Just two more days of Winter Break. So, how did things go? It really depends on what aspect of my life we look at. Did things go well as an author? No . . . No, they did not. Did things go well in regards to health? Maybe. Did things go well as a parent? Yes. So, let’s tackle the categories. Mostly because I need to compartmentalize to get my addled brain to focus.
Health
I’m going to dive right into this since I’ve talked about it. Last Saturday was all about the doctor appointments. My anxiety is under more control, but something is still wrong. We don’t really know what though. I go back in 3 months after altering my diet (fewer carbs if possible) and exercising (70 intense minutes or 150 low impact minutes a week). If that doesn’t get under control then I may have to go on Ozempic since I’m right at the borderline for prediabetes. Thankfully, I was already starting to shift my diet to include more fruits and vegetables. Need to do smaller portions too. The hard part is going to be the exercise, but we’ll see what happens.
All of that still doesn’t explain what keeps happening to me. It’s why I got only two chapter sections done last weekend, which was a Herculean task. My head was spinning and my energy was low. Sinuses were in rough shape. This seems to happen whenever the barometric pressure goes above 30 and the temperature gets into the 30’s. It could be residual long-term Covid, but it’s also possible that I’ve become really sensitive to the weather in my old age. I remember last few winters, I wasn’t even trying to write, so I never pushed myself on weekends or evenings. Now, I’ll get a chapter section done and my brain feels like it just got through a surprise SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test). Even now, I’m getting a little dizzy as I get excitable and my thoughts run wilder.
Finally, I got my first eye exam since 2018. Needless to say, my prescription was way off and my vision sucks. The exam itself left me out of sorts last Saturday, but I wasn’t doing any better on Sunday. Yesterday, I got my new glasses, so I’m struggling to adjust to everything. Need to give my eyes breaks, especially from screens. This means I probably won’t get much writing done this weekend either.
Author
My goal was writing 2 chapters of Darwin & the Demon Game last weekend. I didn’t even come close. I wrote the last section of 7 and the first of chapter 8. So, my future goal to write chapters 9 and 10 this weekend are definitely out. I’ll be lucky if I can finish chapter 8 and maybe start 9. So, not a stellar week for writing. I mean, it didn’t help that my son and I stayed up late with movies and cartoons. By the time I got him to bed, I was wiped out and had to pass out. I figured that would happen, so it’s really that last weekend ended up being a wash that wrecked my goals. Hopefully, going to bed early last night instead of forcing a writing session means I have more energy for today. I’m in an awkward stage for the story too because the notes don’t match what I was aiming for, so I might have to take my time. Need to do some biking today too.
Outside of the novel, I saw a sudden surge of ratings for various Legends of Windemere books. Not reviews, but ratings. I’ll take it. Finished the last squad for Phi Beta Files too. Didn’t get further than that. I thought I could work a bit on it while in a doctor room for 4 hours. It was for my son to do a food challenge with his allergist, which meant the ex-wife was there too. Didn’t feel comfortable writing anything while she was in the room. At least, I did something?
Parenting
Here is where the bulk of my time and successes went. My son and I watched a few good movies that I’d been waiting for him to be old enough for. He enjoyed them. We played video games, including going to a local museum that set up about 90 arcade machines. It was $10 for 90 minutes of playing for each of us. I got to beat a Spider-Man arcade game that plagued me in my youth. That was mostly Wednesday. Tuesday was just resting and getting some schoolwork done before Pokémon Legends: Arceus. Friday was a bunch of errands for me and then my son went to his friend’s house for fun. I figure I’ll explain Thursday first with a picture:
Another successful father/son trip to the Bronx Zoo. A bunch of stuff was closed, so we left earlier than we normally would. Got front row seats to a pair of ibex fighting for dominance. The lions were yelling at each other from across their enclosure too. Not sure what they were arguing about, but they were very passionate about their thoughts. Finally, that tiger put on a show. Specifically, it tried to scent mark everyone, but the glass stopped the jet of urine. My son was laughing his butt off, especially since it almost looked like he was the main target. It’s these unexpected events that make the zoo trips so much fun.
Only other things that happened was that I cooked a few dinners. Baked Vodka Ziti and Taco Lasagna were the two choices. I was too tired to cook on Monday (pizza) and Thursday (restaurant), so those were really it. Had to fit some biking in too since it’s more imperative that I do it. Overall, a successful week with a 13-year-old whose every fourth sentence is about Pokémon even if that’s not the conversation.
The Future!
I’ve got nothing. Heading back into work, which means getting my body back to that schedule. This time, I need to add 20-30 minutes of biking to at least 2 of my evenings since I’m not waking up at 4 AM to do it. Seriously, I’m still averaging 6-6.5 hours of sleep a night with going to bed at 10 PM. I’m not making things harder there, which means biking on the days my son is picked up by his mom. There tend to be appointments on Tuesdays and Thursdays anyway.
Another obstacle will be adjusting to the new glasses. Even now, I may have pushed myself a bit too far. I’m writing this Friday afternoon and was going to try for a few May posts. Instead, I’m going to have to lie down for 15-20 minutes. My eyes need a break, so my head stops spinning. It’s very much like motion sickness or vertigo, but it should be done by the weekend. Guess we’ll see what happens. Just another reason I’m not aiming very high this week.
What are the goals?
- Adjust to my new glasses.
- Write chapter 8 of Darwin & the Demon Game. Anything extra will be a bonus.
- Get back into the work schedule. 6.5 weeks before another break.
- Help son study for tests and do homework.
- Continue improving my sleeping habits.
- Watch more ‘Sword Art Online’. It’s a re-watch, so I can listen instead of watch if my eyes hurt.
- Keep reading ‘Naruto’.
- Use 1 or 2 nights to prep some May posts.
Legends of Windemere 
I’m seeing a lot of people talk about stepping back. I’ve gone from the early days of blogging four or five days per week to a weekend post or two. Quite a few are targeting once per week. There are only so many hours in the day. I’m lucky to not have kids in school, so Saturdays are generally still available to me.
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I’m not stepping back on blogging. That’s easier to maintain than novel writing with my health situation.
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I kind of gave up on social media, too. I tweet for all my friends, but never really do anything for myself.
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I don’t even bother with Twitter anymore. Barely see anything useful on there. At one point, it was filled with politicians and celebrities that I don’t even follow, so I just gave up.
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Exactly.
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You forgot the exercise on your list! Maybe you have an indoor bike? I have one in the garage – a sitting-down one – for rainy days.
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Every time I put the exercise on the list, I fail. So, I’m leaving it off and trying my best. I have a collapsible stationary bike in my room.
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Sounds good – uncollapse it. Maybe it will lay a guilt trip on you!
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Guilt trips don’t work when you’re raised Jewish. Though leaving it uncollapsed would result in physical tripping due to space issues here.
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I remember the days of getting used to new glasses. Very disorienting. I have lens implants, so now I don’t need glasses anymore. (Thank heavens) Hope the return back to work goes smoothly.
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I’ve heard of implants, but I don’t think I can do those. My vision is still changing, so I’d have to get them replaced at times. Fingers crossed that work goes smoothly. I’m sure it will be a little bumpy though since the kids have been off for a week.
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It’s good that your anxiety has lowered a bit, but I hope you’re able to get everything else sorted with your health. I’m glad you got to do some fun things like going to the zoo and play arcade games. Thanks for reminding me about an eye exam since I’m due for one since I wear glasses, too. I haven’t been that consistent with blogging besides posting one article earlier this week. My schedule has been crazy busy over the past few months. However, I got to get some language work done and I finished reading a non-fiction book which opened my eyes about a few things.
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It’s going to take time with the health issues. Still need to narrow down the problem. I maintain the blogging mostly due to have very little time for bigger projects. Not sure if I should be proud of that. Congrats on the language work and finding some reading time.
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I see. I hope you’re able to get better in that regard with your health. Gotcha. I do need to get better at blogging more consistently despite how crazy busy my schedule has been in my work life. Thanks! I feel like I’ve been improving with the languages I’ve been learning. The last book I read was a fascinating critique of Shakespeare’s The Tempest while calling out the pro-colonial and slavery implications of that story. Granted, I wasn’t too familiar with that work compared to MacBeth, Romeo & Juliet, or Hamlet, but it was great to read critiques who challenge someone esteemed as the bard whom no one questions or pretend to know about his stories.
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I usually have an hour on some nights where it’s too early to sleep and not enough time for television. So, I set up a blog post or two for the future. What kind of languages are you learning? I took a Shakespeare class in college, but it was about deciphering the story elements of his plays. Didn’t touch on The Tempest.
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That makes sense. At least you’re doing something productive that way. I set up posts for the future whenever I can. I mentioned this on my main blog, but I’ve been learning Swahili and (relearning) Japanese. How was that Shakespeare class? The Tempest doesn’t seem to be talked about a lot, but I was disturbed after finding the etymology of Caliban’s name and finding out the historical context since Europe was colonizing everywhere even during Billy S’s days.
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The Shakespeare class was okay. Mostly his sonnets, Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Othello. I still have the book that has all of his works in it, so owning that made it worth it. Didn’t Caliban come from the word ‘cannibal’? Colonizing was at its peak during Shakespeare’s time, so everyone was hearing stories of other lands. This included tales of cannibalistic tribes that ate people, which is where he probably came up with the concept. I doubt Shakespeare knew that such things were false since your average person didn’t travel to other lands. Makes sense that his stories would be the way they are considering the time period. There wasn’t even an America for most of Shakespeare’s lifetime since he died in 1616 and Jamestown wasn’t founded until 1607. Pilgrims weren’t until 1620, so his worldview was definitely during a time of massive expansion and strange tales coming back from foreign lands.
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Alright. That seems usual for a class like that. Yes, Caliban is an anagram of “Canibal” which was the Spanish name for the Carib ethnic group and also where cannibal comes from in English. It is also based on the Romani word for black/blackness (kaliban), so there’s double the implications especially when some people were in blackface in later productions or Black actors portrayed him. Those stories did spread around Europe sadly with these exaggerations or straight-up lies. You’re right about the time periods happening and how America wasn’t an independent nation yet, and some of the first countries colonized in the Americas were in the Caribbean. The author of Caliban’s Reason is Antiguan which really gives a strong dynamic with the Caribbean perspective and the British empire colonized that country and several others in that region such as Jamaica, St. Kitts, Barbados, Trinidad, etc. Some countries are still overseas territories such as the British Virgin Islands (obviously), Montserrat, and Bermuda among others. I wouldn’t call myself a massive Shakespeare fan, and I do wonder why he seemed to get a pass with The Tempest or some other works.
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I think the reason he gets a pass is because of the time he grew up in. Again, we find ourselves condemning the dead and writing off their works by using modern day standards. Everything you said about the origin of cannibal probably wasn’t known by Shakespeare himself. It is more likely that he, a struggling author who didn’t become famous until after he died, heard the tales and went off that. People back then didn’t think like we did since they grew up in a smaller, more contained world. Modern people are exposed to more, so we see things differently.
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Sorry for sounding like I wanted to cancel him because that’s not what I intended. With that said, it does annoy me how he has this literary godhood about him like no one can criticize his works whether people know about his portfolio or not. Not going to lie, I do feel a bit awkward in hindsight when I reviewed the 1996 adaptation of Hamlet on one of my blogs, but that’s a conversation for another day. Do you think if Shakespeare was alive today and made the same plays that he’d be canceled? I put various creators dead or alive under scrutiny since it’s my way of treating others how I was or would be treated if I slipped up or perceived to do something wrong.
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I don’t think Shakespeare would write the same plays if he was alive today. He’d have a different world view, so they’d be different plays. He probably wouldn’t even be famous. One reason he’s held in such esteem is because he established a lot of literary norms that are still used today. We have tons of phrases from him as well. So, he certainly falls into a special category of historical authors that are elevated to high esteem. People still criticize his works, but there’s still a level of respect.
The issue I have with putting the dead, especially centuries long dead, under scrutiny is that they can’t defend themselves. They can’t clarify what they meant, which is really big with Shakespeare since his plays are Old English and open to many interpretations.
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It can be hard to judge of all the what ifs with people who have been dead for centuries or even decades ago, so I won’t fault you in that regard. I get that he is so influential and even random phrases we use in English came from his plays and sonnets which I won’t deny, but it gets frustrating when people act like he invented every literary trope or story archetype under the sun when others did so before him, yet never get credited. Maybe I just don’t see some of these criticisms unless it’s more severe like the history of blackface in Othello even centuries after he died, for example and even then, some people still defend that.
I do wonder what people actually mean with what they create. However, only certain creators get the luxury of the defense of “Oh, he/she didn’t mean it!” when people point out legitimate things that are problematic or wrong.
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You can’t really condemn Shakespeare for the blackface when it wasn’t his choice. It really sounds like the criticism goes more to his super-fans than the man himself. I think he did expand on the more basic concepts of tragedy and comedy, which were seen as the only genres. Many archetypes were refined by him as well, which wasn’t really recognized in his own lifetime.
Many authors create stories and stumble into issues. I’ve learned that even today, an author who hasn’t been exposed to certain missteps won’t recognize the danger. They might mean something else entirely too. Many audience members put their own experiences and ideals on a work of art, which they translate and assume that’s what the author meant too. An author could legitimately have not meant a negative viewpoint since they saw it differently. By the time outsiders see the work, it’s usually too late to change it because it’s published. Apologies aren’t accepted anymore either.
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Sorry for the delay. You know, work and other life priorities and all that.
I know Shakespeare’s fans tend to be more educated and cultured than other fandoms, and I’m sure you can agree with that, but they’re also guilty of some toxic behaviors, too. With that said, how was it not his choice when it came to Othello or some other plays? I know this happened even after he died and I get that he was from an England that isn’t diverse as it is now, but it’s frustrating knowing about that part of his history or even various adaptations after the fact. I wouldn’t call myself the biggest fan or read everything from William Shakespeare, and I have some mixed feelings. I know there’s brilliant elements, but I know he didn’t invent everything. If I can be nice, I do think the Fortinbras aspect of Hamlet is more brilliant than people give him credit for if they use the unadulterated script.
You certainly have sheltered authors, for better or worse. Sometimes people don’t realize the subtext people can put in their stories and how it could easily be interepreted in certain ways that can be detrimental. Some of them don’t or won’t own up to these things. Going back to Shakespeare in regards to representation and implications. How do you feel about The Merchant of Venice? I felt awkward seeing a certain character there despite being outside that culture and researching how he was portrayed didn’t help.
