volando-voy

[volando-voy]

The Smithsonian Institution owes its existence to John Quincy Adams, who fought to make sure James Smithson's donation to establish an institution for the "increase and diffusion of knowledge" was realized.

This mission was shared by John's wife Louisa Adams, who once explained to her 11-year-old son, future historian and diplomat Charles Francis Adams, why we study history.

She said, “History is a little irksome to a young hand, but very soon becomes interesting and is always instructive. It is true it frequently represents human nature in a degrading point of view; but it represents it justly in all its varieties, which are equal to the sublimity of virtue, and to the lowest grades of execrable vice.”

She went on to write, “Many a tyrant was once good and innocent, and many have been urged to crime by misconceived ideas of virtue—continue this study. It will expand your mind, and guard you against false reasonings and false principles, things the most dangerous to youth, as once imbibed they are most difficult to eradicate.”

She understood how dangerous—and effective—falsehoods could be in shaping young minds. So did the United Daughters of the Confederacy in the 1890s when they started dedicating Confederate monuments in public spaces with ceremonies and lesson plans intended to indoctrinate children as "living monuments of the Confederacy," defenders of the Confederate cause and white supremacy.

How might Louisa Adams, and the rest of the Adams family, feel about the Smithsonian no longer allowed to share history, as Louisa put it, "justly in all its varieties, which are equal to the sublimity of virtue, and to the lowest grades of execrable vice" if those vices don't square with the new mandate to scrub anything "divisive" that fails to adequately celebrate American exceptionalism.

I wonder, how might the Adamses feel—including Charles Francis Adams who served as Lincoln's minister to the UK and his son Charles Francis Adams, Jr. who fought at Gettysburg—knowing that exhibits at the Smithsonian Institution museums are being inspected for potential divisiveness while Confederate statues are being restored?

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[volando-voy]

today the israeli defense minister was quoted as saying they want to move the entire population of gaza into one city. to prepare for, get this. shipping them to other countries. to get rid of them forever.

DO YOU HEAR YOURSELF

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god bless our troops [the ppl at ublock origin who keep updating the filters to keep working on youtube]

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NEXT WEEK ON THE GILDED AGE ✨

inspired by this post

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I love Agnes being such a principled person. She really is just like, ‘I am neither a racist nor a misogynist but god damn it I will be a classist to the day I die’ 😂

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me when i accidentally start typing my comments on the post body instead of the tags: oh no that’s not the kind of person i am

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Lucy Gray should be proud to know she haunted that evil man every damn day of his fucking miserable life

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anyway, all this to say that Poe was a masterful framing choice for this book because he both invented american gothic horror and was also the messiest fucking diva to ever exist because to this day we don't even know how he died

finally finished sunrise on the reaping and let me tell you reading those last few chapters was an act of love because i hate 19th century poetry so fucking much

[volando-voy]

finally finished sunrise on the reaping and let me tell you reading those last few chapters was an act of love because i hate 19th century poetry so fucking much

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the current president of the United States is having a public frenemies spat with the wealthiest tech bro in modern history what a time to be alive

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volando-voy replied to your post:

um say more because twitter suggests the changes are AWFUL

Off the top of my head:

They tone down a lot of Lilo's eccentricities/'weirdness' (affectionate) like gone is the amateur voodoo, the reason for Scrump's surgery, taking pictures of tourists, etc.

The other little girls teasing Lilo is framed more as a result of not knowing how to talk to her because her parents have died, than a response to Lilo's quirks. (I guess to make them more sympathetic? It doesn't really matter though because they aren't in the movie that much.)

Nani and Lilo now have a really kind/caring next door neighbor (David's mom? Aunt? Grandma???? Never specified but they're related somehow, I assume, since he lives there too.) So now Nani and Lilo have a convenient source of support which begs the question: why does Nani not lean on her more for help? (They have a dumb rationale for this--I'll get there.)

Cobra is not the social worker, he's just straight up a CIA agent.

