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shadeslayer · 6 months

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I’m sorry, how is Killers Of The Flower Moon racist? I saw your tags on a gifset of Lily Gladstone as Mollie and was confused.

youre totally fine, dw! first disclaimer is ive not seen it, but also i dont plan to. i cant vouch for how racist the actual narrative within the movie, for me its more that its situated in a media landscape of films where i saw it advertised and i said to myself "oh i know exactly what that is :/ i thought we were done with this but i guess not"

theres a lot of stuff that i can ramble abt bc its very interesting and theres a million different ways this all plays out even if it all comes from the same source of anti-native thinking. but in particular w this movie its that i know it was gonna be trauma porn possibly mixed with imperialist nostalgia (aka mourning the loss of us/our culture even while actively killing and oppressing us)

there was a really good article i saw a while ago and shared some of the quotes from that talks about this movie specifically! i wont just repost the quotes i pulled before, but in particular for thinking of this movie and not movies in general:

I am not from the Osage community. The response from the tribe about the film, which looks at the events surrounding the deaths of more than 60 Osage people in Oklahoma in the 1960s, has been relatively favorable: many believe that this is a story that should be told, that it will raise awareness and do some good. I hope they are right. I hope something good comes out of this film. I hope the Natives who worked on it continue to have thriving careers and have the opportunity to make better stories for future generations. That doesn't change the fact that I walked into the cinema knowing that I was about to view several rich white men's interpretations of a violent chapter in Native history.

"Killers of the Flower Moon" opens up with a preface by Scorsese, who talks about how he's been wanting to make this film for a long time. He calls the project "proper and authentic." I am reminded of "The Revenant" and how it was praised for its authenticity and "respect." Authenticity is a euphemism non-Native filmmakers use for what Natives call "trauma porn." They think showing the absolute worst of what happened to us in grisly detail is somehow respecting us. The Osage in this film are described by Robert De Niro's character as "sickly people" whose time will run out. And sure enough, the first 30 minutes of film is a collage of dead Natives. As the film continues, hour after hour after hour, more Native men and women are killed off. [descriptions of various grisly deaths depicted in the movie.] Other than [one character being seen serenely walking into the afterlife], there is no moment of healing and catharsis for the Natives in the audience. Our wounds are reopened and left festering for the entertainment and "education" of non-Native viewers.

the full article is really good and i recommend it esp since its a relatively short read, and it really sums up how i felt seeing this movie being advertised and how im sure a lot of native people felt about it U_U

tldr generally is i cant say if the movie itself is like, terribly racist, but at the least it exists in a landscape where non-native media makers continue to find excuses to show native people being brutalized over and over again all while getting to say its because they "care so much" (if they cared theyd support n uplift native voices telling these stories) & native people are all aware of it and pretty much tired of it. so even the ones that may be doing good are, for many people (like my cynical ass lol), beyond the benefit of the doubt and at best are racist out of ignorance of the legacy theyre contributing to

#dont worry about liking or giffing the movie fr - its sooo good especially to see native actors & actresses get recognition and love #im just grumpy about The State Of Hollywood. and at least this movie is giving information abt a real life thing #and not trying to be 'progressive' with some made up colonial bullshit like last of the mohicans #anompolili #i hope this helps!! and fr dont like. take my grumpiness personally i just like to complain abt ntv stuff all the time on my tumblr xD

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brothfan1997 · 3 years

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do u think john and june can coexist?

siiiiggghhh ok this is a complicated question and as a tme person i dont know if i can fully speak to the nuances of this conversation. my first point is just that i think the energy people put into this issue would be better directed not at other fans but at the actual writers of hs2 who have put exactly zero effort into representing her (i do not read hs2) in the source material thus far. [putting this under a cut because i have Problems and wrote like 700 words about this]

the intangible nature of “canon” is like, literally an entire aspect of the plot heavily explored in homestuck proper. canonization can be given and taken away freely within the actual confines of the story, as a narrative device, and this concept is intricately intertwined with the relationship between Homestuck and its audience. the main characters are observed by an outside audience even within the story, and interactions from observers have the power to make changes in-universe, in a literal sense (readers picking actions), a meta sense (andrew hussie and the MSPA reader as actual characters), and just textually, when the main character, one J. Egbert, leaves the narrative and becomes an character outside of the author’s control with the power to alter reality. if i was going by a strict interpretation of the actual plot of homestuck, technically nothing andrew hussie says has any bearing on any character that has retcon powers. but im not going to do that, because that is kind of dumb.

i think these are the sort of mental backflips the hs2 team are doing to justify their avoidance of the issue of actually canonizing june. because from my point of view, right now, she is not canon. she is not mentioned once, in any of the source material. again, this is a fault of the writers, but lets ignore that, and assume that she is canon by toblerone law, as im guessing that this is what this ask is actually trying to get at. people argue that oh, shes canon in this timeline and not others, which tbh i think is another transphobic backflip, using the plot mechanics of homestuck to justify ignoring a characters transition. making content for the hs2 cast on earth C that features a cis john is absolutely transphobic; john and june cannot coexist on earth C.

HOWEVER: the thing is that june isnt a real person, existing as a conscious being at only one fixed point in time. shes a character in a story, one that has existed for almost 12 years, and that character can be consumed and interpreted at any point in her journey. every version, every moment of this character exists at the same time, and i dont think its a disservice to junes character to interpret and make content for her as she is, pre-transition, in homestuck proper. there are certainly ways to do it wrong, and there are certainly people who do it to be hateful, but i dont think this issue is completely black and white. at the end of the day, homestuck is a self contained story, and (when it comes to, like, making act 5 fanart) nobody is obligated to reimagine the original material based on second hand information from a ~dubiously canon~ sequel (i think that whole thing is bullshit for other reasons that i wont go into. take responsibility for the writing choices you make).

i think this is a really unique situation of having a character transition AFTER the actual story takes place, which really hasnt been represented in media before at all. i would really like to see the hs2 writers do a good job, and i would love for the homestuck fandom to interact with the characters in a way that is respectful to their future journeys, because it is so so so important to respect people that see themselves in those journeys. i really think the most important thing to consider with june discourse is just... is that person being transphobic? are their headcanons motivated by transphobia? is this person trying to erase a canon identity or are they just exploring a character as they have been represented. anyway. i love june egbert and i just think we should hold writers to the same level of accountability as we hold the fans. i do think this is a really important conversation to have tho especially as we have more trans representation in media so please let me know if you have any thoughts on anything ive said here :-)

#i am SOOOO sorry about how long this got lol #maybe dont reblog this because again. i am not a trans woman i am nonbinary #Anonymous #june discourse / idk what to tag this

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jewpacabruhs · 5 years

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bruv im still jus. wow. theres so much to say but. do u kno how good it feels... to be jewish, to accidentally fixate on one eric cartman & love him more than any other fictional character for almost seven years now, and then to see him in a little yarmulke, standing at kyle's side while he recites from the torah? do you know how validating that is?

i gotta get personal for a second here. idk how, but in the last few yrs my relationship with my own jewishness has been deeply influenced and intertwined with south park, as ironic and ridiculous as that sounds. i grew up secular, completely nonpracticing; as a child, i was only ethnically jewish, and saw jews as strictly an ethnicity, and a popularly hated one to boot. and it scared me. ive talked about it before, but as a child hearing about the shoah and about antisemitism, i couldn't understand. i thought it was looks for a while, which confused me, because ive got blonde hair and blue eyes and all my family that got caught up in nazi europe did/do too. i remember thinking as a second grader that i would've been spared for that reason; why didn't a good chunk of my family? but i grew up in a mormon neighborhood, with plenty of other blonde kids, and they stayed away from me like i had a disease. this was before puberty, before my hair got a little frizzier and my nose got a little bigger, when i looked just like any of them. but already, at age 8, i was an outsider. i wasn't one of them and i never would be, and they wanted me to know that.

