#there are real and more important conclusions to be made about representation and diverse storytelling | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

morrigan-sims · 2 years

Text

Was having some Thoughts the other day about my experience on simblr and how it affected my life and wanted to write them down. Might get a little mushy/personal, so feel free to skip!

So, I joined tumblr a few years ago (around 2018?? I think?? I got TS4 for x-mas 2017, so that makes sense.) originally because I wanted to follow cc creators. After that I started following gameplay blogs, and after that I started following storytellers. The idea that people could make art, or tell stories via the sims, that was unimaginable to me. And it was so cool and inspiring. I never dreamed that I’d ever be a person with a sims story, or that simblr would be as important to me as it is. Simblr is indirectly responsible for some very big parts of my identity. How? Let me explain:

Simblr was my first major exposure to a very diverse community. Having grown up in Suburban White Town #3,895, I had basically only ever met people of a certain type. But on simblr (and tumblr in general), I got my first real exposure to different cultures, religions, and viewpoints. When I came to tumblr I was in highschool, and yet barely knew anything about the world outside my town’s little bubble. By seeing other people’s sims, I learned to be more accepting of races, body types, and most importantly the LGBT+ community.

In my conservative hometown, I didn’t know a single LGBT+ person (at least no one who was out). But seeing a ton of representation via the sims made me realize that cishet wasn’t the only option. And I started to realize that maybe the reason I had never felt the same way about “crushes” that other people had in middle school and high school wasn’t just because I was a weirdo. (I mean, I’m that too, but...) I realized that yeah, okay, men can be pretty, but so can women, and so can NB people. And not everyone feels that way. And I learned that “hey, maybe the reason you feel so confused when people talk about being attracted to someone is because you’re demi-sexual.” And that turned into, no, I’m ace and bi, which turned into I’m ace, at minimum demi-romantic, but also still bi. So, what I’m trying to say here is that simblr made me gay. (/j)

Okay, cool, so now I’m comfy with that part of my identity, and getting more and more comfy with it (even if I’m not out to many people irl), that’s great!! But then I started bumping into the neurodivergent community on simblr. I knew I had ADHD and had known for a while. So, on a whim, I joined @seaslugsims discord server for ND simmers. And I met some amazing people. That was only during 2021!! And the more I talked to those amazing people, the more I started to wonder, “hey, maybe you’re more than just ADHD, maybe you’re autistic”. And so I brought up the topic and wound up seeking an ASD diagnosis. And this month, exactly one week ago today (when I’m writing this), I got my official autism diagnosis.

So, in conclusion, because of simblr, I: A) have a much wider worldview than I would have only seeing my incredibly un-diverse town for all of highschool, B) am comfortable with my sexuality (or lackthereof) and actually know enough to find labels that feel comfy, and C) got a diagnosis that might drastically improve my life in college next year, if the disability center is accomodating. So, yeah, thank you simblr.

#personal #nonsims #morrigan.txt #was gonna wait until posting this on the anniversary of me revamping this blog but that's not til june 1st and I don't wanna wait #so here you go

20 notes · View notes

abishek-sources-and-significance · 3 months

Text

The Academic Blog: 6

In this blog, we are going to talk about representation, visual culture, and identity.

What are representation, visual culture, and identity? The term "representation" describes the way something is portrayed or demonstrated. The study of images, symbols, and visual communication in society is known as visual culture. Identity is a person's sense of self, influenced by social, cultural, and individual elements. Collectively, they investigate how images shape and convey both personal and societal identities.

Age of Empires: A Journey Through Cultural Representation and Identity in Gaming

Introduction: Some video games aim to take players to various historical eras while simultaneously offering interesting gameplay and a peek into the rich history of humanity. One of the best examples is the well-known real-time strategy game "Age of Empires," which successfully combines historical realism with strategic gameplay. Players in this franchise have the exceptional chance to explore numerous civilizations from different periods. In this blog post, we explore how the game represents, visualizes, and shapes identities in the "Age of Empires."

Cultural Representation: Building Civilizations Beyond Gameplay The core of "Age of Empires" is its dedication to cultural representation. There are many different civilizations in the game, all of which have been carefully designed to capture minute historical and cultural details. The realistic representation of different civilizations, from unique architectural styles to distinctive military formations, adds realism and depth to the gaming experience.

Historical Accuracy: Bridging the Gap Between Past and Present One of the series' strong points is its dedication to historical authenticity. The setting in which players are immersed makes an effort to imitate the characteristics of numerous ancient civilizations. The graphical components create a captivating atmosphere that connects the past and present, spanning the eras with historically inspired structures and innovations.

Identity Through Gameplay: Forging a Unique Gaming Identity By taking command of a selected civilization, players start on a journey of strategic decision-making that shapes their unique gaming personality. The choices made, from building structures to raising troops, contribute to a distinct gaming persona that is in line with the characteristics of the selected civilization. This interactive experience allows players to bond more deeply with their in-game elements.

Educational Value: Learning Through Play "Age of Empires" serves as both an entertaining and educational source of information. Through the graphic representation of historical components, players are introduced to a wide range of civilizations, important figures, and historical events. Through gameplay, players inadvertently gain knowledge about different civilizations, which enhances their knowledge of historical events.

Cultural Narratives: Storytelling in Strategy The game's campaigns create historical narratives that set the scene for the strategic choices that are made. These narratives help to portray a variety of cultures and civilizations by narrating stories that capture historical identity and context. Historical narratives add depth to strategic gameplay, which enhances the overall gaming experience.

conclusion: "Age of Empires" shows how video games can be used as a platform for cultural expression and historical research. By combining visually striking features that honor the diversity of human history with strategic gameplay, the series offers an immersive experience that goes beyond just being fun. As they build, plan, and conquer in the virtual worlds of the past, players simultaneously engage with the visual cultures of ancient civilizations and build their own identities. The video game adventure "Age of Empires" shows how strategic gameplay and cultural representation can transport players across time and contribute to their development of a more profound sense of identity within the vibrant world of video game storytelling.