Instead the social worker is a brand new character who is also kind and supportive and ultimately convinces Nani to give Lilo up (and the movie wants us to know that this is a GOOD thing*)

*I want to be clear that like. I am not advocating for negative portrayals of foster care/social workers, obviously. XD It's just that in the context of this movie specifically, 'the state separates a Hawaiian family for the greater good' is not the happy ending they THINK it is

Nani now has an additional tragic backstory element in that she was this really bright, promising young woman with dreams of going to college to major in marine biology but all of that had to be tossed aside in order to care for Lilo.

Nani overhears Lilo's wish for a friend (just like in the original) but then DOES ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ABOUT IT. The NEIGHBOR is the one who takes Lilo to the animal shelter and suggests getting a pet. Nani even argues with her about it after the fact!

Nani, in response to Lilo reminding her of THE FAMOUS LINE FROM THE ORIGINAL AND YA KNOW, THE THEME OF THE FILM, 'Ohana means family, and family means no one gets left behind or forgotten': That sounds nice but that's not reality!

No Gantu, because they didn't have the budget for him.

Pleakly and Jumba have a device that lets them morph into two human guys and they remain that way for most of the movie because again, budget.

Jumba is the primary bad guy. He's arrested again at the end/doesn't join their little family unit.

After the incident where Stitch nearly drowns Lilo, the social worker convinces Nani that it's best for her to give Lilo up. Nani agrees.

Therefore the most moving and nuanced scene in the original movie--when Nani sings "Aloha Oe" to Lilo--is fundamentally changed. Nani still hasn't told Lilo that they're being separated (BY CHOICE) and it's Lilo who asks Nani to sing the song, seemingly motivated by nothing. At least, nothing pertaining to the original context.

(Context that is IMPORTANT to the MOVIE ABOUT A HAWAIIAN FAMILY BEING SEPARATED BY AN AGENT OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT, SINGING "ALOHA OE", ORIGINALLY COMPOSED BY QUEEN LIL'UOKALANI, NOW VIEWED AS A FAREWELL TO HER COUNTRY AND PEOPLE AFTER BEING DEPOSED AS MONARCH OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS BY THE US GOVERNMENT)

Nani isn't really fighting to keep Lilo because she like. Wants to care for Lilo, and understands what she needs emotionally--the movie frames Nani's prolonged refusal to seek help and support as a misguided sense of responsibility.

(That isn't an interpretation, she tells Lilo outright that it's her responsibility to look after her because they're family. And then another character is like, 'Ohana means family and family means no one gets left behind...but that also means not leaving yourself behind.' Again, not an interpretation, that's the text of the film.)

So Lilo ends up with the neighbor and Nani goes to college but it's TOTALLY OKAY because she has an alien portal device that lets her come visit Lilo so it's FIIIIIIIINE that the state convinced Nani to separate the two of them TOTALLY FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINE.

Oh and Lilo doesn't formally adopt Stitch--I guess because they felt he's sentient enough to make the 'I bought him!' thing uncomfortable??? I don't know. He's a cartoon alien dog! Do we also feel that Shaggy owning Scooby is bad??? ....I weep at the current state of media literacy.

Another change that just annoys me: They keep the 'Stitch plays the record through his mouth' bit, but when Lilo shows Nani, they have Nani get distracted every time he opens his mouth, I guess because if Nani had seen it, that would break the suspension of disbelief that she's buying his 'earth dog' act?

In conclusion: Neither Nani or Lilo really wants to be here, so the movie simply spins its wheels, putting off the inevitable, easy solution of listening to the nice neighbor and social worker, totally undermining the point of the original.

(And I've already seen this attitude in online spaces of people seeing this new movie and being like, 'wow! Nani was wrong/selfish in the original movie for keeping the two of them together and it's not FAIR to burden her with motherhood and Lilo is unsafe and--' AAAAAGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!)

[volando-voy]

dni unless you have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, all the modern languages, all while possessing a certain something in your air and manner of walking, the tone of your voice, your address and expressions-

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Justin of the Timber Lake: A mythical figure revered in the early 21st century as the Harbinger of May, thought to be the name of a deity, or possibly some sort of messianic figure

Excerpt from A History of Pre-Contact Earth, published 2903

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reading the hunger games prequels and: