#you guys are so racially ignorant on history its hilarious | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

amandabe11man · 5 years

Text

a VERY LONG post about Hell on Wheels

YEAH i forgot about this post in my drafts... it’s been like a year since i finished the show now and i feel i’ve barfed everything out into this post (that i can think of), so here it goes (you’ll have to shield your eyes after the spoiler warning if you don’t wanna be spoiled btw. i can’t seem to be able to add a read more-link...) :

SO... i finished watching “hell on wheels” at last, pm half a year since i started. it’s funny because i was under the impression that i’d sOMEHOW be able to binge all five seasons within just one month (reason: i wanted to watch it before my free trial on HBO’s website went out). honestly, that wouldn’t have been possible because it was a LOT more emotionally draining than you’d think at first glance... after being gutpunched three times in a row in season 4, any reasonable human would need a little break.

anyway, it feels-- weird. i’ve never been big on following tv-shows so i haven’t been able to relate to that feeling ppl describe once they’ve finished a show they’ve become so attached to, except NOW i can relate. the show’s not groundbreaking, it’s not perfect, but i’ve had a lot of fun. what a ride it’s been...

looking back, i’d say HOW’s biggest weakness is its tendency to forget or ignore certain plot points. i guess that’s not too weird, with such an arsenal of characters, but still, i find that’s what bugged me the most, if anything bugged me at all. for example--

[SPOILERS for those who might wanna watch it after seeing me go on abt it, idk]:

first off, what REALLY grinds my gears is how ezra dutson’s plotline was handled. it was set up perfectly in the beginning; having him escape from the swede (who promised him that, and i quote: “i’ll find you, ezra! i always do”), the original plan was obviously for ezra and the swede to “reunite” some time in the future so that ezra could tell everyone that the swede killed his parents, thus tying up loose ends and giving some closure to that whole arc. some might say this would’ve been too predictable, but i would rather have that predictable storyline than having it just end unceremoniously like it did, with ezra dying ACCIDENTALLY and off-screen by sidney snow’s hand, simply as a way to further bohannon’s pain and set the stage for ruth’s final arc. this might’ve been fine, if the writers had made it so that ezra actually, y’know, TOLD SOMEONE WHY HE’S AN ORPHAN TO BEGIN WITH. but they didn’t even give the viewer that form of closure, instead just deciding to use him as a plot device for the other characters’ increased angst... bohannon and the others were never even made aware of ezra’s last name, and this is all what bugs the everliving SHIT outta me: the only ones who know, or will EVER know, ezra’s full story is the swede and the viewer, tho after season 4′s end, ezra is never mentioned or acknowledged again-- not by bohannon, and not even by the swede. ezra went from convenient character with a PURPOSE to “nameless” orphan forgotten by history. thanks, writers...

then there’s the whole deal with campbell coming to town to reinforce The Law™, which wasn’t a bad arc, mind you-- campbell and his goons were the most infuriating little shits for a while there-- but the thing is; didn’t campbell LIE to his men about the president giving him the position as governor? i might’ve misunderstood it, but i’m PRETTY sure the president didn’t give him THAT much of an upstanding role, but that campbell just went ahead and took that position anyway? if that was indeed the case, then that’s another plot hole, cause nobody finds out about campbell’s possible trickery to become the governor. nobody rats him out, despite literally no one in “his” town liking him all that much, so they’d have no reason to protect his “secret”. (correct me if i’m wrong on this one though. i might be misremembering things)

then there’s the other pretty infuriating issue of bad guys never getting called out for doing bad shit (unless it’s the swede, who gets all the blame, all the time), for example:

major dick bongbendix(???idk he had a silly name like that) is presented VERY MUCH as a bad guy in the beginning. y’know, just casually beheading natives on all his missions and collecting those heads and taking them to the bar like a fucking nutcase-- those little details. he also seemed to believe in racial biology, so yeah, definitely not a good guy. but by the end, he’s been watered down into some quirky guy who’s ALMOST on friendly terms with the main characters. yeah, uh-- seems everyone (writers included) collectively forgot the whole public display of cut-off heads he had going on...

aaron hatch: started off as a guy too proud for his- or his family’s own good when he shot the police officer, BLAMED IT ON HIS FUCKING SON and then just kinda let bohannon hang the kid even though it was pretty obvious hatch was just shifting the blame away from himself. THEN he reappears with some other mormons and causes a full-on shootout in the town (probably getting some people killed, i don’t remember), TAKES EZRA (also a mormon) HOSTAGE SO THAT BOHANNON WILL COME WITH THEM WILLINGLY and passive aggressively forces bohannon to marry his daughter who bohannon knocked up. somewhere along the line, hatch’s bad side is just thrown to the wind, and bohannon at one point describes him as “a good man”. yeah, ABOUT THAT--

sean and mickey mcginnes: unlike the ones mentioned above, these two started out as seemingly decent dudes, but ended up pm as secondary villains in the end. however, like the ones mentioned above, they hardly face any consequences for whatever crap it was they did in boston, OR the fact that they killed and fucking mutilated/dismembered a man in cold blood (a man who WAS gonna kill them, yes, but HE did it because he thought they had killed his friend, which wasn’t a farfetched idea since mickey DID brag about killing the dude even though he didn’t actually do it). sure, they face their OWN demons as time goes on, they get ostracized, and they start losing faith in each other as well, which ends up with mickey killing sean before the latter can confess(?) his/their crimes. so, while sean was spineless and a creep, at least he thought about finally owning up to what he’d done in the end, whereas mickey lives on to keep doing shady shit, killing people, and getting increasingly more corrupt. he does end up pursuing new goals in the end, but it’s obvious he’s not happy about it anymore. that’s-- really all the comeuppance he ever gets, and the only one who knows about his shady businesses are pm just bohannon, durant and eva (also, personal gripe here-- they seemed to not settle for “just” tarring and feathering the swede and publicly humiliating him, but i’m pretty sure i recall mickey telling bohannon they were thinking about having the swede killed too. keep in mind, this was BEFORE the swede truly lost it and started killing people left and right. apparently, being kind of a douche about taxes is bad enough to warrant being tortured and cast out by the entire community... i’m obviously biased here, but still-- the mcginnes bros’ double standards are amazing to behold)

now that i’ve aired some of that out-- here are some highlights, according to me:

unexpected friendships, like that between eva and durant. i’d say the swede finding that stray dog and fawning all over him qualifies into this category too

durant and campbell fighting in the mud before finally coming to an agreement -- just- durant and his competitors being petty as fuck, honestly. it’s hilarious

bohannon trying to get through to elam by reminiscing about their friendship, especially since bohannon isn’t one to show his feelings often OR get sappy -- in fact, EVERY time bohannon loses his stoic facade is a good moment. when he was gonna bury elam and he just broke down completely for the first time since we were introduced to him... that shit had me in tears as well, but man was it a great scene

