#but in reality the portrayal just feels negative and unfair and one sided to me

[cheryls-blossomed]

what do you think about the criticism about yennefer's story-line about how she wants to get her womb back and that it's chalked up to that is all women are worth/story-lines revolving around wanting children are inherently problematic?

I fundamentally disagree with this criticism, because I think it’s a criticism that results from a complete misunderstanding of Yen’s arc.

Let me start by saying that motherhood can be beautiful and therapeutic, and healthy portrayals of motherhood are important. But many narratives portraying women who are desperate to have children or give everything up to have children fail to account for the particular nuances that go into choice or the fact that often, even when it appears that women are making such a choice, they are unduly influenced by internal and external pressures. Narratives which reinforce this absolute need to have and raise biological children, even under the guise of choice, are problematic, unless they fully account for and discuss the feelings of choicelessness or the other seriously misogynistic connotations (i.e., the horrific notion that women can’t be whole unless they have children).

But none of this is contained in Yennefer’s story, at least not how I interpreted her arc. Yen’s search to reverse her infertility is premised on two things: her wanting to recover a choice that was denied to her, and her wanting to be important to someone, something which she has never felt. It has nothing to do with her lack of wholeness as a woman or her desperation to have progeny. Yen has never felt loved nor has she felt truly important to someone, in the sense that they can depend upon her and need her, until she meets Geralt. And this makes sense. Yen was constantly abused and bullied in the town in which she grew up. Although they later developed a good relationship, Tissaia contributed to her abuse by effectively buying her for four marks and taking her to Aretuza against Yen’s will. It cannot be denied that Tissaia is one of Yen’s abusers, and I think this is important, because not every abuser is going to be an inherently evil person. While at Aretuza, Yen’s first friend, Annika, is turned into an eel to power Aretuza, when Tissaia decides that she will not ascend. The one person whom Yen came to love and trust, Istredd, relays information about Yen’s elvish heritage to Stregobor, which results in her being denied the mageship in Aedirn. And yes, Yen and Istredd both betray one another, due to the pressure and duress on them exerted by Stregobor and Tissaia, respectively, but each of Yen’s relationships falling apart, coupled with the years of abuse that she endured result in her decision to undergo the transformation. Yennefer is strong and defiant and just and manipulative and reckless far before she actually undergoes the transformation. The transformation is a means to get what she wants: the mageship in Aedirn, so that she can leave Aretuza, a place that she has come to hate, and a mageship that was supposed to be hers, but taken away from her due to her heritage. She believes the transformation is also a way to silence those who constantly demeaned or underestimated her. However, as we know, people still constantly underestimate her. She and Fringilla are two sides of the same coin, in a sense: Yen defiantly chooses to undergo the transformation so that she can get the mageship that she wants, but eventually comes to find her duties in Aedirn redundant and useless and unfulfilling and unethical, while Fringilla, who was sidelined and silenced in Aretuza, builds upon the unfairness of being treated callously in Aretuza and upon her anger at being shipped off to Nilfgaard into creating a very powerful state. 

When Yen undergoes the transformation, she makes this choice as a means to an end. It’s not because she is meek or timid before she transforms, or that she suddenly thinks that the transformation has made her beautiful (she even comments on the extremely ableist and problematic connotations of what is perceived to be beauty and how absolutely pointless and absurd it is to chase those notions of perceived beauty, when she returns to Aretuza, because people are always going to treat you like garbage, no matter what, and mageships are completely unfulfilling). 

After the transformation, Yen can go home to Vengerberg. And she can hopefully expend her magical talents to better the world and the kings who inhabit it and to become as powerful as she can. This is one of the things I love about Yen: she wants to have a meaningful legacy, and she also wants to be extremely powerful. 

After having been a mage for years in Aedirn, Yen becomes disenchanted with the functionality of mageships and with Aretuza sending mages off to kingdoms, where they achieve little else aside from cleaning stupid political messes. When Yen returns to save Queen Kalis’s baby, you can see the true extent of how much she craves meaning something to someone. She frantically tries to save the child, and when she cannot, Yen’s speech about the painful reality girls are born into speaks to her own story of her womanhood, and how no matter how hard she tries to carve her own path, she is simply treated as a vessel. Her power and her talent as a mage allowed her to ascend, but she was then shipped off to a meaningless mageship, advising foolish men. She was abused and bought and overlooked. Her ambition and her search for power are not treated as negative things, which is so important: Yen is still looking for her voice; she is looking to regain the choices stripped of her, because of how she was treated as a woman. When she underwent the transformation, she hoped to gain the power she sought by using her magical abilities without the constraints of the rules forced upon her in Aretuza, thereby forging the legacy she always wanted. After decades in Aedirn, she learned that she had gained none of what she sought; she was still choiceless, fighting the battles of a King, whose foolhardy decisions left him in countless political conundrums. She feels, as she says, like a vessel: no matter how powerful she is, she constantly is forced to cater to the whims of others, never recognized for her own potential. It makes complete sense, therefore, that she would seek to reverse yet another choice that had been taken from her. Her search to reverse her infertility is predicated on wanting to take back that choice. And the reality is that when she comes to terms with the fact that she won’t bear children, she’s devastated, because she has lost another choice in trying to carve her own path in this world and because she truly feels like she will never be important to someone.

As I discussed above, all of Yen’s relationships where she genuinely felt loved fell apart. Because of what she’s gone through, she’s searching for both a legacy that is meaningful and for someone to truly love her. That’s the second reason why she seeks to reverse her infertility: a child is someone whom she believes will be dependent on her and rely on her and unconditionally love her. And the beautiful thing about The Witcher is that Yen’s arc leads her to a found family; the narrative reinforces the notion that found family is equally as important and equally deserving of stories as blood families are. Even when Borch tells Yen that she can never conceive, she is told this right after she learned about Geralt’s last wish. There is a reason for this: Yen thinks that the one person whom she truly had feelings for and who told her she was important to him made a wish which she construes as artificially binding their fates together. She doesn’t believe that what they’ve felt for each other is real, which we obviously know is untrue, but it’s understandable why she would feel this way. Geralt is the one person who just loves her and just wants to be near her and wants to help her fight her battles. For Yen, having a child represents a very similar concept: her want to be loved unconditionally. So, when she believes she’s lost both, it devastates her, because she truly thinks she has lost that unconditional love. It’s no surprise that she immediately seeks out Istredd afterwards. 