Reference list

Burgess, J. and Jones, C. (2021). Exploring Player Understandings of Historical Accuracy and Historical Authenticity in Video Games. Games and Culture, [online] 17(5), p.155541202110618. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/15554120211061853

Michael Ray (2023). Age of Empires | Real-time strategy, Historical battles, Microsoft | Britannica. www.britannica.com. [online] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Age-of-Empires

Microsoft (n.d.). Home - Age of Empires. [online] Age of Empires. Available at: https://www.ageofempires.com/

professional, M.K.W.F.L. writer M.K. is an I., Games, A.E. on and Klappenbach, gaming equipment our editorial process M. (2020). Complete List of Games and History of the Age of Empires Series. [online] Lifewire. Available at: https://www.lifewire.com/age-of-empires-series-812456

#age of empires

0 notes

justonecitizenoftheearth · 3 years

Text

Why the ending of Supernatural is problematic - the meaning of storytelling

Originally, I wanted to write a full essay on this and I still might, but since the university libraries are closed and I have three other big writing projects at hand, one of which is my final thesis, this might take a while. I still want to share my thoughts about this. A lot of this has been said before, but not yet by everyone. Trigger warning for mentions of suicide and homophobia.

The thing that bugs me most about the whole discussion about the ending of Supernatural is people saying “why do you care so much? It´s just a story.” Storytelling has been a part of human culture for thousands of years, it is something that everyone does and to think that telling stories doesn´t have a function in society that goes beyond entertainment is just plain wrong. Every part of storytelling, be it the actions shown, the words used, the characters involved or the connotations connected with any of the above, have the power to influence the way that the recipients of the story perceive reality. Now let that sink in for a moment.

To borrow some words from a text about gendered narration: “Narration is understood as a cultural practice that spans genres and media and it is of great significance for gender constructions and gender relations, because stories don´t simply reflect on the perception or imagination of ´gender´, but they create them. From this perspective, storytelling seems to be one of the performative acts that produce and establish identities and gender constructs in the first place.” (Nünning/Nünning (2006): Making gendered selves; translated from german). The important thing to take from this quote is the last bit: Storytelling is an act that produces and establishes identities. And from here, we jump directly into the ending of Supernatural.

I don´t think I have to explain a lot about what happens in the last two episodes of Supernatural. But I want to go into the potential impact. So, in the ending of episode 15x18, we see a male presenting character, Castiel, declare his love to another male presenting character, Dean Winchester. It is made very clear, both by the actual show and the comments of Misha Collins, who plays Castiel, right afterwards, that this is in fact meant to be romantic. Right after that scene, Castiel dies. He not only dies by coincidence, but confessing his love is the thing that makes him happy and therefore, because of a deal he made with the empty, is the thing that kills him. It is not explicitly said if Dean loves him back. In the next episode, this confession is never mentioned, but Dean shows some signs of wanting Castiel back desperately (begging Chuck to bring him back, running up the stairs because he thinks that Cas will be there), but these signs just stop at some point during the episode. In the series finale, Castiel is mentioned twice, but not once by Dean and always in a fleeting manner. It never becomes clear if Dean loves him back and life apparently just went on without him. Not to mention that death has never been a permanent or undefeatable state in the show. But Castiel never comes back, his feelings are never mentioned and neither are Dean´s, although it has been clear in previous seasons that he usually takes it very, very hard to lose Castiel, to a point where he becomes reckless and suicidal (see early season 13).

There are a few things to address here, but the main thing for me is that it seems like Castiel loses his status as a friend who will be dearly missed as soon as he comes out as in love with Dean Winchester, which is perceived by the audience as being gay (angelic gender discourse aside). And this is a bad message. It´s a really bad message both for people who struggle with their sexuality and see all their fears come true, and for people who have prejudices about LGBTQI+ people and get the message that they are less valuable as human beings. Which is not true, but again: Storytelling is an act that produces and establishes identities. The death of Castiel was only one of the problematic messages. Dean Winchester, who has been coded and perceived as bisexual and who has been a beacon of light for many who struggle with mental illnesses, dies too. Worse, he basically chooses death, which completely destroys the hopeful message of never giving up. Eileen Leahy, a deaf character who represents a group of people who are seldomly represented in media in a positive and empowering way, disappeares from the narrative, too, without an explanation and takes that empowerment with her. There are more examples, but the general idea is clear.

And this is, for me, the main problem with the Supernatural finale. The ending of Supernatural helps to establish hurtful tropes and assumptions. It transports messages that can be very harmful both for people who identify with those characters and see their own very real and important hopes and dreams fall to pieces, and for people who could use to see good representation of diverse characters to question their own values and opinions.

I hear you asking: “Okay, so bad media representation is bad in an abstract, cultural context. But how big can the impact of such media representation actually be for individual people? And how do you prove that?” So let me ask back: “Have you ever heard of the Werther effect?”

In 1774, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe published the novel “The sorrows of Young Werther”. In this book the main character kills himself after being rejected by the woman he´s in love with. After the novel had been published, a number of young men committed suicide, following the example of the book character Werther. This is not the only case where the depiction of the suicide of a character inspired people who strongly identify themselves with the character commit suicide: “There have been other such “epidemics” [meaning suicides in imitation], such as the rash of suicides in young Jewish females after the publication of Otto Weininger´s Sex and Character in 1903. However, an earlier recorded epidemic occurred in the early 1700s in Japan.” (Krysinka/Lester (2006): Comment on the Werther effect. S.100).

