#not an excuse just an explanation btw. yeah just my 2 cents

[bassiter2]

i'm realizing through this book i'm reading (same-sex affairs: constructing and controlling homosexuality in the pacific northwest) that like... yknow the conflation between homosexuality and pedophilia. well i've realized why that is, and that it's more than just all "sexual perversions" getting lumped together by homophobes. but also insanely enough more mundane

it's literally that for many decades, the only concept most people were able to have of gay men were through the lens of it being a crime. aka arrest records and the newspapers telling you who got put in jail last night. obviously gay men who were only having consensual sex with other gay adult men did get caught sometimes, but you could only catch them if they were doing it in public, if you were sneaking around in their private home, or if someone involved ratted them out. and if you ratted someone out, whatever motivation you might have, you were also ratting yourself out, so why would you do that? but if you were underage, especially if it was non-consensual, you wouldn't be in trouble at all. so of course the majority of the "immoral acts" charges are going to be between an adult and a minor.

not only that but apparently "youth" in referring to a young person used to literally mean anyone under the age of 21. and the vast majority of charges that read "engaged in immoral acts with a youth" it's referring to like a 17 y/o or even 18 or 19. so then ppl in later decades read that and misinterpreted it too.

and that's literally it lol..... it feels obvious in hindsight but i never would have thought about it. crazy what bias confirmation does.

#i'd highly recommend the book and also Gay New York btw #they're both centered around the same time period and the emergence of gay culture #(and emergence of the widespread concept of gay as something you can BE instead of just something you do-- #--specifically one of the many degenerate things done by lower classes and immigrants #prior to the white middle class becoming aware that their own could do it too. and what that meant for concepts of gender and sexuality) #just different parts of the US. but the pacific northwest one centers mostly on the aftermath of a specific scandal #and it's CRAZY #a lot of modern gay culture would probably be different if not for the actions of like one gay kid #who ratted out portland's whole secret gay community in 1912 bc he got caught shoplifting and thought that info would protect him #i wish i could ask him now if that was worth it. god #anyway i do also think that as for actual cases of gay adult-minor relations. the criminalization of homosexuality in the first place #is partially to blame. like at least for some of it #bc surely part of the motivation there is specifically seeking out boys who do NOT have the social power to be homophobic to you #ntm homophobia in general giving men an idea of needing to be the masculine one. and youth is automatically more 'feminine' #not an excuse just an explanation btw. yeah just my 2 cents #ok to rb

[dorotheian]

So finally I can put my own two cents in on what I saw in Last of the Jedi.

I understand why people would be put out by it. IMO, it’s between a rock and a hard place: multiple perspectives, not enough time—barely enough to round it all out at the end (I kept wondering when the endpoint was going to be), and relying on a thematic/mythic approach that slides over certain cause-and-effect holes. But since when has a Star Wars movie not relied on all the dominoes being lined up just so? And is simultaneously trying to show what happens when the dominoes aren’t stacked neatly? It’s taken almost too far. I’m just gonna accept that the timescales were VERY generously stretched.

Poe’s and Finn’s sides of the conflict were comparatively—perhaps equally—weak. Rey carries the movie; but she’s not even doing that much until the end. Poe and Finn are much more active. Rey has the luxury of time and contemplation which they do not have: they, like the Resistance, are moving in “real time,” getting messy, making mistakes, living on a wind and a prayer and the conviction that if they follow their inner compass, it will all turn out right.

The heroes are contrasted with their leadership. Rey/Luke, Kylo/Snoke, Finn & Poe vs. Leia and Harlo; and right up at the end, it’s Hux/Kylo (Hux is doing his best to knock out Kylo—to be continued). ALL of these leaders are deeply flawed, and I think the movie was attempting to explore those flaws. The flaws of too much experience, and too little; of long service, and temporary roles; of not recognizing one’s place, and struggling to impose an unnatural chain of leadership and command (Harlo and Hux).

In Leia’s and Harlo’s cases... *sigh* Yup, they held onto that idiot ball. Leia’s displeasure should have focused more on taking away Poe’s command (if that plot point had to be there to begin with) than a stupid face-slap. If it is in character, a face-slap reveals Leia’s weakness as a commander in using such a crude and despotic crutch. Then Harlo was abrupt, condescending, and overly secretive. There was no need for her to hide her own plans except for extra drama in the late reveal. Admitting in private that she likes that hot-shot pilot in no way makes up for unnecessarily abrading him in public. Whether Poe is ranked as a soldier or not, Harlo made the mistake of treating Poe like a soldier when he is a fully actualized, free-thinking leader. It cost valuable time. It was a rookie mistake; she stepped in to an interim temporary role and held the reins too tightly. I sympathize, because temporary authority is a deuce to handle, but it in no way excuses her. Nor do I think Poe did right in undermining her; but he was making decisions in real time to save the Resistance. (Interesting parallel in Star Trek Discovery, btw.) I don’t like Harlo’s interpretation of Leia’s favorite saying: there’s no need to manufacture ignorance to spur creativity and faith. Creativity thrives on the facts. Faith does not rise on command. It can be encouraged as a culture but not manipulated or demanded in a battle. Leia, meanwhile, seems to have mellowed in her wisdom: she has grown cautious and withdraws her support too early. Nevertheless (in private) she trusts in and relies upon her fully grown, free-thinking pilots to make their own decisions. (Leia. Leia. Come on now. Show some class. You can’t have it both ways.)