One of the reasons why the scene where Yen burns the Nilfgaardian battalions is so cathartic, is because she’s using her power and her abilities for the reason she always wanted to. It celebrates how powerful she is and how ambitious she is and how heroic she is. As Tissaia tells her, Yen’s legacy is saving these people and this Continent. And it celebrates Yen’s magic: Forget the bottle. Let your chaos explode. This is Yennefer of Vengerberg, at her core, channeling everything anyone has done and said to her and unleashing it. And she is not condemned for her chaos; rather, her chaos is synonymous with heroism and justice. She has finally achieved that legacy she has sought. This is such a cathartic, healing moment for her, and it’s also an incredibly powerful scene. 

This is why I cannot wait to see Yen and Ciri’s mother-daughter relationship when it develops, because it’s going to be wonderful to see Yen realize how much she matters to Ciri and how Ciri unconditionally loves her. Centralizing The Witcher on a found family is such a beautiful thing, and for Yennefer, her story is one of catharsis. 

#the witcher #yennefer of vengerberg #let your chaos explode #this is long #i have a lot of yen feelings and i have a lot of feelings about this specific criticism which i think misunderstands yen's story #anonymous #replies #my meta

[thetypedwriter]

The Music of What Happens Book Review

The Music of What Happens by Bill Konigsberg Book Review 

I don’t think I like this book. 

I know that’s a strong statement right off the bat, but it’s mostly true. However, there was also something about it that I didn’t quite hate and, as usual, I will try my very best to put forth both the positives and the negatives of this read into some sort of subjective semblance of rationality. 

Now, firstly I’d like to thank @chapterhappy98​ for the recommendation. I love getting book recommendations (just not when people actually buy me books-see previous reviews) and this one seemed totally up my alley. 

For a novel I’d never heard of before it had a lot of components that excited me. An LGBTQ+ romance? I’m here for it. One of the main characters being half-Mexican and half-white? Love the representation. A cute plot centered around summer and food trucks? Yes, please. 

All the ingredients were there for a good book, but the way the book was written, the perspective of the characters, and the characters themselves made this a slog for me. On paper, this should have been lauded as a cute fluffy novel with some very deep feels, but instead I found it tedious, aggravating, and thankful that it was at least short. 

The positives are everything I mentioned above. The plot itself is cute. Food truck summer romance is not a plot I’ve read before, but it's original enough to be intriguing and cute enough to be endearing. High quality fanfiction fodder right here. 

Although the representation could have been better, it was sufficient. I enjoyed the fact that Max’s mother was Mexican while his father was a whiter-than-toast comedian from Indiana. Both Max and Jordan have friends who are white and friends who are not and I enjoyed that Konigsberg portrayed the distinct friend groups as such and that moments of race do come up. 

For example, like when Jordan suggests they steal prickly pears from people’s yards and Max shuts it down before the idea can even coalesce because a white boy stealing pears from yards is a hooligan move, a Mexican kid stealing pears from yards is a crime. 

Small introspective moments like this were very interesting and added a layer of reality to the novel that I appreciated. On this same route, both Max and Jordan, our two main characters with revolving perspectives, are going through some deep trauma and while it wasn’t amazingly handled, I did appreciate moments towards the end where Konigsberg actually has the characters face what they are going through and take appropriate routes to fix them or start the healing process (acceptance, counseling, etc). 

By no means did I think the book handled sensitive topics such as rape, addiction, bullying, and self-esteem issues well, but at the very least, most of the issues were adequately addressed and on the right path towards healing and rehabilitation which is more than I can say for some other novels. 

Now, for the negatives. Buckle up, people. 

First off, the writing. 

I found it abhorrent. I don't know if this is just Konigsberg’s style of writing, but it did not vibe with me at all. I found his writing and dialogue superfluous, cheesy, and gag-inducing. 

To me, this is not how real people talk, think, or interact, but instead a grown ass man’s idea of how teenagers think, talk, and interact. It made me truly wonder if Konigsberg has actually ever met a teenager in his life. 

As a high school teacher, I interact with teenagers on a daily basis. I know how they talk and interact, and through their journals and papers, I can generally grasp at least a preview into how they think. 

It’s like Konigsberg took every adolescent stereotype that exists and stuffed it onto his pages with mediocre words and subpar humor. The Music of What Happens is a pantomime of the teenage experience and I found it extremely irritating. 

Secondly, the perspectives of both Jordan and Max are maddening and irksome, although Jordan more so I have to admit. Both of these characters suffer from what I call “Woe is Me” syndrome. This is the idea that making a character have a sad or tragic backstory or circumstances also makes them deep and complex. 

This is so far from the truth it hurts. 

Trauma and tragedies are not simply fodder to build a cheap and easy way for a character or a plot to build depth. It should be handled with care, with consequences, and with other characteristics built in that are reasonable and befitting of the whole character. Both Max and Jordan were almost laughably tragic. 

Max’s parents split up, and while his mom Rosa is the MVP of the book, his dad is nothing more than a useless caricature of the absentee father, so much so that when Max admits to his sexual assault his dad does nothing, but makes a joke and talks about a stand-up routine he has coming up. 

Jordan is much, much worse. This boy is the most self-deprecating, pitying thing I have ever read.

 (Spoilers ahead for the novel and Jordan’s circumstances). 

His friends who he calls his “wives” (cue eye roll) bully him, his mother is a gambling addict with bipolar disorder, he believes he killed his father by giving him a heart attack on his sick bed, and he’s about to be homeless unless he can make money from his dad’s old food truck and save his mortgage. 

It’s absolutely ridiculous. 

I’m not trying to make light of these issues, but the way Konigsberg handled these characters went like this: “Hmmmm how can I make interesting teenagers? I know! Let’s make everything in their life miserable. Yes, that will make readers care!”

In case you were wondering, no, it didn’t work. 

Just because Jordan and Max are tragic characters did not mean I cared for them or even liked them. If the idea was to build complexity and sympathy that absolutely failed. If anything, I felt frustrated by the circumstances, vexed by the way both boys handled their issues, and galled at how the surrounding world allowed it to happen. 

In addition, going back to the idea that Konigsberg has never met a single teenager in his life, both Max and Jordan fell into such archetypal teenage tropes that I felt my teeth rotting. 

They fell in love after hanging out twice, their reasons for liking each other were abysmal and perfunctory, and if anything, the only reason I actually saw these two working in any way was simply because they were both the only other gay person they knew, which is not even an adequate component. 

The romance felt strained and uncomfortable and the “dates” they went on made me laugh with absurdity. Picking up stuffed animals at midnight to put them at the front of the zoo? Who does that? I didn’t find it charming, I didn’t find it unique, and I didn’t find it cute. 

I found it odd and unrealistic. 

Which, at the end of the day, is what irked me about this book the most: it was unrealistic. 