Long story short, it is a known phenomenon that media has a huge influence on the lives of recipients, especially if they can identify strongly with the characters, all the way to existential decisions like suicide. And in the case of Supernatural, that´s an extraordinarily relevant question.

The character Dean Winchester has battled depression, trauma and suicidal thoughts and tendencies in his journey. Many people who battled the same issues could identify themselves with this character, which is a known fact in the fandom and has been said multiple times on conventions and on social media. Showing that this character accepts death, even though it is questionable if that was necessary, and implying that the only way that he can find peace is by dying is highly problematic. Combined with the number of people who identify as LGBTQI+ and who have a strong connection to the character Dean Winchester, and considering the high suicide rate among LGBTQ+ individuals, death as the conclusion of his character arc is a dangerous message.

To summarize my point, storytelling is an insanely powerful instrument to shape the collective social memory of a culture and it has direct influence on how we perceive the world and other humans. Bad media representation causes real life issues and can be very harmful, both on a personal level and in society, for those who are affected. It lets hypocrites, homophobes and racists stay in their bubble of righteousness and fails to call them out on their bullshit. It is a lethal threat to some. Bad media representation and thoughtless storytelling is dangerous. And this is why I care so much. Because it´s not just about a story.

So, that´s it for now. I would love to hear your thoughts about it!

And I send love to all of my mutuals, everyone who loves Supernatural and hates the finale because of it, all of my rainbow siblings and everyone who needs it! <3

#the15yearshow #destiel #eileen leahy #media representation #spn season 15 #spn finale #literature textpost #the importance of representation #the sorrows of young werther #meta post #I guess #narratology #storytelling #literature student #supernatural

62 notes · View notes

pass-the-bechdel · 4 years

Text

The Good Place full series review

How many episodes pass the Bechdel test?

96% (forty-eight of fifty).

What is the average percentage of female characters with names and lines for the full series?

49%

How many episodes have a cast that is at least 40% female?

Forty-four.

How many episodes have a cast that is at least 50% female?

Twenty-eight.

How many episodes have a cast that is less than 20% female?

Zero.

Positive Content Status:

Good - you might even say, strong - in the sense that it’s all there, pretty much all of the big representation bells are ringing, particularly the ones for women and racial diversity. That said, the show is generally content to sit pretty and not push the envelope on inclusivity, so if you’re looking for inspiration in-text instead of just in casting, you might be disappointed. At any rate, it’s a solid feel-good time, and not likely to make you mad (average rating of 3.01).

Which season had the best representation statistics overall?

The numbers stay pretty consistent across the whole series, but if I had to call a winner, it’s season four, which has the highest percentage of female characters and the only above-average positive content rating (though that was awarded somewhat cumulatively, and so doesn’t feel particularly well-earned by that season above the others).

Which season had the worst representation statistics overall?

It’s such a close call, but season three must be the loser here by virtue of the lowest ratio of female to male characters; it also had one of the series’ two Bechdel fails. Like I said, it’s...a really close call.

Overall Series Quality:

There’s so much about it that is fresh and original and interesting, I wish I could love it more. After a magnificent debut season, the show suffers immensely for a lack of pacing and the absence of coherently-planned plot, and at times the stagnating characterisation and pointless filler caked into the cracks in the storytelling can be frustrating and/or tedious. I’m only as disappointed as I am because the potential for greatness was so strong. That said, even at it’s worst The Good Place is still entertaining, and most of it is better than that. It’s irreverent, it’s fun, it’s surprising, and sometimes it’s even as poignant as it is remarkable. I have my gripes, in droves, but that doesn’t mean this show is not worthy.

MORE INFO (and potential spoilers) under the cut:

Imagine. Imagine a version of this show where the first season is basically the same, and the second season is...somewhat similar to how it is, but with more focus and direction, less time-wasting; a second season where figuring out that some fundamental change to their circumstances is necessary comes early, and instead of faffing about with ethical lessons in the fake neighbourhood again while Michael pretends he can get everyone to the Good Place, we get down to business with going on the run and into the Bad Place to find the judge and petition for help. Imagine this show, but the third season has none of that return to Earth crap, and instead, is the neighbourhood experiment from season four, properly fleshed out. And then season four is all about going to the Good Place and solving the problems there, addressing issues with the concept of utopia and the ineffectual bureaucracy of obsessive niceness (used for comedic effect in the actual show, but c’mon, there’s a whole untapped reservoir about morality there). Each season could have (gasp!) a properly-planned and plotted arc, dealing with a different school of ethical considerations, and I dunno, maybe the characterisation could have trajectory too, and the characters could vitally shape the storytelling, and maybe not get their personalities and experiences erased and rebooted over and over again, nullifying large swathes of the narrative which came before? Ideally, they could be reset zero (0) times, or at least have all their reboot experiences dumped back into them in the first few episodes of season two, so that they could proceed from there as whole people. Rebooting everyone’s personalities is not actually necessary to the plot in any way, and is, actually, incredibly detrimental to storytelling and especially, character development. Imagine this show, but just chilling out and actually telling a coherent story?