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Let me see if I can explain this. I have to admit that I have misgivings continuing with what I’m about to say. During Shakespeare’s day, blackface was what was done. That was because only white men were able to be actors. We see that also in how women were portrayed by boys. Why would Shakespeare think of doing anything different when that was the norm and his career depended on getting an audience? He was a struggling playwright and not the literary powerhouse of today. We can’t act like he could have demanded or even know to push for 21st century sensitivities. That again brings up the problem with judging people who have been dead for centuries by our own standards. It ignores all of the changes of human society since then.
Never saw or read The Merchant of Venice. So I can’t have any opinion on it. What are the historical trends with that portrayal? Was it done to mock or because that’s simply how things were done in that society?
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I’m aware of the aspects of male actors in drag during Shakespeare’s time which I learned from a cartoon as a kid as part of a joke (long story). I get that it was the norm then demographics or not, but it still doesn’t make it right. Both things can still be true. There’s certainly no way William Shakespeare would get away with it in the 21st century or even the late 20th century with that. Again, I’m trying not to repeat myself too much with this. Sometimes, I think some people pick and choose who to separate art from the artist from.
Okay. I didn’t know if you had or not. My experience came from the 00s film adaptation with Al Pacino and Jeremy Irons when I was in college when I watched it for part of a class. I wasn’t familiar with the original script until recently and it got awkward with my findings. Yes, I’m referring to Shylock. The character had a history as being an Antisemitic caricature since he’s miserly, vengeful, and works as a moneylender. Yes, I know it was one of the few jobs the Jewish community could have in Europe back then, but it didn’t help when the actors used prosthetic noses or how the Nazis played up those stereotypes centuries after the play was made. Even the name Shylock isn’t a real Hebrew name and was used as a slur for a loan shark or as a verb to overcharge someone. I wasn’t aware that Jews were banned from England in 1290 and couldn’t return until after Shakespeare died until researching things. There’s even the fact about how they were in ghettos in Italy and other countries even during Shakespeare’s time. The 00s film version did correct some of this by bringing up the discrimination in Medieval Italy, but even then there were still criticisms with how it was portrayed. If The Merchant of Venice came out today, Shakespeare would be canceled because of the Shylock character alone. I’m just here to give information about my findings and I wasn’t here to lecture since I’m sure you would know about some of the things I mentioned. This wasn’t used as a retort or challenging you.
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People do tend to pick who they separate art and artist from. Many times, it’s because of the situation since it’s not always the same thing. If you look at all situations in the same filter, you’re going to miss the nuance. For example, you said ‘men in drag’ for this situation, which isn’t what it was back then. Taking a historical event or tradition that is so far removed from modern times and putting it in a modern light mixes things up. I actually disagree that we can look at these things and rail against them. It’s pointless and rather arrogant because, again, those people are long dead. They can’t learn from what we’re saying or change what they did. This is also art, which is always open to interpretation.
I did some research and figured this would be referring to Shylock. I really don’t have a problem with it because of the time period. As I keep saying, we don’t know what Shakespeare’s intention was. There’s something strange about Shylock and the overall play if you step back from it. Not to mention some events going on at the time. As you said, Jews were banned from England, so again we have Shakespeare only working with what he has heard about them. A few of the articles I read even mentioned that there was a popular play that came out beforehand that was about a Jew seeking revenge against a Christian, so Shakespeare could have made this as a counter. There was also an incident where the Queen’s Jewish physician with hanged for possible treason, which could have inspired him. Without notes from the author, you can’t tell what they’re intention is. I mean, there’s in the original title being ‘The Comical History of The Merchant of Venice’, which implies it was a comedy and the characters were all caricatures. Another thing that makes this so complicated is that Shylock gets the ‘if you prick us’ speech, which many people use to demonstrate that we are all human. In contrast, the Christians act very un-Christian-like and are almost a mockery of the religion, which may have been his primary intention. You can translate it to him really taking shots at how the Christians are acting monstrous while Shylock is more human, but is acting like them simply to survive. The whole criticism comes off as a bunch of people taking one side and ignoring any nuance. I’ve noticed this happens a lot when criticizing dead figures. People take a far side and just go to town on a person who can’t defend themselves while leaving out anything that might undermine their theory that ‘this person is terrible’.
Just decided to do a quick check to see where the ‘hook nose’ of Jews came from since I assume that’s the prosthetic. It originated in the 12th century during a time when artists were trying to do ‘realistic’ ethnicities, which really ended up being exaggerated. Jews from the Mediterranean and Middle East sometimes had larger noses, so that’s what happened. It wasn’t that extreme until the Nazis did it during their propaganda, which is what created the antisemetic version we see today. Prior to that, it was primarily seen as an artistic choice. Honestly, if we condemn ancient people for their ideas and symbols being adopted by hate-groups like the Nazis, we’d end up despising all of history. One of their most common tactics is to take something that was originally benign and even commonly used then latch onto it in order to cause conflict.
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I’ve noticed that and I feel like they do it out of convenience. Don’t get me started on “canceled” people who didn’t do anything wrong or get falsely accused of something. Apologies for using the term “drag” in regards to male actors cross-dressing back in Shakespeare’s day. Arrogant to criticize those who are long dead? I wasn’t saying I was superior to him. My self-esteem isn’t large enough for me to think I’m better than anyone regardless if they’re dead or alive.
That’s right. I was curious what you thought about that character. It does feel bizarre knowing it was supposed to be a comedy. I get what you’re saying about the hypocrisy and the satire against hypocritical Christians. Trust me, I’ve seen that in person and I should’ve been tougher on calling them out when I was younger and try to destroy their self-esteem back then, but that’s a story for another day. However, some people who are already dead deserve to be judged by their actions though.
I was referring to that prosthetic, but I didn’t want to use that term since I know it’s been used as a slur before. Then again, a lot of those anthropologists and ethnologists had problematic and stereotypical stuff even after Shakespeare’s time. Don’t get me started on people like Hegel or Darwin for example. Couldn’t you argue those examples the Nazis did were cases of cultural appropriation in the worst way possible?
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It’s not so much convenience as personal connections. Otherwise, it’s all or nothing. If you avoid art by anyone who is in any way problematic with no personal preferences then you won’t have much left. For example, Kimba the White Lion is problematic. Lions are African and he’s made white instead of black or kept the natural tawny color. Could one argue it’s a story about white savior complex? I’ve found that some have. Now, does one turn away from the story and all the creator has done? (Sorry. I stumbled into this theory a few days ago. Felt like I had to share now.)
As far as arrogance go, I meant that more as a general concept. Yet, we do it on some psychological level when we criticize those from ancient cultures. We talk as if we are better and wiser when we foist our standards on a culture that is centuries removed from us. That undertone is inevitable once you judge by those standards. Most people don’t realize they’re doing it because it isn’t a conscious part of the thought process.
Do some dead people deserve to be judged by their actions? Yes. The problem is now everyone is getting judged. If you don’t have clear evidence of their intentions then you can’t make a clear judgment. Big difference between calling Shakespeare racist or anti-Semitic and calling Andrew Jackson a racist. There’s solid evidence for the latter and mostly conjecture for the former.
White supremacists always do cultural appropriation. The swastika is a big example. I think it stems from a desire to conquer, which doesn’t translate well these days. It gets silly now. The ‘ok’ hand symbol I did as a kid because I saw Eddie Murphy do it as Axle Foley is now a hate gesture. This is why context and intent matter. Without those, the more manipulative and selfish of our species gets to take whatever they want.
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Personal connections do make sense, but I think there’s some convenience to it as well. It could be convenient to cancel something or someone they aren’t a fan of, so they haven’t lost anything. Hopefully, that explanation was clear. I seriously hope you weren’t trying to goad me by mentioning Kimba. While I’m guilty of talking about it because of THAT controversy, it’s not in my top 10 favorite anime series. I get that white lions do exist in real life due to albinism instead of being a separate species, but there are some people making white savior theories? If whoever is making that theory is a Disney fan, then they’re a freaking hypocrite and I hopefully don’t have to explain why. Maybe Kimba is an easy target because it’s not as popular and doesn’t have as big of a fanbase. Don’t get me wrong, I have critiqued things about Kimba when I reviewed it (especially when I read a bit of the manga. Yikes!). Osamu Tezuka isn’t one of my favorite creators and he has made problematic works in both anime and manga which I won’t deny, but I appreciate Tezuka Productions owning up to those depictions. I don’t respect people who don’t take responsibility for their words or actions when they’re wrong. I did notice efforts to improve with the 1997 Jungle Emperor Leo movie (the same one Disney tried to ban in North America for obvious reasons) for example. I hope you weren’t trying to make me look like an idiot or a hypocrite.
Thanks for making that clear about the arrogance issue. While things may have advanced like technology, science and societal standards (sometimes), some things don’t really change.
Good and I’m glad you see that, too. I definitely see how everyone is getting judged, but I’ve been judged my whole life for the littlest thing for as long as I can remember. Maybe this is me putting people under microscopes just like how people did so to me. To quote someone from one of my geographically-specific interests: “Turnabout is fair play.” At least you know how much of a racist (and genocidaire) Andrew Jackson was. Most people don’t know that about him or they just know he was a president and on the $20 bill.
No disagreements there whether it’s trademarking ethnic group names (that was a reference to Timbuktu claiming the word “Yoruba”) or doing something extreme as repurposing symbols for fascistic purposes as you mentioned. I’m not saying it’s the same thing as the swastika to be clear, I’m just using examples. Sadly, previous symbols can be weaponized as you’ve mentioned. I found out the original word comes from Sanskrit and loosely translates to “conductive to well-being” and the positioning can refer to good luck or Kali (the goddess of destruction). The latter example was used for the modern usage even if the origin came from Hinduism and not from any European belief system. Regardless, people use things for horrible reasons.
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Sorry if the Kimba thing came off as goading. I’ve actually not seen the white savior theory come from Disney fans, but from people who seem to want to stir the pot. Those who join in the fray come off as wanting to bash white people in general without thinking more on the subject. It’s a fairly silly theory when you try to go deep into it, but it exists. Mostly, I wanted to use an example to show how separating art from the artist or from problematic perceptions tends to be personal choice. I guess we could say that’s convenient too. The thing is that it seems like anything can be looked at as problematic these days if you use the right perception. People love hating on things and will pounce on a new target that they can tear apart for anything. Yet, it’s different when it’s something we have an emotional connection too. I wouldn’t really say that’s convenient either depending on the situation. For many, they don’t factor the artist into their love of the art. People take stories and other types of art to heart to the point where it defines part of their identity, so it’s almost like denying oneself because of the actions of a total stranger. This could also be why Shakespearean scholars and fans have such a hard time with what you’re saying. It doesn’t help that his personal views aren’t clearly known and it tends to be conjecture.
I think more people have learned about Jackson. My son’s lesson on him didn’t skimp on the truth and the guy really did come out as a bastard. As far as ‘Turnabout is fairy play’, I totally get that. I’ve been judged, picked on, and made to feel like crap since childhood. Probably a major source of my anxiety, but I digress. Personally, I haven’t gotten much enjoyment from turnabout. A few situations are an exception due to rivalries, but I can’t go into those here. For the most part, it just makes me feel like I’m constantly battling and I even began seeking fights where there weren’t any. I still do at times, but I’m trying to step back to see if the situation is worth the stress. I still have people judging and criticizing my slightest move too. Maybe they do it because they want to keep me down out of jealousy or fear. Maybe they’re so doubtful and weak that they can only feel strong by grinding me into the dirt. I’ve started trying to think about the why and decide on if I want to become them or be better than them. Not saying you should do this since I don’t know your situations, but this is just what I’ve been thinking on the phrase.
I forgot which white supremacist admitted to the cultural appropriation thing. Richard Spencer? *holds back urge to puke* I think I remember reading an article where he admitted that they adopt symbols from other groups. He does it because it can cause those who previously claimed it to be lumped in and possibly join the white supremacists. Not so much in beliefs, but in enemies. It uses the kneejerk, broad view attacks that many vocal activists use to roil the less knowledgeable masses. A person who doesn’t know what is going on will suddenly be attacked by ‘leftists’ and be accepted by these white supremacist groups that don’t openly call themselves that. So, there’s an illusion of solidarity that causes any increase in numbers and even a new sect of hate around the stolen symbol. It’s a horrifying use of mental manipulation and psychology.
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Okay. I wondered why you brought up that anime at first. I really hope that theory didn’t come from a Disney fan because I would have been enraged enough to mention why that’s a massive double standard for that fandom to make that claim. Wow, that is ridiculous with that kind of mindset. Are there things worth critiquing about Kimba? Yes, I won’t deny that. Apparently, it’s been cool to hate on that anime for obvious reasons and there’s not a big enough fanbase to fight back. However in hindsight, I thought Ringing Bell was a better anime since it doesn’t have that baggage and it’s one of the few animated works with no humans I actually like. It was amazing how it had the nerve to use the cycle of vengeance as a major backdrop (especially for a movie where a main character’s parent is murdered), but I digress. People do love hating on things on the internet to the point where it’s not cool to like anything unless it’s “acceptable” like sports, Disney, or critically-acclaimed TV shows for examples. It’s no wonder why I feel reluctant to call myself a fan of a lot of things even if I like something. I don’t want something to become a part of my identity if it ends up backfiring. I personally haven’t dealt with Shakespearean scholars like that, so I wouldn’t know how that would play out if it did happen.
Really? hey, I guess that’s some progress. I didn’t learn about Jackson like that in all my years of schooling (preschool all the way to my college years). It’s actually quite surprising especially given the anti-CRT sentiment I’ve seen in different places and I’m not even from Florida or Texas. It was rough because I wasn’t the best with insults or witty comebacks, so I still have lingering feelings. I’ve even waited to see if anyone is talking crap about me, so I can clap back verbally. Part of me wonders why I somehow dealt with this even though I’m not someone who tries to stir the pot or start something bad. There were aspects given my ethnic heritage and mental health, but that’s a long story. I felt like such an idiot like if I knew then what I know now, I would have decent comebacks or at the very least dismantle any arguments against me back then.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Richard Spencer said that and I have a similar feeling of trying not to vomit just by seeing his name. That is such a disgusting tactic of appropriating and weaponizing the symbols. Not to make light of this situation, but I oddly remember an episode of South Park where there was a big debate and the KKK was involved where they pick a side on something (I forget what it was) to make the “other side” look like racist allies to something. It’s very insidious as well as those same people using “melanin shields” to give them cover about controversial things or to divert attention to something problematic at best or atrocious at worst.