You might say: “Typedwriter! That’s unfair! You read about vampires and fairies and all sorts of fantasy creatures and worlds!”

You’re right, I do. But fantasy and unrealism are not synonyms. Fantasy I love. Even within fantasy worlds there needs to be rules and order. There are still expectations and realistic behaviors and laws that govern fictional creatures and lands. 

For a novel that is supposed to depict real life and real teenagers The Music of What Happens edges on the side of surreal for me. Surreal is also fine if that is the targeted result. 

In Konigsberg’s case, however, I don’t believe that was the intention. I got the feeling that Konigsberg wanted this to be a real and deep portrayal of love and adolescence and instead I found it ludicrous and nonsensical. 

Everything about this book bordered on nonsensical. Two boys running a food truck without any knowledge or prior experience and ending up making thousands of dollars? Okayyyyy, sure. Jordan’s mother’s behavior, gambling addiction, and speech? Preposterous. The way Max and Jordan talked to each other and their friends? Almost like a robot’s depiction of how they think humans communicate. 

At the end of the day, this book’s unrealistic look at life, love, relationships, trauma, and consequences ruined it for me. It’s certainly not the worst thing I’ve ever read, but most of this book was just a mindless jumble of words that didn’t form a proper connection to me as a reader. 

As listed above, not everything was horrible and I’m not trying to make it out like it was, but for the most part, I didn’t enjoy this book as I stated from the beginning. 

As always, this is just my opinion. I still love that it was recommended and I mean no harm to anyone who does love this book. Perhaps if I was a young teenager I would have connected more with the self-deprecating monologues and pity parties. Perhaps if I wasn't so skeptical I could actually believe two sixteen-year olds could pull off a food truck success, but alas I’m not and I couldn’t. 

If this book brought out tender feelings and emotions for you, however, I am glad because isn’t that why we read? 

Unfortunately, this was not the case for me for The Music of What Happens. 

Recommendation: Unrealistic everything made this book toiling drudgery for me. Take the idea of a cute summer romance on a food truck, apply it to your favorite fandom and OTP for a Valentine's Day prompt, and then happily move on with your life without having the need to pick up The Music of What Happens. 

Score: 3/10

#the music of what happens #bill konigsberg #ya fiction #YA Books #YA literature #book blog #books #book review #Book Recommendations #YA Book Review #book reccs #ya book rec #book rec #bookstagram #LGBTQ fiction #popular fiction

[adonis-koo]

Sorry my asks was too long I had to make an acc and I hope you don’t mind I just re post all my asks as submit instead coz it’s long!

1-9 after reading ch 11 and prob unpopular opinion but I kinda felt like sometimes tease!jk behavior comes across as emotional manipulative with how he tends to guilt trip mc with his double standards when he’s angry.

He makes her feel bad for things he’s doing the same. And what he said was crossing the line and downright cruel. I understand the reasoning but I have to agree with that anon who said he was let off easy

2-9 I feel like he’s so far given a lot of excuse and pass for his toxic behaviour just because he has a messed up past. When I look at the conflict between mc, he tends to lash out towards her a lot when he can’t express his emotions properly or is jealous. It makes mc look like his emotional punching bag at times and coz he’s more aggressive than her, she ends up get dragged by or is affected by his emotions a lot more than hers does his in a negative way. Mc ain’t right too but she never lashed out the way he did.

3-9 Mc ain’t right too but she never lashed out the way he did. Sure he apologized but I feel like it was dismissed and that behavior wasn’t addressed more seriously. him being forgiven so easily doesn’t seem to allow him the chance to experience the full consequences of his actions and he needs to learn he can’t always deal with his pain by self-harm if he did happen to lose mc.

4-9 and mc seems a little over depend on jk’s approval. If him not apologizing would be enough for her to shut down that bad, than it shows her dependence on him might be bordering on unhealthy. It feels like all her approval and acceptance of herself at this point stems from jk’s behavior and words towards her because as you mentioned, her friends wouldn’t be able to pull her out of that situation if she did shut down.

5-9 She seem to feel insecure when he’s not giving her the attention she wants coz of her insecurities of not measuring up. I’m not sure if she’s aware of that and if she is it’s not addressed as much. Her accepting his apologies feels like a temporary bandage to her deeper issues and enabling herself to be more dependent on him instead of a chance for her to face it alone and grow.

6-9 I feel mc needs more chances to find her own worth and love outside of jk. To know she don’t need his love to feel lovable and worthy since he’s not the best person to get it from. She also needs the chance to be stronger and take more assertion and power as well, to balance the power in their relationship because it feels v imbalance now.

7-9 She needs a bit more equal grounds and feel in control and know she has as much power as him. She’s missing this in both sex and her relationship with him since the type of man she likes - the dominant and caretaker type like jk who has a tendency to be in control, can hinder her from growing stronger and independent.

8-9 And jk kinda needs someone more assertive and put him in his place and don’t take no bs from him. Someone who’ll be willing to walk away and have a time out when needed instead of always accepting him back so easily after he apologizes when he messes up. I’m actually glad mc walked out & I wouldn’t blame her if she did decide to time out from him in this ch. I mean he needs to be treated w/ understanding but too much dismissing his behavior will only enable him to continue excuse his problematic side.