I am all the more annoyed by how things turned out on this show because I know that the four seasons were planned for, rather than being the result of cancellation; the idea that the creators sat down and ‘plotted’ (using that term loosely) to make this mess drives me a little wild. The (attempted) avoidance of the dreaded ‘stagnation’ seems obvious, and it leads to major narrative shortcuts and jumps and instances where the show spends an episode or two on what should have been a half-season’s development, minimum, and yet at other times all momentum grinds to a halt for a bizarre bottle-type episode where the characters just talk about a concept for a while or work on some unimportant romantic subplot. The various ethical concepts that the show heavily incorporated as its bread and butter in the first season start to stick out like sore thumbs in season two, seemingly wedged into one episode or another for no real reason other than just to be there, and the fact that the show lets go of the idea of moral choices in the life mattering at all in the end leaves the backbone of the show in a very strange shape. I said in the season four review that I didn’t expect the show to come up with some One True Answer about how people should live their lives, but that I was baffled by the fact that the show side-stepped that altogether; what I expected them to conclude was something in the line of ‘we recognise that life is complicated, not all situations are created equal, and it can be hard to know how to proceed ethically or even to access ethical options within one’s circumstances. Still, it is important to do your best, not only for yourself but for your community, because the more good you put into the world, the more there will be to go around and come back to you. What matters most is that you are doing your best with what you’ve got’. The fact that the show distracted itself with fixing how the afterlife rewards people within the afterlife means that it suggests no incentive to perform moral actions in life, and frankly...who gives a fuck? The real world is the place we’re all living in, and there’s no point starting a conversation about morality in real life if the conclusion is just ‘guess we’ll straighten out all the fascists and bigots and the other pieces of shit after they die, so don’t worry, everyone gets to Heaven eventually!’

Anyway, if that seems like just a reiteration of what I said in the season four review, well. I’m still baffled by it. The other thing I was going to talk about in the season four review but held for the full series instead was that one big thing that I have railed about all the time since season one, and that’s PACING. For all ye wannabe-writers out there, please understand how important pacing is. Even vital plot or character beats can seem like meaningless filler in a poorly-paced story, because your audience’s mind is hardwired to try and follow narrative cues that are being incomprehensibly muddled. Standard structure can be played with, but if you toss it out in favour of ‘stuff just happens, ok? Except when it doesn’t’, you just end up with a soup of disconnected story ideas, and nothing threading it together. Character interactions and especially developments can help to create the through-line you need to keep the story functioning despite itself, but as variously noted with The Good Place...initial characterisation? Strong, excellent. Development? Not so much, not least because they kept getting deleted and rebooted. Also, time skips kept happening, and that’s a great way to fuck over your narrative coherence even more: remove the recognisable constant we call time! It’ll be fine! As with all things, it is perfectly possible to play around with this stuff, but you have to know what you’re doing and be doing it for a good reason, and that’s not what they had going on here. This was narrative soup, and when you have a soup, the pieces all kinda meld together and lose any individual purpose, meaning, or power they may have had. The result in this case was not bad, but it really could have been so much better, and literally all it needed for that was some attention being paid to the story structure via pacing.

So. The good news is, I think I have pretty well exhausted all of my complaints by now, and that leaves us with the good stuff, of which there was no paltry amount. The show was not a hit by accident (even if I do feel that it’s success had a lot to do with people sticking around after the spectacular first season, and not because it stayed strong throughout), and even if there was a lot of soup going on, what comprised that soup was all really fun and unique, and this made for a wonderful piece of light-hearted television that could be as hilarious as it was insightful. It still had a lot of great takes on things, the commentary was strong (even if it pulled all its punches towards the end), and whether the storytelling was ebbing or flowing, it was always delightful. The show also managed to pull a miraculous finale out of its hat, and that’s a rare thing in television; however the story wobbled over the course, the ending provided enough satisfaction to forgive just about any sins, especially if you don’t happen to have been watching with a deliberately critical eye. Do I wish that Eleanor got to hook up with a chick on-screen some time instead of just making a lot of bi remarks? Yes. Do I consider the show to have queerbaited instead of providing genuine rep? No. Is the underselling of the queer content my most significant representation complaint? Yes, it is, and that's good news considering the world we live in and the dearth of quality representation that the industry has brought us to expect.

There's an important distinction to be made there, regarding the tokenistic representation that is very common these days in tv trying for brownie points and good publicity, exactly that kind of 'political' inclusivity that conservatives are always bitching about. It should not be surprising that I support that tokenism over the alternative of having no representation at all, but it can still be quite disheartening to feel like your identity or the identities that you value are being referenced as nothing more than an opportunity for some shitty producer to perform wokeness for attention, praise, and the almighty dollar. I bring this up because - even though The Good Place never really worked up much of a boost to its content rating - one thing I felt that it did really, really right was providing representation without it feeling tokenistic at all. Eleanor's bisexuality wasn't as prominent as I might have preferred, and as noted through the course of the show, there were times I feared it was more bait than real rep, but reflecting on it at the end, the way it was included feels organic, it never gets in the way in order to ensure the audience notices and is dutifully impressed. The number of women around and the multicoloured casting plays out even better; I never once felt cynical about the gender balance I was seeing, and I've said it before but I'll say it again: the fact that the show was packed with names from across the world gives me so much life. I'm still a little salty about Chidi's Senegalese origins getting the shaft (and we won't talk about 'Australia'), but the nonchalant diversity of naming goes such a long way to embracing the idea that this is a world for everyone (and an afterlife for everyone, too). And where anything else might fall apart or lose its way, that is an affirming thing. If you want feel-good tv, it’s here. This is the Good Place.