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Disney fans are typically not into doing that kind of attack. At least not with articles and full on research. It’s usually someone who is looking for racism in everything and targets a work that caught their attention That’s how I was seeing it. Didn’t even see ‘Lion King’ get brought up. Never saw the ‘Ringing Bell’, but I’ve seen other stories where it deals with cycles of vengeance. Always thought the point was to show that violence begets violence. I’m not sure what you mean by the sports thing though. I see a lot of hate towards enjoying sports. Every time football season starts, I see my non-sport enjoying friends go on a rampage with mockery on their social media sites. You have people who have made D&D and the MCU a core personality point, but they start picking on others for cheering for a sports team. So, I don’t think there’s anything out there, which isn’t being mocked for existing. As far as the identity thing goes, we all do it on some level and at some point. The art we ingest and connect to stays with us. The risk of backfiring is always there because we don’t know artist who could be a terrible person. We brought up Kenshin before, which is a great story that many people connected to. There were themes of trying to seek atonement, finding solutions while sticking to a difficult path, and finding a place to call home. It was enjoyed for years and then the creator came out as a terrible person. This is when separating art from artist comes into play because the art brought so much joy and doesn’t really carry what the creator has done beyond the new connection. The only way to really avoid this situation is to not really enjoy anything.
I don’t remember really learning about Jackson at all. Glossed over when we did the Trail of Tears. I felt like history was rushed when I was in school, so we mostly touched on the big events. With American history, that tends to be mostly wars and the Great Depression. My son at least got the Roaring 20’s and the Industrial Revolution in there. I’ve heard some rumblings about anti-CRT stuff here, but nothing beyond a few expected locals complaining. Not like they’ve stepped foot in a school since they graduated decades ago. I remember trying a few comebacks when I was getting bullied. Those situations rarely went in my favor. Once I’d score a verbal hit, the situation would become physical. Sometimes bullies will try to get you to talk back in order to feel justified in doing what they really want to do. This could be throwing a punch or getting you in trouble at work. It’s all about manipulation with the goal being to be seen as either powerful or, if they can’t get that, the victim. As long as a bully feels something that they can push for attention, they’ll do it.
I haven’t watched South Park in a while. Never a big fan, but I started to care less when the creators said they weren’t going to bother lampooning Trump. I mean, they went after everyone else, so I don’t know why he wasn’t fair game. Although, I think they kind of did it with a Mr. Garrison storyline, but I wasn’t watching.
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I think a few do or at least resort to video essays instead of articles unless it’s like a review of something. I hope I haven’t come off as someone who thinks racism is in everything. Don’t get me wrong, it comes in different forms and can be subtle, but I’m not trying to say everything on the planet is racist. That’s actually surprising how they didn’t mention that other movie because it’s almost impossible to talk about it when it comes to mentioning Kimba, especially when people talk about the characters, some plot points, or specific scenes. Ringing Bell looks like a little kid’s movie, but it is deceptively dark and tragic. It’s mind-blowing that Sanrio (yes, the Hello Kitty company) animated Ringing Bell. It wasn’t just about violence begetting violence, but the act of vengeance isn’t consequence-free, no deus ex machines, and even the villain’s reaction to losing is surprising. I’ve told people not to watch it while depressed because it’s close to Grave of the Fireflies-level of tragedy as far as animated movies are concerned. I don’t see a lot of Western animation that’s PG and under with that concept and I have my theories about why they wouldn’t have the courage to use the cycle of vengeance as a backdrop. Also, Ringing Bell’s villain is a wolf, but he’s a dark-furred animal with a scarred left eye who murders a main character’s parent and I’m shocked more people haven’t realized that fact, if I can use some a snarky observation (this came out in the 70s by the way).
I see rival sports fandoms bashing each other, but I feel like non-sports fans don’t have any power to shame or do anything to the sports fans. Nor have I seen sports fans get dragged online or offline. I think the worst thing I’ve done is call a certain football player Ben Rapist-burger, but I wasn’t calling out any sports fan specifically. Sometimes I want to know what some people like, so I can make fun of them, but again, I haven’t been good with insults. The Kenshin thing hurts because I used to like that anime series. I used to have DVDs of the Samurai X prequel and Reflection, if you’ve seen those before. The ending of Trust and Betrayal actually made me cry when I was a teenager and I rarely say that about animated works (Grave of the Fireflies is the only animated work that can still make me do so even as an adult). Not going to lie, there was a time when I was in my early 20s when I stopped liking certain things, just so people wouldn’t make fun of me anymore. Yes, it got that bad where I did something as silly as that in hindsight.
Gotcha. They barely talked about the Trail of Tears when I was in school from what I remember and a lot of history felt like a blur except for certain periods like various wars America was involved in. I do remember the Industrial Revolution being mentioned a couple of times. I’m sorry to hear that you were hurt when you were standing up for yourself. I got in trouble for defending myself and no one else got punished for disrespecting me or doing far worse than I have. I hate when they do this victim playing, too.
Same here and it was a rerun a long time ago. It happened to be on at my old job years ago and saw parts of it during my break. Don’t worry, I was never a South Park fan and I didn’t find most of the stuff to be funny. That does seem kind of weird that they wouldn’t parody Trump given all the celebrities and other real-life people they have skewered on the show.
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Funny thing is that I’ve seen plenty of conversations about Kimba over the years that don’t really bring up Lion King. Either people don’t make any real connections or the conversation isn’t about the other movie. People talk about what they enjoy and how it made them feel. Once you bring the two movies together, the only path the conversation can take is a comparison and judging. So, it’s pretty easy to avoid one when you want to talk solely about how much you enjoy the other. Western animation tends to be aimed more at kids, which is why you rarely see heavier topics. With Disney, Dreamworks, Pixar, and Illumination by the really big animators, you aren’t going to see much in the way of adult-oriented themes. Closest thing I found that wasn’t anime was Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, which didn’t go very far.
Looks like ‘Ringing Bell’ is in a similar category to ‘Watership Down’. There are a bunch of older animations like that and ‘Secret of Nimh’ that can get pretty hairy for kids. Anyway, the category is apparently shock films that were popular in the 60’s and 70’s. They would be marketed to children and families while secretly taking a dark turn. Seems the original comic was trying to go for a Brothers Grimm style story as well. Why do so many anime characters have scars on the left side of their face? Luffy, Shanks, Zoro, Prince Zuko, Toriko, Kenshin, Kakashi, Shoto Todoroki, Ban . . . I wonder if there’s a symbol there when it comes to Japanese culture.
When rival fandoms battle, there’s still some level of respect. I’ve seen it happen and the people still have fun. I’ve seen plenty of non-sports fans go in on those who enjoy sports. It’s very much the high school nerds who were bullied thinking they’re getting revenge. Social media allows people to attack without physically being nearby, so it’s easier to attack. Again, my Facebook feed is always filled with memes mocking sports whenever a baseball or football season starts up. Twitter is even worse with some people going to tweets about games and just causing trouble. Part of it is that many sports fans take the game seriously, especially with fantasy football being a thing. So, they have a personal investment in their players doing well instead of just wanting to enjoy the game. When their players do bad, they get upset in a similar way to a gamer having a rough time with a playthrough. The mentalities are pretty much the same too, which is why it’s ridiculous to see the fighting.
I still have my Kenshin boxset and a reverse blade sword. I’m still showing my son the anime through Kyoto arc and then maybe watch the live action stuff because he likes the character. I’ve told him about the creator too. He understands what happened, but my son’s mentality makes it hard to connect what he enjoys to a creator. Might be for the best since it’s hard for him to find things that he likes.
I liked South Park when it first came out. It was edgy and shocking at the time. Now, not so much.
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This is actually surprising. The only time I’ve noticed it happening where Disney doesn’t get mentioned is if people mention Kimba among other Tezuka works (this is the same guy who created Astro Boy) or talking about old-school anime in general since that anime was the first anime TV series created and broadcast in color a year before Speed Racer debuted. When I’ve mentioned that I watched Kimba to people online and real life, everyone mentions that they heard about the controversy and mention some of the similarities with both lion stories (the famous cloud spirit scene is a common talking point). Mainstream animated works don’t take chances and most of the Western animated stuff I like is from other countries. Anime even for it’s flaws has more creativity going on and using different topics.
I can see those comparisons despite having different plots. Good call with Secret of Nimh, too. Ringing Bell really took chances with the story and the creator was influenced by his time in WWII when he was stationed in Manchuria (the Japan-occupied part of China) and remembered the horrors that happened if you know anything about what went down in the Asian theater of that war. It was a metaphorical anti-war story. That’s a good question if there’s any sombolism in Japanese. Granted, most of the characters you mentioned are protagonists from the ones I recognize. I don’t know if this would be a part of Japanese culture, but I thought a scarred left eye was a reference to the Latin word “sinister/sinstrous” since that’s where the synonym for “evil” comes from in that language. It could make sense with Woe from Ringing Bell and Claw from Kimba the White Lion or the movie version of Geese Howard from Fatal Fury, but that’s just a theory. It makes me wonder when it happens to good guys.
I rarely see it or at least not with me. Maybe since I haven’t been on Facebook in years, I just don’t see it. You might have heard of the joke of fantasy sports being D&D for jocks though. Hahaha! Then again, sports fans get away with bad behavior like destroying buildings when a team wins or loses. Vancouver or Philidelphia? I rest my case.
You own a reverse blade sword? Dang! That’s quite the find. I do respect you for not hiding reality to your son about Nobuhiro Watsuki about his crimes. I think parents would deny or downplay it if it was an American animated work, but that’s a different conversation (boy did Mickey Mouse Monopoly prove me right and was more powerful in hindsight with certain topics).
That’s not surprising. However, I was in elementary school when it first debuted. I wasn’t allowed to watch Beavis and Butthead or even pro wrestling back at that age, so I sure as heck wasn’t allowed to see South Park. Once I became an adult, I wasn’t a fan and maybe had a few chuckles at best from what little I saw.
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I think most people are unaware of Kimba. Those who do know it because they either watched it or they know the controversy. So, it really depends on what group you run into. I don’t hang around many Disney fans that know about Kimba and it’s never worth bringing it up. Honestly, I don’t even care because Disney has been morally bankrupt for decades. Anyway, the thing with anime taking chances and not Western animation is because of what it is. In America, cartoons are seen as either a children’s genre or a comedy one for adults with child-like senses of humor. Anime, on the other hand, is actually nothing more than a story medium, which is why you find it broken down into other genres. Anime can take risks because it’s nothing more than the way a story is told just like movies, plays, comic books, and novels.
WWII definitely opened up the floodgates for a lot of bizarre and rough stories out of Japan. As far as the left-side scar, I looked up to see if it’s a specific symbol. All I found is that being left-handed isn’t considered a taboo in Japan like it is with other cultures. They didn’t work off the Latin thing, so it isn’t evil. Maybe it’s more simplistic. Most anime start as manga, which go right to left. The first side of a character you’re going to see if they’re facing you is their left side. That might be why defining marks are put there.
I’ve heard of the D&D and fantasy sports comparison. It’s funny how ‘nerds’ do that with glee, but I’ve never seen a ‘jock’ get upset. I haven’t seen anyone get away with the destruction after a big game either. There are always plenty of arrests and fines when that happens. The news just doesn’t bother with that part because only the destruction gets ratings. It isn’t like those who are into nerdier hobbies are any better. While they don’t do city destruction, many will send death threats or even physically go after creators that don’t do what they want. Long ago, I got harassed by a few readers who hated a plot twist of mine. It wasn’t burning a building down, but it was enough to make me really nervous about posting on my own blog because they would start commenting with insults and threats. Other authors I know have faced that. You also have a long history of music fans getting on stage and trying to rush the performers for a variety of reasons. It’s all about the high emotions and losing control, which isn’t exclusive to sport fans. That being said, Philadelphia is a special kind of sports crazy.
My son is 13 and he occasionally goes hunting for stuff on the Internet. He was getting curious about Kenshin, especially after reading the first volume. He was asking if the creator did any other things. So, it started by saying no and the guy wasn’t going to do anything else. A long series of ‘whys’ later and I had to explain it in a Rated-G version. He’s still too young to understand the full details and his mother would flip out if he told her about it the next time he was over there. I don’t know if parents would downplay an American artist doing the same thing. It’s also tougher because nobody really knows or thinks of the creators of American cartoons. The ones who tend to get in trouble work on adult stuff like I think there was a big name that got in trouble recently. Children wouldn’t watch his shows, so it wouldn’t be a topic. I can’t even think of a voice actor from Disney or Dreamworks who would have to be explained after committing a crime.
I never got into Beavis and Butthead, but I didn’t have cable until college. I was a senior in high school when South Park showed up, so I was in that target demographic. Still didn’t have cable until college, but a friend showed me some episodes. I did get into WWE in college too. My friends and I enjoyed watching the drama and craziness instead of homework. It was so over the top in those days.
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Again, sorry for the massive delay. The beginning of my weeks tend to be jam-packed with work and other priorities, so I didn’t respond right away.
That’s something I noticed since it’s still a more obscure series and some could say it’s a cult classic even though it did air on NBC back in the 60s, but that was clearly before we both were born. A few years ago when I saw the original series the first time did open my eyes and I did have deja vu at multiple times. One piece of dialogue that I found to be hilarious in hindsight was a diamond smuggler saying “Next time, we’ll be better prepared!!” and I laughed hysterically for obvious reasons if I can use humor there. At least you know Disney is morally bankrupt because there are still swarms of people who think they can do no wrong. As I mentioned before, the Kimba controversy isn’t the thing that offended me the most in and out of context of that other movie. Anime has multiple genres and demographics much like their manga counter parts (shonen, shojo, seinen, josei). I do see more effort in storytelling on average even though there’s some crappy anime, too.
Exactly and some of that first wave of manga artists were drafted or at the very least volunteered directly or indirectly with the military at that time. I was mainly referring to villains with those obvious anime animal antagonist examples (alliteration!), but I do want to research more about the Japanese symbolism of the left-side scar and how different it is compared to Western portrayals. I didn’t think about the right-to-left format of Japanese books which is weird because I own a few manga myself.
I figured you would know about that joke, but I don’t think I saw a reaction from a jock. Maybe that isn’t as much of a burn as I thought or geek culture is more acceptable know than when I was in my teens, for example. There’s the low-hanging fruit with the double standards of the destruction of property from sports games compared to civil unrest and how the media portrays them (instigators or plants aside), but that is definitely a conversation for another day. That’s terrible how readers threatened and trolled you because of a plot twist. I’m sorry to hear that. If it’s of any consolation, I’ve been nervous with the things I’ve posted on my blogs before because of what people would think.