9-9 Change requires quite some time and I’m glad they talked it over. But I just felt the way it ended didn’t really addressed fully those toxic sides to their relationship when the negative influences they have on each other outweighs the positive so far. I don’t know if I’m making sense I’m not the best at explaining stuff. But of course they have a lot more room to grow too since the story is not over and I’m excited to see their relationship grow more. I honestly really love your writings and I’m so invested in the characters so I hope this doesn’t sound like I’m being hateful because your writing is amazing.

~~~

(edit: PC tumblr won’t let me use my pink font >:( )

So I’ve read over this very carefully multiple times and gave it a lot of thought because you pointed out a few things I hadn’t quite thought of or saw it in that type of angle before, so first of all, thank you! I NEVER want to portrayal a relationship that is toxic in a non intentional way, so let’s go ahead and dive on in.

Something I’ve tried to avoid is giving ‘excuses’ especially in the sense of using Jungkook’s background for it. Something I used to constantly say (and I should probably start saying again) yes he has a reason to act out the way he does, it does NOT mean it’s okay by any means. But in a way, we use our past experiences as human beings to guide us, bad experiences leave negative effects.

While we could argue Jungkook ‘needs to learn’ by suffering consequences (which to a degree I do agree because as a previous anon said he needs to be held accountable for his actions) it wouldn’t necessarily be effective in this situation because Jungkook is actually very self aware he can’t escape through self-harm or self destruction, he does understand his actions and what he is doing isn’t okay.

But that doesn’t mean he won’t make mistakes- or fuck up big time he’s extremely hotheaded and impulsive and it’s something he CONSTANTLY battles with, something I wanted to portray when writing tease is the very essence of humans, we can be self aware of our destructive tendencies and yet still do them without realizing it in the moment- only to catch ourselves realizing we did it later on. Which is what happened after their fight.

It’s a war between wanting to heal and become healthy while still struggling to let go of his ego and anger that get the better of him. It’s what makes him human, it doesn’t make it right by ANY means, but it’s a struggle of growth, and no matter how much we grow there will always be ups and downs and set backs. That was definitely something I wanted to portray in my writing, while we don’t see this internal battle in Jungkook as the fic isn’t in his POV we do get to see a lot of this in his journal entries.

This is however something we get to explore a little in the upcoming arc and it’s something we heavily explore after the upcoming arc.

Let me state again this probably still sounds like an excuse and it does not in ANY way mean to be, the only thing I can really do is just explain why I’ve written him this way. I can’t justify his actions or defend him (other then his charactization which still isn’t really defending him because it’s more to do in technicality of writing, if that makes sense?) because that would be enabling him and glorifying unhealthy relationships which we don’t do in this house 🤢

So let’s discuss a little about MC’s behavior, she is 100% dependent of Jungkook’s approval and praise and in a more unconscious way, that was pretty much what I was aiming for. But let’s take a look at their entire relationship through the eyes of the story, Jungkook and MC, in reality, set themselves up for this. Ever since they met they accidentally established a power dynamic-

(via mentor/trainee taken a little too seriously even Jimin states in chapter 2 ‘“You don’t see any of us grinding on our trainee’s, so what’s the difference Guk, hm?” Your lips parted at his words slightly, was he insinuating this wasn’t normal?’ This was the first clue that their mentor trainee relationship was not  normal compared to all of the others soloists who had trainee’s)

-that should have never been allowed to flourish before they really got to know one another. Because that’s the first step to what lead to all of this.

It first started innocently, MC just wanting to be seen as desirable by someone cute like Jungkook, and him being her mentor she wanted his approval on knowing she was doing well. But due to their natural tendency to fall into dom and sub combined with their already established mentor trainee without the foundation of a steady platonic friendship beforehand, it quickly descended more and more into MC needing his attention all the time, needing to know she was good enough and etc.

Really, this goes back to a previous ask I answered: Jungkook and MC have a lack of respect and knowledge for/of one another as people, as two individuals outside of the crumbling dynamic they established when they first met. I mean, sitting here thinking about it, I’m really not surprised it became such a toxic fest between them. They completely set themselves up for this unintentionally and now they’re going to have to learn is how to be a couple (and friends) without the power dynamic or else things are bound to fall apart.

Like you said change does take time and it’s something we’ll begin too see slowly developing between them both in the upcoming arc, but the one question that really struck me was your main one. We’re all aware of these toxic dynamics going on between them both, but why weren’t they addressed and talked about? I feel a little dumb for having to think about it when it feels so clear to me now. They themselves, don’t realize just how toxic their relationship has become, how are they supposed to when it’s been set up this way from the beginning? Their (unfair and unhealthy) power dynamic is all they’ve ever experienced one another through.

MC jumped out of one controlling relationship only to enter another more appealing one without realizing it and Jungkook has never even seen a healthy relationship let alone experience one. The only unhealthy aspect they are both aware of are the ridiculous double standards Jungkook had put on her in the past, because it’s the most blatant and dominant problem between them both. All of these other issues are more underlying and they are both oblivious too.

We’ve both said change takes time, but I think as Jungkook and MC begin to see each other as people outside of the power dynamic, and as they get to know each other as people and no longer as caretaker/little, sub/dom, mentor/trainee, these problems will eventually fix themselves, that doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t be orally addressed in the story. But from a writing perspective it leaves me to wonder how do I address this when they the characters aren’t even aware of how unhealthy their relationship is? That’s not really a question for you guys too worry about though lmao.

Anyways I’ll start wrapping things up but one last thing I really liked was your opinion on MC needing more independence and growth on her own. I can’t say for sure that’s what we’ll see in this upcoming arc but it’s something I’m definitely aiming for. As someone who though likes to submit I need a sense of autonomy and identity outside of someone else, so I can appreciate your words for MC!

I genuinely think they can be what they need for one another, but it’s always going to be a work in progress because as humans no one is perfect! It all boils down to what you’re willing to deal with in a relationship and what you aren’t, that of course isn’t an excuse to not work to become a better person or the best you can be! But a natural understanding. Anyways I hope I answered to the best of my ability, I said it once and I’ll say it again, I never ever ever want to portray a relationship that isn’t purposely set up toxically.

And that’s not too say I thought for a moment I had, because I’ve clearly stated in the past that this arc was specifically aimed at their toxicity, but it was more of a moment of panic that: ‘oh shit, I can NOT let this go on in the future of the story’ because like I’ve said before tease is all about character development, it won’t make them perfect but I want them to be a THOUSAND times better at the end of the story then where they are now.