jimmy two-squaws

every time the swede opens his mouth (yes, even when he’s spouting some lies and bullshit like that)

ruth’s character development. i admit i didn’t like her at all in the beginning, idk something just felt off about her, but man did she ever grow on me. just-- how everyone kinda relied on her eventually, even though she’s only like in her 20′s or something... she still became a pillar of the community. bless ya, ruth :’ı -- also, her essentially adopting ezra was Pure as heck. I Lov it

the fact that this was the 1800′s and the only backlash the (openly) LGBT characters faced for it was pm just “yeah they’re a bit confused maybe but they’re not hurting anyone”. maybe that’s not very realistic but WHO GIVES A SHIT AMIRITE

mr tao just being a sweet old man

chang’s sunglasses, straight out of Django Unchained

mr toole’s complete heel-turn from racist POS to someone who sticks by his word to turn himself around. that shit was impressive coming from him, tbh

bohannon just calmly running into a buffalo by the train tracks

mei posing as a grown man instead of a boy (which is what she looks and sounds like, oml)

another thing i realized is that bohannon is a classic gary stu. there’s just no getting around that fact after seeing him being revered by most everyone he meets, how he’s somehow the only person able to build the railroad(s) fast and efficiently, and even wooing the literal PRESIDENT and becoming close friends with him-- all this despite his Bold and Brash personality. of course, there’s more to bohannon than these gary stu-symptoms, but i felt someone should bring it up, for the lulz

#hell on wheels #amc

16 notes · View notes

thelifeoftuan · 4 years

Text

Home

My residents congratulated me today on surviving a full year as a New Yorker. Haha! Honestly, with the way these past few months have been going, imma chalk just surviving as a win in my book. I survived a fucking pandemic while living in New York City and worked my ass off as a physician when cases were at an all time high. Looking back, could I have predicted how my first year living in New York was going to go? Absolutely not. Haha! But to say the least, I am so happy to call New York City my home, and I look forward to continuing my life here. Of course, as most people may know, my good ol’ home state of Oklahoma has been on the news this past week, because of the fucking stupid ass trump rally that turned out to be one of the most hilarious dumpster fires yet in his presidency. If the K-Pop Stans and TikTok Teens were really behind it, honestly, then the future is so, so bright. Seriously, any time Oklahoma makes it on national news, it’s either because we got hit with a disastrous tornado or it’s for something stupid like fucking dumb ass trump decided to hold his first rally since the pandemic started in Oklahoma, not to mention he chose Tulsa, where the Tulsa Race Riot occurred, the worst incident of racial violence in American history while the country is riled up in the Black Lives Matter movement and social injustices were abound. And to top it all off, the fucker chose June 19th--Juneteenth--of all dates. The bastard, of course after the rational people of the country petitioned his administration to do so, later changed it (to the next day)... but I just cannot fathom how tone deaf and horridly ignorant that orange fucktard is. And if these were conscious decisions made by him or anyone on his staff, that’s even more troubling. Like, if you wanna talk about system failures, this is a good example of many that have stemmed from this trash of an administration and presidency. But either way. Fucking stupid. And of fucking course, it’s Oklahoma, so even despite the calls for this ill-advised event to be cancelled, the state opened its arms wide open, and I could do nothing but sit back and seethe with anger and disgust and horror as the leaders of the state carry on with their complicit “go red” mentality and allowed this bullshit to happen. NOT TO MENTION THE FUCKING STATE IS ONE OF THE STUPID ASS STATES THAT DID NOT ADHERE TO CDC RECOMMENDATIONS AND REOPENED THE ECONOMY AND JUST LET PEOPLE RUN AROUND AND DO WHATEVER THE HELL THEY WANT, AND SURPRISE SURPRISE, IT’S ONE OF THE FUCKING STATES THAT IS SPIKING IN CASES RIGHT NOW. ...I just can’t with Oklahoma, lately. I just cannot. There is so, so much more that I can say about it, but I won’t. My residents asked me what my opinions were about everything that has been going on and what it’s like to have gone through such a big change, spending all of my life in Oklahoma and then up and moving to New York City. Honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way. They asked me if I ever saw myself going back to Oklahoma. And to that, I said “absolutely fucking not.” Even with everything going on in New York, the state being shut down during the pandemic, all of the horrific things I saw at work, the abundance of protests (which is honestly a pro and refreshing outlook on the people of this state as opposed to the ones in Oklahoma), I would still choose my life here in New York City than go back to Oklahoma. I’m really trying not to sound like I’m bashing Oklahoma. Hahaha! I mean, to some degree, I am. But Oklahoma deserves it, honestly. But that’s not what I’m wanting to accomplish with this post, despite Oklahoma’s track record. But to sum it up, I just feel like I didn’t belong there anymore. It’s a tough dichotomy. On one hand, yeah, it’s my home state. All of my family and friends are there. I was born and raised there. My Buddhist roots remain there and it’s a community that helped raise me. I went to school there and did my medical training there. I owe a lot to my life in Oklahoma before I moved. I do still feel like I have a significant connection with Oklahoma and am indebted to it as my home state and the place where I grew up. But I’ve been in New York City for an entire year, now, and I finally feel like my life has started and I am where I am supposed to be right now. Maybe at one point in my life, Oklahoma was home in the truest sense. And to a lot of people, there is something endearing and charming and comfortable with Oklahoma. That’s why all of my family and most of my friends decided to make a life there. So I understand the draw. And I agree. Despite any political and societal shortcomings, Oklahoma does have a general mix of kindhearted people with the typical Southern charm and hospitality that you won’t find up here in the Northeast. And for a while, I did believe that I was going to stay in Oklahoma forever. But that changed. I just didn’t feel like my life was ever going to be what it could be if I had stayed. And I never would have been happy. And looking back on my mentality prior, I really wanted to stay so that I could make other people happy more than anything, and that I had anchored my happiness with the happiness of others. And that’s so Old Tuan, putting other people’s happiness before my own and laying all my cards on the table before bets are even placed. And I vowed not to do that anymore. Once I was honest with myself and finally came out as gay, I knew staying in Oklahoma was not going to cut it for me. I also felt like my career as a pediatrician was not going to reach its potential if I were to stay in Oklahoma. And I also realized that the complacency I was feeling with the familiar things in Oklahoma was what was wearing on me. So I made the decision in 2016 that I was going to do whatever it took to get out of Oklahoma as soon as I finished residency. And I couldn’t be any happier that I landed in New York City, the first big city that I fell in love with. People might not be as nice. Smells might not be as great. There’s a ton of more people here. And honestly, wading through the dating pool here, even as a gay guy, is kinda tough, I am not gonna lie. But still. I love my life in New York City so, so much. I’ve made it almost a full year into my job as a pediatric hospitalist (started end of July). I’m a little more used to the transit system. I’ve developed some quick reflexes to dodge clumsy pigeons and puddles of unidentifiable fluids and weave past slow walkers and crowds. Haven’t driven a car in months. I survived a goddamn pandemic. I participated in my first peaceful protest. The most stable guy in my life here is my curmudgeonly Italian barber who always makes fun of how many grey hairs I have and insists I dye my hair platinum blonde. The doormen of my apartment building know my name now. My favorite boba tea shop knows my usual and has the order punched in the second I step in. I’ve found my favorite pizza place. Jury is still out on my favorite ice cream place, probably because I can’t pick just one. I’ve gotten to see some amazing Broadway shows and art exhibits. Walking around the city is still one of my favorite things to do. I’ve fallen in love with the city lights over and over again. And I finally feel like I belong. I finally feel like this is my home.