#The Good Place #full series review #Bechdel Test #female representation

9 notes · View notes

patrick-yates · 5 years

Text

Forefront - The Legend of Korra

Today I shall be revisiting one of my favourite animated shows ever, The Legend of Korra. The show’s inception falls just outside of the 5 year recency bracket, first airing in 2012, but the dramatic 3rd and 4th seasons and season finale debuted in 2014, and I regard it as one of the most well realised and successful Western animated series of recent years.

fig 1. a shot from the show’s opening sequence, featuring Korra herself

This show, alongside its parent series Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005), is one of my greatest animating inspirations, and so I wish to take a look at what makes it special, and try to relate it back to how I wish to incorporate that inspiration into my own work. Many of these points are mostly relevant to the narrative and storytelling side of animated film, but as this is a big part of my practice, my love of the form and my career aspirations, I want to take a look at each of them. There are a great number of reasons why I count this show as one of my favourites, so many that I feel I may have to list them in bullet point form as a primer: 1. The well-written characters, and character-driven narratives. Variety, humanity, humour, flaws, emotion, the works. 2. The worldbuilding and lore. As fantasy series go, this presents an extremely well-rounded synthesis of real world philosophy and culture with fantastical elements, complete with political discourse, personal/emotional problems, and often obscure and interesting presentations of morality. 3. The plot itself. Spanning 4 seasons or ‘books’, each one explores a different philosophical conceit, eg. power, change, balance, often through the decisions and successes or failures of the eponymous lead Korra. In many ways it is a coming-of-age story about her personally learning to deal with responsibility, while developing relationships and self-sufficiency too - and saving the world, of course. It is a deeply relatable story, told through a ridiculous lens. This is one of my favourite narrative modes, and one at which animation excels. 4. The animation. While mostly impressive for the superbly choreographed fight scenes (which always make exciting and inventive use of the rules of the world and the characters’ abilities, drawing on real world inspirations), there is so much to love about the sense of scale and style in this show, especially in the award-winning 2 part miniseries ‘Beginnings’ from Season 2. 5. Representation. This is increasingly a strong feature of modern media, and one I am very excited to see personally, but I remember having such a wonderful experience watching this show and thinking to myself, midway through an episode, how many strong and unique female characters took the lead of much of the story, but how it felt so natural I never even noticed. Not only that, it features many characters of different skin tones, religious denominations and philosophies, and sexualities, none of whom are ever reduced or reducible to those characteristics. It’s a very human and very powerful way of writing characters, and something for which I will always appreciate this show. It would be a dream come true to have the chance to work on a show half this accomplished, as it has meant so much to me personally. But what aspects of my own practice can I relate to it, and what elements of it can I learn from? Let’s go back to these bullet points.

1. CHARACTERS. It has been taken as given, as part of my creative heritage in writing, that characters form the crucial basis of any powerful story. They must be complicated, sympathetic, dynamic entities that can exist outside of the page or screen, whose reactions to situations we as readers could anticipate as if they were our friends or family. I hold these ideas central to any narrative process I undertake, and often keep in mind the strong sense of character shown in shows like Korra. I also make it a priority for the stories I wish to tell to be character-driven - for narrative advances to be made based on how characters react to what they are given. As character often forms the strongest basis for relatable story, so it follows the importance of individual personalities in narrative decision-making is difficult to overstate. The very best stories tie this into a larger schema involving several characters, their relationships, their circumstances, the wider politics of the world and its central themes, while staying true to their respective tone. It’s a difficult thing to do, but if it wasn’t, everyone would be doing it.

2. WORLDBUILDING. This is generally only relevant to fantasy and sci-fi storytelling, but given how many animated films and series focus on these genres, I esteem it a big consideration alongside character in creating an effective undertsanding of animated storytelling. The Reality Effect is something discussed by writer Roland Barthes in his essay of the same name: it deals with the presentation of minutiae in storytelling, often needless or tangential to the plot, in order to achieve a greater sense of realism - the idea that the film world is not only comprised of an interlinked tapestry of character and plot, but of a thriving ecosystem completely independent of the narrative thread. Korra/ATLA establish world on a massive scale, incorporating nations, culture, history, food, wildlife, religious praxis, politics, technology, etc etc. All of this, whether helpful to the plot or not, builds a great impression of what this world would actually be like, and has the effect of increasing the viewer’s overall investment in it. When writing any scenario, I try to include as many tiny hints and illusions to the broader idea of that world. I am reminded of a famous quote from Ernest Hemingway, someone of whose work I am not a massive fan personally, but was undoubtedly a great creative force:

If a writer of prose knows enough of what he is writing about he may omit things that he knows and the reader, if the writer is writing truly enough, will have a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them. The dignity of movement of an ice-berg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water. A writer who omits things because he does not know them only makes hollow places in his writing. (fig. 2)

3. PLOT. Korra is a wonderful story because, as discussed, it combines many different tenets of great storytelling, but (almost) always manages to tie together its many threads and come to a satisfying conclusion. Above these superficial successes, however, I am a firm believer that the duty of a storyteller should be in telling stories that need to be told, which Korra manages to do all the time. It tells grown-up stories about trust, about change, about growth, depression, pain, belief, abuse, parenting, sexuality, fascism, and it communicates them all to a young audience without ever being consdescending or reductive. This kind of balance is something I hope to achieve in my own stories, but am still getting the hang of. Something I am always considering is, who will receive the messages I am trying to communicate? How ‘difficult’ should I make my narrative, and how do I ensure I strike that balance? What choices will impact the tone of my work, and what aspects of the story should I focus on making the most prominent? It’s a real balancing act, but I am hoping practice will make perfect.

4. ANIMATION. This one is slightly more pertinent to how I am learning at the moment: how can I make characters’ feelings and personalities shine through movement? Korra has a very strong sense of body language, partly because it ties very strong links between spirituality and physicality: the martial arts practised by each character, and the way in which they move their bodies to use them, almost always reflect in some way how that person thinks, an in some sense how they might react to a personal problem rather than a physical one. In some ways I realise this is hyperliteral and relatively specific way of approaching physicality, however I think engaging with the subtlety of body language is one of the great tools both actors and animators have at their disposal in telling a story, and something which can be largely lost in literature. Here are a few examples of how characters in Korra may be understood by their body language:

fig 3. Korra and Opal bond with ‘airbending’. Their smiles, open positions and relaxed lines show us they are content in each other’s company

fig 4. Lin, hardline chief of police, stands cross armed and wary, yet clearly demonstrates emotion in her face and movement. She is personally attached to this interaction

fig 5. Child of the streets and pro-fighter Mako is guarded yet quick and efficient. He has the air of someone deteremined yet cool under pressure

Hopefully these examples demonstrate some of the admirable ways in which character is presented in Korra (as well as the relatively quality and conciseness of movement, which I also love about this show’s style).