and then i started to get it. it clicked even more once i got to high school and got called a kike every other day - but prior to high school, you know what i found, and you know what really pushed me towards understanding what being a secular jew in america meant? south park. and as a dumb little sixth grader with no critical thinking skills, you know what shaped my opinions on my own people? south park.

and that's good and bad. good because i do sincerely think kyle broflovski is excellent fictional representation for jewish people, maybe one of the top few ever shown on television. he gets on my nerves at times, but he's good through and through, he's well written and multi-dimensional, he's not a walking stereotype but he still has prominent jewish features that jewish viewers can look at and see in themselves, his morals and viewpoints and beliefs are obviously deeply influenced by judaism, hes deeply proud of his heritage and culture... and that all means a lot to me. and by the amount of jewish sp fans that adore kyle, it means a lot to them too.

the bad thing is, yeah, i can't deny it, during older seasons, cartman's treatment of kyle probably taught a lot of young and dumb viewers how to view jews in real life. have i, as a kyman shipper and cartman stan, justified that within a fictional and narrative context? yes. but it doesn't change the real-world effect; south park, but specifically cartman, since he's the mouthpiece, likely did cause some easily-influenced people to pick up antisemitic beliefs. did this contribute to the rise of the alt-right? debatable, but to some extent, possibly. was that m&t's intention and should south park be canceled and denounced? fuck no, i'll always love it lol, and fuck censorship. but it is something that should be taken into account.

matt and trey clearly regret that, and understand that it's no longer acceptable or fitting or needed in today's sociopolitical climate - or, okay, maybe they don't even regret it; they just understand that when fiction becomes reality, the fictional jackass isn't necessary when there's one right there in real life, sitting in the oval office, yeah? old cartman doesn't deserve or need a voice, not when real, awful people actually have one right now. and m&t are actively trying to change cartman for the better and really, really backpedal on his bigotry, while still doing it in a way that makes sense from a story-telling perspective. it's not a complete uncharacteristic change of character; it's shifting with the times and writing it into the character's arc so that it's a logical and plausible development in cartman's story.

cartman's behavior in the last few seasons is consistent character development. m&t themselves are pushing it, and clearly it's sincere; cartman's not faking. unless they're building up a surprise twist over the last, what, three to four seasons, that he was faking the whole time! woah! if so it better be a damn good pay off, because that's a lot of time invested. though that seems more forward-thinking than sp tends to be. they're intentionally stuck in the short-term, aren't they? plot-wise. but their character development is pretty long-term, and right now, cartman is consistently decent, and if it comes across as faking, it's because cartman's over-dramatic in how he speaks, and trey does that intentionally.

that's a tonal thing, and it's hard to say in a fictional character, but as someone who struggles with empathy myself, empathy and sincerity don't go hand in hand. you can lack empathy while still caring enough to sincerely and wholeheartedly apologize for something and mean that apology. not feeling remorse doesn't mean you can't apologize genuinely; the two don't go hand in hand. you can be mentally ill in any capacity, even a psychopath, and still deeply care about things or people, just not in the way someone else might. so you can headcanon that cartman's still a psycho/sociopath, though right now that's actually kinda going against canon, but don't rain on other's parades if they're happy he's exhibiting healthy growth. besides, and i repeat: what could cartman exploit out of faking sincerity for several seasons? nothing, so why bother? he wouldn't, unless it's literal in-show subconscious growth.

does that mean he's magically developed empathy? no. is it becoming less probable he's a legitimate sociopath/psychopath (while still possibly having better-disguised antisocial tendencies)? yes. does he seem to have better coping or anger management skills? somehow, yes! he seems to be legitimately healthier. does this mean he's no longer accountable for his past misdeeds, and even his present, less-severe ones? of course not! and you can still hate him all you want, but modern cartman is not the same as older cartman, and shouldn't be treated as such. because is this growth? absolutely.

he's clearly healthier, even happier. he's less angry, he's still a little shit but he no longer relies on bigotry or cruelty or anger to get the negative attention he thrives off, rather he gravitates towards being simply annoying. you know why he called ice? pettiness, immaturity, a little bit of spite, and a need for silly revenge. he's being intentionally petty, but going about it in a sly but no longer psychopathic way. less hannibal lector and more, idk, regina george, lol. extremely different on the antagonist scale. and cartman's been both.

and maybe it's personal bias on what type of human is worse within fiction, someone unstable and bizarre with violent tendencies (which is how he's come to be viewed in pop culture & some of the fandom, as a result of eps like scott tenorman must die), versus someone inclined towards pettiness and more silent and, i dunno, social-status-and-pride-driven types of revenge (cartman in general when he's not being particularly awful, tbh)... but i think it'd be pretty universally agreed that the latter is at the very least more tolerable, manageable, and even likeable - and certainly more redeemable. let's put it this way; if cartman continued on the path he was on, he'd be one of those tiki holding fucks, wearing a confederate flag hat, and he'd treat kyle soooo much worse. instead, m&t have turned him into a hypocritical false-woke ignorant dumbass - but that's strongly less problematique than it's counterpart, and it works.

because cartman simply serves a different narrative purpose now. and that's not sloppy writing; it's well-timed evolution of a character that stepped into a pre-9/11, pre-trump, pre-social media world! so much has changed, and south park is reflecting that in its characters, most notably in a character who was stuck in the, what, 1960s with his beliefs? that was fine way back when, but matt&trey are smart dudes - they understand that sometimes things have to change. besides, they love cartman, too. he's their favorite. but they understand that when real people act like him, it's not so comedic or satirical or funny, & they don't want to look at cartman, at their creation who they've invested twenty-two years in, and see the all-too-real hate of modern radical white america.

i think we know enough about matt&trey's social stances these days, and the empathy they've seemed to develop after having kids, to understand that they're no longer in their "apathy is best, everyone is stupid" phase. current south park is left-leaning and admittedly preachy at times, but i wouldn't want it any other way. g-d knows it's better this way than if they'd embraced and decided to appeal to their right-libertarian following instead. cartman's evolved in a progressive and positive way, and it's fucking dope, especially to us cartman stans who so badly want him to be good. and he is good right! he's doing so good!

and i know im up my own ass rn but yall know how much i myself have campaigned for jewish kyman/cartman and how much i just deeply and truly adore it, and to see it actualized in a canon episode to some extent? that meant the world to me. i couldn't believe my eyes. i was tellin lai - that's the most genuine, pure, almost violent happiness ive felt in my soul in years. that was like a straight shot of serotonin to the heart. that simple little scene made me so fucken happy yall dont even know. & theres a lot to be said about the political commentary and plenty of other people are analyzing that, but im a simple jewish kyman & cartman stan and boy ive been fed good fjskfkdkdkfk!!!

#in other news #sickly jew shay had her vision white out at school today and almost fell down the stairs #my grandpa has been given a week to live #AND the anniversary of the most important person in my life's death is approaching #and i turn fucking 19 soon and i always have birthday crisises #so fucken superb!#in happier news family guy airs soon and it's unfortunately still a fixation of mine so im unjustly excited #lissen stewie's worn a yarmulke twice in fg canon and i cried then #i love cartman approximately... 50x more than stewie jus bc of longevity and. nostalgia and favoritism #i was in legitimate hysterics #sp continues to be my light at the end of the tunnel jfkskf #mine #txt #sp spoilers #theres so much here im sorry i ramble sm #i struggle w wordz and usin em ironically

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lizzybeth1986 · 5 years

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What are your overall thoughts on Madeleine as a character including what transpired between her and Hana? I've felt iffy about her, but I'm not sure how to phrase that. I think you can better articulate and explain than I could 😅

Not to boast…but you’ve come to the right person (besides @callmetippytumbles who has made excellent points time and again about how the writing centers Madeleine in ways that they should have been centering Hana). I have written A LOT about that issue especially. Here are some of my meta on that if you’re interested:

Brushed Under the Carpet: Madeleine as an Alternate LI (this was written after TRR Book 3 Chapter 9, where they were subtly hinting at making them a ship).