And this is still my favorite spot in the entire city. :]

#life of tuan #home #new york city

2 notes · View notes

drink-n-watch · 5 years

Text

Another week, another brand-new episode of Psycho Pass. I’m going to hold back and be all mysterious and stuff. Because that’s how I do. I definitely don’t blurt out exactly how I feel about a show in the very first line of every post and then there’s no point in reading the rest. Nuh-huh. No siree. I gots some restraint! Who do you take me for! So instead, Matt, how are you enjoying season 3 so far. It may just be 3 episodes in but as they are double length, it’s now longer than most movies!

Oh, so does that mean it’s my turn to blurt out my thoughts in a single sentence? Okay, um, err, this show is still as consistently excellent as I thought it was based on the previous two episodes! Oh no, I hope I’ll have something to write for the rest of the review now!

Is that so? Fascinating. I can see how you would think and/or feel that way! (I write my part first… I have no clue what Matt said at this point…

So let’s get right into it. First I just a few general comments on my part. I enjoy high stakes corruption stories and although that’s also what season 1 was, the fact that this allows us to look into the public face of Sybil a bit more, through the device of gubernatorial elections is a great angle in my opinion. Diving into what has to be extremely complex and unique politics of a Sybil controlled society has so much potential.

I had to look up what “gubernatorial” meant (we don’t have anything like that in Australia, so forgive my ignorance), but yes I think politics and the world of ‘Psycho Pass’ is a perfect fit.

I mean what powers do politicians even hold in such circumstances. Are elections largely a population suppression tactics. Something to keep the masses happy? If so, why are they so incredibly high stakes. Seems ridiculous to be going through all this for what amounts to a reality show (which might explain why both candidates are entertainers). So much potential!

What do you think?

I mean, if I know anything about politics and people its that ambitious people will always be ambitious and wanting to be ‘the best’ regardless of the world they live in–so even if politics amount to nothing more than a popularity contest without any real power or ability to change anything outside of Sybil’s system–people are still going to strive for that, people are going to kill for that even. We’ve seen time and time again in the real world that people do extreme things to get what they want, even if to ‘outsiders’ their goals seem ridiculous or pointless.

Yakusuji really surprised me as a character this week. For a second there I thought they were going with a “bad guy is bad” sort of characterization but then it all took a very sharp right turn! I still don’t know if his character is sincere or if it’s all a big act. Either way, I didn’t expect it and I like it! Maybe it’s my suspicious nature that leads me to think he’s less than sincere but Psycho Pass did teach me not to trust anyone!

He’s definitely an interesting character but the way his character ties into Enforcer Todoroki’s subplot makes for a compelling bit of character development. As for whether he’s ‘on the level’ I don’t buy it…

I did find the assault scene a bit blunt. Not as in too brutal (mind you I thought it was hilarious that someone could kick a skull in so hard as to actually make it explode!) but just a little too straight forward. At least that’s what I thought as I was watching it. In hindsight though, if this was a political machination and not just the random terrorist attack they are making it out to be on the surface, then this type of direct and flamboyant assault is exactly what would be the most effective!

Yeah I took it to be that they were being intentionally flashy, down to the attackers wearing the same clothes, I found it to be a very intimidating scene.

How does anyone in this universe manage to keep their hue clear? I was only watching those little holo assistant thingies pop up for a few minutes (like the old Clippy office assistant) and I already felt my urge to murder rise. I wouldn’t last a day if I had to deal with those things and keep my thoughts in check!

I loved the idea of someone being physically assaulted and then a little pop-up comes up warning them that they were receiving injuries in-line with someone being assaulted, it’s that kind of AI assistant mentality that makes me hate AI assistants like ‘Alexa’ and ‘Siri’ all the more (but that’s a rant for another day).

As our heroes were chasing the attackers down, we got some surprising bit of universe building and musing on the dual nature of justice and law. One of my very favourite lines from the first season was said in a similar context. As Akane was chasing down criminals she said something to the effect that there’s a misconception that laws are there to protect people but it’s really up to people to protect the laws. I love that idea. It really epitomized Akane’s character and the fact that that’s what’s going through her mind in a high-pressure situation was just perfect.

We got something similar this week with Arata capping off a chase explaining that even in a Sybil controlled society it is imperative to exercise human judgement “that’s why dominators have triggers”. It’s a great line! And one that solidifies Arata’s devotion to ideals rather than establishments.

I’m glad you brought it up, that line really stood out to me too, the importance of the human aspect in an (at times) inhumane system.

Matt, you mentioned last week that you felt the writers of Psycho Pass season 3 had gotten around to reading old US news, it seems that they’ve moved on to more recent fare as the general depiction of the mudslinging politics does seem very familiar to what has been happening not too far south from my own home in the past few years!

Immigration’s a tricky thing, ain’t it?

Although, aside from the winky topical references, it does make a lot of sense that a society as portrayed in Psycho Pass would be particularly xenophobic. To be honest, I was really surprised they even had large scale immigration. I figured the country would have been largely sealed off!

So far, the themes of racial/cultural tension are handled a little naively and way too simplified for my tastes. However, I do realize that with everything going on in this narrative, you got to take some shortcuts.

I suppose there’s still time for a more nuanced discussion on immigration from this show, I imagine someone like you Irina, an immigrant yourself, would have a lot more to say on the subject than most people?

What did you think of Haruki Enomyia? I’m asking cause I have no clue what to make of them.

Difficult to say, for a second I thought they might be setting them up as a bigger villain for this story but I think they’re probably going to end up just another pawn in the bigger game being played. I think they were more just here to give us an idea of what kind of life Kazumichi had in the slums before joining the force. Though I think him just walking around the town with Arata did that well enough.

Am I the only one who noticed all the food in this episode? Maybe I was just hungry, but everything looked delicious!

C’mon Irina, all anime food looks delicious!

Ok back to more serious stuff, we got some very decent character-building backstory for both Kei and Arata. Now normally, this would not be my thing. It was delivered in straight exposition and boy oh boy was it all tragic! Taken independently, both of their backgrounds would have had me gently rolling my eyes and moving on without a second thought. Oh my, an anime protag with a tragic backstory! But it’s in how these stories intertwine to create such a bizarre picture of their relationship that brings the whole thing to a higher level.

