I had the misfortune of coming across a post in relation to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 and toxic masculinity. I wanted to headdesk so hard. Why must these harpies try to ruin my favorite movie franchise?
One of my followers coined the perfect term: fandom gentrification.
I’ve never been so proud in my life.
Here I am, harpy-ing on about we ought to do better for boys, and presumably also forcing people out of their homes in some way: GOTG2 and Toxic Masculinity.
Look, sometimes people just want to enjoy their media without having politics shoved down their throat. Is that really so unreasonable?
S’funny. I remember when I sat my high school English Lit GCSE back in 2005ish. It was compulsory to study at least a couple of assigned books every year, and we got some great ones. When we did Of Mice and Men my English teacher, who was a goddamn miracle worker, ran through all the big political talking points. Poverty, ableism, racism – we had to study them all. Without doing that, we wouldn’t have understood the book. And when our teacher and later the exam paper shot questions at us like, “Are the events of this book a preventable tragedy?” I picked up my pen and I wrote “I JUST WANT TO ENJOY THIS MEDIA WITHOUT HAVING POLITICS SHOVED DOWN MY THROAT. IS THAT REALLY SO UNREASONABLE?”
…I didn’t do that, obviously. (I mean, I suppose anybody could have done, but-) Let me explain something to you. People like to engage with the media they consume. This is why we have the media that we do, and that’s why we have fandoms, and that’s why we have entire fields of study. Good (and bad) books and films and video games don’t exist in vacuums, they were created to actually mean things, worked on by writers and and actors and directors who each have their own political agenda. Your political agenda, I see, seems to be “Most feminism is bad’, and if we’re playing this game, I’d like to be able to browse the Guardians of the Galaxy tumblr tag without having ‘most feminism is bad’ shoved down my throat.
But I’m not playing that game, because in truth I don’t really care what’s in that tag or any of them, because having a wide range of opinions I can analyze and debate over is a good thing, to me. You wanna write a reasoned rebuttal to my post about how Guardians is instead anti-feminist and pro-abuse (also something that would require you taking a political standpoint) or whatever, go ahead. I’m pretty sure people would be sensible about it.
This is how it works, this is how people do stories, sorry. You think no-one ever stood up at the Globe when Shakespeare’s depictions of sexism and racism started getting a little too hard-hitting and yelled “I JUST WANT TO ENJOY YONDER PLAY WITHOUT HAVING POLITICS SHOVED DOWN MINE THROATE. IS THAT REALLY
ſO UNREASONABLE?” You think whole tides haven’t turned on politics being shoved unceremoniously into stories? And now the Internet and Tumblr and social media in general have made it even easier to share thoughts and ideas about them, and I love that.So, @stopmakingliberalslookbad and your dear anon too cowardly to reveal their name, I resent that you’ve chosen here to set up your safe space. If you really and truly are so fragile that the mere mention of something toxic sends you wailing into a void for some colourless comfort, you’ve got no right to be telling others to do…anything, really. Good luck finding a book or movie to enjoy that contains no politics. Hell, good luck finding anything that contains no politics. Unfortunately, us here in the real world generally understand that you have to deal with them whether you like it not.
Did you really say watching a Super Hero Movie is the same as an English Class?
Did you really just compare GoTG to frickin’ Shakespeare?
Like, did this really happen?You’re damn right I did, as frickin’ Shakespeare was absolutely the lowest common denominator of entertainment of his day. Full of sex jokes and snipes and lowbrow humor.
– and I believe that you should approach things with a critical eye regardless of whether you’re sitting an exam, watching a superhero movie, or watching a Shakespeare play. You should always be questioning what the media you consume is telling you, regardless of what it is or how popular it is or who wrote it. That is the point I am making. So I am absolutely, definitely, yes-this-really-happened comparing a superhero movie to Shakespeare, and gleefully, in order to get across in the simplest way possible that politics and the context in which things were made are just as important everywhere else as they are in the classroom. I cannot make this clearer. Can I?
Also because I thought the idea of a guy standing up and shouting I JUST WANT TO ENJOY YONDER PLAY at Shakespeare was funny.
Haha oh my god I can’t……wow this is everywhere.
Okay I love analyzing deeper meanings, equality, and all of what seems to be in your agenda, BUT I also like interpersonal conversations and inclusions from all sides. By you straight out attacking a big film with a huge following it really should be a surprise that people would get defensive. You don’t have a doctor tell the parent of a diabetic child, ‘Your kid is like this because you don’t know how to raise. Why can’t you just make them exercise and eat right like a good parent?’
Super patronizing, right? If you can only make your point by attacking another than you should probably change because that’s not how persuasive speeches are formed and leave you wide open during a debate.What’s worst is that you’ve made it out to be entirely about you and your telling other to act/feel/live like you because you like it. I loved those English classes and enjoy philosophy video essays on YouTube because I’m a nerd and I find those enjoyable, but I am also aware of my surroundings and realize that it’s not for everyone. Most kids hated those classes, so using that as your defense is a very weak shield.
I agree that media constantly subliminally forces their current beliefs onto the viewer. It would be in the best interest of the masses to be aware and not sponge up everything shown to them, BUT forcing your point only closes it up entirely. Think back to the worst teacher you ever had in school. That one that would preach and preach and if anyone disagreed they would either say because ‘I’m right’ or would demonize you for thinking differently. Even if they were the best teacher for subject X you would grind your teeth ever lecture and ignore their lessons and anyone that gave off similar vibes. I understand that this is all personal and it’s hard to not be biased, but bulldozing your point and antagonizing petty responses only discredits you and what ever message you were hoping to pass on.
“By you straight out attacking a big film with a huge following it really should be a surprise that people would get defensive.” THE ARTICLE. IS ENTIRELY ABOUT. HOW MUCH I LOVE THE FILM AND HOW CLEVER I THOUGHT IT WAS IN ITS DEPICTION OF ITS VILLAIN.