Anyways no worries hun! I just hope this clarified a little bit! MC and Jungkook’s real relationship is only now just beginning to unfold in the upcoming arc, we’re only 1/3 of the way through the story so there’s still plenty of time! Thank you for sticking with it though no matter how frustrating the characters may be! I love getting asks that keep me on my toes, it helps keep me grounded and make sure I don’t accidentally become too biased to one narrative.

Thank you so much for sending in hun! ~~

#missy answers #tease #submission

[goingthroughalot]

Week 4: Not a Review

Movies, Series and Sitcoms, Netflix and Chill, from 1886 up until 2019, media has been equally responsible for the stigma attached to mental illness, be it a rom-com and the dramatization that comes together with the protagonist who displays severe depressive symptoms and suicidal tendencies during heartbreak or the psychological thrillers where Schizophrenia and Bipolar Mood Disorder have been used as plot twists to attract an audience. Growing up, Symptoms of General Anxiety Disorder and the Damsel in Distress have always been an incredible duo whilst Personality Disorders have often been integrated in the roles of villains and have been considered “cool” or “crazy” like Mr Hyde from Strange Case of Dr Jekyll or even The Joker for that matter. However, in between the distortions and stigma, the exaggeration and the subtleness, there has been some gems like A Brilliant Mind, Girl Interrupted, 13 Reasons Why, Inside Out, Perks of being a Wallflower, Little Miss Sunshine and Silver Linings Playbook that have crossed my path. Thanks to Occupational Therapy, I know that they’re far from realistic or accurate , but they have contributed to my knowledge of what these diagnoses are an even if it’s just through my negative criticism.

Substance Abuse has always been portrayed in light of addiction, as the offender, lawbreaker or felon and usually the bad guy always gets the bad ending. However, a recent Netflix release called 6 Balloons directed by Marja-Lewis Ryan displays the journey and burden of care that a sister experiences when admitting her brother into a detox centre in America post relapse due to a heroine addiction. The portrayal of the sister’s anxiety and guilt was displayed metaphorically using the depiction of a person on a boat that constantly feared the high tide whilst attempting to stay afloat and when things didn’t go as planned the boat along with the main character began to sink and the fear of rock-bottom was now a reality. The depiction of a panic attack was displayed by means of the client slowly drowning to when she was unable to hear herself and felt as if her voice wasn’t heard. This metaphor allowed viewers to experience the overwhelming fear and anxiety that the client felt whilst being a strong support system for her brother which was a fairly accurate depiction of the diagnosis. The substance user had gone through the stages of relapse, one which was identified by his sister was not opening his mail and secondly the neglect towards his child. The resistance towards detoxification was rather appropriate because from my little experience and research I’ve noticed that when clients are forced to go to rehabilitation, the rate of relapse increases and until a substance user does not see the value or the opportunity presented to them, the chances of rehabilitation being effective decreases. The physical symptoms displayed from withdrawal such as heavy sweating, joint pain and hot flushes were displayed according to how a substance user feels internally but not exactly how it appears to onlookers. Impulsivity was displayed in a dramatized way by means of the character using water from the toilet pan in order to inject the heroin which is an unfair representation as I feel like it displays an association of substance users as worthless and willing to stoop to any level when its actually the substance use disorder, withdrawal and addiction that causes this impulsivity. The substance users impaired emotional and intellectual insight was displayed by means of the client being unable to understand the situation of his sister who was hosting an event that night but instead was forced to attend to him, who could not be appreciative or co-operative. The portrayal of substance abuse in this movie was amusing for me as I am often unable to fathom why my clients do not have strong support systems and what is the cause of the conflict in their interpersonal relationships. Through this movie I was able to see both sides of stories that I hear almost every fieldwork day, the difficulty that the main character experiences which leads to relapse and during the consumption phase together with the guilt, anxiety and fear that family feel when accessing help.

Today I was excited to be back at my fieldwork venue after a week and a half, I was presented with interesting cases and assessments seem to be getting easier as we go along. I’ve realised the value of an assessment after midterms as this allows me to plan treatment appropriately. I thought that I would have gotten a lot further with assessments however I decided to lend my time to the psychiatric interview as relapse is both my client’s old friend and for me as a therapist to show my competency in finding the missing loop. However, whilst listening to one of my clients life events about his absent support system and the conflict that he experiences with his family, I somehow resonated with his mother and I was able to understand that perhaps she does not want to be in the position that she is in either, however the circumstances have pushed her in this direction and maybe she is unable to keep her boat afloat as depicted in the movie, so she just chose not to board on it instead.

We often learn through the experiences of others, real of fictional, there’s always a character or situation that sticks with us. So even though I watched this movie to gain insight into the way in which substance users felt, I left with a dual package and perspective. Media will always have its pros and cons and I’m well aware that’s its usage and impact is dependent on the media consumer. However, being an equalist and a 21st Century kid, I’m glad that I can see the shift in the portrayal of mental illness in cinema and see the progression of treatment and care displayed from barbaric to equal. This revolution has just begun and so I hope.

Untill Next Week

Zubeida Hassim

30/08/2019

Trailer of 6 Balloons: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnwIGecpz4Q

References

Annals of Internal Medication. 2019. Donald B Louria. [ONLINE] Available at: https://annals.org/aim/article-abstract/681592

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5c7sMAOI9xo

PsycNET. 2019. Heroin Addiction: Theory, Research and Treatment. [ONLINE] Available at: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1976-28184-000

[ethicalmedia17]

Our First Approach to Dissecting Our Thesis (Part I of II)

The Analysis of Cultural Ethics in Fashion & Music | Proposal & Video Methodology

Media Ethics Fall 2017 | Nitin Sawhney

James Murphy, Jamal Perry Young and Jasmyn Baird

October 24, 2017

Key Ethical Dilemma(s) to Investigate

The key ethical dilemmas we plan to investigate circulate around the topic of culture appropriation within entertainment media. We are looking to focus primarily on the fashion and music industry. By incorporating ethical approaches to our topics, we will uncover and gain a greater understanding of the responsibility media has for society and what is ethical or unethical. There is a question of whether the media connects or disconnects society and with the topic of culture appropriation and culture appreciation, we can attempt to decipher the definitions and intent of both.