QT on Book 3 Chapter 16 (Tbh thankfully the bit I was predicting here - Madeleine getting the coming out story that should have been Hana’s - wound up not happening, though part of it could have been from them having to scrap the entire idea after the backlash).

How Do You Fix Hana’s Characterization in TRR? (this essay listed a whole set of changes both to help strengthen Hana’s storyline and to give her the attention and validation she deserved but didn’t get in the actual story)

This replay to an ask posted after 3 of the 4 writers on the team claimed Hana was the kind of person they would marry.

A lot of this illustrates my problems with Madeleine on a level of characterization (and Tippy covers the aspects that deal not with Hana, but with Madeleine's half-baked redemption arc and how the narrative tries really hard to convince us that she does her job well, even when she isn’t doing it properly).

With regards to Madeleine herself, I feel like they started out fully intending that the reader hate her and view her as a rival, before turning the tables and establishing her as “innocent” of the conspiracy (though still extremely unlikeable). In narrative structure, the bachelorette chapter had a lot of striking similarities to the Lythikos chapter where you found out about Olivia’s painful childhood before she mocked Drake about his missing sister. I feel like the aim was to make us see Madeleine in a different light, while still remembering why we dislike her.

Somewhere along the line (with Hana’s chocolate scene) they went too far, and Madeleine went from unlikeable to completely repulsive. After that, the team attempted to completely backtrack, by cramming in a sympathy arc for her and after the “hazing process” excuse, what she did to Hana especially was never addressed again. Suddenly she was the patriot who would sacrifice her life and happiness for Cordonia, a figure to be admired and pitied. A woman who was immensely talented and did her job well [even when she actually didn’t]). Most of her characterization, really, consists of retconning.

But I have no interest in Madeleine, or her characterization. I just don’t. No, what I’m going to touch upon today is narrative treatment.

–

Rival figures are important in a story. They’re a foil to the main character: sometimes they exist simply to make the MC look better (ew), sometimes they’re there to show the MC what the larger society in their world is like, and what challenges they may face, and sometimes they’re an unexpected ally after the MC figures out the problem goes way deeper than the rivalry with them. So if you have a rival who behaves badly, treats the people around her badly? That in itself is not really a bad thing.

It makes me hurt for the characters at the receiving end, but as long as long as the narrative validates their experience on its own initiative, and allows them space, I will be fine. If I’m shown bullying and abuse in a narrative towards a character, I’m going to want to see the person hurting from this:

1. have support. Immense support

2. have a friend circle that will protect them and put them first

3. have opportunities to talk about what this is doing to them

4. have opportunities to push back against the bully

Personally the bully’s journey or whatever is of no importance to me. I simply don’t care. As much as possible I would not care about what grand monumental realizations they get behind the scenes, or what their rotten-egg-smelling guilt looks like. What matters to me is the person bullied. I need to see them win. I need to see them thrive. I need to see them receive support and validation.

One example I can give in terms of that being done well, is Penelope. Penelope is treated like a servant by Madeleine, called names, forever reminded she is good-for-nothing and useless and can’t do anything right. The bullying is constant and puts an already anxiety-ridden Penelope under additional pressure, to the point that when we meet her at Portavira in Book 3 she is VERY reluctant to return to court, and panics when certain things remind her of Madeleine’s behaviour. You have to coddle and cajole her with promises that Madeleine would never be able to do anything to her, and that she can bring her Emotional Support Animals with her to court. If we choose not to address her concerns, our friends will do it on our behalf. Drake Trauma-Minimizing Walker himself, is shown reassuring her the moment they meet in Portavira:

So it is very possible, even if the rival/bitchy character is expected to not feel remorse, and still retains a huge portion of her bitchiness, that we can still get a satisfying arc where the person in pain has support and care, and can thrive.

In Penelope’s case, perhaps the only downside may be that, while the narrative is clear about Madeleine’s bullying and its impact on Penelope, it still keeps Madeleine comfortably away from this narrative so she doesn’t even have to engage with it. She herself doesn’t exactly face consequences. The truth doesn’t even touch her.

But we don’t feel the pinch of this, so much with Penelope… precisely because PENELOPE is validated, given support and is given the space to completely refuse to even go with them if the MC doesn’t make great efforts to support and be nice to her (this, even though she has herself harmed us). She is allowed to get upset if we even question her on not following the dress code of our bachelorette, because it reminds her of Madeleine’s. She is even “rewarded” with a guy, no matter which playthrough.

And not every character is going to be a Penelope who will require that level of coddling from other people. So it’s not always about the MC and others needing to constantly protect and reassure such people. Sometimes it’s just simply about whether said character is allowed to push back against the bully. Hana gets a small measure of this when she’s allowed (but only on one occasion, that too a 30 diamond scene that wasn’t even coded properly later) to tell Olivia exactly what she thinks of her (and Olivia is allowed to say shit about her even after that, without Hana ever being allowed the same space again).

Now the thing with Hana (with regards to Madeleine) is…that they could have easily given her space to push back. Easily given the MC opportunities to protect her. Easily ensured that Hana didn’t have to engage with Madeleine if she didn’t want to. Have her whack friends fucking remember what she was put through at least!!!

Let’s go through how that could have been done one by one:

Pushing Back: One of the most bizarre choices the TRR team made was the give the scene about Liam telling Hana he would get her back to court (ergo, that Hana returned through Liam’s help, not Madeleine as the latter kept claiming) to Drake! He gets to narrate this story to the MC, but Hana herself is never allowed to acknowledge the fact or even talk about it. If she were, she would have at least (at the very least!!!) been given chances to hint at Madeleine twisting the truth, implied as much to Madeleine or to the MC, pushed back in her own unique way. The narrative not only pushes the truth of her return in DRAKE’S scene…it also never gives HER the opportunity to do anything actively against Madeleine’s very obvious twisting of the truth. Just so that Madeleine would continue to have way more power over Hana throughout. The bullying occurs much before the incident in Italy, but Hana herself is expected to stay silent.

Support: Now it’s not as if Penelope gets to push back on her own to Madeleine during this time either (except for a few comments here and there). But Penelope does get plenty of support and eventually protection. Does this apply to Hana as well?

Technically, you could view the fondue party scene that took place after the “chocolate allergy” incident as “support” - but at best it’s very weak “support”, and at its worst it really just a scene revolves around all the other characters (especially around gaining Olivia’s friendship), with a hurt, frightened Hana hovering in the background of the scene.

The MC has the option (option!!) to “call Madeleine out” on the events of the previous night when they’re in Paris, but it mostly results in Madeleine pretending it was a test of some sort (which the MC never bothers to contradict even though she knows better). The best case scenario is, well, that…and the worst case scenario is that Hana never really finds out even that, up until the end.

Speaking Out and Validation: Not only does the narrative not address the bullying after it has happened (until the very end of the series), it uses Hana - the woman who was harmed - to minimize its impact as well. On the one occasion you actually do get to talk to her about the night of Madeleine’s bachelorette party, they make Hana say (if you state that you don’t remember anything from that night), that "the tequila brought out Kiara's mean side, and Madeleine's fun side". Madeleine’s “fun side”, presumably, involves her laughing over targeting, torturing and breaking the vulnerable women in her court I suppose. (also, way to do Kiara dirty while forgetting what Madeleine did, PB!)

Further ahead, the MC and her friends promptly forget about this - Hana is expected to help the MC extract important information from her without even bothering to find out if she is comfortable or not, for instance. The forgetfulness gets to the point where, in the epilogue, (when Madeleine repeats to Hana what she’d told the MC back then) the MC acts like it is the first time she is hearing about Madeleine’s intentions to break Hana.

So forget about getting validation, for a large chunk of the narrative Hana wasn’t even allowed to view her own experience with bullying as painful. And if anything, her friend circle didn’t mind putting her needs and comfort last when it suited them.