Good on you for handling that situation with your son. It’s not his fault for being curious about Kenshin, but that curiosity could lead to finding out about Watsuki’s crimes. I think some stories get buried. I may have used this example before, but Nat Parker was canceled and metaphorically crucified for a heinous crime he didn’t commit yet other actors or directors are guilty as sin for the same thing and barely anyone talks about it even if they work on PG and under works.
Gotcha and the only time I saw cable was when I was at a friend or relative’s house even until my late teens at the time. That must have been fun those times. I didn’t watch pro wrestling for most of my life, but I checked out some of the international indie stuff like in the UK and Japan which look and feel different than the WWE which is weird hearing that from me if you knew about my interests or didn’t read some posts because I usually like more serious or artsy things, but then there’s that interest as a bizarre contradiction.
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I don’t remember anything about Kimba. Vaguely remember watching it at all. As for Disney, people still support them because they have multiple companies. ESPN, Pixar, Marvel, Muppets, Star Wars, and more were absorbed into Disney. So fans of those don’t make the connections. Others stick with Disney because it’s what they grew up on. They don’t follow the business dealings and behind the scenes stuff, which is most people.
Geek culture isn’t nearly as accepting as one thinks. They can actually be worse than sports fans. The nastiest fights I’ve seen have been between anime factions. Many geeks and nerds seem to jump at the chance to pounce on a target like their bullies did. I saw it a lot in college to the point where there was a nerd hierarchy like high school cliques. As for media covering destruction in those two scenarios, it’s clear why. A sports team rioting doesn’t come with the sociopolitical themes. Those themes will carry a story further than crazy fans getting themselves arrested.
I think I remember Nat Parker. I’ll have to look him up to be sure.
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Most people haven’t and a few peope have pretended to have watched it for ulterior motives. It’s insane how many companies they’ve owned or have stakes in for decades and it’s been even more noticeable for years, especially after the Marvel, Fox and LucasFilm buyouts. Some of those same people will critique other companies, but turn a blind eye for their own “team”.
In terms of accepting others or being accepted by the mainstream? I do agree how nasty various fandoms can be in geek subculture and I’ve been on the receiving end of it on here or offline. Of course, sports rioters still get slaps on the wrist when people have been punished harsher for much less.
Nate Parker hasn’t been in Hollywood since he directed Birth of a Nation (2016) which got sabotaged in the box office due to the false allegations and the fact the movie dared to cover a very uncomfortable truth about American history.
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Once Disney bought Marvel, you started to see them start going full tilt on the purchasing. Prior to that, people didn’t realize that Muppets and other franchises were Disney-based. They were treated like their own entities. For some reason, they stopped playing that game once the MUC exploded. I kind of preferred when they felt like a big company with independent divisions instead of a amorphous blob of properties. People do tend to ignore the flaws of their favorites and attack other things for the same issues. I remember that happening when Avengers: Civil War, Batman v Superman, and X-Men: Apocalypse came out around the same time. The latter two were blasted for specific issues that the first one shared, but wasn’t touched for because it was MCU. That’s when I started to become more selective in my superhero movies.
The crime that is typically used for sports rioters is vandalism. Their destruction tends to be on that level with the occasional assault and destruction of property. I think that’s the big difference too. We see riots for politics and for sports then assume they are identical. Yet, there tare differences that the media typically doesn’t show. Political riots tend to be instigated and exacerbated by outside forces. Sports riots tend to be quelled a little easier by police, so they end up lasting for shorter periods of time. Sports riots are also easier to predict than political ones, so preparations tend to be made in advance to minimize the issue. The reason we think sports rioters get slaps on the wrist is mostly because of the preparation and that they are drunk enough that they are restrained a bit easier. Political rioters are more cognizant and directed when things get destructive. It’s a strange difference, but that tends to be a big factor in how the arrests go down. Still, I know there have been sports riots with high arrest rates, especially in Philadelphia. You also have damage amount with some BLM protests that were provoked into riots costing $1-2 billion while the Philadelphia Eagles win riot supposedly only cost a few million.
I read up on Nate Parker. It looks like he fired his management and PR teams in the wake of the controversy. That’s probably another reason that he had trouble because other companies might not have wanted to go near him. It does look like he is slowly working on making a comeback. At least in 2019, so Covid might have caused a delay there.
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Absolutely when it comes to the Marvel buyout. I think there weren’t too many Muppet-related things until that movie came out in 2011 that got too much attention and I think that’s when people realized it since Disney directly made that movie instead of Jim Henson Productions, but that’s just an observation. Great point about the MCU. It’s just as bad if not worse than most of the Disney Animated Canon in terms of being heralded to sycophantic levels and get excuses for the same flaws other companies are guilty of in their movies. No wonder I haven’t watched many superhero movies and Marvel burned me out which is a shame because I used to be a Marvel guy when I was a kid (not that I hated DC) since I saw the cartoons, the X-Men and Spider-Man movies, and I was a massive fan of the Marvel Vs. Capcom games growing up.
Good on you for at least acklowdeging that some intigators, undercover agents, and plants cause lots of damage. It can be frustrating seeing nonviolent protestors get blamed for things they have nothing to do with just because interlopers ruin any positive movements. Then again, I could use Black Wall Street and Rosewood as counterpoints of people blowing things up to smithereens and the attackers getting away with it (the former was the first case of an airstrike on US soil over 20 years before Pearl harbor happened). With that said, most sports are seen as woven into the fabric of a country’s society, and I’m not just talking about America or Canada with the aforementioned Vancouver Riots. As you might be able to tell, I’m trying to keep this at a minimum for my own well-being and it’s not because of you.
That’s right. That did happen even though it wasn’t talked about as much. He did make another movie that was independent, but I haven’t seen it yet. I know I’ve said this before, but this bears repeating. If Nate Parker can get canceled from the mainstream film industry, but Roman Polanski still has a career and win major awards after the fact, then that’s pure hypocrisy.
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The Muppets stayed under the radar, but there were enough blips for them to stay in the public’s eye. At least, I thought there were. I was okay with the 2011 movie. Seemed fan and a nice revival, which didn’t seem to go anywhere. I think it still felt like a Muppet movie instead of a Disney one. Most Muppet productions still have their own feel instead of being fully absorbed. Might be because there aren’t many of them. The attempt at an ‘Office-style’ show fell flat though. As far as MCU goes, I think that’s the franchise that caused Disney to become much more openly sycophantic and get away with flaws. Prior to that, you could still get many Disney fans to admit to some issues. I still can when it comes to straight Disney, but there’s not much reasoning with MCU fans. I know a few who still see every movie and show even when they hate them. Their excuse is ‘I have to watch because it’s MCU and everything is connected’, which is how they created what we see today. I’m a little worried that DC is going to turn into the same thing under Gunn, but I’m sure Disney will set out to destroy that franchise in its infancy. Why allow for competition when you have the majority of audiences brainwashed already?
I saw a few news organizations report that it seemed the daytime protestors were typically replaced by violent ones as soon as night fell. Think there was the Black Bloc thing going on too. This is when people in all black join the protests specifically to begin antagonizing cops and turning it into a riot. Being covered in all black, they can’t be identified like the people who came for a peaceful protest. Their goal is to turn the protest violent and shift sympathy away from the cause. With Black Wall Street and Rosewood, it’s hard to compare those with what we see now considering the time period. They’re certainly on a different scale than what we see today with racist mentalities more accepted and seen as ‘okay’. Those happening today wouldn’t result in the attackers getting away with it. Sports have always been woven into societies. They’ve been used as rituals, social gatherings, contests, and a variety of things to bring people together. I mean, Aztecs played Tachli for the gods and Romans had their gladiator fights. Guess football and baseball are pretty tame in comparison to things like that.
I think Polanski survived primarily because his reputation had been solidified before the accusations. Nate Parker had just reached stardom, so he didn’t have the same level of support. Still, it’s bizarre that people still want to work with him and support him. Same goes for Woody Allen, but that stories always felt more confusing. Anyway, there are strange excuses for Polanski. Kate Winslet said she had to put that aside for the chance to work with such a legendary director. Quentin Tarantino once explained that Polanski did statutory rape (girl consented) and not violent rape, which somehow makes it better? I really don’t understand that, but it seems Polanski’s legendary status protected him while Nate Parker was too new to get a pass. He’s not the only one too because I remember Bryan Singer has pretty much disappeared after allegations. Seems to be that people are more likely to remove a director/actor with allegations now than long ago, but the big names from the past still get a pass.
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Yeah, it felt random with The Muppets besides the occasional mention or cameo here and there before the 2011 movie. I did see that particular movie when I did some AV work at a film tent of a music festival. It was alright, but it didn’t blow my mind. I didn’t see anything Muppets-related that came out after the fact, and I’m not counting The Christmas Toy (Kermit makes a cameo in the beginning and end of the film) since that came out in the 80s, and yes, it’s because I wanted to know how similar Toy Story was to it. An Office-type of Muppets sitcom just seems weird and oddly dated. I know not all Disney fans give a pass for everything since you’ll have people who will own up to things like the mediocre to terrible sequels, Pocahontas’s offensive historical revisionism and false equivalency strawman narrative about colonization, or the crows in Dumbo being racist for example. However, some movies in mainline Disney get this untouchable treatment like The Lion King and Frozen, like no one is allowed to criticize them. The MCU standom is annoying and it’s going overboard by connecting everything and the fanatics will give a free pass even if the movies or shows aren’t great. That wouldn’t surprise me that Marvel would try to squash a potential mainline DCCU of sorts.
I’ve heard about the Black Bloc issue and cases of undercover cops instigating things to make the protestors look bad, but it’s not a new thing. If anything like that happened again, it would be filmed (that’s a given), but even if people are caught, I know they will be taken alive and given a fair day in court if something like that happened in the 21st century. It’s also insane that it took over a century for the remaining survivors to get ANYTHING for being victimized and even then, the money came from philanthropists and not the government whether at the city, state, or federal level. I never said sports aren’t connected societies. Even repressive dictatorships will have a giant stadium somewhere for people to watch games. I get that football and baseball isn’t the same thing as gladiator fights though.
That only makes the double standards in sharp relief with longevity and even ethnicity. I never see Black directors or actors get that treatment if they had a decades-long legacy in the spotlight. I almost forgot about Bryan Singer. It’s infuriating how someone’s filmography portfolio and race can be carte blanche to still retain a career.
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The Muppets had some great movies, but then seemed to vanish in the late 90’s. Right after ‘Muppet Treasure Island’, which is a personal favorite. Never saw or really heard of ‘The Christmas Toy’. Toys coming to life have been fairly common though. You have Child’s Play, Velveteen Rabbit, Small Soldiers, and I’m sure there are more. At least they all seem to give their own twist to it.
Disney movies from way back when seem to get criticized because they didn’t come out in theaters during the childhoods of most people. So, fans are able to criticize them because they saw them at home. It was introduced by their parents as movies from an older time. It gets harder when it’s the ones that came out in your childhood because they’re connected to deeper memories. ‘The Lion King’ is basically the ‘Bambi’ of my generation who were born in the 1980’s since it had the same traumatic parental death. I think that emotional connection is why so many people have trouble criticizing it, but they do go after the live-action one. Not sure about ‘Frozen’ though. I’ve heard criticism, but not much that would put it in the same league as ‘Pocahontas’.
I haven’t heard of undercover cops instigating the BLM stuff. I heard theories about that with no evidence. That and how cops were overly aggressive, which started things. That’s not the undercover stuff since it was clearly overt. My friends who went to the protests talked about Black Bloc groups showing up and others appearing as evening started. Victimized people that get reparations will always be a challenge. I think it’s a difficult conversation to have, especially with having the government pay. That brings up the ‘tax payer’ money thing and that brings in the opinions of others, which makes them feel like they’re being punished for things they didn’t do. The whole situation ends up falling apart. Personally, I think it might be better that philanthropists and businesses do it. They’ve got more money and power than the government anyway.
I don’t think Bryan Singer has a career anymore. He hasn’t done anything since the allegations. I can’t think of any Black directors and actors who were around for so long, but disappeared after allegations. A big reason is probably because the generation that gets the pass are from the time when you didn’t have many (or any?) Black directors and very few big Black actors. Sorry if this question comes off wrong. Where does Bill Cosby fall into this? I mean, he was arrested and everything, but it sounds like he still has a career and fans.
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I did like some Muppets movies when I was a kid, so I can’t lie about that. It wasn’t just the toys coming to life thing which I know isn’t new. It was some of the plot points including a character Meteora whom you might remember me mentioning as the original female Buzz Lightyear including her character development of being a sci-fi toy who doesn’t believe she’s a plaything at first and thinks she’s on an alien planet.
I could see a case of the old-school films being criticized such as production issues, damsels in distress, or racist characters which is fine and I do appreciate people noticing those things. Sadly, I think people give way too much power over nostalgia and I do see this with TLK with those born in the 80s and early 90s. People do overrate that movie and will refuse to see anything wrong with it in and out of context of the movie. I was even surprised to see some people on Twitter who had the nerve to call out the protagonist centered morality and one person called it “fascist Hamlet” even though Hamlet was NOTHING like that movie besides the fratricide and usurping plot and someone commented saying “Claudius didn’t use an oppressed group to take over the kingdom.” However, I do see people critiquing the fake live-action movie and I heard it was terrible anyway. Frozen gets a pass because of recency bias and hyping up any self-deconstruction elements like the “don’t marry someone you just met” plot point when other movies have done it years and decades prior like Cocteau’s 40s adaptation of Beauty and the Beast, for example.
There’s sadly been a history of that. It doesn’t happen in every city, but this has happened before with plainclothes officers or badgeless police infiltrating movements. From an American perspective, there are massive double standards. Sure, the Japanese-Americans in the interment camps, some Native American tribes and Ukranian refugees got reparations for example, but do you want to know who else got them? Slave owners! I didn’t know that until a few years ago. The slave owners back then got a handout to compensate for their “missing property”, which is a travesty and a half. Knowing what I know now, there is truly no excuse. That last example is like rewarding murderers and rapists.