Hip Hop is a genre of music that was started in the late 70’s by minorities living in the inner city ghettos of New York City. During this time, racial and economic tensions were high. The genre was created in part, as a vehicle of expression to escape the realities of the time. Over time the people who listen to the music, the people who make the music, as well as the communities themselves have changed. There are many variations of hip hop music, as there are many variations of Rock, Jazz, and classical music. If there are these different types of hip hop music why is there only one side that is perpetuated and blanked negatively across the media. The way hip hop is portrayed can create hostile environments for individuals who are of that culture. It creates uncomfortable situations because you know exactly how you're portrayed and what a certain group of people may think of you. When parties of another race indulge in hip hop culture it is often thought to be just a phase and a light hearted joke. You don't usually see or hear negative images or ideology of other races who enjoy hip hop culture.

With regards to fashion media and its message, we plan to research who is responsible for the content creation and how their approach to these matters can be changed. In the fashion industry, designers are inspired  by different cultures that can either be presented as appropriating or appreciating. The purpose of this content reflects the audience and within the audience are those who have an opinion on what is being presented. Those with a voice are essentially the gatekeepers in the society; but are their opinions considered ethical? The gatekeepers are the ones who are giving reason behind what is appropriating and or appreciating in fashion media and if they are ethically just. Are their insights doing more harm by separating cultures from merging or are they exploiting the right to pay credit to where it’s due? Studying different cases of where designers get their inspiration is heavily influenced within this project. Another ethical dilemma I want to investigate is if the media is maintaining their responsibility of truth telling. All of the cases we choose to study will relate back to most ethical principles from our class discussions and readings.

Relevant Context

The entertainment industry is heavily focused on black culture, especially in the music and fashion markets. Drawing examples from the history of rap and hip hop culture of how it has evolved over time will exemplify our points of appropriating from marginalized communities. Within the fashion industry there are media platforms that have executed culture appreciation rather than appropriation and we want examine their ethical practices. Teen Vogue for example, published an article “7 Girls Show What Beauty Looks Like When It’s Not Appropriated” the article explains the importance of where their cultures come from and how it can easily be stolen and capitalized by the majority. Furthermore, we plan to reach out to a former Parsons design student who incorporates other cultures within her design process and how she is showing appreciating the various cultures through unity rather than appropriating and stealing. However, no matter how well these media producers are able to contribute to the narrative, it can and will be still criticized by their audience (the gatekeepers).  As for examples of appropriating; researching Valentino’s Spring 2016 Collection of their “African-themed” show struggled with diversity which led to controversy. Also, Victoria Secret’s model Karlie Kloss walked down the runway strutting in a Native American headdress. Again, our point is to exploit the practices being shown in the negative examples to hopefully come to a solution and to provide more ethics behind their failed ideas.

Professional/Personal Backgrounds to Topic Relevance

{Jasmyn} Personally, this topic is meaningful to me because I am able to challenge my own thinking and attempt to find answers to the difficult questions of cultural ethics. Since I am interested in public relations and communications, the ethical knowledge I gain through this research experience is beneficial for me to incorporate in the real world. Bringing a different perspective and potentially educating publications within media could enhance the way they handle and strategize certain situations with ethics. In addition, my professional work has inspired me to research this topic more in depth. I have interned with a Fashion Design Parsons alumni. She has been accused of appropriating different cultures from her design process and inspiration. I then realized that an expression of art could be culturally criticized due to societal ethics. Knowing the importance of doing my own research and having awareness, will allow me to be apart of the conversation in a more productive way.

{Jamal} This project will prove to be meaningful to me because I am subjected to some of the negative aspects of appropriation and I have my own personal experiences within it. Being an African American male who grew up in the hip-hop diaspora, I can explore the moral panic society and how it has been placed on my culture and opened for others. My personal background will give me the leverage to attack this subject in a rational and ethical fashion. As a child I grew up having dreadlocks and attending private schools, which turned into an altercation after the city deemed it unsanitary. In my adulthood I have a beard, which can be characterized as unprofessional for me but not for a European. Studying abroad in Adelaide South Australia, I was able to learn about the indigenous culture and the importance’s of knowing your roots. I was able to speak to leaders and representatives from those groups and cover the importance of cultural ethics and the respect society has for them. Also being able to apply my life experiences to this assignment will prove to be beneficial for my professional growth.

{James} I would really like to focus on the way hip hop culture is portrayed in the media. There are many stigmas and stereotypes attached to the culture of hip hop and it is largely due to the way the media characterizes hip hop musicians their communities and the people who indulge and enjoy the art form. In most respects the culture is demonized as crime loving, violence seeking, drug abusing, uneducated fools who go around looking for trouble. This is the furthest thing from the truth and is a huge ethical problem. This type of generalizing leads to unfair assessments of people of color who may not even listen too or agree with the messages that are the cause of these bland portrayals throughout mainstream media. These portrayals of the youth hip hop culture are a direct reflection of why a young black male in America can be in a neighborhood, followed and gunned down with no repercussion on the premise because he was wearing a threatening hoodie. This and many instances like it, happens every day and I wish to unpack why this group can be villainized daily while other communities of people can commit heinous atrocities and are never generalized or pre judged for how a small sum act.

Expected Outcomes

The outcome we expect is to explain what culture appropriation is, how it affects society, and examples of people that successfully use art to ethically express cultural values. We want to change the way society views black culture. Media companies need to realize their audience and their reach as a platform to educate and inform. Dissecting the meanings and ethics behind cultural appropriation can create new perspectives, it can either keep society apart or bring us closer together. Our perspectives and sources of information derive from the media; which means the producers of media (i.e. editors, photographers, designers, etc) need to understand the ethics behind the message that is being conveyed in order to create the change.

The Analysis of Cultural Ethics

Within Fashion & Music

VIDEO METHODOLOGY

Our Plan(s):

PODCAST

WE HAVE DISCUSSED INTERVIEWING DESIGN STUDENTS WITHIN THE GREATER NEW YORK AREA AND NEW YORK DESIGN UNIVERSITIES AND CAMPUSES TO DISCUSS THE ETHICS BEHIND THEIR DESIGN PROCESS. ESSENTIALLY WE ARE LOOKING TO CONTACT THE CONTENT CREATORS IN THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY AND TRY TO UNDERSTAND AND UNCOVER THE ETHICS  BEHIND THEIR CREATION.

QUESTIONS THAT MAY ARISE:

WHERE DOES YOUR INSPIRATION COME FROM?

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON CULTURAL APPROPRIATION AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU?

DO YOU THINK THE MEDIA HOLDS A RESPONSIBILITY TO INFORM AND EDUCATE?

AS A CONTENT CREATOR; DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO BE INFORMED? WHY OR WHY NOT?