The biggest problem about the storyline that involves Hana and Madeleine is the question of who should be getting more space and development, and who actually does. The time and energy spent on Hana navigating a court like this which such threats over her head…is spent instead on literally everything else. The time that could have been spent working on Hana’s background and childhood history…was spent to build Madeleine’s redemption arc instead (ironically, Adelaide starts feeding us with that sympathy arc in Shanghai, Hana’s home).

Effort was spent on extolling Madeleine efficiency and great work, even though there was very little of it to be seen. Effort was spent on making Madeleine look patriotic and not power-hungry, in making it clear to us that her father’s rejections left an impact on her. Even the story involving her attraction to Hana revolved more around HER, not around the woman she hurt. Was the same effort put into exploring Hana’s own struggle in court? In how she feels when people hurt her? In whether she is comfortable doing certain things? I think we all know the answer to that.

The key to why I hate Madeleine’s story so much isn’t that she’s a horrible person. You can be a horrible person and still have a compelling story. You can be a horrible person, and unapologetic about it, but still have the narrative validate what the people you had harmed went through.

It’s that the narrative and team knows and acknowledges her toxic behaviour, but only for a character that they like. They conveniently decided to cherry pick who would be comforted and given reassurance, and who would be forced to praise her bully for her ‘patriotism’. I should have been spending way less time on Madeleine’s redemption and coddling Penelope, and more time on making Hana feel safe in a largely alien place where she has no one but us - and where she is staying only for our protection. My problem is that they didn’t consider Hana’s pain important enough to even address, much less validate.

#anti the royal romance #hana lee #anti madeleine #ask me #anonymous #did i just take an ask about madeleine and talk about very little but hana instead? yes. yes i did #hana deserved better. hana DESERVES better #and don't even get me started on validation penelope gets that kiara doesn't #that's a topic for another post but i will stay mad about it #long post #bullying tw #courtly ladies anon

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caden · 5 years

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i feel we should examine the whole idea of “do spoilers matter” or not at a deeper level then ‘people who complain about spoilers are annoying so spoiler warnings are stupid’. like the idea that a lot of you guys seem to have of “if having the plot spoiled ruins the movie for you then the plot wasnt any good anyways” seems sort of... not fully wrong but also underdeveloped to me. like, there are tons and tons and tons of stories that are widely considered to be amazing and have clear artistic merit that you absolutely wouldn’t want spoiled. Like, you wouldnt want to know darth vader was lukes father. you wouldnt want to know bruce willis was a ghost the whole time. For drama to be effective you need tension, and a very very efficient way of keeping the audience engaged is by putting them in a mindset where they’re unsure of what will happen next, or by revealing a game-changing plot twist, or by suddenly putting a character into an unexpected position. It seems totally disingenuous to me to be like ‘well it shouldnt matter to the audience whether or not they get to be surprised by what happens in the film they’re watching’. You can’t honestly believe that to be true. Being able to be surprised by a story is like one of the fundamental draws of good storytelling and probably has been for all of human history. Imagine how much worse US or Get Out or any Shakespeare play would be if you knew exactly where the plot would go before you saw it. I know there’s some research that suggests people actually enjoy stuff more if they already know what will happen but you can cast a lot of doubt on that data-- i think that it indicates more that people are more likely to appreciate a good plot once they understand it more thoroughly, hence why you might like a great movie more the second time you watch it. That doesnt mean there isnt value in the first time, it’s just a different way of viewing it.

All that said, the stuff with people not wanting spoilers for endgame has different wrinkles to it. (dont worry im not about to spoil anything). It can’t all be chalked up to ‘people care super deeply about the characters and plot and the writing is always so unpredictable and engaging that they dont want to know a single thing before going in’. Ive spent a lot of time recently thinking about the way infinity war and endgame are constructed, and they’re made in such a way that REALLY facilitates them being ‘spoiled’. because they’re written around moments. The plot isn’t so much a naturally moving thing with motivations and momentum of its own as much as a connective tissue between various cool things happening. Like, whoa, spider-man just met the guardians of the galaxy. oh sick, theyre in wakanda. holy shit, half of them died. Endgame goes REAAAAAALLY hard on this style of writing. And as a method of milking emotion from the audience, it really really works. Assuming the moments themselves are all effective, you’re guaranteeing constant engagement because every three minutes another epic thing is gonna happen. And I think when people fault marvel fans for being obsessed with spoiler warnings, this style of filmmaking is really what they’re trying to critique. because there’s a suggestion that if your movie is just jumping from crazy twist to shocking death to funny reference to epic fight, you’re losing the thing that should actually be the connective tissue of a film-- its themes, character arcs, ideas, setting... etc. And while I personally don’t think those things are mutually exclusive, (bc i do believe that infinity war and endgame genuinely have themes they try to discuss), i would also agree with the argument that reliance on shocking moments over actual ideas is bad writing. But as I mentioned earlier, a filmmaker like Jordan Peele whose works are generally agreed to be very good also uses this writing style-- his plots escalate via twists and turns and are expertly constructed to keep the audience wondering what’ll happen next, and he does a really great job with it.

Now, i DEFINITELY think there’s an argument for ‘disney intentionally plays up the spoiler warning angle in a way that’s ultimately toxic to the filmmaking process’. Like I don’t believe that the “tom holland doesnt get to read the script” stuff is true, I 100% think it’s all a publicity stunt-- but they shouldnt be setting a precedent that makes people think doing something like that to a lead actor is acceptable. It’s not how films should be made, and the only reason I’m sure its all fake is because I have enough filmmaking experience to know itd literally be impossible to efficiently shoot a big-budget film under those conditions. Of course all the buzz about endgame spoilers is HUGELY beneficial to their marketing teams, so obviously they’re gonna go hard as hell on enforcing that narrative. Like they 100% WANT everyone to both be spoiling the movie and getting anxious about having the movie spoiled, because its all free advertising for them. But in terms of ‘big movie studios having greedy practices that harmfully affect the artistic process and make their films worse’, its incredibly low on the list of bad stuff that studios do imo.

So, like, if you’re gonna critique all the various aspects of that, I think you should A) put your efforts towards exposing all the spoiler panic through the lens of how it affects the way that films are produced and consumed, or B) put your efforts towards analyzing the media itself, watch the film and ask ‘is this film more engaging and well-made because of its reliance on moments that can be spoiled? If no, why is that not working? If yes, is that engagement coming at a cost or is it justified? Essentially, I’d like to feel that the criticism was either coming from a social angle or an artistic one. And if that were the case I think i’d have less of an issue with it. Just saying “people are dumb for caring about spoilers” is silly. Maybe it’s dumb, but that’s not the point. People will consume media however they want to and if they want to care about spoilers then they have a right to care. You guys aren’t wrong if you think marvel shit is stupid and badly made, because art is subjective and no opinion on it is wrong. But other people also aren’t wrong for liking and caring about it, and being like ‘we should spoil it for them to teach them a lesson” is gross and totally unproductive. I know 99% of it is jokes but you gotta remember that some people have spent a very long time being very excited to see this movie and doing something that wrecks that for them is just mean and inconsiderate. It’s not about whether them feeling that way is stupid or not, because yeah, it’s stupid to be that invested in superhero movies. It’s about it not being cool to intentionally hurt someone just because you can. And the reason i don’t have a lot of tolerance for it is because I feel like saying “caring about spoilers is stupid” is a kneejerk, surface level attempt at media criticism and we can do better. I obviously care pretty deeply about the way we consume and criticize pop culture and i think it’s in everyone’s benefit to have more productive discourse about this stuff. No ill will towards my friends who are saying the things that i’m ragging on, i obviously don’t think it’s coming from a malicious place or anything-- this is just my read on the situation. Was gonna post this like two days ago but then decided someone would prob message me a spoiler because of it lol

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bloggerthannothing · 3 years

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Book #4: Everything Bad is Good for You

It seem today, that all you see

Is violence in movies and sex on TV

- Family Guy Theme Song

Everything Bad is Good for You, by Steven Johnson (published in 2005), is a rebuttal of the common narrative about mass media being violent, turn-your-brain-off schlock that inevitably caters to the lowest common denominator.