It looks like the last thing he did was Bohemian Rhapsody and he wasn’t talked about after the fact. There weren’t many decades ago and it’s still a smaller number from a mainstream standpoint. Bill Cosby doesn’t have a career and The Cosby Show hasn’t been on the air since the allegations and some of the people on the show who didn’t have big careers ended up in smaller jobs like one person working at a Whole Foods back then. However, you can still find Woody Allen, Harvey Weinstein, and Bryan Singer movies on TV even to this day. That tells you all you need to know. Also, Cosby wasn’t convicted of rape, but aggravated indecent assault even though they trumped up the prison time for that charge since they couldn’t get him for sexual assault when seeing the evidence and testimonies. While he did admit to using quaaludes, he didn’t use them as roofies and the women there willingly took them. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying people should be popping pills. In the 70s, it was legal for doctors to prescribe them and they were misused as club drugs and afrodesiacs at the time. So many things were cherry picked during the trials and while I don’t think Cosby is a role model, I still realized it was a metaphorical lynching by proxy. Both things can still be true as I noticed that I don’t see others who’ve done worse than him are still seen and get away with it. The fact that they offered to let him out early if he said he “did it” and he said no really speaks volumes. Again, I’m not defending the actions that happened. The Cosby situation puts other cases like Roman Polanski, Woody Allen, Bryan Singer, Kevin Spacey, Asia Argento, and others in sharp relief. I’m trying to be as calm as I can in responding and I hoped that question wasn’t a trap or anything malicious.
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Read up on Meteora and the similarities between her and Buzz Lightyear are tenuous. She seems like the bad guy and doesn’t have the development of Buzz. The only common thing is a toy who doesn’t realize they’re a toy. A person or thing not realizing what they are is a common story concept. It’s what stems from that, which one should look at to separate. They seem to diverge after the initial idea.
Lot to unpack from here on out. Nostalgia is what drives most pop culture. It’s something that nearly every human reacts to on some level. Either positively or negatively depending on the connections. ‘The Lion King’ has been connected to ‘Hamlet’ due to their similarities and many have written essays on this aspect. I would say that the two have a lot in common, which the original directors admit. As for ‘Frozen’, it did kind of break the mold. Your example is a French film from the 40’s, which most people have never watched or heard of. The reason ‘Frozen’ got so much attention for the trope breaking is because it was a Disney movie and was watched by kids. This ended up turning it into an empowering movie for little girls in a similar vein to ‘Brave’ and ‘Mulan’, but it actually turned the ‘love at first sight with Prince’ idea on its head.
Had to look up the slave owners getting reparations. It was right after the Civil War, so it shouldn’t be surprising. Give them money to make sure they don’t try to continue the war or do anything to hurt the union. At that moment, it probably felt like the right thing to do. You look at it from today’s perspective and ignore what was going on at that moment. How would you have handled it? Told the slave owners to go fuck themselves? Tensions were still high and the South still had a sense that they could rise up again. Their economy and land were decimated, so there had to be acts of rebuilding to get the country back together. Telling those people who had power and influence to go fuck themselves would only lead to more problems. Heck, it would probably even make Southern racism worse than what it ended up being because there would be more bitterness and resentment.
Singer was fired from ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ halfway through production. He did enough to get money, but they made it clear that it was no longer one of his movies. He’s also a director like Woody Allen. Similar to a producer like Harvey Weinstein, banning their stuff from TV and streaming isn’t as easy to do as with an actor. Anyone else attached to the project gets punished even if they weren’t aware or the allegations came out after it was made. The same does go for an actor too since you have others involved. This is where not separating art from the artist becomes an issue because you end up punishing other artists alongside your target. With Cosby, I can’t find anything about the women taking the quaaludes willingly. In fact, I found that he admitted to getting them for women he wanted to have sex with. When asked if he gave them to the women without their knowledge, his lawyer told him not to answer. I found nothing about him answering. This is also different from Singer and Allen who never went to trail, so they’ve only been condemned in the court of public opinion. With the ‘let you out early if he admitted’ thing, that’s actually incredibly common. John Oliver did a whole show on how messed up the system is in getting confessions and this type of deal was mentioned several times. Cosby was also battered because he had a history of criticizing how others acted and became known as a symbol of morality. Unlike the others we’ve mentioned, he had further to fall in terms of reputation regardless of his skin color. Prior to that, Cosby was up there with Mr. Rogers, Bob Ross, and the rest of the wholesome celebrity list. I haven’t seen Asia Argento do anything since XXX with Vin Diesel and I’m pretty sure Kevin Spacey was black-listed because he has done anything since 2017. Armie Hammer is gone because of his antics. With Nate Parker, I went to see about his movies on TV and streaming, but it seems like the issue is who owns the rights. Disney seems to have gotten his movies when they bought Fox, which is why you don’t see them anywhere.
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They aren’t fully alike, but it’s still suspicious how they are both science fiction action figures who don’t believe they are toys at first who are seen as threats to be the “favorite toy” by another main character who think they are on an alien planet and have robot archenemeses in-universe for each respective toy. She really isn’t a bad guy in the movie, but misunderstood at first.
Nostalgia isn’t a bad thing in moderation, so I hope I was clear about that. Compenies and their customers can go overboard which I’m sure you’ve seen. The Hamlet parallels are so shallow and most Lion King fans haven’t read or seen the original story. People overemphasize the minimal similarities. I don’t remember the royal family ending up dead at the end of the movie, Sarabi willingly being wifed up by Scar, Nala going insane and killing herself, Mufasa killing a king of another kingdom and his son eventually takes over his kingdom at the end (see: Fortinbras’s arc in the original Hamlet story), Simba murdering someone by accident (although he DID kill his cousin in Lion King II, but no one wants to talk about that), there’s no cycle of vengeance backdrop which completely misses the point of the original, Mufasa encouraging Simba to murder Scar, or Timon and Pumbaa acting as spies for Scar to reference a meme I saw about Rosencrantz and Guildenstern just to name a few examples. Going slightly off-topic, the Malian King Sundiata Keita was nicknamed “The Lion King of Mali” and he existed centuries before Shakespeare was born. However, I don’t expect the Disney fandom to know crap about African history or culture. While Frozen’s message of not being so boy crazy is good and different from several princesses from decades ago. I guess nothing counts unless Disney does it.
Yes, the slave owner reparation thing actually happened and it’s insulting with the wording about property. I’m going to answer your questions with another question. Should you ask those things to someone who is a descendent of enslaved Africans in America? Also, the racism still happened anyway with the rampant massacres, Black Codes, Jim Crow, and other atrocities, but they rarely if ever get talked about.
I heard about that with Bohemian Rhapsody. It was so selective by banning The Cosby Show (and most likely his other works like Fat Albert), but not Weinstein or Allen movies. Yes, I’m aware of Cobsy trying to make him self a symbol of morality which I do not uphold him as such since some of those speeches he made before the allegations were condescending. Here’s a video essay about the Cosby trials if you have a free hour or so which goes over aspects of the court hearing and other people involved. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJxO1L_owao
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I never saw ‘The Christmas Toy’, but I’ve looked into it. While I see similarities, I enough differences to not think ‘Toy Story’ is a copy. In fact, all of the essays and videos I found saying it’s theft didn’t sway me. It actually got me thinking about how so many stories work off similar concepts. Both of these work off the idea of a toy coming to life. ‘Pinocchio’ is like that along with the general concept of inanimate objects taking life. I’m now left wondering what the endgame of even tackling the issue is when it’s not blatant theft. Even with ‘Kimba’ and ‘Lion King’ there are enough differences to make one question the point of the argument. Is it to get those who love ‘Lion King’ to abandon it? Because from what I’m seeing, whenever someone takes a side in any of these arguments, they aren’t happy with someone saying that there are similarities. They want a declaration of theft and, basically, to turn people against the side that they don’t like. So, I’m not even sure what the point of it is anymore.
Well, most ‘Lion King’ fans have never heard of or watched ‘Kimba’. So one could say that’s a factor. I never heard of it until I was in college around 1999, so it isn’t surprisingly to think that fans of the first don’t know about either ‘Kimba’ or ‘Hamlet’. Heck, I never read ‘Hamlet’ since my teachers went for ‘Othello’ instead. So, I have no nostalgia connection to either of those while I do have a connection to ‘Lion King’. It wasn’t my biggest favorite, but I watched it a bunch. Also, inspired by is different than copying and ‘Lion King’ was supposedly inspired by ‘Hamlet’, which means they weren’t going to copy the whole plot. Just like they didn’t copy the plot of ‘Kimba’ as I’m starting to realize. For some people, it doesn’t count unless Disney does it. Yet, I think you’re ignoring the fact that it’s more about distribution. More people watch Disney movies and shows than the obscure stuff. I’ve never seen most of the shows and movies you’ve mentioned in our conversations because I never had access to them. Never knew they existed, so I never knew to look for them. With the ‘not needing a man’, one could go far back into mythology for that too. Weren’t there several goddesses that had that as a key aspect of their lore? I’m sure there are other stories that precede the Beauty & the Beast story as well.
Actually, you didn’t answer my question with your question. As when one typically does that, it’s a reverse of the conversation and a dodge. Sorry, but that’s how I’ve always experienced that. I think one should ask these things to someone who is a descendent of a slave. Why not? Nobody has a problem asking Jews if they think Nazis weren’t all bad. Nobody has a problem asking Japanese Americans if they think the US government was right with the internment. Those two events are even closer in history, but nobody gives a shit about asking those groups the difficult questions. Harder ones than I asked you, which was basically ‘what should Lincoln have done?’ Got news for you about the racism thing too. They do teach about Black Codes, Jim Crow, and a whole slew of racist actions in schools these days. I’m watching my son learn about them. He’s had many lessons on how African Americans have been treated. You want to know what he only had ONE lesson on? The Holocaust! We give tons of educational attention to the treatment of African Americans throughout school. Even Native Americans get less attention in history classes and they were here first. I see them talked about online all the fucking time, so I don’t know why people keep saying it’s a rare talking point.
I don’t have the time to watch the video, but I also think Cosby should have stayed in jail. He admitted to buying the drugs for women who he wanted to have sex with. That’s actually more than they had on Allen and Singer. Again, you can’t easily ban Weinstein movies since he’s a producer and wasn’t really involved in anything other than the money. You really think they’re going to ban LOTR because of a guy who nobody really connects to the movies? People watch those to support the actors, Peter Jackson, and Tolkien who they love. That differs from Cosby because his name was on the show, so he’s inherently connected to the project. I did find the Fat Albert movie on a bunch of streaming platforms, so it looks like it’s his standup and the show with his name on it. ‘A Different World’ is on HBO Max, so it’s not everything connected to him. With the morality, Cosby did it throughout his career and he established himself very well as a big TV dad type. Heck, I loved the show and looked up to the guy. Part of me is also sad that he turned out to be that kind of person because I thought he was a great role model. I also noticed one other point that we’re both missing. We argue about famous people being accused of or convicted of crimes, but their work remains or they get slaps on the wrist. The real truth is that if either of us did even a fraction of what they did without much proof, we’d be locked away for the rest of our lives. So, that’s probably a bigger level of unfairness in the system, which I kind of think is hidden by the elite through keeping us fighting over other issues.
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The plot isn’t identicial, but there were some similarities that could’ve come from that movie. My emphasis was on Hamlet in the previous comment because people use that “Hamlet with lions” comment to imply that it has most of the same plot points when it really doesn’t. The Lion King doesn’t have the same identical plot as Kimba, but neither does it have the same plot as Hamlet. Why? Because Disney admitted inspiration from The Bard and not Osamu Tezuka even though there are obvious examples of characters and elements that could’ve only come from Kimba, but I’d be repeating myself. I guess it as dispelling the lie that it was the first “original screenplay” from Disney’s animated canon. Who isn’t happy about the similarities? You have people denying similarities or downplaying them. You mean to tell me no one watched it? Of course that’s not counting the real life plagiarism case of the “Mbube” song and screwing over Solomon Linda’s family with “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”, so people can miss me with that “Disney never stole from anyone when it came to The Lion King” statement.
Right, but those same people use the “Hamlet with lions” argument when their knowledge is limited to the “To be or not to be speech” or the obvious plot points of the uncle killing his brother to steal the throne. Yes, I’ve watched Lion King multiple times during my childhood, so it hurt discovering Kimba, but it didn’t offend me as much as watching The Lion’s Share, discovering the Hakuna Matata trademark after finding my DNA results, or realizing the massive protagonist centered morality from Mufasa or the racist implications of the hyenas (and their fans making excuses for that or Disney denying these implications), but again…I’d be repeating myself since I made this clear. I think most people treat these stories as not counting unless it’s Disney doing something which offers massive double standards. There could be other stories about not needing men before, but that was one cinematic example.
I wasn’t dogding anything since people like me are at the bottom of American society. People like me and half of my family have been mistreated, abused, and killed in this country and not face justice. Only one group of people were labeled as 3/5ths human in America in the constitution. It’s vile and Black people as a collective didn’t put other ethnic groups in slavery, colonization, cannibalization, genocides, or even bombing people. When the sufferings or successes are mentioned, then it “doesn’t count”. With the former, we’re told to just “move on” or “it was a long time ago” when I NEVER hear that about other groups about how they suffered. It’s infuriating mentioning things that happened to me and no one believes me even though I’m telling the truth. It’s like we’re treated like oppressors instead of victims wholesale. What did we do to deserve this? We didn’t put others in concentration camps or take people’s land, yet people like me are blamed for EVERYTHING! Sure, they make talk about African-American history, but that is downplayed or completely erased regardless if it’s an atrocity (slavery, medical experimentations, massacres, alligator bait, etc), or positive examples such as inventors, scientists, or educators for examples. Shame on your son’s school for only having ONE lesson about The Holocaust. Yikes! I learned more about that than Black history during all my years of schooling even up unto my college years. I hope you aren’t denying these horrible things in history even unto now. It angered me researching things like Black Wall Street, alligator bait, The Devil’s Punchbowl concentration camp, the concept of whiteness as a racial construct being invented when poor Caucasians and Blacks were trying to fight together in the late 17th century (See: Birth of a White Nation by Dr. Jacqueline Battalora), or even reading The Delectable Negro which made me sick knowing that slaves were eaten, used as furniture leather, and used as axel grease in America and their killers got away with with it.