5. REPRESENTATION. At this juncture, I have yet to attempt any broad stories, or even any with more than 2 characters. I am also aware of the dilemma of faithfully representing characters of different backgrounds than myself. Yet I believe in a world of colour, variety and synthesis, not renditions of the same experiences over and over, and animation, as a radical form and as my chsoen art, is as good a place to enact those beliefs as any. I take Korra as a prime example for reasons already mentioned, and hope to refer to its wonderful, dynamic world as often as possible in my own work, and keep diversity and representation politics at the front of my practice both on-screen and behind the scenes.

References

1. Korra

2. Hemingway, Ernest. Death In The Afternoon. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2014. pp. 316

3. http://avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Opal

4, 5. Tumblr

#practice 1 #forefront #reflective

1 note · View note

jennaschererwrites · 4 years

Photo

Inside the Groundbreaking Queer Reboot of ‘She-Ra’ | Rolling Stone

We’re all shaped by the myths we grow up with, whether it’s the stories we learn from holy books or Saturday morning cartoons. Kids who see themselves as the hero learn to center themselves in their own life stories. Kids who see their experiences relegated to the sidelines, or not represented at all, come away with a very different lesson — one that can take years to unlearn.

Which is exactly what makes a show like She-Ra and the Princesses of Power so vital. Since its premiere in 2018, Noelle Stevenson’s reboot of the cult Eighties cartoon has joined a revolution in the world of children’s animation, combining classic genre storytelling with diverse representation and a progressive worldview (see also: Nickelodeon’s The Legend of Korra, Cartoon Network’s Adventure Time and Steven Universe). In its fifth and final season, which dropped on Netflix last month, She-Ra rounded out its 52-episode run by centering a queer romance — specifically, between its hero, Adora, and her best frenemy Catra — and positing that such a love can, quite literally, save the world.

“I knew from the start that it wasn’t going to be easy,” says Stevenson, speaking via phone from Los Angeles. “Because this is She-Ra. To have the culmination of her arc be this lesbian love plot is a big deal! And I understood that. But I also felt that it was really important.”

The original She-Ra: Princess of Power was a 1985 Filmation spin-off of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, which itself was based on a line of Mattel action figures. Set on the planet of Etheria, She-Ra follows a band of magical princesses in their rebellion against the Evil Horde, a totalitarian sci-fi regime bent on global domination. Adora is an ex-Horde soldier who joins the rebellion after she gains the ability to transform into She-Ra, a superpowered Chosen One with glowing blue eyes, a mystical sword, and a very cool outfit.

In 2015, when Stevenson, then 23, found out that DreamWorks Animation was looking for someone to pitch a new take on She-Ra, she jumped at the chance. She was already an Eisner Award-winning cartoonist and writer who had made a name for herself with works like her web comic-turned-graphic novel Nimona and the Boom! Studios series Lumberjanes.

“The world [of She-Ra] is so incredibly vibrant, and has so many powerful female characters. It’s this world that has all my interests rolled into one: It’s got the flying ponies and superpowers and all of these things that, immediately, I was like, ‘I want to do this. I want to be the one to do this,’” she says.

While Stevenson’s reimagination of the world of Etheria pays tribute to its predecessor, it includes some key differences. The reboot transforms the musclebound, scantily-clad grownups of the original series into awkward teens in much more practical (but still very sparkly) clothing. In addition to embracing a diversity of races, genders, and body types, the She-Ra reboot fleshes out the characters and their backstories, giving them fully-fledged arcs and complicating the good/evil binary of the original. The princesses of the rebellion aren’t simply heroic, and the soldiers of the Horde aren’t simply villains; everyone’s just a human being (or scorpion person or alien clone or flying horse, as the case may be) trying to make their way in a world that doesn’t offer easy solutions. It’s also, incidentally, really funny.

For Stevenson, it was crucial that the characters felt three-dimensional, and that it was their choices that guided the direction of the storytelling. “The characters all began with a deep personal flaw, and the process of making the show was kind of giving them the room to process those flaws. But we wanted it to feel organic. We wanted the characters to feel like real people that we knew,” she explains.

From the start, She-Ra’s most compelling tension was always between Adora (Aimee Carrero) and Catra (AJ Michalka), Adora’s childhood best friend who becomes her bitterest rival after Adora leaves the Horde to join the rebellion. In the show’s first four seasons, the two continually fight and reconcile and break apart again, their obsession with each other marking them as something more than frenemies.

“It’s a dynamic that I find really interesting: the attraction and the tension between the villain and the hero, especially when they know each other better than anyone. They love each other, but there’s something between them that cannot be overcome,” Stevenson says.

Stevenson always knew that she wanted the relationship between Catra and Adora to be a romantic one; but she had to walk a fine line, because she didn’t know if the studio would give her the go-ahead to put an explicitly lesbian love story front and center. At first, as in Steven Universe, Rebecca Sugar’s radically progressive series that aired its final episodes earlier this year, she steeped the world of the She-Ra reboot in queerness. The show features multiple side characters in same-sex relationships, characters who flout traditional gender roles, and even a nonbinary character (Double Trouble, voiced by transgender writer and activist Jacob Tobia).