Johnson argues that recent (post-1970s) TV, the internet, video games, and even film have shown a trend towards more complexity, not less, and that this complexity has had measurable cognitive benefits. He dubs this trend "the Sleeper Curve" in reference to a cute story where future scientists discover the many health benefits of fudge pies.

In support of the Sleeper Curve, he looks at plot threads in popular television shows. He illustrates that older shows tended to follow one, perhaps two plot threads, all of which resolved within a single twenty-two minute episode. By contrast, newer shows often ask the viewer to keep track of more than five distinct plot threads, none of which begin or end in a single episode.

(I'm not necessarily super impressed by the work he did here - he only looked at like, a dozen TV shows, and what "counts as a plot thread" is a vague question which could be selectively interpreted (if unintentionally) to support his theory. A broader survey of the average number of "threads" a show has, compared to its audience, graphed over time would have been pretty interesting. His "case study" style analysis is at best suggestive and at worst useless. I admit that this is a level of scrutiny that I think most theses couldn't withstand], but I think it's important to have this level of scrutiny anyway.)

As for video games, he contends that the increasing complexity extends not only to the visuals, but to player interaction as well. Newer games simply demand more learning from players - learning about how game systems work, the ways in which puzzles and gameplay challenges are solved, medium and long-term objective management, and so on.

He admits that the content of stuff like The Sopranos or Grand Theft Auto is more violent and shocking than the days of ye olde wholesome television, but he claims that the subject matter of a piece of media is distinct from what it demands of a reader/viewer/gamer, and that we can applaud media for being more complex even if its morals are abhorrent. (He is also skeptical of the claim that abhorrent media is that big of a deal, citing falling violent crime amidst the heyday of the most violent popular media ever.)

He is less ecstatic about the Sleeper Curve in film - he believes that the limited 1-2 hour runtime compared to long-form TV or 40-hour games puts a bit of a ceiling on complexity. Despite this, there are still good signs: think about the number of plot relevant, background-heavy characters in something like the Lord of the Rings, or even Finding Nemo.

II.

The first part of the book detailed the argument that media is getting more complex. The second part attempts to show that this complexity has cognitive benefits.

The main thrust of his empirical argument here revolves around the Flynn effect - the steady trend of upward IQ scores over the last fifty odd years.

He is well aware that "IQ" isn't just "the intelligence number", that it fails to capture several aspects of intelligence, that IQ isn't the end-all be-all measure of a person's mind, etc. Despite this, he believes that IQ measures something, and that whatever it measures is being increased by consumption of more complex media, and that this explains the Flynn effect.

He makes a decent case for this. He shows that the Flynn effect doesn't work at the high end of IQ - geniuses aren't getting any more genius, but the average people are improving. This is what you would expect if everyday media consumption was making John and Jane Doe smarter: it wouldn't improve anybody who's off studying astrophysics instead of watching TV.

He makes a brief that public health factors don't explain the Flynn effect for two reasons. One, that the Flynn effect seems extremely broad, affecting all demographic groups and income levels. If public health gains were causing it, we'd expect to see less gains in poorer, marginalized areas with less access to higher public health standards. Second, height is something that we know is affected by e.g. diet and nutrition, and our height gains from public health leveled off pretty quickly, while the Flynn effect is still going.

Overall I think his claim about the Flynn effect being caused by media is plausible, but wouldn't bet on it. We have seen before that studies showing positive, exciting, pro-social things can be very unreliable (and as always, this).

(Johnson also theorizes that shows which demand attention to emotional cues and conceptualization of social networks have measurable effects on emotional and interpersonal intelligence. I don't think his empirical argument here was very good - he mentioned a study showing that "hardcore gamers" tended to be more social and have more friends, which shocks me enough that I really wish he had said what specific study he was citing so I could check its methodology.)

III.

Okay, but why would the Sleeper Curve come to exist in the first place? Why would media producers spend valuable time and resources producing interesting, challenging narratives, when schlock is far easier to make?

Johnson's answer is: the financial incentive of broadcast syndication. In the old days, you saw an episode once, when it first aired, and then maybe again a few months or years later. Content had to be quickly and easily digestible, because viewers literally couldn't watch it again if they didn't understand something.

But as the TV landscape changed to promote more frequent re-runs, and on-demand services allowed episodes to be viewed over and over again at leisure, a market emerged for denser, challenging media that would become more enjoyable on repeat viewings. A show like Lost could count on making a ton of money as everyone bought DVDs and director's commentaries to try and spot the hidden background details or throwaway lines of dialogue that were the key to solving the show's mysteries.

The emergence of the early internet also contributed. A more complicated show could now count on a highly-devoted group of people analyzing its every nook and cranny in multi-thousand word online essays, not only sustaining the show's popularity and viewership between seasons, but also acting as a near-guaranteed source of long-term income.

(I think you could also make a strong argument that social desirability played a role - no one wants to be seen as liking "dumb media", which drives consumption towards things which are perceived as "smarter". Johnson doesn't go this route, but I'd be really interested to see someone try to analyze this.)

IV.

I'm not sure what Johnson's theory would predict about the social media landscape today. Some disorganized thoughts:

Major prerequisites for the Sleeper Curve to emerge on a platform are

1. The average piece of media is long enough to be complex (this is why movies hit a ceiling)

2. Repeat viewings

Social media makes #2 easy, but really, really, really works against #1. The ideal social media video is less than twenty seconds, and you can't fit much nuance into twenty seconds. And I don't think you need to hear another lecture about why limiting discourse to 280 character chunks might have negative effects.

Then again, the "video essay" is an extremely hot genre. Video essays can be over an hour long, and are often very deep, detailed dives into a topic. But the important consideration isn't whether the video essay itself is smart - it's about how much engagement it demands from the viewer to follow, because doing that cognitive work is what (Johnson argues) brings us the benefits of complex media. And in my experience, most video essays have been optimized to be extremely easy to follow, more like a podcast than a research paper. So video essays might not be as intellectually nourishing as you'd expect.

Overall, I found the case that the Sleeper Curve exists broadly convincing, and the argument that this makes us "smarter" to be interesting but kind of dubious.It seem today, that all you seeIs violence in movies and sex on TV

#media #books #not a book review

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thegloober · 6 years

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Thumbnails Special Edition: National Disability Employment Awareness Month

by Chaz Ebert and Matt Fagerholm

October 24, 2018 |

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Thumbnails is a roundup of brief excerpts to introduce you to articles from other websites that we found interesting and exciting. We provide links to the original sources for you to read in their entirety. This special edition of Thumbnails celebrates National Disability Employment Awareness Month, which runs through the entirety of October. Our contributor Scott Jordan Harris gave us the following article recommendations, and they provide a vital array of perspectives on the need for inclusivity in media.—Chaz Ebert

“Growing Up, I Only Saw Half of Myself Represented On TV—That Needs to Change Now“: A personal essay from Bustle‘s Andrea Lausell about representations of Latinx people with disabilities. See also: Melissa Hung’s Huffington Post piece on “the most damaging way movies portray people with disabilities” and an article by prominent activist Vilissa Thompson on her Ramp Your Voice blog about portrayals of disability in the Black community.