People shouldn’t be buying drugs like that and I wouldn’t do anything like that since I’ve never taken drugs, not have I ever been drunk or high in my life. With that said, it’s a lie that he gave them to anyone without their knowledge which was mentioned in the stenography, but mainstream media cherry picked the dialogue. Again, I’m not defending Cosby and it hurt hearing about those allegations, especially after watching Cosby Show reruns for a lot of my life, but I’m not tolerating the redacted information or realizing other high-profile criminals aren’t treated like that. I do agree that the quaalude issue behind the scenes while he’s trying to be a moral guardian is hypocritical which doesn’t sit right with me (that’s an understatement). I wasn’t aware that A Different World was streaming on HBO Max despite being part of the Cosby Show’s universe, so I do admit that I wasn’t aware of that. The LOTR series is one thing, but that doesn’t excuse Weinstein’s actions. I do agree that if we did the same thing as them, we would be locked up. If I were to be brutally honest, I or someone like me (or darker) would stay in jail for longer than you because of the color-coded injustice system if that happened to me. At least you know there’s an unfairness in the system. To be transparent, I had to calm myself down before responding because I was reminded about how someone like me is still mistreated and how I have to freaking prove my humanity to EVERYONE or how I’ve been gaslighted in my past. I get that there are important issues out there even now and people fight over petty things like celebrities dating or the latest MCU movie/show. I have noticed some of these distraction tactics, not to get conspiratorial or anything like that. It’s actually surprising that you wanted to talk with me for this long. I get frustrated whenever I feel like I’m being demonized because of standing up for something, wanting to check any mistruths, or being questioned automatically because of my heritage.
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You know, I’ve come to a realization about the Kimba/Lion King thing. I just don’t care any more. The family and company who made ‘Kimba’ didn’t pursue a lawsuit and said the similarities were because both productions tried to follow nature. The son of the creator even went on recording saying that this is an American conspiracy that became exaggerated and he doesn’t want to be a part of it. He feels that his father’s work is being used as a weapon instead of being a shared piece of art. Once the creator and the family weigh in like that, I tend to just walk away because then it’s just not my business. Then, it turns into another Internet crusade that’s gone off the rails and won’t go anywhere. As for ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’, I don’t want to defend Disney, but it looks like it wasn’t entirely their fault. The publishers who owned the rights to the song had licensed it to Disney. Linda’s family sued them and not Disney because that was where the breach of contract was. This is what drives me nuts. I’m doing a little research and finding pieces of information that create a broader and less black/white picture. So, I don’t see the point in caring if it’s this messy.
The ‘Hakuna Matata’ thing is sketchy, but it looks like the trademark is only for merchandise that depicts Lion King stuff. So, it’s the phrase connected entirely to the movie. That’s not uncommon for companies and artists to do. Heck, Paris Hilton trademarked ‘That’s Hot’, the specific color green for the Wicked Witch is, Reese’s orange, Bam! by Emeril whatever, and the list keeps going. Most trademarks like this tend to be very nuanced and in specific situations. You can make a Hakuna Matata thing as long as it doesn’t depict the Lion King characters from what I can tell. With the hyenas, I’ve heard that theory, but there’s a flaw in it. Hyenas are scavengers. They typically eat things that have been killed by other animals and also tend to go after lion cubs. Lions do the same. They’re actually natural enemies. So, this seems to be a situation where people are seeing what they want to see.
(Sorry. Need to rant.) PEOPLE LIKE YOU ARE BLAMED FOR EVERYTHING! Cry this Jew a fucking river! My people are historically blamed for every fucking thing that happens. We’ve been butchered and kept on the outskirts of so many civilizations that it’s part of our fucking history. Black Death? Blame the Jews. Death of Jesus? Blame the Jews. Slavery in the US? Blame the Jews. Stopping slavery in the US? Blame the Jews. Germany in bad shape after WWI? BLAME THE FUCKING JEWS! Do you even know what stereotypes are heaped onto my people? We’re thought to be the evil masterminds controlling the world and causing all bad things to happen. We’re called greedy, conniving, and thought to deserve the treatment we get. Some of us are even called fake Jews because a group of people seem to think only those with dark skin are real Jews. There were points in this country’s history where Jews weren’t even considered people at all. Nobody talks about that shit because we went against Hitler and had to clean up the history books. Couldn’t make it known that antisemitism was part of this country either. At least, people learn about what happened to Black people. They don’t learn about the treatment of the Chinese, Irish, and so many other groups. Sure, keep thinking you guys are still at the bottom of the barrel here. At least people GIVE A SHIT for more than a day when there’s a racist attack. Somebody goes after Jews and social media explodes with caring for 24 hours then gets replaced by people saying we faked it, deserved it, or how all these other groups get worse treatment, so FUCK US, huh? The thing with the Holocaust? When I was in school, it was looked into more. Now, it’s only a day and it didn’t even seem to be much beyond ‘Nazis put Jews and others in camps for torture and execution’. Yet, they had a lot of information on the Tuskegee Airmen and their impact on the military This is why I’m getting so angry. It feels like my people are almost being pushed to the side and being allowed to be targeted. Heck, the SVB crash last week resulted in a slew of people blaming Jews for it. Some of them are people I’ve seen rail against the treatment of Blacks and LGBTQ, so it really does feel like Jews are fair game nowadays. As far as I’m concerned, there’s plenty of room at the bottom of the barrel for more than one group, but it feels more and more like some groups don’t get the protection and focus that they need when bad things happen. (Geez, I’m actually starting to make myself cry here because I’ve dealt with a lot crap over the years in regards to being Jewish, which I thought was a thing of the past.)
With Cosby, I think the real issue was that he had sex with the women after they were drugged. Whether they wanted the drugs or not, it looks like the big issue was that they hadn’t consented to sex prior to the drugs. That or they consented while under the influence, which has been a big issue. There still feels like there’s some manipulation going on with his part. Now with Weinstein, I don’t think anyone is excusing his actions. I don’t think people really know what he did in the business, so they keep watching stuff he produced without their knowledge. Producers are kind of in the background and only household names for those in the business. If Kevin Spacey gets to make a big comeback, he would be a better comparison with Cosby. Really hoping he doesn’t. Don’t think I’ve watched one of his movies ever since the news either.
While I get that you have been mistreated and have to prove your humanity, I do want to point out that some of us have other traumas. I’ve faced antisemitism far too many times in my life and I’m not even that big of a Jew. Sometimes, I’ve faced it by people who were from other minority groups after I supported them in the face of racism. So, it gets frustrating to hear people go on about their people’s plight when I’ve seen mine get cast aside and minimized as if it doesn’t matter. I get the ‘you don’t look Jewish’ thing all the time. People have mocked me during Yom Kippur when I can’t eat. It feels like I have to defend and explain my Jewish-ness all the time. A few people have even taken to picking my beliefs apart in the hopes of making me question them or seeing if they can get me to no longer be Jewish. This is another factor. If you’re black, you’re that for life. Nobody thinks they can make a game out of making you no longer be black. If you’re Jewish, it’s a heritage/culture/belief system that some think they can drive you away from. The sad thing is that I’m noticing anti-semitism is getting worse in this country. It’s almost accepted on some levels because you have high profile people like Kanye giving credence to Nazis. It’s terrifying, especially since my people still have what I can only call a ‘cultural memory’ of the Holocaust and are still afraid that it can easily happen again even here. Some days, I don’t think many people will really try to stop that from happening while they would make sure that your people will never be enslaved again. As I said before, my people are routinely subjected to blame and hate. It always seems to happen and nobody seems to care.
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I’m aware of that quote from Makoto Tezuka and I’ve seen other people use it. However, those same people wouldn’t dare use that logic when it comes to the Sky High/MHA controversy, but that’s for another day. Also, people have lost copyright cases for just as much, if not less. That and Disney tried to ban the Jungle Emperor Leo movie from North American viewing when it debuted in Canada back in 1998 or called the main character “Kimba” in a Prodigy transcript. Sorry for sounding like a Kimba super-fan this time. I’ve seen the show and some of the movies while also researching the controversy itself. The Lion Sleeps Tonight obviously started with the licensing company, but let’s be real. The Lion King is the first movie people think of when it comes to movie soundtracks and made $15 million in royalties from the first movie alone and never credited Solomon Linda. Not only that, but the “wimoweh” lyrics are gibberish that sounds like Zulu (the original language Mbube was sung in) which is insulting. I do recommend watching the documentary whenever you have the chance on Netflix. That and the concept of royalties, IP, etc. wasn’t originally an African concept, so the family wasn’t aware of that until The Lion King came out.
That might be the case, but that still doesn’t make it right. Unlike the Paris Hilton example (which we agree is pretty stupid) where at least it’s in her first language, Disney didn’t invent the phrase nor do they own the Swahili language. Interestingly enough, my Swahili teacher told me on the first day of class not to say “Hakuna Matata” if I were to visit parts of Africa because people in East Africa, let alone other African countries where you have Swahili-sepaking populations despite not having official status get offended after decades of mostly white tourists using that phrase flippantly and not even trying to converse in that language and they were angry about the trademark news (rightfully so). With the hyenas, it wasn’t just about them being real life enemies of lions, it was how they were voiced and portrayed playing up Black and Latino stereotypes or how the Elephant Graveyard is a ghetto of sorts. Hyenas are also not that dark in real life, but I see people use James Earl Jones as a melanin shield. I believe I mentioned a quote from Mickey Mouse Monopoly of a woman talking about a case of a child assuming some Black kids were like the hyenas.
I understand that you were in a lot of pain when you ranted, but don’t label me as denying the colllective pain or atrocity the Jewish community has gone through. Do you honestly believe I don’t know about the examples you just mentioned to me? Do you think I don’t care or feel anything about the pain your community has gone through? Even I cried when I first learned about The Holocaust when I was in elementary school. I know Antisemitism is still a thing and I even heard about a recent attack that was done by an Asian man. I was not putting you or your community at the bottom of the barrel. Not only that, I hate how Black people (mainly Black men) are painted as “the biggest Antisemites” by the mainstream media because of Kanye’s idiotic ramblings. HE. DOESN’T. REPRESENT. ME. OR. OTHERS! I think it’s a shame that it doesn’t get the coverage as it should, and I’m ashamed that multiple schools haven’t talked about it enough and I’m not just talking about the Maus fiasco at that Tennessee school district. I’ve also seen fake allies for anti-racism or other causes, so I know not everyone is genuine. Are there things I’m willing to learn about from other cultures even though I like learning about several groups? Yes, I’m not going to lie to you because I don’t know every single facet about everyone. Even if I see the most vile acts done to humanity regardless of which ethnic/religious/racial group and get disgusted, I still bother to see the humanity of others. I DON’T HATE YOU OR WANT YOU OR YOUR COMMUNITY TO SUFFER! This was as calm as I can be even if I resorted to the caps lock at times in regards to your rant. I never denied those horrors nor was I pushing you or other Jewish people to the side when I voiced those things. What I said wasn’t against you.
I didn’t say the issue with the drugs was right or him being blameless. I sure hope people weren’t excusing Harvey Weinstein. He had more of a behind the scenes role as a producer (obviously) or owning two film distribution companies with Miramax and The Weinstein company during his tenure in the film business. That’s not even counting the several films that didn’t involve his former companies that he had some shot-calling power in such as the casting process, for example. The first time I heard about him was the Princess Mononoke story about Ghibli sending the katana that said “no cuts” in English to them. Like you, I have no desire to see Kevin Spacey in a movie or show again.
I’m well-aware about traumas in other groups, so at least you can see where I was coming from and I hope you realize I wasn’t attacking you. It is heart-breaking hearing that you dealt with Antisemitism your whole life and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. I know this is a slightly different situation, but I’ve been said that I “don’t look Black” since I have lighter-skin (my dad is white) and can pass as other ethnic groups or that I “don’t talk Black” which I find to be very insulting like I’m supposedly only able to speak in AAVE/Ebonics. You do bring up a point when it comes to religious and ethnic discrimination and I won’t disagree about that observation. It’s frustrating that a lot of Black history I’ve learned so far was done after I graduated and not knowing where my maternal ancestors came from until a few years ago when I took a DNA test given the stripped cultural identity of those who descend from American slavery. Even learning about King Leopold gave me a new dynamic when I found out I’m of Congolese descent and how he’s not talked about enough for his crimes. I’ve dealt with a lot of subtle and overt racism in my life or people downplaying what I’ve been through including the cultural memory from slavery. That Kanye garbage is maddening and I don’t support that at all. The rise of Antisemitism is scary as well as the racism against me or attempts like trying a politician trying to bring back lynching this year. The concept of using communities as wholesale scapegoats is terrifying and it’s a tragedy how that still happens to this day to our respective communities for different reasons. It is saddening when I get this hate or bullying and I think “What did I ever do you you?” to those who hurt me. I hope I’ve been very clear with what I’m trying to say and that you didn’t try to equate me with someone denying the horrors inflicted upon the Jewish community. I have enjoyed the posts I’ve read from your blog. Some of our conversations have been intense even though I don’t have any malice towards you. I wanted to wait before I did my best to reply to what you said.
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Okay. I’m going to call you out on something here. Sorry. You’re refusing to acknowledge what the son of the creator said because people have used it as a defense. Yet, they wouldn’t use it in another scenario where such a thing hasn’t been said. That just means there’s no piece of evidence to alter your opinion on this. I can’t even find anything about Disney banning ‘The Jungle Emperor Leo’ and I can’t even figure that out since you said it was in Canada, which Disney has no pull over. Different countries have different laws. There was a discussion about the name, which was originally Leo then they changed it to Kimba to make it less generic. They didn’t want to use Simba because they didn’t want to cause an uproar and make people think it was a copy or been copied by the ‘Lion King’, which happened anyway because people have to create these ridiculous battles in spite of the creator’s opinion. As for the soundtrack, I don’t think ‘Lion King’ is the first one people think of. Everyone has their own preference and I didn’t even remember that song was in there. With the gibberish, I’m going to step into the Jewish thing earlier here. Gibberish with a little Yiddish thrown in has been used for Jewish characters all the time. The same goes for many languages when the writers don’t want to put the effort into making an actual sentence. That’s not racism. That’s laziness.
I’ll start with the hyenas. They were still supposed to be the bad guys and they were supposed to be dark. They were supposed to be desperate too in order for Scar to manipulate them. Poverty and hunger can cause that. The elephant graveyard being seen as a ghetto (originally a term for where Jews were forced to live in Venice) feels more like seeing what one wants to see. A lot of it seems to be coincidental and people act like it was an intentional. If you look at the story, it’s easier to see the hyenas as desperate Germans who join a charismatic leader with the promise of a better life at the expense of those who ‘took what was rightfully theirs’. Heck, they even do a Nazi march at one point. Yet, no Jews got upset about that being played out for children. The trademarking language thing is wrong, but it’s legal. That’s what sucks. You have American tourists being idiots even without trademarks. People go to Israel and start saying shalom, oy gevalt, and oy vey all the time. Hakuna Matata would have gotten the same treatment even without a trademark because American tourists tend to be rude and idiotic.
