tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1867127488416158679.post1783700748067200746..comments2023-09-28T06:33:11.190-07:00Comments on Chariot of Reaction: Authorial Affirmative Action and Distorting the Histograms of RealityJehuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16483263667086303029noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1867127488416158679.post-71929758443004666102012-03-30T10:32:36.058-07:002012-03-30T10:32:36.058-07:00Alex,
I can see the Nantucketers using their daugh...Alex,<br />I can see the Nantucketers using their daughters in their conflicts given that they saw them (correctly) as existential. I believe that the Russians and the Israelis have both done that when their backs were totally to the wall but they quickly stopped doing it when they had even the slightest breathing room. The Marion character was pretty over the top pandering though---just how many words would need to be changed to morph her into a white male? Not very many, I bet I could do it and hand the book to someone who hadn't read that series before and they'd never know the difference....<br /><br />Serenity had some deeply reactionary themes (specifically, that humanity can't be 'fixed', and that great rivers of blood accompany those who think they can) in addition to the 'leave us alone' strain of libertarianism. The black guy in Serenity was also only partly a villain. I never got a chance to see any of the other 3, although it's pretty hard to do a movie like 'Last King of Scotland' without black bad guys I suppose.Jehuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16483263667086303029noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1867127488416158679.post-3886212411346426052012-03-30T09:41:13.871-07:002012-03-30T09:41:13.871-07:00Black villain: Serenity, Last King of Scotland
Ga...Black villain: Serenity, Last King of Scotland<br /><br />Gay villain: Paprika, Miller's Crossing<br /><br />Though we're well into "exception that proves the rule" territory here.<br /><br />As far as Island in the Sea of Time, I'm willing to take Marion Alston as an exceptional individual, but what I can't take is the idea that the Nantucketers would send their teenage daughters out en masse to swing swords and crank crossbow windlasses in war.Alex J.https://www.blogger.com/profile/00147269991231314528noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1867127488416158679.post-61454379825476049432012-03-19T09:26:09.419-07:002012-03-19T09:26:09.419-07:00Alrenous,
Of course, it's most obvious that th...Alrenous,<br />Of course, it's most obvious that this propaganda convention is in effect when it is (rarely) breached--then come the howls. Authorial Affirmative Action should be mocked whenever possible, especially when committed by good artists who actually know better (e.g. Stirling).Jehuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16483263667086303029noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1867127488416158679.post-1999264101920806122012-03-19T02:56:24.368-07:002012-03-19T02:56:24.368-07:00It's not even strictly speaking a lie. Nowhere...It's not even strictly speaking a lie. Nowhere does it say that fiction must be representative, or even realistic. <br />Err...except in court cases, criminal or public opinion, about 'racist' shows. Not that the propagandists would ever let such facts get used against them.<br /><br />Unavoidably these arguments are self-defeating, even if accepted. If it is racist to be too white, it must also be racist to be too black. <br /><br />Similarly, if only whites can be criminals, especially supervillians, it means whites have powers that others know not. If non-whites are nothing to fear, it means first that they are weak - they cannot threaten. Second, it means they're not to be respected, as the NT generally acts respectfully only to entities they fear. Again, even assuming these distortions are true, they're still deeply racist. <br /><br />My question is how to compress that chain of inference into something that can be sound-bit. <br /><br /><br />All who commit betrayal are traitors, not just the treasonous traitors. Treason itself being effective propaganda, as if betraying a trust imposed on you is somehow worse than betraying a freely chosen trust.Alrenoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11119846531341190283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1867127488416158679.post-10413020795117785222012-03-18T22:22:36.297-07:002012-03-18T22:22:36.297-07:00Our propaganda fascinates me. It's so good th...Our propaganda fascinates me. It's so good that very few people can even identify it as propaganda.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com