Still, Stevenson, herself a gay woman, wanted young viewers to be able to see a queer relationship that wasn’t just incidental, but central to the plot of the entire series. “I’ve loved these stories my entire life, you know? I was a huge Star Wars and Lord of the Rings fan as a kid. But there weren’t a lot of characters that I felt personally represented by,” she says. “We love what makes these stories classic, but we’ve seen them all culminate in the same kind of romance so many times: The hero gets the girl, he gets the kiss, and then he saves the world. And it’s not just [swapping] the man and the woman for two women. You have to actually approach it from a standpoint of: How do you make these stories, at their roots, queer?

“So that’s what I was trying to do — for little queer kids to see that this is normal, that these are stories that can happen and that exist, and that can center them and make them feel seen and understood.”

Whether or not Adora and Catra’s romance would become canonical was in the hands of the studio, and it was a risk Stevenson couldn’t be sure it would be willing to take. So the show played a long game — hinting at a romantic dynamic between the two without making it explicit, for fear of disappointing fans in the end if they weren’t able to deliver. Fortunately, a groundswell of viewer support for a potential relationship between the characters — a phenomenon known in the fan community as “shipping” — allowed Stevenson to make a case to the studio for supporting the story she wanted to tell with She-Ra.

“Just as I had hoped, people started picking up on this tension and getting really passionate about it,” she says. “It was immediately one of the strongest fandom ships right out of the gate. And that was when I finally showed my hand and was like, ‘Look. We’ve got a bunch of people who, just off Season One, are really, really excited about the gay representation in this show. I have been planning for this. And here’s how it needs to end, and not just because I want a moment that everyone’s gonna talk about. It’s the logical conclusion of both their character arcs. They need each other.’”

Finally, after years of hedging their bets, Stevenson and her collaborators got the go-ahead from DreamWorks. “I really wanted it to be so central to the plot that if at any point they were like, ‘Oh, we changed our minds, we want to take it out again,’ they wouldn’t be able to, because it would be so baked in,” she explains. “The temperature is not always right, and depending on what’s happening in the world, not everyone wants to be the studio that sticks their neck out and makes a statement like this. You will get a flat ‘no’ sometimes. But if you bide your time, or you come at it from another angle, that can change. You just have to keep pushing.”

Feedback for the conclusion of She-Ra has been overwhelmingly positive both from critics and fans. Viewer support has been pouring out in the form of social media posts, YouTube reaction videos, and fan art and fan fiction. Stevenson, who first made a name for herself online with Lord of the Rings and Avengers fan art, has been blown away by the support from She-Ra lovers. “That’s how you know that you’re successful at what you set out to do — if people are getting inspired by the stories that you’re telling. I think that that’s the beauty of fan work, is that it’s an evolution of the genre. We take that inspiration and create something new all the time.”

Unfettered by restrictions, the final season of She-Ra is a tightly plotted, character-driven masterwork, featuring a slow-burn redemption arc, a harrowing villain, and a timely message about the power of love and unity against the forces of repression and tyranny. It’s a show about becoming kinder and more open in the face of unrelenting darkness, about banding together to prepare for the worst, but always hoping for the best in spite of overwhelming odds.

Stevenson says that she and her team began work on She-Ra in the aftermath of the 2016 election. “The veil was ripped off, and we had to reckon with a world that we hadn’t expected. And that theme of relying on each other and being stronger together became so much more relevant,” she recalls. “I remember writing one script after a particularly bad news day where it just felt like nothing was ever going to be OK again. It’s an episode where Adora realizes that there are supposed to be stars in the sky, and there aren’t any more stars. And as Aimee [Carrero] was recording the lines, she was crying, and we were crying, because we were all experiencing this together — the idea that things were changing in maybe irreparable ways.”

The refrain of She-Ra’s catchy-as-hell power-pop theme song is “We must be strong, and we must be brave.” According to Stevenson, that’s easier said than done; but the whole point of the series is that you have to try anyway. It’s a message that rings especially true at this moment in our world when it seems like everything is spinning out of control, and it’s all too easy to feel helpless.

“It always comes back to this — when you realize that there’s a great evil or a great darkness that won’t just go away from one fight,” Stevenson says. “It boils up, and it can be pushed back down, but it’s something that we’ll probably have to be fighting for the rest of our lives. That’s really hard to do, and it makes you really tired sometimes, and it can be really scary. But when you are surrounded by the people that you love, and when you have that love for the people around you, then that strength is possible.”

#she ra #she ra and the princesses of power #rolling stone #noelle stevenson #catradora #adora x catra #catra #adora #lgbtq #Jenna scherer #animation #cartoons #interview #representation

1 note · View note

courtney-jadeneale-blog · 5 years

Text

ESSAY: Feminist Journey

Introduction

Feminism has been a prominent movement regarding the progression of women’s rights in western society. As social media and technology have progressed so has the circulation of political works of art. In turn, this has allowed the upcoming generations to join the conversation surrounding the treatment of minority groups.

This piece will further elaborate on feminist theory. This will be achieved primarily through the lens of illustrator Florence Given. Examined will be her approach to the 21st century feminist perceptions. For example, intersectionality and the newly disputed #MeToo movement popularised through avid social media campaigning from women’s movements. Through the evaluation of Florence Given’s illustrations, we are also able to discuss other feminist controversies such as the male gaze, and on a broader spectrum, social semiotics and the implications it has had on feminist evolution.

Intersectionality

Intersectionality is the social theory outlining the multiple risks of discrimination against an individual who’s identity overlaps with more than one minority group. This could be in health, race, ethnicity, gender or age. Minority groups intersectional experiences show that the odds are stacked against them. (Williams. S. (2017)) This proves that although the feminist movement is fighting for equality, some may be fighting for more rights than others; the movement is diverse and personal to each individual. Intersectionality has brought us movements like #MeToo. Me Too is a movement to raise awareness for “… the one in four girls and the one in six boys who are sexually abused every year …”. (The Telegraph. (2018)) The civil rights activist Tarana Burke founded the movement in 2006, this was due to her work with young women of colour and her constant reassurance to them; “you’re not alone. This happened to me too.”. Since then it has turned into a worldwide campaign, raising awareness about sexual harassment, abuse and assault within society. (Biography. (2018)) With the help of social media MeToo has attained global recognition after actress Alyssa Milano urged those who’d experienced a form of sexual harassment to share their stories with the #metoo, “If you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted write ‘me too’ as a reply to this tweet.” (Twitter. (2017))

(Instagram. (2018) 1.)