“As I’ve grown into my adult years, it has made me happy to see Latinx-centered media begin to share stories of other marginalized non-disabled groups in the Latinx community (LGBTQ+, Afro-Latinx, Indigenous-Latinx). Representation is slowly improving with how these identities are viewed with TV shows like ‘One Day at a Time’ having a teenager like Elena Alvarez come out as queer and work through the emotions while seeking acceptance from her Cuban family. ‘Jane the Virgin’ highlights characters of color tackling the topic of immigration, all while making a political statement about our government and its treatment of people seeking a better life. Although these strides are giving us a diverse representation of Latinx culture and are being received fairly well by the community for being marathon-worthy, if Disabled Latinx were to be included in the narrative, would the public receive it as well? I’ve noticed that non-Latinx communities are just starting to embrace disabled narratives on their TV screens. Often, disabled representation in Hollywood, like in the novel-turned-film ‘Me Before You’ starring Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin, portrays the harmful stereotype of disability being a burden. However, shows like ABC’s sitcom ‘Speechless’ have been a game changers for showing a disabled lead character happy with their life. But that’s just starting to happen now. Growing up, I learned to be ashamed of who I am because there were so few positive disabled Latinx representations on TV. Hearing from my Latinx community that disabled Latinx don’t exist — or that there’s ‘no need’ for us to be shown — told me that my place as a Disabled Latina within Latinidad wasn’t welcomed.”

“Why are disabled actors ignored when it comes to roles like the Elephant Man?“: Asks The Guardian‘s Frances Ryan. See also: Ryan’s piece on the controversy regarding Netflix’s “Afflicted” series and Julie Rehmeyer’s Los Angeles Times essay on how Netflix is “televising prejudice against the chronically ill.”

“The BBC has been widely criticised over its decision to cast a non-disabled person in its remake of ‘The Elephant Man.’ The role of Joseph Merrick – who had severe physical deformities – will be played by the Stranger Things actor Charlie Heaton. Notably, actor Adam Pearson – who has neurofibromatosis type 1, a condition which was once thought to affect Merrick – has said he wasn’t even given the opportunity to audition. As Pearson told LBC, it’s part of a culture of exclusion for disabled actors. ‘It’s a systemic problem, not only in the BBC but industry-wide.’ From Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man to Eddie Redmayne in ‘The Theory of Everything,’ it’s routine for non-disabled actors to play disabled characters, often gaining critical acclaim in the process. At best, it takes work and exposure from talented disabled actors and further adds to an arts and culture that pushes disability representation – much like race, sex and class – to the sidelines. At worst, it sees non-disabled actors mimic the characteristics of a minority group without any involvement from the community it depicts.”

“‘A Quiet Place’ proves there’s no excuse for using non-disabled actors to play disabled characters“: According to The Independent‘s James Moore. See also: Variety‘s Joe Otterson reports that Maysoon Zayid, who has cerebral palsy, will write and star in “an autobiographical comedy series in development at ABC,” while CNN‘s Wayne Drash analyzes the outrage over the portrayal of epilepsy on Netflix’s “Seizure Boy.”

“The movie is set in a post-apocalyptic world haunted by blind monsters that zero in on sound with the aid of supersensitive hearing. Silence is thus a matter of survival. Because her family uses American Sign Language (ASL) they have an advantage: they can talk to each other in a world where speaking can get you killed. The script could have fallen down at this point by having Simmonds perform a functional role without much else to do other than move the plot along for the other actors, including A-lister Emily Blunt, to shine. But it has more ambition than that. Simmonds’ Regan Abbott is a fully formed character; a stroppy teen, chafing against her parents’ overprotectiveness and haunted by what she sees as her role in her little brother’s death. It’s not just her deafness that is central to the plot: she is. She’s neither an afterthought, nor is she an inspiration, which is another trap films involving disability fall into. She’s a person. She’s also the best thing about a film that is full of good things. Director John Krasinski, who pushed to cast her, has further revealed that she changed one of the signed parts of the scripts in an important way that makes it better. In fact she elevates the whole project. As Kamran Mallick, the chief executive of Disability Rights UK, says, she brings ‘an extra dimension to the role which a hearing actor would not have been able to do.’”

“Toppling Structures of Inequality in the Documentary Field“: A great article published at IDA by Nicole Opper.

“New Day Films, a distribution co-op created by and for independent documentary filmmakers in 1971, has recently been grappling with what it means to be truly representative of the broad spectrum of filmmakers that exists, including filmmakers of color, working-class filmmakers, trans and gender non-binary filmmakers and those with disabilities—groups that have historically been underrepresented or poorly portrayed in the industry. At our Annual Meeting in upstate New York this past June, a panel was convened to discuss the findings of an Equity and Representation task force, and to open up the conversation to all member-owners of the co-op. ‘Very often in the documentary space, I’m the only person of color,’ remarked Michael Premo. Premo is the director of ‘Water Warriors,’ the story of a community’s successful fight to protect their water from the oil and natural gas industry. ‘This is also sort of dually equated with poverty, which is equally as racist as being the token black guy.’ Cheryl Green, the director of ‘Who Am I To Stop It’—a documentary about individuals with traumatic brain injuries—shared her perspective as a filmmaker with acquired disabilities herself: ‘There is no one disability community. What is a film about disability? What is a person with a disability? We’re not a monolith. There’s not one way to talk about it; there’s not one way to present it. The main way disability is represented is non-disabled people parachuting in and filming a medical story. Usually it’s one that starts off as ‘That’s gross or scary or painful! Phew! They got better.’”

“CinemAbility: The Art of Inclusion“: Scott Jordan Harris recommends Jenni Gold’s documentary in his RogerEbert.com review.

“‘CinemAbility’ is the most entertaining and comprehensive history of disability in American film and television ever made. In that sense it is the onscreen equivalent of Matthew F. Norden’s classic book Cinema Of Isolation: A History Of Physical Disability In The Movies, and Norden is prominent in the film’s opening scenes, explaining the early and generally disheartening history of Hollywood’s ideas about disability. Due prominence is given to Lon Chaney, an able-bodied actor notorious in the disabled community for making a career out of grotesque and exploitative parodies of disability. He often did so in partnership with director Tod Browning, who in 1932 made ‘Freaks’ with a cast of disabled actors. Norden uses ‘Freaks’ to make an important point about audience attitudes to disability then that is still relevant now: ‘Audiences couldn’t handle [‘Freaks’]. People supposedly went screaming down the aisles because what they were seeing on the screen were not able-bodied actors wearing tricky makeup … They were seeing authentic disabled people.’ But ‘CinemaAbility’ never feels like a lecture. It is structured like a conversation, with contributions from an array of industry heavyweights, including Marlee Matlin, Ben Affleck, Geena Davis, William H. Macy, Ben Lewin, Peter Bogdanovich and R.J. Mitte.”

Image of the Day

TV Guide‘s Alyssa Andrews explains “how TV is still failing people with disabilities,” in graphic novel form.

Video of the Day

[embedded content]

The official trailer for Jenni Gold’s documentary, “CinemAbility: The Art of Inclusion,” reviewed above by Scott Jordan Harris.

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shes-reachingyourhonor-blog · 7 years

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Ask real estate questions from Riley Aviles

Q: My neighbor has a camera pointed at my front door and bedroom. How to request them to alter the angle of it?

Weld County Colorado. The camera supplies no surveillance of the owners property. Lawyer Answer Tristan Kenyon Schultz

A: It is possible to simply request the angle to be changed by them. At issue is if the camera use is an improper invasion of your privacy. While an attorney would have to examine all the details, there is nothing improper with an exclusive celebration pointing a camera in the front of someone's home. This may be clear in the event the camera has got the capacity to view beyond what a standard passerby on the road could see. Colorado as well as the US have really weak privacy laws (esp. When compared with continental Europe).

Q: Real estate agent:email hacked, hacker sends incorrect wiring tips the morning of the closure before I could call.

Am I at fault? Florida broker. Lawyer Answers Richard Paul Zaretsky

A: You are definitely on the short end of the stick that is wrong - See this link for an article I wrote precisely on this situation - where your e-mail was infiltrated using a malware that took control of your email. See this link: YOUR E-MAIL WILL BE VIEWED = YOUR CLIENTS VICTIMIZED : THE HACK NARRATIVE - actvra.in/4Ph6 (you will most likely have to type this into your address line in your pc.) The above mentioned link is an article that has been copied in some Realtor newsletters along with The Fund's Real Estate Council magazine. As for indebtedness, you have to advise your broker, advise your liability carrier (since this is a problem probably along with your personal e-mail, you ought to advise both your homeowner's insurance as well as your professional liability insurance underwriters). I assume the banks for the buyer (who sent the money to the phony cable instructions) was informed. It could possibly be that they can remember the cable. Also, the burglar in these types of scenarios is usually notoriously careless and they don't cross their "t's" and scatter their "i's" - so the cable may in fact not have successfully gone through. There might even be obligation of the party that was to get the resources - for them not properly safeguarding the wire instructions - if it absolutely was their e-mail that was endangered. Begin with the bank, as it really is sensitive. Afterward the broker and insurance carriers. And all the best.