Here’s the thing. Some of the ways you talk do make it seem like you don’t care or at least have only a passing acknowledgement of the pain that other groups go for. I’m sure you don’t realize this because of your passion and emotions. I probably misread it too. My frustration comes from the recent years where it does feel like the treatment of other groups is glossed over and only the treatment of black people matters. I see this in education now too. Most of the things you have mentioned are taught in school. My son has done multiple projects of famous and lesser known black people. He just did an ASL project on a deaf black rapper. This is great, but it also gets triggering when those of us in other attacked groups hear black people talk as if no progress has been made. I’ve said it before, but certain phrases and types of venting come off (at least on-line) as saying ‘your pain cannot be fully acknowledged and handled until we get everything we want’. Yet, we both know there isn’t a single group in this country who will get all of the restitution that they deserve, so the fights will go on forever. I used to be fine with these conversations, but I’ve been shut down so many times in recent years. Not be racists and anti-Semites, but by other minority groups and their allies. That makes these conversations so much harder because there’s that part of me feeling like my pain will eventually no longer matter even if it’s by accident. The most ridiculous part of all of this is that blacks and Jews have been lumped together by the same hate groups so often that it’s insane that the two turn on each other. The KKK went for both of us. Nazis accused Jews of bringing African men into Germany to seduce the German women and ‘sully the bloodline’. Charlottesville. Yet, it feels like only of our groups gets to really feel targeted and hated in recent years. It’s not mine too, which wears on a person after a while. So, I do apologize if I attacked too hard, but I guess the discussion got triggering. I do believe that you are aware of these things and looked into them. I’ve done the same with what others have gone through, especially when references are made that I never heard of before.
I think the first time I heard about Weinstein was when a friend got me into watching ‘Entourage’. Thought he was a fictional character until the truth about him came out.
Honestly, I don’t remember you mentioning you were light-skinned. Never understood the ‘talk Black’ thing. Then again, I’ve had people ask me to say something Jewish or assume I drink Manischewitz wine. Stuff is disgusting and I can only handle it if I’m already plastered. As far as heritage, I never got a DNA test, but my grandparents always passed down the information through documents. All I’ve got is Eastern European and Spanish with some other strange stories thrown in that I can’t make sense of. Might do a DNA test way down the line, but the family doesn’t like the idea of that or an ancestry check. I heard about the lynching thing. Think that was in Tennessee, which makes me really wonder what is going on in some of the Southern states. It does seem like the two of us get intense and emotional. I know you don’t have any malice and I’m not angry. Getting the sense that we both have a habit of letting our passions and emotions get the best of us at times. I tend to curse when I get hyped up even if it’s not angry, so sorry about that.
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I’m aware of the quote from Makoto Tezuka and I hate how people use this as some defense like the movie was innocent or how there are absolutely no similarities. There wasn’t a case of Sky High in that example because we know no one would do the same thing unlike other countries. Even when the Lion King came out, there was a petition in Japan by various animators and manga artists wanting Disney to acknowledge Osamu Tezuka’s lion story and another Tezuka Pro employee at the time said they wanted to sue Disney, but they were a small company and Disney has some of the best lawyers in the world. Disney attempted to ban Jungle Emperor Leo (1997) with a C&D, but it didn’t go through when it made it’s North American debut at the Fantasia Film Festival in 1998. Jungle Emperor Leo (or Jungle Taitei Leo if we want to get technical) is the Japanese name starting from day one and Kimba is the dub name kind of like how we call Satoshi Ash Ketchum or how Usagi’s dub name is Serena (Sailor Moon). Simba was going to be the original dub name going back to the 60s, but that was common and I believe there was a drink at the time with the same name. The Prodigy transcript was about Roy Disney Jr. where he called Sarabi “Kimba’s mother” when he was interviewed. By the whole soundtrack thing, I was talking about the first movie people think of when they hear “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”. I would be a fool if I said it outranked most of the other songs in popularity, but that still doesn’t give the licensing company or Disney a free pass even though they screwed over the Linda family. Personally, I think the Yiddish/gibberish hybrid stuff is stupid and even I cringe knowing about that stuff, too. It’s lazy, but still bigoted and I’m using both examples. I was reminded of Justin Beiber getting flogged online when he was mistaking Spanish-sounding gibberish and saying “burrito burrito burrito” when he performed “Despacito” at one live show.
I get they are the bad guys, but it doesn’t help when other predator animals besides lions can be seen. I’m not the first person who has made ghetto comparisons to the elephant graveyard, and what doesn’t help is how the hyenas talk in stereotypical Black and Latino dialects. One reviewer defended the hyenas and made a joke saying “What? Did they lower the property taxes in the Pridelands?”. That is a VERY offensive dog whistle and it was only used towards Black people in this country even going back to when redlining was rampant. Honest Trailers even described Shenzi’s accent as “gangsta” which only proves my point even more. Side note: Shenzi is Swahili for “savage” which tells you all you need to know and Banzai isn’t even a real Swahili name. When I was a child, I didn’t notice these things, but the subtext became obvious when I watched it back as an adult. It also doesn’t help this movie came out the year apratheid ended in South Africa. Yes, I’m aware of the Nazi imagery with the hyena march to give Scar dictator vibes, but I think the directors were implying that Black and brown people are going to be like the 3rd reich if they get any social mobility in this society which is insulting to my intelligence. I know I’m repeating this information, but when I watched the Namibian Genocide documentary, I couldn’t un-see the comparisons between the Shark Island concentration camp and the elephant graveyard since both of them are food deserts used as punishments for specific groups (Nama and Herero in the former and the hyenas in the latter) to be starved out in and the area is filled with bones. Also, General Franz Ritter von Epp was one of the people involved during Germany’s occupation of Namibia and was there during the genocide. After the fact, he would hire a then-unknown Adolf Hitler and he even said that von Epp helped give him his “voice”. It’s also good that some other people have noticed Mufasa’s protagonist centered morality and realized he wasn’t some innocent king. They had dozens of writers, and NOBODY was thinking how I and others could easily interpret this as being pro-apartheid or Anti-Black even if they have JEJ or Madge Sinclair as their “Black employees” as rhetorical dodging straw-people?
At least you realize the trademark issue and tourists mockingly using the languages of other cultures is stupid even if the former is sadly legal. I’ve met people who think that it’s no big deal or how anyone should appropriate languages, but will freak out when I used common European phrases to prove a point. Yes, the Israel thing you mentioned is idiotic and if I were to visit there, I’d make sure my Hebrew vocabulary would involve more than those words and actually try to use other words or phrases with the locals if I have to.
That’s not my intention and even if I don’t say something right away, it doesn’t mean I don’t know or don’t care. I just hate how people have told me to “just move on”, having a “victim mentality”, or saying I’m lying when I know what I’m talking about. People have underestimate my knowledge about various subjects for most of my life (not that I’m a genius). What frustrates me is when people don’t think I’ve suffered or someone like me has or assume I’m a bad person because of my ethnicity which is racist in and of itself. When I see others suffer, it affects me as a human being even if they are of different ethnic or religious groups. I haven’t ignored other people, but at the same time I’ve been accused of being hateful for trying to love myself or finding out more about the specific African ethnic groups are in my DNA even though I’m not making fun of anyone or waxing malice on them. That might be the case of more of those examples being taught now, but this anti-CRT nonsense is rampant and some issues they wouldn’t go all the way regardless of grave level. The fact that most of this stuff I learned by myself after I graduated college was sad and angering like all this information was intentionally hidden. Good on your son for learning and doing those projects though. I have never said or implied that the pain of others never mattered. Not going to lie, I’ve been tempted to say to any white person “What I’ve been through wouldn’t happen to you!. I’ve been shut down many times and silenced. I’m sorry to hear that some other minority groups and allies said that stuff to you. They aren’t me though. You’re right about the KKK, Nazis, and the Charlottesville rioters, and sadly some people think they only targeted one group each. What I said wasn’t an attack, but I had to defend myself at times in that previous comment. Thank you for believing me.
I haven’t seen Entourage, but I’ll take your word for it. I wouldnt’ be surprised if other people thought that way unless they were knee-deep into film.
I don’t think if I had mentioned my skin tone or not before to you, but I may have mentioned it in some of my posts on my blog. If I can use a bit of humor, I’ve actually been mistaken for Latino, Native American, Indian, Polynesian, and various Middle Eastern ethnic groups including people of those ethnicities (and even from those countries). When I mention my parentage, people are cool with it, but I’ve had people who gave me the side-eye or straight up said racist stuff to my face when finding out. The “talking Black” thing is something that grinds my gears like people expect me to talk like Lil Wayne or a male version of Shenzi the hyena. Conversely, I’ve been described as “articulate” by some white people which I find to be patronizing even if I know it’s a positive word in isolation since I’ve never heard those of the Caucasian persuasian being described as such since I’ve used some big words naturally in some conversations and I rarely swear (this is not a potshot against you using profanity). Those people are idiots for wanting you to say something “Jewish” like it’s a separate language or assuming you drink Manischewitz. I’ve had people make fried chicken jokes at me even though I’m a vegetarian. Good on you for having that information from your family. Spanish seems like a random ethnic group, but you do have the Sephardic Jewish community who did live in Spain and Portugal for example. I do understand if you don’t want to take a DNA test. It was something I wanted to take for several years when I saw a PBS documentary where they got famous Black people to take them to find out their ancestry and one example involved Chris Tucker finding out he’s of mostly Angolan descent. Yes, that lynching thing was in TN and I heard about Mississippi trying to do some New Jim Crow crap in that state. I’m concerned about what’s been happening in the South since I have friends and some family in some of those states. I can see how intense and passionate we can be about certain issues that can be close to our hearts. Thank you for realizing that I have no malice and I’m glad you aren’t angry with me. I accept your apology. Thank you.
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The more I look into the ‘Kimba/Lion King’ thing, the more I question the point. Looks like many of the ‘same scenes’ that get shown are from a Kimba series that came out 3 years after ‘Lion King’. Seems that series was also incredibly racist with blackface, which is why it wasn’t dubbed until a Christian group did it in the late 1980’s. Seems Tezuka said he was heavily influenced by early Disney works. Seems the two things are really different once you look into the themes and story with Scar being the biggest similarity. At this point, I just wonder what the point of the argument is. A fan of ‘Lion King’ can’t really admit to it being a knock-off since there’s plenty of evidence to show that it isn’t. This is similar to Digimon being called a knock-off of Pokemon where both are similar on the surface, but different as soon as you get into the real plot and mechanics. Both of these battles don’t have a clear finale to them since neither side can be fully proven beyond the shadow of a doubt. Couldn’t find any articles about the Japanese animators making demands or thinking of suing either. I mean, they wouldn’t win that lawsuit at all because the differences are so many. It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that Disney, a petty company, did the C&D towards Kimba solely out of spite due to them being attacked over it. No lawyer would take that case since it wouldn’t matter if Disney put together a great team. There’s just not enough solid evidence to make it a clear cut case.
The other predators that you see are cheetahs and leopards, which are related to lions. Hyenas aren’t and they are more notable adversary of lions, which is even seen as being on equal footing. I’m confused on the dialect thing though. Have people not heard Whoopi Goldberg and Cheech Marin talk? That was the speech pattern that they were using a lot back then. I even listened to Whoopi on The View and then her back then before this and I don’t see a real difference beyond some word usage. One could also look at how the hyenas were used by Scar too, which does make them victims of a manipulative member of the elite who wants to gain power. Turns them into scapegoats as well, which is something that happens a lot. Blacks, latinos, and those with mental disabilities have a long history of being used and scapegoated, so that could be another way to look at this. A lot of what you’re saying seems to require that a person come from a certain background and mental place to see those connections. No offense, but you’re putting a lot of assumptions on the creators to the point where you think they should have known about everything you mention. You even turned the clear Nazi symbolism into something that doesn’t involve Jews. It’s more likely that the creators went ‘make Scar come off as Hitler’. I doubt the creators of ‘Lion King’ researched all of these other things. There’s no way for even a team of writers to counter every perception of their story. If they spend the majority of their time analyzing every piece that could possibly piss off any group then they wouldn’t get very far. Like any author, their focus was on the story and their research has been documented as being towards how the animals look and act. With no humans, they wouldn’t be thinking about human problems. That’s just how artists have worked throughout history, especially fiction writers. If a story isn’t locked in reality then we don’t bring real history into what we’re doing because it doesn’t exist in the world we’re in at the time.
The most common challenge I’ve seen people and myself have with the suffering thing is that it’s easy to come off as sounding like one has gone through the most amount of pain. This happens when ranting occurs and turns the speaker into one who comes off as uncaring towards the suffering of others. Whether one realizes it or not, it turns into a contest to see who has personally had it worst or who comes from the most hatred group. Any empathy and caring that either side has gets lost in the declarations. It vanishes completely when those who are talking start arguing over such things in a way that creates a one-upmanship contest. I’m not sure why anyone would call you hateful for trying to understand your background more. Can’t really wrap my head around why that would be such a response or why anyone would really care. That’s something you do for yourself, right?
Never understood the fried chicken thing. I mean, don’t most people enjoy fried chicken as long as they’re not vegetarian or vegan? I loved fried chicken sandwiches. I remember one guy made that comment in college once while he had fried chicken on his plate. He hadn’t touched it, so we took his food since he clearly wasn’t the correct race for it. The sputtering was glorious. I’m more curious about an ancestry check because I want to know what my ancestors were up to, especially when they got here. There are weird stories in my family like my namesake having a birth certificate from Mexico instead of the USA, but he was a US citizen. I’ve got family down in Florida and I hear complaints and worries all the time. Some people I know are for the changes being made, which has caused some friction.