THESE QUESTIONS ARE JUST AN EXAMPLE OF HOW WE PLAN TO CONSTRUCT OUR PODCAST. JAMES, JASMYN AND JAMAL WOULD BE HOSTS AND GIVE A REASONABLE BACKGROUND TO THE PROJECT AND WHAT WE PLAN TO ACHIEVE.

YOUTUBE PANEL DISCUSSION VIDEO

FOLLOWING THE SIMILAR IDEA FROM THE SOUNDCLOUD FORMAT.  WE COULD ALSO VIDEO RECORD SOME INTERVIEWS OF DESIGNERS OR HAVE A PANEL DISCUSSION AND MAKE IT VERY INFORMAL AND CONVERSATIONAL.

INFORMATIONAL DOCUMENTARY

ANOTHER IDEA IS TAKING THE INTERVIEWS TO THE STREETS OF NEW YORK OR STUDENTS FROM OUR SCHOOL AND SEEING THE INSIGHTS AND VIEWS FROM OUR EVERYDAY PEERS OF HOW CULTURAL APPROPRIATION AND CULTURAL APPRECIATION AFFECTS OUR SOCIETY.

INTERVIEW REPRESENTATIVES FROM:

PARSONS STUDENTS

FIT STUDENTS

PRATT INSTITUTE  DESIGN STUDENTS

LOCAL MEDIA PROFESSIONALS

ie.)  BLOGGERS, PHOTOGRAPHERS, WRITERS

FASHION DESIGN PROFESSORS

11/29/ 2017

QUESTIONS FOR INTERVIEWEES :

1. FOR THOSE WHO DON’T KNOW; CAN YOU GIVE US A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF YOUR CLOTHING DESIGN/ BRAND?

WHAT ARE THE AESTHETICS?

2. WHAT MADE YOU GET INTO THE INDUSTRY?

3. WHERE DOES YOUR INSPIRATION COME FROM?

3. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON CULTURAL APPROPRIATION?

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU?

4. WHAT FLAWS DO YOU SEE WITHIN THE FASHION INDUSTRY?

WHAT SETS YOU APART FROM OTHER BRANDS?

5. DO YOU THINK THE MEDIA HOLDS A RESPONSIBILITY TO INFORM AND EDUCATE ABOUT SOCIAL ISSUES?

6. AS A CONTENT CREATOR; DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO BE INFORMED?

WHY OR WHY NOT?

7. IS YOUR CULTURAL IDENTITY SOMETHING YOU HAVE EMBRACED?

HOW HAS IT SHAPED YOUR WORK?

8. WITH THE WORK YOU HAVE PRODUCED DO YOU THINK IT IS CREATING A SOCIAL IMPACT?

9. WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR DESIGN INSPIRATIONS FROM? AND WHY?

10. IS THERE A CHALLENGE WITH HOW YOUR WORK IS GOING TO BE PRESENTED, SINCE IT IS BEING REFERENCED FROM OTHER CULTURES?

11. WALK ME THROUGH YOUR DESIGN PROCESS - HOW DOES A COLLECTION BEGIN TO BE DESIGNED OR THOUGHT OUT?

12. DO YOU THINK YOUR BRAND MESSAGE IS APPROPRIATELY AND CORRECTLY RECEIVED BY YOUR AUDIENCE? (IF YOU ARE AWARE)

[theartfulmegalodon]

My Unpopular Opinions of the Wonder Woman movie:

First let me say, I’m not trying to puncture anyone’s balloon of goodwill for this film.  I don’t hate it.  It was okay.  But I was reading yet another glowing, worshipful article on just how great it was from FilmCriticHulk this morning (along with his recent Spider-man: Homecoming article in which he bashes Marvel’s latest movies for their character development, then contrasts it by praising the WW movie yet again) and it prompted me to finally put down my feelings all in one place.  As someone who really appreciates good storytelling and good character building, it is frustrating when it seems I’ve seen a completely different movie from everyone else.

I realize that saying anything negative about the Wonder Woman film is just asking to be shunned around here, and around some of the prominent film review sites, but in response to the FilmCriticHulk article  I happened upon today, I addressed to him in a comment this small essay in disagreement.  I’ve copied it here.  If you absolutely love this movie and its portrayal of WW, and don’t want to hear a single word against it, then please pass this by.  I’m not trying to take away anyone’s joy, here.  But if you don’t mind reading a long, off the cuff post about all the ways in which I believe the movie failed to give us a good Wonder Woman, then please proceed.  These issues have been nagging at me for awhile.

[As I said, addressing this to FilmCriticHulk, I wrote:]

I realize this is an incredibly unpopular opinion around here, but I have to disagree...  Hulk, you like to (deservedly) call out a lot of films for paying lip service to a theme or message without physically or dramatically backing it up.  I'm not sure why you can't see it here.

I understand that Diana is supposed to be this paragon of empathy and female empowerment, but how can anyone possibly relate to her?  (Again, I realize I'm in the minority.)  Her character barely has an arc, and her ability to fight for justice (or whatever) wherever she can is hardly empowering when she's INVINCIBLE.  Seriously, there were NO STAKES for her in this movie.  We never saw her get hurt, or lose a fight.  It sort of comes down to what makes a hero, for me.  I can't help but compare it to Captain America: The First Avenger.  It's the parable about courage: courage isn't the absence of fear (that'd be Diana), courage is being afraid but doing it anyway.  In Cap's story, we see Steve Rogers doing the right thing before he has any strength or influence to back it up.   As a skinny shrimp, he's the only one to jump on a grenade without hesitation.  He uses cleverness where brute strength would fail.   (Retrieving the flag during training by pulling the pole's hinge out.)   "A weak man knows the value of strength."  It's so poignant, so admirable.  What makes Diana a hero?  She's just doing what she was trained to do since childhood, what she was told she was made for, destined for.  She's never known anything but strength.

And I'd like to address that No Man's Land scene: everyone and their mother thinks this is the best scene since sliced bread, and it fell absolutely flat for me.  As I said, it means nothing that she "defies" the men telling her not to go, because she's INVINCIBLE.  Not a single bullet touches her.  She takes no damage.  And she knew she wouldn't.  That's the thing.  She knew she could do it, while the men up to that point had NO REASON to think she could.  Why would Steve think she could handle a barrage of gunfire?  He already saw other Amazons get killed by bullets.  He has no reason to think Diana can survive such an attempt.

I hate, actually hate, that that moment is framed as "Diana defies all who doubt her, and has the moral fortitude to do what the quivering menfolk won't: face down danger to rescue innocent lives!"  That's incredibly unfair.  These men aren't abandoning the innocents because they think it's not worth the risk; they are accepting the terrible reality that they physically CANNOT save them.  It's called “No Man's Land” for a reason.  They know they would literally all die in the attempt and it would waste even more human lives for no gain.  So to have Diana's big moment be "empowering" because she dismisses their warnings and proves them wrong is just... kind of disgusting to me.  Paragon of empathy?  If she was, and if she had even a little bit of tactical intelligence, she would feel for these men that she knows and the horrible no-win situation they're in.  She would acknowledge their powerlessness.  In my opinion, this moment could easily have been actually empowering if instead of "Fine, stay cowering in your trenches; I'm gonna go do what's RIGHT!" Diana sympathized with the men, and it was "I see now; you can't save them, but it's going to be alright! You don't realize it, but I'm strong enough to take their fire and make it across!  I can help you help them!  Come on, men; I'll lead the charge!"

And that's just the one scene.  I have a problem with her character for the entire movie.  I don't find her naivety charming, because she never seems willing to learn.  She actually comes across as quite stupid.  It's as though her Amazon upbringing did quite a lot of damage, ensuring she was ignorant of so many things that you'd think they'd teach her (tactical warfare, for instance) but at the same time filled with righteousness!  I mean, she bulldozes her way through this movie, unwilling to hear a single argument that goes against her preconceived plans.  (For Zeus's sake, she can't comprehend the simple concept of "The battle is really far away; we have to arrange things to get there, so we need to go THIS way before we can go THAT way.")  Her boundless confidence is not inspiring, since again, she's INVINCIBLE, and she KNOWS it, while the others around her DON'T.  Of course she can afford to be insistent and unyielding.  She knows she won't lose.  Did you notice?  Nothing ever actually humbles her in this movie. She doesn't even admit that she might be wrong about something until the general's death.  She is eventually made sad because her favorite man dies, but before that - in fact, outside of Steve and to a lesser extent the three other guys - she never seems to connect to humanity on any personal level.  She observes them from afar, and has Steve explain their behavior to her.  It's all very detached, very academic.  And then when she sees the people at war injured and struggling and wants to stop to help each one, it should make me believe she cares, and yet...