It’s kind of interesting that they chose to more or less have our entire supporting cast learn this complicated backstory at the same time via the expositional method you mentioned. On the one hand I guess it helps to have everyone on the same page with their history but it makes me wonder if it was done for a more specific reason. Like one of the Enforcers using this information against our dynamic duo or the opposite and it puts more faith in them and brings closer as a team–who can say for sure?

In fact, the peculiar dynamic between Kei and Arata is truly fascinating and so far, a strong point of the season for me.

Agreed.

A few little random thoughts:

I quite like both the OP and ED. I like the visuals in the OP better, in fact, I like them a lot, but I prefer the ED song!

The interiors are really beautiful this season. I’m not so taken by the architecture, but room designs consistently catch my eye.

Also, I didn’t know where to fit it in the review, but I liked the statement that acting weak releases cortisol making you feel more relaxed. The behavioural neuroscience angle is one I like a lot and I hope they develop it more as Psycho Pass is the perfect universe to explore this in.

I thought it was interesting–if briefly mentioned–but I have to wonder if it was just the writer showing off some fancy things he learned on wikipedia and wanting to put it into the show (okay that was a bit catty of me, apologies to the writer of Psycho Pass).

Oh I guess I should finally admit it. I really liked this episode. More than the last. So far, I think the writing may be a touch weaker than I had hoped. There’s a lot of slightly clumsy exposition. But I’m also starting to see the foundations of a potentially fascinating story with some very intriguing dynamics. I’m excited. When the episode ended I was both surprised by how quickly it had gone by and a little bummed I couldn’t watch the next one right away!

I have to agree (we seem to agreeing a lot this time!) our new characters feel like they’re living up to the potential of this show’s world while adding interesting things to it too. Political corruption, a shadow organisation called ‘Bifrost’ pulling the strings (cool name by the way) plus all the internal machinations at the various levels of law enforcement and interpersonal relationships too makes for a rich and compelling tapestry. If you’re a person who adheres to the 3 episode rule and you haven’t given this show a chance yet then 3 excellent episodes in a row should be proof enough that Psycho Pass is back and firing on all cylinders!

Psycho Pass s3 ep3 – Tensions Flare Another week, another brand-new episode of Psycho Pass. I’m going to hold back and be all mysterious and stuff.

#action #anime #Collab #crime #drama #Psycho Pass #sci fi

10 notes · View notes

kmdblast · 5 years

Text

Happy New Year and end of an era

Happy New years eve, this is the last day of two thousand nineteen. It is the last day of an amazing era of so much change and also a lot of pain.

The death of a progressive story telling legend, Stan Lee. The end of his biggest story line that began being brought to life on screen in two thousand nine and ending with fittingly, End Game before he got to see it in full.

To the passing of laws allowing marriage to be a protected right to all. The normalization of pride and celebration of being ourselves.

The handful of tragic school shootings and their disgraceful use as political tools to push for gun control laws that would not have and will not prevent more events like them.

To the over blown stories of handfuls of unjust individuals ruining the imagine of the civil servants in lawful enforcement.

To the election of and unjustified impeachment hearing of one Donald J. Trump. Whom, hasn't been my favorite person morally, but has listened to the cries of legal immigrants and is trying to stop illegal immigration and declare war on the drug cartels plaguing Mexico.

To the awful group of people pushing for a letter extension to the LGBTQ+ by adding pedophilia to the roster of represented sexualities and identities. When it should continue to be illegal.

To the hilarious memes that have flooded all channels of the internet and potential death of Youtube due to its own mismanagement, practices, and polices.

Back to the memes, we've evolved from Rick rolling each other, to troll face and courage wolf, to nyan and grumpy cat, to big chungus and Uganda knuckles. To freaking invading Area 51 to clap alien cheeks. Do you guys realize we had the government threaten us because we planned to invade their secret base for alien cheeks and shrek five. We are a whole different breed of creature at this point.

Then of course climate change, which is happening but it is a mass marketed thing that helps sell and produce products that actually negatively effect the environment. On top of this it is also being used to plaster over poorly written and costly plans for socialism that leads to communism.

However we've gotten to a point in society where we are more accepting of different views and representation on events in history. Such as the indie film, JoJo Rabbit, which is a satire drama film about Nazi Germany from the view of a young boy. This film came out in the same year as another beautiful documentary and film by the name of, Who will write our history, which is based on the book of the same name. This film tells of the lives of those who bravely met in secret to protect the stories and accounts of the Jewish side of the Nazi occupation. Those who gave their lives to keep those who were lost alive through their words and writing.

To terrorism around the world which has spiked as countries observe open border policies and welcome the over population and heightened racial and religiously motivated crime rates.

Finally to the mental health crisis and the government's continued ignorance of the ongoing epidemic. Hopefully we will have more focus on it in the decade to come.

For me personally, it has been my biggest years of growth, being born in two thousand one. Over my life a lot has happened, such as my mom both leaving in my youth and coming back into my life within the last six years. In the last three years, I've lost my great grandmother, made my best group of friends, lost one of them to the crisis, left an abusive relationship, found my best partner ever (who may be my permanent partner), and been crushed by the news that I may never have kids and can't function as a human due to a handful of things.

However, no matter how wonderful or crappy these years have been, they've taught me to keep moving, to keep going. Either for me or for the sheer spite of proving the people who wish to see me fail wrong.

My New Years resolutions, are to speak my mind more often by not being afraid if it's politically polarizing or an unpopular opinion. To be more positive and push myself to do better than my current best, and finally to take care of myself when I feel necessary.

Happy New Years, take care and here's to the next decade of change and adventures. ♡

#meme #new years #new years eve #trump #End Game #Marvel #Stan Lee #Gun Control #Shooting #Terrorism #Immigration #Law Enforcement #Area 51 #Area 51 Raid #Fuck The Left #Oops #Didnt mean to insult you guys #OwO #Oh Boy

1 note · View note

knightofbalance-13 · 7 years

Text

http://dudeblade.tumblr.com/post/166151533694/some-of-my-personal-thoughts

Kudos to anyone who can hype themselves up for volume 5, because after how much of a letdown volume 4 was for me, I donâ€™t want to risk myself getting disappointed. It made me get angry at aâ€¦ certain part in volume 4, and overhyping myself probably isnâ€™t going to be good for my health.

I don’t buy this for a fucking second: All you’ve done is lie and ignore facts just so you can claim to be disappointed and shove your agenda down people’s throats. You want to be disappointed so you can berate the show and as you have shown, you’ll do anything to keep up that narrative.

In all honesty, you should just go to one of the other toxic fandoms like Voltron or Steven Universe: At least the people there know not to take your ass seriously.