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I’m going to have to correct you about the “same scene” point involving JEL 1997 since those are not the only examples (and some of them were TLK parodies in that specific movie). Most of the time, they mention the original TV show with the dead father lion cloud spirit scene being a glaring example, Kimba eating bugs, and the scene where Kimba is dangling from a cliff with Belladonna (a lioness villain) looming over while creepily smiling before dropping him off even though he obviously doesn’t die unlike The Lion King. There’s also the lion cloud spirit shown in the manga and recontextualized in JEL ’97. I’m aware of the blackface imagery in the manga and Leo the Lion/Susume Leo sequel which I hated even though Tezuka Productions owned up to it. The first series was dubbed by NBC back in the 60s. Tezuka was influenced by Disney and actually met Walt at one of the World’s Fairs back in the day. Interesingly enough, Walt wanted to do an American remake of Astro Boy, but he died before he got to do so. At least you admit that Scar and Claw was the most painfully obvious similarity because there is no way Disney came up with a black-maned scarred left-eyed lion usurper antagonist with hyena henchmen by themselves. I think a runner-up would be Dan’l and Rafiki since they are both wise, yet extremely eccentric baboons. Of course, the same people who think Scar is “original” are the same ones who think Kayleigh from Quest for Camelot is a shameless ripoff of Belle or Howard the Duck (yes, the movie is crap) stole from Donald Duck. Digimon isn’t a ripoff of Pokemon which I will agree with you over there, but Disney’s lion store is more known and can “do no wrong” because it’s Disney, so it’s cool to destroy anything not from the House of Mouse. I don’t remember where I found some of those articles mentioning that, but I remember seeing those responses. Personally, I like Ringing Bell better than Kimba in regards to those kinds of stories and I have critiqued the latter since it’s not even close to being one of my favorite anime works. Maybe some of that attitude indirectly came from an ex-friend making fun of me in college for liking La Dispute and accused them of being a mewithoutYou rip-off or how some Disney fans rave about how original their movies are while bashing any movie or characters who “Steal” from Disney.
I get that about the leopards and cheetahs in the first movie. Whoopi and Cheech don’t talk like that all the time in real life. The parallels of Scar being a member of the elite to manipulative marginalized groups is something that makes sense, but I don’t think Disney fans would get that subtext. At least you realize how those groups have and still are scapegoated to this day. When I saw Mickey Mouse Monopoly, a Black woman talked about a time where her Caucasian friend came to her and was very concerned about her 3-year-old son comparing some Black kids just laughing and talking to the hyenas and thought they were evil even though they weren’t doing anything. If a young child could make an association like that, how many others would make that same connection including those who helped make it? There was a time where I had that realization and saw the Shark Island scene in the Namibian Genocide documentary and I legitimately thought “Do a lot fo white people see me as one of those hyenas that deserve to be punished at all costs? Do I not belong in the circle of life?” and I shouldn’t have to. As I said, I’m not the first or only person to bring up these implications about the hyenas like it’s some kind of “acceptable” covert racism which I find to be low-key worse than blackface. With the latter, you can accept that this is wrong with the mistrel shows, The Jazz Singer, or even Iggy Azalea using WAAAAAAAAAY too much foundation in a music video (saying nothing about her cringy blaccent rapping voice), and any decent person wouldn’t defend that because it’s blatant. This isn’t some kind of old-school movie like Dumbo since this came out during our lifetimes. I get the vibes of making Scar look more like Hitler since I get that angle, but I wasn’t denying the symbolism. I seriously hope the creators weren’t insinuating that Black people, Latino peopl, or those with mental disbilities/disorders/conditions people would be like Nazis if they had some kind of upward mobility. I want to be wrong. There’s also those people defending the hyenas saying “They didn’t mean it!”. So what DID they mean with the portrayal of them? I’m sorry, but some of the wording you said reminded me of the times when people said I was overanalyzing things when people actually had bad intentions towards me so I was a bit triggered there. While there are no humans, some of those human dynamics could still creep into the story whether subtly or overtly. Even the whole circle of life speech by Mufasa is so hypocritical. Sure, every animal has a place there…except the hyenas and the other animals better know their place, and I’ve seen people online calling that out even if it’s in isolation of protagonist centered morality on his part. Do you at least seeing where I’m coming from as to why I and others could see the hyenas in that way or how that could be low-key demonization in a G-rated setting? Trust me, people assumed I would do some criminal things, I got profiled at places (including getting my first DWB when I was 19!), one military guy who just came back from Iraq or Afghanistan assumed I wasn’t an American citizen when I was in Jacksonville despite being born hear and having a midwestern accent, and even followed around at a couple of stores thinking I was going to steal something despite having the money for what I wanted to buy just because I have a noticeable about of melanin. Don’t get me wrong, I understand that creators may or may not analyze things when making stories and I’m not asking for them to please everyone, but some of the things in hindsight like apartheid, various genocides that aren’t talked about, or overpolicing minority communities really makes the dynamics hard to watch.
I wasn’t trying to do any suffering one-upsmanship towards you. It does hurt when no one believes me or you about the things we’ve been through, our respective ancestors, or researching atrocities that happened. To be fair, I don’t understand that either. I’m just learning about the heritage I didn’t know about for most of my life. What’s wrong with trying to love yourself when your self-esteem has been crushed for so long by trying to find one’s ancestry? I’m not saying I’m better than anyone nor am I confronting people like that. It has been an interesting process with learning various things such as (using the Congolese DNA for example) the Ishango Bone being one of the oldest calculators on the planet, the music, (sadly) the Congolese Genocide under Leopold’s regime which made me cry learning about it, some movies from that region, and even learning Swahili and a bit of Lingala for example. Fun fact: words like goober, tango, and even Jenga come from words associated with Congolese languages.
It has a history of the minstrel shows showing Black people eating fried chicken and watermelon which is weird in hindsight. I mean…watermelon is good for you and as you say that lots of people like fried chicken anyway. Going slightly off-topic, I found it embarrassing that KFC once sponsored BET’s Black History Month segments over a decade ago even though I wasn’t watching that channel much then. That does sound strange with the Mexican birth certificate. It is pretty worrying giving DeSantis’s attempts and speeches about “destroying wokeness”. One speech, he clearly used it as a dog whistle against Black people which I understood the first time. Sadly, I see some of those sentiments around here and I’m from a Northern state, but then again, bigotry is on both sides of the meridian. I’m sorry to hear about the friction your family has been going through.
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Honestly, I don’t see anything to correct me on. As I said, I found people using those scenes and others pointing out that the screencaps came from something that came after ‘Lion King’. There were others where stuff from the earlier things were used. This has me thinking that this is issue has become so convoluted and messy that there’s no way to know the truth. Just pick a side and dig in your heels. The idea of the dead talking through the sky and clouds is a fairly common concept even going back to mythology. The cliffhanger thing has been around for a long time and used throughout many stories to have a villain gloat over a defenseless hero. With Simba and Kimba eating bugs, lions have been known to do so when hungry, so that’s just nature. I didn’t say Scar was a painfully obvious similarity, but just a similarity. Black is typically used on villains due to the black hat vs white hat Westerns. Hence, the black mane. Scars tend to be used on villains as well. One could say that both Disney and Tezuko had the same idea with the hyenas due to nature since the bad guy would need some kind of henchman. The more I look at this, the less I think this is as big a thing as people are making it out to be, especially with the son of the creator saying he didn’t want Kimba to be known mostly by the controversy. That’s pretty much what happened, which does come off as those arguing on Kimba’s behalf hurting its reputation and legacy. Sorry about that, but that’s a perspective I’m having a lot of trouble shrugging as I look more and more into this. Again, what benefit does the argument make at this point? It really only prevents people from bothering with either ‘Kimba’ or ‘Lion King’ because they see the fandoms at war. Wow. Kayley and Belle really do look similar. Both of them are women who stand out because they don’t act like the others in their story. While I doubt Kayley is a rip-off Belle, this is the same level of information and conjecture that gets used for other things.
I ran the hyena thing by my black and Latino friends who grew up in the 80’s with me. I asked them what they thought and they said the same thing that I did. Back then, Whoopi and Cheech talked like that, especially when they were doing characters. It’s more likely that the dialogue was designed around those actors and their previous work instead of the other way around. Cheech really leaned into exaggerations back then. As for the 3-year-old, that’s a very small kid who hasn’t even developed the ability to have solid memories. They have no differentiation skills unlike older kids and adults who have the ability to differentiate fantasy from reality. In fact, this is the first time I ever heard of or read of someone comparing a black person to those hyenas. I’ve only seen the comparison to people who laugh really loud and animated, which wasn’t regulated to one race. While I can see how you came to the hyena thing, I’m still not really seeing it as the deepest truth. The way that you talk is like the creators did this intentionally or should have known better when there’s no evidence of either. You even noted that you recently learned about some of these things because they’re not taught in schools. The animators would have been in the same boat with no reason to follow the knowledge paths that you did. I’ve noticed that people can find offensiveness and insults in everything. All it does is cause a person to absorb more pain and get angrier. I genuinely don’t think the creators saw anything they did as racist and were focused, like all artists, on creating a story. They did the research on what they felt they needed to, which was nature. The circle of life was clearly supposed to be the life cycle, which we learn about in science. Animals don’t have that concept, so it would have had to be more spiritual. I don’t remember Mufasa ever saying that the hyenas weren’t a part of that and they should know their place. The closest was him telling Simba not to go there because it wasn’t their territory.
As I said, I’ve noticed in general that the suffering one-upmanship tends to appear without people realizing it. Sometimes it stems from a person trying to relate their own suffering to that of another. One can get too into that and go too far, so the conversation turns to them. If that happens enough, a person who is used to their suffering being shoved aside will get defensive such as I do at times. This is all subconscious and accidental things stemming from a person’s experience. We develop defenses against being shrugged off, which can be more aggressive than needed when faced with someone who isn’t really doing what we think they’re doing.
I really can’t stand watermelon. Something about the texture when I bite into it makes my skin crawl. Not sure where I would stand on the KFC and BET thing since I assume they agreed to it. I mean, KFC is a popular brand. Part of me also wonders if BET wanted to poke at that stereotype. At the very least, I can see how it would get people talking and watching the channel. DeSantis . . . That guy worries me. I’m hearing horror stories from Florida friends who are still teachers or have kids in the schools. I’ve seen some similar sentiments around here, but I haven’t seen the big actions like down there. Although, there are some uncomfortable situations brewing in my area that I can’t get into.
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It sounded like you were saying Kimba fans were only sharing the similar scenes from JEL 1997 and afterwards at first. That was frustrating because I’ve heard that “they only use pictures” strawman to deny any similarities other than cast members and behind-the-scenes people watching it when they were younger (Matthew Broderick was the most notable example), the Prodigy transcript, the attempted JEL movie ban in North America, or the pre-production sketch of a white Simba as seen as an extra in one of the Lion King DVD releases. Disney fans act like that movie was the first one to have scenes like that. The scene of Caesar’s ghost in the sky has similar framing and the context around it will give anyone deja vu because it happens when Kimba doesn’t think he can save his kingdom. Caesar could’ve said “Kimba, remember who you are!” and it would have worked in the original anime when that scene happens. The Claw/Scar similarities are obvious and I’ve shown a picture of Claw to people and literally everyone said “He looks just like Scar.” Every single time. Characters have lost copyright infringement cases for less. Also, Claw is canonically a Barbery lion where that species had males that sometimes had black manes. Scar was based on that same species, too. Couldn’t Disney just use other animals like jackals for example to make sure Scar wasn’t that similar other than him using a trio instead of 2 like Claw did? I’ll try to answer that question. I think it was to point out The Lion King wasn’t an original screenplay. Now I have a question for you? How would people (or even the Disney corporation) react if Kimba came out after The Lion King? I know people who thought Kimba was a cheap rip-off when they saw a random cheap VHS until they found out it existed first. Thanks for looking at those other characters as well. I think it’s hypocritical for Disney fans to crap on Kayleigh for looking like Belle, but deny that Scar is anything like Claw. Not going to lie, I didn’t expect to talk about Kimba again with you.
I’ve seen other movies with Whoopi and Cheech and I’m aware of some of the characters they played. Cheech would be in another Disney movie as Tito from Oliver and Company. That’s the Chihuahua wearing the Mexican flag headband who’s seen as sleazy, a bit stupid, emotionally masochistic to Georgette, and he knows how to hot wire cars. The 3-year-old mentioned in Mickey Mouse Monopoly could use his age as an excuse then and not know better, those connections are still disturbing. Hopefully, he doesn’t think like that anymore after growing up (he’s most likely in his 20s now given the timing of the documentary). Even if the creators may or may not have known about the Namibian or Congolese Genocides where the Africans in those countries literally got starved out while separated from the community by their colonizers, I seriously doubt they wouldn’t know about Jim Crow or South Africa which was a hot button topic at the time with the sanctions and protests against the Apartheid regime. Also, Lebo M who helped out with some of the music (the movie version of “Circle of Life”, “Busa”, “He Lives in You”, etc.) is directly from that country. Are you insinuating that I’m oversensitive or a snowflake with that comment? There were people who subtly insulted and discriminated against me, so I need to be vigilant. Also, I wasn’t given the excuse like they had about not knowing or not meaning anything even if that was legitimately the case. That could be me treating the creators and fans like how I was treated, if that makes sense. Part of me this is subconscious on their part for assuming certain people are criminals or idiotic at best. Here are a couple of links that talk about the problematic implications of the hyenas.
https://www.fastcompany.com/90379067/critics-said-the-first-lion-kings-hyenas-were-problematic-disney-revamped-them
https://vigouroffilmlines.com/2018/07/03/lion-king-1994-discriminatory-circle-of-life-in-disneys-animated-movie/
That could be true. I was silence so much and always treated like I was wrong or how someone like me should “stop being a victim” or “whining” even if I’m victimized or know about atrocities that were done to people like me. It gets even more frustrating when no one believes or has any sympathy towards these events. One time after learning about Leopold’s colonization of the Congo during my initial time of researching part of my heritage, I mentioned some facts to someone and I said to this person “Are you sure you want to deny what he did in history to my face?” lest I verbally bash this person as a bigoted jerk. There’s a part of me that wants to massively rant offline to people if they deny these things. I wasn’t trying to make things about me, but I wanted to share some of my examples. At least we’re able to talk this stuff out.
I won’t judge you if watermelon isn’t your thing. There are pieces of produce I prefer anyway because I do feel awkward if there’s watermelon around in certain situations because I don’t want to be a target of stereotypes. The KFC thing is facepalm-worthy mainly because of the optics, saying nothing about some cringy commercials they’ve had here and even internationally (there’s an embarrassing UK one featuring Black British people with some chicken facial features superimposed for example). Yeah…that DeSantis guy is all kinds of no. You already know my thoughts on the whole anti-CRT nonsense he’s trying and I hope I’ve been able to do so reasonably as well as in a nonpartisan context. I understand if you don’t want to talk about those situations.
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Getting used to glasses can be disorienting. I hope you adjusted quickly. Nice to have good times with your son!
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I was doing better by Sunday. The prescription change was pretty severe though.
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You really must have needed new glasses, big time.
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Last time I got new ones was 2018.
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That’s quite a while ago.
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