It's the childishness of her approach to "helping".  Again, those Amazons who raised her made her believe that she was destined to fulfill this fairy tale purpose: defeat Ares and thereby magically flip the switch in humanity to make them all peaceful and loving again.  She believes she is meant to Help People, even though we never see this behavior in her towards her fellow Amazons.  We never see her helping any of them, being kind or encouraging to them, showing any kind of strength of character there.  There's no innate "goodness"; she's just been programmed to someday carry out this concept of Helping People.  And throughout the movie, she makes no room for nuance.  She never once changes her mind, not until the very, very end.  She approaches the entire world with the stubborn, black-and-white views of a child.  When she sees people being good, well that's just their natural state.  When she sees them be bad, well that's just Ares.  Gotta go defeat that Ares!

And talk bout fumbling your message!  For half a second there, when she's killed the general and the war doesn't magically stop, and Steve is there frantically trying to get the concept of "maybe you're wrong" through her thick skull (honestly the most believable person in the entire film), there was a glimmer of hope that she might have to adjust her perception of the world and of humanity, and admit that there are no easy answers.  Maybe it would have led to her finding a more genuine, personal reason for "fight the good fight anyway" instead of just fighting evil because she's "supposed" to.  Buuuuut NOPE! Here's your big easy answer!  Here's your simple bad guy to defeat!  And then again, for half a second, with all of Ares' jawing about humanity being plenty terrible all on their own without his help, Diana gets to give her "this is what I've learned about humanity: they can hate AND love!" speech, you think the movie will admit to that nuance and leave it on that note... buuuuut NOPE!  As soon as Ares is killed, the fog of war literally blows away on the wind!  Soldiers of both sides take off their helmets and embrace!  The war is over!  Easy-peasy!

[This still addressing Hulk about his articles:]  You write here about WW being slow to anger, because she's more interested in fighting the good fight.  You write in your recent Spider-man essay that WW "is about not staying put, not out of juvenile frustration, but out of the living heart of empathy and taking responsibility".  I don't buy either of these things, not for a second!  You say it's backed up beautifully through dramatization...  no it's not! Don't take this as a personal attack; I just saw a very different movie than you, it seems.  Diana may not be "not staying put" because she wants to join the big boys or something, but her reasons are no less shallow.  As I said, I don't see her fighting out of love or empathy - she's doing it because she was raised to, told her whole life that she was meant for one thing only.  And she's never proven wrong, or given reason to change.  From your Spider-man take-down of Marvel, you write that Marvel movies are about "making you feel like you did or learned something you really didn't do or learn. Out of the side of their mouths, they [tell] you all about how *wink wink* you don't have to really have to change, because you're already awesome."  What exactly is the difference here??  And what now?  Diana chooses to hide herself away as a mild-mannered archaeologist or whatever for 100 years?  While occasionally... donning her flashy costume and leaping off tall things to go fight... what?   We're never told what she's doing these days exactly.  Or why she retreated from heroism for a century.  I just have so many problems.

At some point in the movie, I realized that I was watching a child.   Mentally, morally, she was a child approaching the world.  An invincible child, but that only meant she never had to reevaluate herself.  Her one-dimensional view of humanity became (gasp!) TWO dimensional, but other than that, she learned nothing, and her personal character had no arc.  And I was reminded, painfully, that these superhero comics were mostly meant for children.  Attractive heroes, flashy action, and simplistic morals, very clear-cut right right vs wrong.  And I just made my peace with that.  This movie will win over a ton of little girls and boys, and is a perfectly fine role model for them.  But I just can't understand how so many reviewers and adult fans think this is somehow a phenomenal movie, or that she's a phenomenal hero.  "Wonder Woman done right!" they say.

My very last thought is about that "Wonder Woman done right" opinion.  I will readily admit I've never read a full WW comic, but through everything my friends, WW fans, and the internet in general have told me, Diana is supposed to be the hero who wants peace, who loves and feels for humanity, who fights when she has to, but only as a last resort, right?  Remember that whole "We have a saying, my people.   Don't kill if you can wound, don't wound if you can subdue, don't subdue if you can pacify, and don't raise your hand at all until you've first extended it."  Um, where was THAT Wonder Woman?  This Diana didn't solve a single problem except with violence. It was her first instinct.  The Amazons in the movie raised her to be nothing but a warrior (despite, again, paying lip-service to just how good and pure she was, too good for humanity).  When she was given new clothes, her first thought was how to fight in them.  She snuck into a fancy party with a “god-killer” sword.  When in the trenches, being told of a complicated stalemate, she didn't spare a thought for how to proceed, she just plowed straight ahead.  Never once did we see her even try to solve a problem with understanding, with placation, with compromise, with kindness.  Nor did we see her try to outsmart anyone at any point.  The only possible example I can think of is her telling the one guy "Who will sing for us?" to keep him from leaving.  Does that count?  It actually seemed out of character for her.

[Yeah, I’ve noticed Tumblr building altars to that one tiny scrap of dialogue.]

So, sorry to drop an essay on you, but it's been driving me a little batty that I never see anyone pointing any of these things out.  (Though my friend, who I saw it with, came away with the same impression.  We're both kind of baffled at the over-the-top praise.)  In conclusion, the movie was actually FINE.  It did clearly borrow a whole lot from other movies, and it did have a weak, cartoonish villain and a thematically shallow ending, but it was overall assembled nicely enough.  It was watchable.  It showed women in a good light while showing Not All Men to be sexist pigs.  It had enough flashy action and likeable characters to be a Good Movie. 

I just felt they missed something essential with her characterization.  I couldn't really admire her, because she was just blindly, ignorantly blundering towards her "destiny".  I couldn't be inspired by her, because she was a literal god who could do things no one else (like me) could ever hope to do.  I couldn't relate to her, because she couldn't relate to us.   When Captain America first ignored his orders and crossed into enemy territory to rescue captured troops, he returned marching on the ground with the host of them at his side, and then immediately submitted himself for discipline.  When Diana charged in to save the town, it ended with her standing on high, with the adoring little townspeople she saved cheering her from below.  A hero who is one of us v. a hero who stands above us. 

I think I would salute this Wonder Woman as she soared past me, and cheer her on, but I would follow Captain America into battle in a heartbeat.

#movies #wonder woman #unpopular opinion #movie critique #I'm really not trying to step on any toes here #Just felt the need to lay it all out finally #just to get it out of my system