Look, these guys have made a name for themselves. As much as people would like to think that Roosterteeth is this massive company, theyâ€™re still just an indie company with a (relatively) small amount of people, and not a whole lot of effort going to the right places.

And yet you set up standards that not even big budget shows with large groups of people and massive companies backing them could live up to and when someone calls you out, you throw a hissy fit. Remember when I pointed out that RWBY was doing just as well as shows like Korra and such despite the numerous disadvantages the show has? You threw a hissy fit and lied throughout the whole thing. And yet you think I’ll take this seriously? The way I see it: you’re starting to get it through your fucking skull that your voice is not only a part of a vocal minority that is growing more despised everyday but said voice is being exposed in their bullshit and their credibility is tanking.

Boo fucking hoo.

Red vs. Blue was their first project. They told so much with so little. They didnâ€™t have famous voice actors or fancy fight animations, they just did it in a Halo engine. I explain this because, if it hadnâ€™t been for this, they would never be as big as it is now.

You talk as though RT only got famous off the work of another. Red Vs. Blue succeeded because it was funny and endearing and is still followed and loved to this day due to years of fantastic comedic timing and writing. And if I may point out: The only redeeming factor about RWBY was it’s action scenes in the first Volume. It only survived because of the action scenes which gave them enough time to develop and grow.

Nobody wants to see the same repetitiveness that is coming out of their (relatively) new flagship show. Itâ€™s starting to get a bit repetitive. Establishing character moments for characters that have already been established, introducing characters when we already have enough characters who donâ€™t have enough development. How long until even the most dedicated fan gets tired of the same old â€œJust wait! Youâ€™ll get your LGBT+ Representation. Trust us!â€ and joins the overly critical part of the rwde tag (Which is basically just the crtq tag to be honest (HEY-YO!))?

Never happened. Characters were never reintroduced that way. Seriously, name one instance.

While I might agree with that: The RWDE tag has proven time and time again they don’t know what the concept of a “one off” character is. Characters like CFVY, NDGO, SSN and so on have been cited as characters without development when they were never meant to be developed at all.

And what do you say about fans who have stuck this long? Weiss rose? hawkeyedflame? They are all examples of long term fans that go against you rnarrative. What does that say when the few who do leave do so for petty reasons like the setting changed, the show got darker or that a character died?

Gee, I don’t remember the last time anyone using the crtq tag sucide baited someone. Or lied, Or misinformed. Or attacked the creators. Or attacked someone for having a different opinion. Or showing a lack of human decency. guess you couldn’t stand there being a better version of you out there huh?

How much longer can this keep happening? Itâ€™s starting to feel as if they donâ€™t want to plan ahead. The recent Yang Trailer fiasco being enough proof. They could have had done all the trailers a month ahead of time so that we could have time to let it sink in, and talk about it and stuff. But instead, weâ€™re jumping right into it, then getting the official Volume 5 trailer right after. This scheduling thing is starting to become a bit of an issue here. They seem to write things without thinking ahead of how this would play out.

What fiasco? The trailer isn’t even out yet and mind you, the ORIGINAL trailers were spaced the same way. SO if you had no problems then, you should have no problems now.

And considering the RWDE tag talks about shit like the “asset stealing” and Shane’s Letter like their hotcakes: you don’t care about that kind of discussion. And considering it takes the average trailer a day to be dissected and reviewed by everyone: Its life span isn’t as long as you claim it to be.

â€œHey! How should we write this scene here?â€

â€œThe one where Blake is about to open up to her parents?â€

â€œYeah, actually, we didnâ€™t have the time yesterday to write what she was going to say, can we have Sun interrupt her instead?â€

â€œSure, I guess. What should it be for? Important information? The White Fang are there, maybe he saw something-â€

â€œNo. Just have him use some excuse because heâ€™s eavesdropping. We have this hilarious joke planned out where Blakeâ€™s sister-â€

â€œMother.â€

â€œ-Whatever, does the exact same thing. Itâ€™ll be funny!â€

â€œWait, you had the time to plan that, but not the time to figure out what Blake is going to say to her father? Why not ask Arryn? She knows Blake inside and out. Maybe she has some suggestions.â€

â€œWhat? And have her cut into my-â€

â€œOur.â€

â€œMY writing pay? HA! No thank you!â€

â€œAlright man. Youâ€™re the head writer.â€

â€œYeah. Yeah I am.â€

One Week Laterâ€¦

â€œOkay, so how about we have Sun try to explain that he had valuable information about the White Fang-â€

*THUNK!*

â€œWhy do you have your head on your desk right now?â€

Except if you look at what Blake said in EPisode 11, you’d know from the context of both conversations that what Blake said to Sun about leaving her team because she didn’t want to hurt them (You know, the question ghira asked) I her answer. And if ypu paid any attention to anything that isn’t a white male for you to screech at, you'd notice that Ghira and Kali have the EXACT same relationship as Blake and Sun does: Ghira being the serious, driven but socialy awkward one and Kali being the easy going, joking, social adapted one. Thus that joke is to show their paralells. If you were as critical as you say, you’d notice it. I did the very instant it happened, why can’t you?

I hope you liked my sketch of how I personally think that whole discussion went down. I had fun writing it.

And I had fun using it to show you have nno critical skills whatsoever. Keep going, you’re just proving me right. I would have also said: “Probably the same way a political party slanders it’s opponent like a group of immature children.”

And speaking of fun, I think that the writers arenâ€™t having any of it. I think they need some new blood in the writing room, and maybe get some women into their female-centered show or maybe some people who arenâ€™t white to help better portray their entire fictional race that acts as a stand-in for ALL RACIAL MINORITIES. - Iâ€™m still bitter about that if you couldnâ€™t tell.Â

Does that mean that Steven universe should kick off Rebecca Suagr because Steven is a male?

Or that their shouldn’t be a single male writer for MLP?

Or that characters like Tex and Carolina should have never been made because RvB is male centered?

Or that Monty, a man, shouldn’t have made a female centered show at all?

See, when you automatically assume that only women can write women and vice versa, not only do you limit what a creator do as well as spit on RWBY’s message of freedom of expression but it also implies you think that women and men are entirely different and that they can’t share any personality traits or experiences or anything the other gender. Which is basically the definition of sexism: Same thing goes with the race thing. And funniest thing is: Both women and racial minorities disagree with you so you exposed yourself as a racist and a sexist for nothing.

How much longer can the fanbase be baited for the representation that they outright promised several times? I mean, have you seen the notes section of this post for their Q&A? Thereâ€™s a split between the people who are (rightfully) pointing out that they said this last time, and still havenâ€™t delivered, and others who are basically saying â€œThey said â€˜yes.â€™ Now shut up!â€ How much longer can they keep this up? How much longer until even their most die-hard fans start to question them on their ability to write a character in the LGBT+ community? At this rate, I donâ€™t think it can last for very long.