Florence Given work is Social Realism, this is a term used for work produced by creatives that highlights the real socio – political conditions of the working class, criticising power structures. (Neale.C (2019)) This is an example within Given’s work of sexual harassment, as the nude illustration combined with the text ‘Looking Good for My Goddamn Self’ is representation of the sexist thoughts of western society. These thoughts state that if you are a woman with flesh on show, whether that be, cleavage, leg or bum you are asking for it. The use of red within the background has connotations of anger, showing how enraged this makes Given and also women in western society feel. This however in my opinion goes against intersectionality as all women are fighting for the right to walk outside in whatever they want without the common perception that they are asking for it.

Gender theory

We become who we are because of social conditioning in things like are parents’ values, culture and ideologies. This almost makes our identity a performance and kind of storytelling, as how we choose to dress, to what we eat and how we act can construct our identities further. This relates to the saying Cogito Ergo Sum, ‘I think, therefore I am’ by Rene Descartes. (Duignan. B. (2019))

‘I think, therefore I am’ heavily relates to gender in modern day society as more people are starting to understand the difference between sex and gender. Sex is biological and decided based on our reproductive functions, Gender is the social conditioning of being male or female.

Judith Butler the American Academic, identifies gender as a performance. This is because she believes “There is no gender identity behind the expressions of gender; that identity is performatively constituted by the vert “expressions” that are said to be its results.”. This is something Florence Given is constantly questioning within her illustrative work.

(Instagram. (2019). 2)

The text in this illustration; ‘How much of my femininity is who I truly am. And how much of it is a product of patriarchal brainwashing to exist for male consumption?’ refers to the social conditioning of a woman’s role in western society. This is due to the habituate that we are expected to act, speak, dress and groom ourselves based on our biological sex, for example women are expected to be emotional, cook and clean, appear thin and short with long hair. Contradicted to the male expectations of acting aggressive, taking care of finances, work and appear tall and muscular, with short hair. These ‘stereotypes about gender can cause unequal and unfair treatment because of a person’s gender.’; sexism. (Planned Parenthood (2019)) The use of colour chosen for the background of this piece juxtaposed with a female figure as the centre piece represents that females are conditioned to like pink and also given this colour as a depiction of femininity. In doing this she has made the piece hyperfeminine, an exaggeration of stereotyped feminine behaviour.

The male gaze

The term ‘male gaze’ was originated by Laura Mulvey in an essay she wrote called ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’ The Male gaze proposes that a women’s identity is rejected, attributing them to the status of an object, thing a commodity to be marvelled at for physical appearance. This is characterized in films being that the female roles only exist to give the male character further importance and interest. Mulvey states that a female personality has only two functions within a narrative, first being a seductive object to be admired within the narrative, the second a seductive object to attract male viewer ship. (SlideShare. (2013)) This representation within social media has grown men to objectify women. Furthermore, teaching women to objectify other women, for what they do or don’t have based on physical appearance.

(Instagram. (2018). 3)

Florence Given’s piece ‘There is enough room for all women to be whole without tearing each other down’ is a perfect depiction of this. The constant eradication of female egos and girl power prohibits the feminist movement from reaching its full potential. As women as a whole should be united as we are all fighting for equal rights to our societal ‘superior’, however when we are tear each other down based surface appearance we aren’t making room for us all to succeed only the select few deemed by society as ‘perfect’. Again, the red colour palette has connotations of anger representing the distress this causes Given and again women of western society. The red colour choice also adds a seductive feel to the illustration enhancing the expression and bold features of the women within the piece, this could be a subtle implication to the male gaze.

Another creative that looks at the social realism of the male gaze is photographer Cindy Sherman. Sherman is ‘best known for her conceptual portraits’. (TATE. (2019)) Sherman look at the seductive oppression of mass media identities mainly focusing on women. Sherman fixated on make up within her photographs, as she considers this the main tool to achieve what we see circulating our media, basing her work around sexual desire.

Madonna (1977)

(Neale. C. (2019))

This image suggests a portrayal of The Male Gaze, As the overall plastic look to the image along with the makeup and blank expression gives it a doll like affect. The use of black and white within this photograph also gives it a lifeless feel as no pink pigment can be recognised in the skin, meaning life cannot be identified. This fits with the theory than men view women as objects to be admired rather than their equals. Looking at the overall image from a social stand point I would say this image is a depiction of the value of what women are to men.

Conclusion

The Feminist movement has broadcast to a larger audience due to social media. Movements like #MeToo and social realistic works of art that visually showcase socio-political issues are the reason feminism is now gaining the global recognition that’s needed for change. Florence Given for me personally is a massive influence in 21st century feminism. Given’s aesthetically pleasing illustrations highlighting key points of modern western society and the feminist movement in a creative way. This appeals to a much larger audience as they are able to visually see the modern-day problems of society apposed to hearing them on the news or reading the issues in news articles. I feel the next step in feminism is to educate people on intersectionality. Often feminism is misconstrued to a one size fits all scenario, as people think it only applies to women fighting for the same issues; this is not the case, the fight is different for each individual; its personal. Feminism isn’t just the fight for women’s rights, it’s a fight for equal rights for minority groups; ethnicity, LGBTQ+, religion, disability and men!

#100

0 notes