Visit

Q: I reside in a house made of two flats the entire house is infested with bedbugs what can I do?

I have an apartment in Nyc, and Ive had bed bugs for the past 1.5 years due to the bottom flat in my building having them. My landlord didnt fix the problem and has had someone who is only a local bug man. Ive told her about it many times over the telephone and in person. She just asks me for my rent and I keep because Im scared she will kick me out paying. What can I do? Ive needed to block my whole apartment of and live only in my family room and sleep on the floor. Attorney Replies Ali Ebrahimzadeh, Esq.

A: See: http://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/health/health-topics/bedbugs.page More details are required to give a professional analysis of your issue. The best first step is a First Consultation with the Attorney. You can also read more about me, my credentials, awards, honours, testimonials, and media appearances/ publications on my law practice web site. I practice law in these regions of law in CA, NY, MA, and DC: Education Law & Contracts, Criminal Defense, Divorce & Child Custody, and Company. This answer doesn't constitute legal advice; make any forecasts, guarantees, or warranties; or create any Attorney-Client relationship

Q: If I am my last living parent and the only child just died do I have to go threw probate?

Attorney Solution Vincent J. Bernabei

A: Your parent's estate might be subject to probate if your parent possessed assets in his/her own name at the time of their departure, and there's absolutely no combined owner nor any named beneficiary on your parent's account. Examples include a house in your parent's name or a bank account in your parent's name alone, with no payable on death beneficiary named. According to the value of your parent's assets, there are a few options to probate. As an example, you might be able to transfer ownership of the assets by way of a tiny estate affidavit rather than a formal probate proceeding. That is a much faster and cheaper process than probating the estate.

Q: I rent out my basement and own a condo in Indiana. It is a shared entry. Do I need any kind of renters or license ins?

I live in this condo. I have roommates in the basement who would not have a written lease with me. Just verbal. Lawyer Response Alexander Florian Steciuch

A: It is going to depend your geographical area. There is no statewide renter system or database. Some cities require all rental units of their jurisdiction to be filed. By way of example, Bloomington requires your property inspected if you're renting out the property or rooms to others and be registered with all the city. Is your condominium a part of a housing association or condominium association? They may have significantly more rules regulating renters which you will have to abide by if you're a part of this association. As a general rule of thumb, it's almost always a good thought to get insurance to cover harm to the home which is clever of any renters to possess renter's insurance in case there is burglary, theft, fire, etc.. Finally, get your renter's lease arrangement in writing. In certain cases its necessary so that you can possess an enforceable contract determined by the length of the lease but in every case having something signed and in writing is preferable over a verbal contract. It will help protect everyone involved and gives something to analyze in case you ever need certainly to litigate to the court.

Q: Can I ask to get a continuance on a case eviction if the town preparing to deem the house condemned due to the sepetic

They have 5 health violations and have not fixed them. The town is taking to court . Plus defamation of character. They lied to the town saying we are threating them and they want escorts to property. There is a whole lot of thing wrong here but I dont would like to spend money only to be put out on the basis of the disapprobation. Attorney Reply Ali Ebrahimzadeh, Esq

A: Why really would you intend to stay in a condemned house? More information are mandatory to provide an expert evaluation of your issue. The best first step is a First Consultation with the Attorney. You're able to read more about me, my qualifications, awards, honors, testimonials, and media appearances/ publications on my law practice site. I practice law in the next regions of law: Education Law & Contracts, Criminal Defense, Divorce & Child Custody, and Business. This answer does not represent legal advice; make any forecasts, guarantees, or warranties; or create any Attorney-Client relationship.

Q: Does a contract having a management firm survive a sell of property having a lease that is fixed?

I sold a rental property with a tenant in place using a given lease that had left on the lease. The lease and property are managed by way of a property management company. Property management changed. The tenant paid rent to the old management business and the management business deposited money in my account of rent minus the direction fee minus management fee for the time of lease that was unused. I concur the brand new owner what was deposited into my account should be paid by me. However, I don't agree to the amount portion was kept by the management firm. My contract together with the management firm says the management business can keep the fee's for the duration of the lease. Since I sold the property, I consider the mistake is really on the newest owner since the contract broke that he bought using the property when he changed management businesses. Is that right? Attorney Solution Leonard Robert Grefseng

A: When you consented to sell to him, all this ought to be insured by the contract. Get that contract out and analyze it to see how things were supposed to be handled. In the event the property was sold "subject to" the existing contracts and leases, you are correct. All the existing contracts would bind the purchaser, for example, management contract. I assume all this was correctly disclosed to the purchaser. Something is for sure- you can not keep the rent.

Q: When you inherit a home which was in a trust does the tax basis change?

The trust currently owns the house. My mom is the trustee and I am to get the house upon her passing. I've a copy of the trust and will. Without raising the tax basis of the home am I able to set the title in my own name? Attorney Solution Richard Samuel Price

A: In my opinion that you are discussing the assessed value for property taxes. A transport of a property from parent to child might be excluded from reassessment for property tax purposes. For the primary residence, there is an exclusion that is infinite. For all other property, the exclusion is limited to the first $1M of value. You need to file an application for the exclusion with all the tax assessor within 36 months of the transport. In short, that implies that the property taxes should stay the same.

Q: I purchased vacant acreage in CO. The land is 50% sellers and 50% his dead fathers. Just how do I get the property 100% in my name?

The Colorado land was deeded to the seller's father and mother. His mother then used a warranty deed which states she's the sole owner to title it. The county has info online that states the land is 50% the son's and 50% the dead father's. I do not live in Colorado and Nevada is lived in by the seller. The seller merely said before his mother deeded it over to him, the property was put right into a trust but this advice just isn't recorded at the county. Any method to retroactively record this trust? Attorney Solution Tristan Kenyon Schultz

A: You have two options. First, it is possible to wait for the dead father's estate to be probated - this enables one to either create a claim for the land or negotiate together with the brand new beneficiary. The disadvantage of this strategy is the fact that Colorado allows up to 3 years for an estate to be probated (and at least 1 year for a creditor--you--to initiate probate). In the alternative, you seek various legal strategies to obtain full possession of the land. Since there are way too many potential issues and solutions, you'll need to contact a real estate attorney directly in the county where the property is located to give an accurate evaluation of how better to carry on.

Q: My sister and I together own the house by which we both reside. Can hospitals and physicians put liens on the house for bills?

She is not completely covered and has a medical issue which might become expensive. Is my equity (and hers) exposed, even though they wait until the selling of the home? Lawyer Answer Vincent J. Bernabei

A: If suit is filed by health care providers and have a judgment against your sister, the judgment becomes a lien on any real property possessed by your sister in the county where the judgment was entered. Typically, claims of lenders will attach just to the debtor's interest in the property, to not the co-owner's interest in the property. Should your sister and also you possess the dwelling and she survives you, then the whole equity, minus a statutory homestead exemption, may be subject to lenders' claims. In the event she is survived by you, then the lenders' claims to the real property are extinguished. In case you do not own the property then the claims of your sister's creditors will still attach to her undivided one half curiosity about the property. There are legitimate methods to maintain advantages in the face of potential future claims, which means you ought to talk to a lawyer.