So the side that ahs attacked them numerous times while demanding they make a Mary Sue while demanding it e clevery written is better than the side that respects the creators wishes and treats the as human beings? Because considering you have used LGBT people despite not being LGBT: You shouldn’t be one to talk.

And there you go again, putting yourself. You do seriously think that every LGBT person who watches RWBY watches it for an LGBT character and not the animaton, the music, the characters and their personalities, the plot or the world? Because if you do (and considering your history, you do): You think every LGBT person thinks the same way, acts the same way and wants the same thing. That’s homophobia you idiot. Congrats on seeing nothing but their sexuality and disrespecting their individuality.

Look, these guys seriously need to either get their act together, or someone needs to create some competition major for them. Itâ€™s getting obvious that they can be lazy with how theyâ€™re scheduling things because thereâ€™s no other American-Made Anime around to compete with them. If someone can create a show that can compete with RWBY for a Streamy, then they would be forced to improve and take harder criticisms.

Except that even in Japan, RWBY is booming even with conpetitors like My hero Academia, a Shounen anime written by a guy taught by the writer of One Piece, and Dragon ball Super, the successor to the anime that BIRTHED SHounen as we know it. It has been acknowledged by the creator of Blazblue of all people And that’s all with an admitted shotty translation. So what’s your excuse for that?

And by harsher criticism, you mean your personal opinions you want to force on the CRWBY. Because not once have you made a critique that wasn’t riddled with misinformation, edited parts and even outright lying all while even admitting you have a personal bias. You don’t care about RWBY: You just want to control.

Itâ€™ll be a win for everyone. Rwde will finally tone it down a notch because their voices are being heard and taken into bigger consideration, anti-rwde will calm down due to initial rwdeâ€™s calmness, fans will see improvement, and the actual show will improve. The show has to improve. Because if all itâ€™s going to do is introduce new characters to avoid giving development to ones that need it (Sage and Scarlet), then those characters may as well just be killed offâ€¦ I hope to every single God that I didnâ€™t just give them an idea.

Except RWDE doesn’t deserve to have their voices heard. You’ve all done irredeemable shit to the point I salivate at the thought of the LGBT character being introduced so I can indulge in my sadism. You’ve all shown a disturbing lack of human decency and respect to the point you think it okay to suicide bait people and use the dead for your own purposes. You lost the right to have your voices heard a long time ago: to the point you’re finally understanding youll never be heard so you pull this bullshit to manipulate people into hearing.

Well, let me say: You could start apologizing right now and continue until the end of Volume 9 and you wouldn’t be forgiven so nice fucking try.

