistics in such a creative way. I am particularly encouraged by ‘Square Word Calligraphy’, solely for the fact it urges the spectator to be part of the performance and to advocate writing by hand. Much of the ideas I have garnered from this research have stimulated thoughts for later proposals, I have begun to think about discourse around ideas of asemic writing, narrative and universally understood languages and this has been a solid starting point from which I can branch out and build upon.   

[petcareawareness]

People seriously underestimate the impact the media has on notions of pet ownership and what people can handle in animals.

Books, movies, TV, and internet videos from Youtube, Instagram, and The Dodo often show animals in their best moments, or even acting because they’ve been trained to do certain tasks (or are animated as humanlike characters). The fact is that the vast majority of people, even those who already have pets, have a very low or nonexistent level of animal literacy; what they take away from that kind of media oftens turns into “I want that animal as a pet.” 

People who watched Finding Nemo created an explosion of demand for clownfish and blue tangs; Harry Potter, owls; 101 Dalmatians for dalmatians, etc etc etc. When the decision to get a pet modeled after the cute, photo-ready animals seen on a screen is made, there is zero consideration as to whether or not their needs can be met and if people can actually handle them. 

Media featuring animals inevitably creates a boom of abandonment and huge environmental impact precisely because people who were in over their heads and acted purely on a whim got their dose of reality, and it’s incredibly heartbreaking to have to see the news detailing such cases. These are just some examples: 

Yearly reminders have to be passed around telling people not to buy rabbits on Easter unless they’re committed to actually taking care of them  

Thousands of dalmatians were abandoned when families discovered that they are very energy intensive, broody work dogs that are not suited to families with small children, unlike the cuddly Perdita and Pongo

Similarly, huskies and malamutes were surrendered to shelters when people realised they are not loyal Westeros direwolves

Entire ecosystems in Europe and southern Asia lost valuable apex predators when people began poaching them to sell to fans who wanted their own Hedwigs and Errols, and again abandoning them en masse when they discovered owls are highly aggressive, loud, messy, and nocturnal

Japan imported thousands of North American raccoons after the release of the Disney movie Rascal, people let them loose in the wild, and Japan now has a problem trying to figure out what to do with their enormous pest population that has no natural predator in place to control their numbers

Pacific Reefs suffered greatly when people demanded to have clownfish and blue tangs as pets, especially considering they were caught by being stunned with sodium cyanide, which, additionally, severely damages coral as well. NatGeo estimates that up to 90% of tropical fish imported by the US are caught by way of cyanide fishing; this often ends up for naught as these fish are often flushed down the toilet or released to the wild in other ways, which is also why the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico are under threat by voracious invasive species like lionfish   

The gist is that the media perpetuates this cycle of people reading about or seeing animal characters, demand is created, people impulse buy those animals, and then leave them for shelters to care for or release them to the wild when they get a rude awakening and find they’re actually unable to deal with those animals. 

This isn’t even counting other animals like “mini” pigs, chihuahuas, snakes, foxes, etc etc etc. And we can’t exactly blame this on over enthusiastic children when it’s adults who have the purchasing power to buy a pet, and who choose to do zero research, and who choose to indulge said children or even themselves when that I Want the TV Animal as a Pet urge comes on. 

Ignoring what is essentially weaponised cuteness used for online likes is hard, especially when faced with such palatable stuff like that gif of the owl riding the tablet stylus, or the plethora of cat videos. But it costs very little effort to not only educate yourself on the needs of animals and to also not encourage a rapacious pet trade industry, but to communicate that to others so that, hopefully, we won’t have to see things like Peter Dinklage and Jo Rowling having to make statements to the news because of this problem. 

--Mod Nick