Finn’s arc is plain messy. A cantina, again? OK, it’s a high-class one, we’ll call it a casino. WHATEVERRRRRR. How easy it is to hate decadent rich people; they’re dismissible stock villains. It was too convenient, too chancy. Why couldn’t we have gone to the Star Wars equivalent of Wall Street?!! That’s my main huff. I think Finn and Rose as characters were okay. I don’t like that Finn gets pre-emptively attacked so early in both TFA and TLJ. I wish Rose and Finn could have met a different way. Given in-universe reasons, I do understand Rose’s attack because Finn was acting twitchy and evasive, she’s apparently found other deserters, she’s a good soldier, etc.: she’s no dummy and she did the genre-savvy thing. It’s just genre-savvy to the wrong story. Finn, meanwhile, is canonically terrible at explaining why he’s doing what he’s doing—his first instinct is to make excuses and hide his real intentions (he probably learned that for survival on the Death Star, let’s be real) even if those intentions are good and sympathetic. He just assumes that nobody will listen to him right off. So I don’t blame Rose; I blame the writer who put Rose and Finn in that awkward situation. Rose doesn’t taser Finn because he’s black per se, but she is a bit quick to the punch, and that’s the problematic part. Real black people do get killed because they aren’t afforded the benefit of the doubt. In-universe, if she didn’t taser him right quick, she’s obviously a slacker at her job; if she does, she’s a racist bitch. There’s no good outcome to that situation. Oh, another thing I noticed: Finn doesn’t have time to enjoy himself at the cantina, but Rose can take all the time she wants rescuing the alien steeds? *rolls eyes* Yeah, knock that off. Spare me. It wasn’t funny. It looks bad. I will be disappointed if Finn/Rose is chosen as endgame over Finn/Rey. Fandom is of course free to do and enjoy almost whatever it likes, but I think that making that choice in canon would be cowardly.

Poe bought time. He didn’t have a mission to complete. Finn bought time, and did complete his mission. In terms of story impact, Finn has more. Both are equally mixed up in enjoyment and sensibility of plot. Are their plots racist? *takes a deep breath* Yes, kind of. In a “white women wield power recklessly” sort of way, and in a “white woman author wrote some insensitive situations” kind of way.

Now, onto Rey and Kylo. Despite my wishes, they got center stage. To my surprise...I’m okay with what they did with it. I think the directers put enough bait for Kylo and Rey to exist as a dark ship... perhaps unfortunately... buuuuuuut! I still think Kylo/Rey isn’t romantic. Rey is way more fond of Poe or Finn than she is of Kylo. (Personally, I like Kylo’s face, but I did not really need to see him topless? Not a sexy torso? It was plainly framed and barely romantically coded. Methinks it was restrained for a reason.) I like the argument that this movie is about Rey willingly becoming the bridge for Kylo to get out of the abusive hole he’s stuck in: not immediately, but someday. She sticks with her boundaries, and she respects the shaky place where Kylo stands. Rey will not throw herself or the galaxy away for Kylo. Rey will not give Kylo a free pass for his beliefs and choices. The ball is in Kylo’s park. He must see that empire is not the answer to peace for himself before there is any more cooperation. They have reached détente.

Luke carried on in his way like a grand old grizzled idiot. Kylo’s backstory reminds me more of Jason from the Jedi Academy books than anything. Be that as it may... I grasp in concept why Luke fell to the extent he did: he had a serious crisis of temptation and intent. But emotionally speaking, it’s a lot harder to accept. Why was he of all people susceptible to that temptation? I have only two plausible explanations. 1) Time, age, and possibly an inappropriate station for him—teaching seemed right, but it probably wasn’t really his thing for one reason or another; 2) he trusted the Jedi way and its biases too much, and misunderstood Force presentiments, partially incurring his own tragedy. (Kylo was set up, but he still made his own choices.) He trusted the Force more than he did his own knowledge of the people around him. And even acknowledging that on some level, Luke’s still susceptible to those prejudices! Look, if the Dark and Light are part of the same continuum like you say, why’d you freak out about Rey’s and Kylo’s being naturally drawn to the dark? Plain hypocrisy and superstition make Luke unable to keep a level head. Between them both, Rey and Kylo have a better grasp of the proper place of presentiments than either Luke or the Jedi Council ever did. Rey and Kylo both saw a future biased by their own perspectives. But, knowing the possibilities, they carefully acted on a new present independent of both their visions on a foundation of trust in one another. Both were right, but not completely so—and as it should be.

But I am glad Luke died the way he did; letting Kylo make his choice and rage and do his worst, but by also taking the consequences out of his hands. He made sure Kylo grasped the depths of his own brokennness, and kept Kylo from sullying his hands again. Luke chose to die like Obi-wan chose to die—in confrontation with their past, and falling not on their apprentices’ lightsabers, but at peace with themselves and the Force. It is not precisely self-sacrifice. They purposely make death their last lesson, their last gift of peace and hope, to their wayward pupils. Their life and their death are two things their apprentices could not spoil because Luke and Obi-wan chose in the end not to let them. In doing this, they reclaim ownership of their own choices and their actions, of their own burden of responsibility for the path that their lives took, and assert that these hold more power than their apprentices’ mistakes. It is not only acceptance and forgiveness, and a hope that their legacy lives on even after their death, but a confrontation and a refusal to let their apprentices continue to fall down the path of murder. They deny them this step of depravity.

Rey’s parents? Meh.

#star wars spoilers #probably the one and only essay I'll write on the subject