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viralhottopics · 7 years

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Wilmer Cabrera, loyal lieutenant in Colombia’s dream team, thriving in MLS

Houstons new head coach was a stable presence in the maverick Colombian team of the 1990s and hes brought calm and clarity to the MLS pacesetters

Glory and brutality were companions in Colombian football during the 1990s as the national team reached three World Cups amid a bloody drug war that did not spare sport. If Carlos Valderrama, Rene Higuita and Tino Asprilla were the maverick stars, Wilmer Cabrera was a more stable and less erratic presence.

Cabrera has brought calmness and a clarity of vision to his post-playing careers, first in a role where those qualities are indispensable as a helicopter pilot then in a febrile sphere where they are less common. In a measured rise over 14 years he has progressed from coaching youth teams in New York to his current role in charge of an MLS pacesetter in the embryonic 2017 season.

The Houston Dynamo have two wins from two games, like their opponents this Saturday, the Portland Timbers. Its the style as much as the results that have drawn attention: Cabrera deployed a rambunctious 4-3-3 in a 2-1 opening-weekend win over last years MLS Cup champions, the Seattle Sounders, and a 3-1 victory over the Columbus Crew.

There were handsome goals from the Honduran winger, Romell Quioto, and the Mexican striker Erick Torres, who arrived as a costly Designated Player in 2015 and finally found the net against Seattle after 22 fruitless MLS appearances. He also scored against Columbus.

Talking this week at the Dynamos training ground, Cabrera painted himself as above all a pragmatist, ready to adapt his tactics to his resources. Under a predecessor, the former Bolton and Burnley manager, Owen Coyle, the reverse seemed true.

I dont want to force our players to play the possession, team-oriented [approach] that I used to play because they dont feel that way, the personalities are different, Cabrera said. They like to run, they have speed and they want to attack. Our transition is quick from defending to attacking so whyre we going to change? The players are the ones that are dictating what is the best for them and right now, so far, this is the way were going to play because this is the type of player that we have.

Born in Cartagena, on the Caribbean coast, Cabrera spent most of his 20s with Amrica de Cali and won 48 caps for Colombia. The defender was an unused squad member in Italia 90, missed USA 94 through injury but played in every minute of all three of his countrys matches in France four years later.

Before 1990, Colombia had only once reached a World Cup in 1962. But their 1990s sides had personalities as big as their hair, little turnover of key players, technical excellence, an inspired creator in Valderrama and an effervescent style that lifted the nation. The team had a carefree quality despite the bloody unrest being wreaked by drug lords such as Pablo Escobar, which seeped into soccer.

We were very naive in a lot of aspects. It was just playing soccer the way we felt how to play soccer, Cabrera said. Rene Higuitas scorpion kick famously illuminated a dull goalless draw with England in a friendly at Wembley in 1995.

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Less well remembered, at least in England: the goalkeeper was released the year before after seven months in prison when he was accused of acting as a go-between to help arrange the release of a girl kidnapped in a drug cartel feud. Asprilla, the gun-toting former Newcastle forward, reportedly moved to Europe after death threats.

Cabrera said that it was not until he moved to the US and saw outside media narratives about his countrys troubles that he fully understood the turbulence. Definitely it was an unbelievable time. When I talk with my kids about it, when I talk with people about it, they are amazed, Cabrera said. We didnt realise until now, when you start looking back, and you realise that it was a very rough, very tough moment and a very dangerous environment to be playing soccer.

The defender Andres Escobar was murdered outside a Medellin nightclub 10 days after scoring an own goal in a 2-1 defeat by the US in the 1994 tournament, perhaps because of the result and his blunder.

It just changed your perspective in all aspects because you never imagine that playing soccer brings you into a threatening environment, Cabrera said. For us it was fun, for us it was the way we used to live it was our lifestyle. It became a little bit difficult, it became complicated.

Wilmer Cabrera takes on Michael Owen during the Colombia-England game in 1998. Photograph: Olivier Morin/EPA

Cabrera hoped to follow Valderrama into MLS but a move never materialised. He finally arrived in New York in 2003 with a view to working as a helicopter pilot, a skill he had learned in Colombia and one that aligns with the seemingly-contradictory parts of his character and coaching strategy: cool rationality with a spirit of adventure.

He was sucked back into football, joined the Long Island Rough Riders, took coaching qualifications and rose through the ranks of the American game, including a stint as a fan development manager for MLS. I started to work on soccer from the moment I arrived, tried to learn the language, start from the bottom, and its been quite a long journey but its been very positive for me because Ive been able to work at all the levels here in the United States, he said.

In 2012-13 he was an assistant at the Colorado Rapids under his friend and former international teammate, Oscar Pareja, who is now at FC Dallas. In 2014 the 49-year-old won plaudits for the exercise in damage limitation that was life as head coach of Chivas USA in their final MLS season, which included coaxing a 15-goal campaign from Torres.

Last year, he worked for a Dynamo affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley FC Toros. They reached the United Soccer League playoffs, going a league-record 758 minutes without conceding a goal.

He was picked by Houston ahead of their interim head coach, Wade Barrett, who lifted the team to levels of obduracy and organisation reminiscent of Dominic Kinnear, Coyles long-tenured predecessor, without notably improving results. In 2016 the Dynamo finished bottom of the Western Conference.

Amid the cooing over Houstons exciting debut it has been overlooked that in their first two MLS fixtures last year they drew 3-3 with the New England Revolution then battered Dallas, 5-0. But Coyle left in May (soon surfacing in Blackburn, albeit fleetingly) during a second season of muddled performances and mixed results.

A real strength of Wilmers is that hes very clear with what he expects from the guys positionally and within the framework of the team and he knows that those points need to be reinforced on a very regular basis. I think what stands out with Wilmer is hes just as much a teacher as a coach and thats something that is really important in our league, said Matt Jordan, the Dynamo vice-president/general manager.

Cabreras bilingualism and background was a plus for US Soccer when it appointed him in 2007 to be the first Hispanic head coach of a male American national side the under-17s. The obvious influence of South American is something that weighed into our decision, Sunil Gulati, the US Soccer Federation president, told Soccer America.

It also helps in Houston, where the Dynamo play in a city that is roughly 40% Hispanic and have a roster that features eleven players born in South or Central America.

Guys from England are always, I guess, going to bring in the most money and earn the most money, but if you want to win youve got to look elsewhere. You can only have three DPs on a team so its about finding the other role players, said AJ DeLaGarza, an off-season signing from the Los Angeles Galaxy.

First of all, you want to look for good players whose characteristics translate to Major League Soccer and historically, players from countries like Honduras and Colombia and Argentina and Costa Rica and Panama, those are markets that the players transition well to our league, Jordan said.

Its an added bonus that those profiles fit the demographics of our city. On top of that, when you look at the climate here, the conditions that we have to play in here, we want players to embrace that and feel very comfortable here.

Like Parejas Dallas, Houston aim to be devastating on the counter-attack. Still, when fatigue and summer heat bite, theres the question of how an aging back line will cope against fast, incisive opponents, especially since a three-man midfield offers limited protection down the flanks. The back four against Seattle was DeLaGarza (29), Adolfo Machado (32), Leonardo (29) and DaMarcus Beasley (34). The only starters under 28 were the three forwards: Alberth Elis (21), Torres (24) and Quioto (25). But the Sounders XI was no younger.

The Dynamo had only 36% of possession against Seattle and 40% against Columbus, according to league statistics. Broken down into five-minute intervals, Houston had more of the ball than their opponents for just 25 minutes of those 180.

The bright side is were winning and were still not playing, I would say, very well. Were very dynamic going forward but defending and keeping the ball we know we have to get better, and playing a full 90-plus minutes, said DeLaGarza.

Coyle made energetic and sincere attempts to embrace MLS but ended up as another statistic confirming the truism that the leagues idiosyncratic some might say arcane nature makes it all but impregnable to outsiders.

If Cabrera thrives in Texas it will be as much a tribute to the American development system as to the legacy of the experiences he absorbed in his native land. Im a local coach like any other coach, he said. Ive lived here in the United States for 14 years, so now my lifestyle is American style. Im an American coach.