#rw/de bullshit #dudeblade

3 notes · View notes

courtneytincher · 5 years

Text

Joe Walsh: The New Never Trump Candidate

With well over twenty candidates vying for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, the Republican side appears downright quaint. Joe Walsh wants to change that. The former one-term congressman, radio host, and inveterate Twitter personality is seriously considering a primary challenge to incumbent Donald Trump. Walsh has said he’ll make a final decision by Labor Day, with an announcement as early as this weekend.Walsh, elected to represent Illinois in the Tea Party wave of 2010, would challenge him from the Right, making the case that Trump has too many unfulfilled promises to deserve reelection. But more than that, Walsh wants to smooth out the edges to Trump, which he says are toxic electorally and ethically. “The fact is, Mr. Trump is a racial arsonist who encourages bigotry and xenophobia to rouse his base and advance his electoral prospects. In this, he inspires imitators,” wrote Walsh in a New York Times op-ed last week, testing the waters of his candidacy.Walsh told Politico that he doesn’t think this would be a suicide mission. “There’s a drumbeat from a lot of people out there for somebody who wants to take this on,” he said, confident that he could get financial support from dissatisfied Republicans. Donald Trump’s approval rating among Republicans is currently over eighty percent, and major donors Charles Koch and Robert Mercer, who opposed Trump’s nomination in 2016, have made their peace with the party leader.“A lot of what he’s saying is that Trump doesn’t have support from within the Republican Party, and I think the obvious answer is that he does. And I think criticizing Trump as being a conman, and immoral, and a bad example for children, I think that criticism has already been factored into Trump supporters’ equation,” explained Geoffrey Kabaservice, director of political studies at the Niskanen Center. “A lot of them understand that he’s not the nicest guy out there, but they feel like he’s fighting for their interest and they’re going to support him to the hilt.”However, despite his play for decency, Joe Walsh is far from fitting the “nice guy” mold himself. The potential candidate has years of controversies, insensitive statements, and loose language at his back.Walsh has a history of using the n-word on Twitter, typically complaining about his inability to use it on air or making false equivalencies between its use and the terms “redneck” or “cracker.”After the twin mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, Walsh was very critical of Trump’s response. “Today, our biggest domestic terror threat is white American men radicalized by white supremacy. Conservatives must be honest enough to acknowledge this,” tweeted Walsh. But in 2017, regarding the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, Walsh said “I’m sick and tired of the Sandy Hook parents. They’re partisan & political. They can be attacked just like anyone else.” When someone took issue with his language, Walsh continued. “Oh grow up. These Sandy Hook parents are anti-gun partisans. We have every right to criticize them. Deal with it.”In his op-ed Walsh accused the president of inciting violence with his language. But Walsh has also tested how far partisan language can go. “On November 9th, if Trump loses, I’m grabbing my musket. You in?” he asked his audience before the 2016 election. Earlier that year, after the shooting of police officers in Dallas, Walsh said, “This is now war. Watch out Obama. Watch out black lives matter punks. Real America is coming after you.” The latter tweet was removed by Twitter for violating its terms of service.Interestingly, one thing Walsh does agree with the president on is his response to the violence in Charlottesville in 2017. “Why we’re pissed & what Trump got right: TWO hateful ideologies converged in Charlottesville. The media denounces on, ignores the other,” he said. Walsh even attacked the “DC GOP” he’s now trying to court because “they stabbed Trump after Charlottesville.”There are problems of message consistency as well. In June 2018 Walsh said, “The media is NOT the enemy of the American people. Anyone saying that ought to be ashamed of themselves,” rebuking the president’s preferred turn of phrase as dangerous and un-American. But in October 2016 Walsh told the media, “You are the enemy.”“What if the guy sent to Washington to ‘drain the swamp’ turns out to be the most corrupt person to ever inhabit the White House?” asked Walsh in May. But his own corruption may follow his campaign. In 2011, during his only term in the House, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) named Walsh among the most corrupt members of Congress. Alleging that he was “a deadbeat dad,” the organization pointed to court documents showing that at the time Walsh owed over $100,000 in unpaid child support.Since his announcement in 2015, Donald Trump has been dogged by his promotion of birtherism in 2011 and 2012, the accusation that President Barack Obama was born in Kenya. But even more recently, Joe Walsh lent credence to the conspiracy that Obama was a secret Muslim. “The truth: as practiced by most Muslims, Islam is not a religion. These Muslims are at war w us. Barack Obama, a Muslim, is on their side,” Walsh said in 2015. As late as summer 2017, Walsh was making the same accusation, including a defense of Trump. “Cracks me up that after 8 yrs of a Muslim, Socialist, community organizer in the White House, people are worried about Trump. Hilarious.” Just last year, Walsh continued to defend the position. “I have a right to call Obama a Muslim . . . That’s America.”A deep-seeded fear of Islam appears to motivate a lot of Walsh’s political positions. Claiming that “Muslims . . . have destroyed Europe,” Walsh wants to explicitly stifle all Muslim immigration to the United States. Walsh has been supportive of President Trump’s travel ban, praised his cuts to the number of refugees admitted, and wants to give preference to Christian refugees over Muslim ones during selection.“There won’t be peace in that part of the world until Muslims want peace, until they recognize Israel’s right to exist, and until they join the modern world,” Walsh said. This is why the former congressman favors a U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan, Syria, and the region-at-large.A part of the region Walsh doesn’t want to disengage from is Israel. He even used his devotion to Israel as his motivation for hating Obama. “I don’t believe Obama is a Muslim. And I continue to apologize for having ever said that. I constantly let my disgust with his policy toward Israel get the better of me,” he said last week. Walsh supports Trump’s moving of the U.S. embassy towards Jerusalem and has been even more critical of Israel critic Rep. Ilhan Omar than the commander-in-chief.One of the biggest policy differences between Trump and Walsh is on Russian-American relations. Calling Trump “unpatriotic,” after agreeing to meet with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Helsinki in 2018, Walsh said “we know whose side he’s on.” Walsh theorized that “Putin must have something on Trump,” engaging in the same rampart conspiracy that has plagued the country for three years.It was Trump’s diplomatic outreach that permanently ostracized the rightwing radio host. “That’s it. That should be the final straw. It is for me.”“While Walsh’s Trump conversion appears to me to be sincere, he is poorly suited to make the argument that Never Trump is about the president's temperament, vulgarity and overall fitness for office,” said James Antle, editor of The American Conservative.Joe Walsh has acknowledged as much. “To be sure, I’ve had my share of controversy. On more than one occasion, I questioned Mr. Obama’s truthfulness about his religion. At times, I expressed hate for my political opponents. We now see where this can lead. There’s no place in our politics for personal attacks like that, and I regret making them,” he wrote in his op-ed.“I think he seems to be sincere in his criticisms of Trump. I don’t think it comes across as just being a thing he’s doing for his own self-interest. I think he genuinely does think Trump is dangerous and maybe even a threat to the continued viability of the Republican Party,” Kabaservice said.Joe Walsh isn’t the only candidate seeking to challenge Trump. To his left is William Weld, who announced his campaign for the Republican nomination in February. Weld is the former governor of Massachusetts (1991–1997) and was the vice-presidential nominee for the Libertarian Party in 2016. Weld broke a pledge with the Libertarian Party by announcing his candidacy as a Republican.“If Walsh runs, he’ll do more harm to William Weld than to Trump. There just aren’t a lot of Never Trump votes to go around. What’s interesting is that Walsh and Weld both originally come from the pro-abortion, anti-second amendment, left of the GOP, but both have tried rebranding: Weld as a libertarian, Walsh as a Tea Party bandwaggoner,” said Daniel McCarthy, editor of Modern Age. McCarthy is referring to Walsh’s original run for Congress in 1996, where he referred to himself as a moderate Republican.Walsh’s past improprieties have not gone unnoticed. “It negates one of the main reasons people dislike Trump in the first place, suggesting some of elite anti-Trump animus is really about his deviations from neoconservatism,” Antle told the National Interest.J. Arthur Bloom, deputy editor of The Daily Caller, believes Walsh’s bad behavior shines a light on the real motivations of the Never Trump movement. “The Joe Walsh thing puts the lie to all the NeverTrumper talk about civility and decency. It was never about that, it was that they didn’t get to be in charge with Trump, so they took their ball and went home,” he tweeted.“I think a lot of the people hoping for a primary challenge to Trump were hoping that the challenger would be more of a national figure. Someone like Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, for instance,” said Kabaservice. Hogan had previously considered a 2020 primary challenge, but decided against it. “[N]ot just because he seemed to be carrying the torch for an older and perhaps better Republican Party . . . but also because he was somebody who was one of the most popular governors of the United States right now and actually was governing at the present time. And I don’t think Walsh checks those boxes at this point.”There aren’t many boxes Joe Walsh does check. “True cons are truly cons, just not conservatives,” quipped McCarthy.Hunter DeRensis is a reporter at the National Interest.Image: Wikimedia Commons

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines

August 24, 2019 at 08:17PM via IFTTT

#Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines

0 notes

theconservativebrief · 6 years

Link

[Author’s note: this article was originally published on June 5, 2018.]

President Trump rescinded an invitation to the White House for the Super Bowl-winning Philadelphia Eagles on Monday, claiming it was because they “disrespected” the flag by “staying in the locker room for the playing of our National Anthem.”

As my Vox colleague Jane Coaston noted, no Eagles players stayed in the locker room or kneeled during the anthem throughout the season, but that’s not really the point.

This is just latest episode in a story that began in the summer of 2016, when then-San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick decided to protest police brutality and racial injustice by taking a knee during the national anthem before games.

Kaepernick’s protest, initially overlooked, ballooned into a massive national story. Soon, other players followed his lead and it became a weekly drama for the NFL. Conservative media pounced on the story, ignoring Kaepernick’s stated intentions and instead accusing him of being unpatriotic and disrespectful of the American flag.

The controversy exploded when Trump weighed in at a rally for Alabama Senate candidate Luther Strange. Before a crowd of (mostly white) Southerners, Trump fantasized about firing the protesting players. “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners … say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. He’s fired!’”

The NFL protests were always about race in America; Trump’s remarks turned them into a full-blown culture war. Since then, I’ve wondered if there’s something unique about football and the NFL that makes it a hotbed for this kind of racial tension. There’s nothing new about race and politics overlapping with sports, but football seems to be the source of the most controversy today.

I reached out to Ben Carrington, a professor of sociology and journalism at the University of Southern California and the author of Race, Sport and Politics. I asked him why NFL owners (virtually all of whom are white) are so scared of Kaepernick, and why he considers sports the “most racially tinged spectacle in modern society.”

A lightly edited transcript of our conversation follows.

Sean Illing

Were you surprised that the Seattle Seahawks, arguably the most progressive team in the NFL, recently canceled its workout with Colin Kaepernick after he refused to say he’d stand for the anthem?

Ben Carrington

Nope, and it’ll be interesting to see if Seattle can hold on to its reputation as the most “woke” NFL team. My understanding is that the team asked Kaepernick to confirm that he wouldn’t kneel anymore. So they weren’t asking if he was actually planning to protest; they wanted a guarantee that he wouldn’t.

This is extraordinary if you think about it. The team is saying, “We’re going to restrict your rights to speech and your rights to protest, and we need you to confirm ahead of time that you’re not going to speak out on any issues as you have before.”

And this gets to the crux of the matter: It’s about power. Kaepernick has shown agency and power in speaking about political issues, which is far rarer in the NFL than it is, say, in the NBA. So this was about an organization trying to reassert its power over the player.

Sean Illing

Race and sports and politics have always overlapped, but, as you just alluded to, there seems to be something unique about football and the NFL that produces this sort of racial tension.

Ben Carrington

Well, there’s a lot going on here. NBA players have always had more power than NFL players, and there are reasons for that that we probably don’t want to go into here. But it’s worth noting that black NFL players have less collective power than black players in other sports, so that’s obviously a factor here.

But I think football also embodies certain ideals of American masculinity in a way other sports don’t. It’s a violent sport, a physical sport. And it’s replete with all these military metaphors: It’s played on a “gridiron” and there are “blitzes” and “bombs thrown into the end zone” while teams “march” down the field to conquer one another.

So it signifies, in a weird but real way, a certain notion of American militarism, American patriotism, American strength and violence, in a way that a skill game like basketball doesn’t.

“People like to talk about sports as a post-racial space in American society, but it’s probably the most racially tinged spectacle in modern society”

Sean Illing

There’s also the fact that the NBA is accepted as “black sport” in a way that the NFL isn’t. Both sports are dominated by black athletes, but the cultural significance of the NFL for white Americans is just different.

Ben Carrington

Absolutely, and it’s such a crucial point. Roughly 75 percent of the players in the NBA are black, and there are very few prominent white American males in the NBA. The NFL has a majority of black players, but it’s not the same as the NBA. And the quarterback position, which Kaepernick plays, has sort of become the last great position of the “Great White Hope.”

Going all the way back to the early 20th century with the famous black heavyweight champion boxer, there’s always been this element of the American sports world that has longed for a white person to reclaim the mantle of masculinity from black athletes.

Quarterbacks are today’s last Great White Hope. It’s a position that the average white American male can identify with to show some type of sporting supremacy in a landscape where, as that atrocious 1997 Sports Illustrated cover story said, “Whatever happened to the white athlete?”

Sean Illing

And no doubt this is something that NFL team owners are acutely aware of.

Ben Carrington

Unquestionably, and the owners still wield almost all of the power in the NFL. To circle back to your point, the real threat that Kaepernick posed isn’t that he’ll bring more attention to police brutality or racial injustice; it’s that he’ll mobilize players and encourage them to assert their rights in a way that’s similar to the NBA. That’s what really scares the NFL.

Sean Illing

I’ve often wondered how different the reaction would have been a few years ago if it were predominantly white players taking a knee to protest something President Barack Obama was doing.

Ben Carrington

But we kind of know, right? Sean Hannity would be praising them with long monologues about how brave the players are for speaking out. He’d make comparisons to Jackie Robinson, saying this is exactly what America is about. People like him would reverse the narrative and claim that soldiers die on the battlefield so that Americans can exercise their First Amendment rights.

What’s interesting to me is you have people like Laura Ingraham on Fox News telling LeBron James to “shut up and dribble,” and yet Fox News is littered with B-list actors and country singers who are posing as political experts and I don’t hear anyone telling them to “shut up and sing.”

Sean Illing

The Fox News audience is attuned to this deeper message, and so I doubt that the hypocrisy is a problem. These are the same people who hear Trump dismiss black NFL players as “sons of bitches” and know exactly what he means.

Ben Carrington

A big part of the history of US sports is this idea that sports in America are preserved for white men. That this is how sports were founded; this is how they were understood. Anyone who has gained entry into sports who aren’t white men, and that includes women, that includes people of color, had to do so with a kind of deference. And they had to be grateful that they were allowed onto our parks, onto our pitches, onto our courts, because these are our spaces.

And so when Trump says, “Wouldn’t you love to fire those sons of bitches?” he’s imagining a kind of re-segregation. He’s telling people to imagine that they’re one of these owners, that they could fire these “sons of bitches.” You don’t need to understand a ton of American history to recognize the racial politics of this moment.

People like to talk about sports as a post-racial space in American society, but it’s probably the most racially tinged spectacle in modern society.

“People like Laura Ingraham [are] on Fox News telling LeBron James to ‘shut up and dribble,’ and yet Fox News is littered with B-list actors and country singers who are posing as political experts and I don’t hear anyone telling them to ‘shut up and sing’”

Sean Illing

Something that I’ve noticed as a white guy who watches a lot of sports is the language commentators and analysts use to talk about white and black athletes. Race is always there, always looming. People call white quarterbacks “heady” or “hard-working” or “coach on the field,” and black quarterbacks are “mobile” or “athletic” or “explosive.” We’ve got all these stereotypes that are constantly reinforced with this coded language.

Ben Carrington

Yeah, and it’s powerful precisely because we deny that it’s there. We have this strange paradox in which we deny the existence of something which we know is there, and then we enjoy it partly because it’s there.

There’s a great bit by the comedian Bill Burr from a few years ago where he talks about how frustrating it is as a white guy watching how good black athletes are, and the inability of white guys to stay in the NBA. He’s like, “I just want the white guys to get out the way when the black guys are dunking on them.”

I think he taps into something real. He talks about watching the Olympics and just hoping the one token white sprinter can at least come in third. It’s hilarious, obviously, and Bill’s a great comic, but it’s a quite honest reflection of white emasculation on the one hand and loving sports on the other.

And this is part of the reason I think sports concerns and confirms the notion of racial difference more than any other cultural medium.

Sean Illing

I assume that’s a big reason why you think we should take sports more seriously as a cultural object and as a space where politics happens.

Ben Carrington

Yeah, that’s right. I think we have to expand what we mean by politics, because we tend to define it too narrowly. Politics is about Democrats and Republicans and Congress and all that, but it’s also about how we live our lives. It’s about identity.

In that sense, sports and popular culture is inherently political. I remember when Trump made his “sons of bitches” comment, I kept hearing cable news pundits say, “Why can’t we get back to speaking about politics? Why are we talking about the NFL?” I thought they were completely misunderstanding what politics is.

Trump was elected to shore up a lot of anxieties that white people have about the state and direction of the country, and that’s why the issues around Kaepernick and sports are so important. It’s part of who we are as Americans.

The games we play aren’t simply games. They’re also about identity, which is why they’re so popular. And if they didn’t tap into identity, they wouldn’t be so popular.

Original Source -> Race and football: why NFL owners are so scared of Colin Kaepernick

via The Conservative Brief

#IFTTT #The Conservative Brief

0 notes