My new japanese Amelie poster is really awesome :)
Labels: Movie
In less dramatic circumstances, my housemate explained to us in a car journey this morning that she found a particular lecture problematic. Not because the content was uninteresting but because she found it difficult to understand the deeply-accented words of her world-renowned Spanish lecturer. As she elucidated her reasoning she profusely and repeatedly said, "I don't want to sound racist but?" My level-headed friend was afraid to express her feelings and thoughts about communication difficulties in lecture theatres for fear of being branded a racist.
We live in a world where we are increasingly told that racism is evil, and that we should continue to fight the causes of and stamp out racism within our society. Each of us is handed a civil responsibility to prevent racially-motivated oppression at all costs. Yet as this responsibility is increasingly forced upon us, we are finding it ever more difficult to speak our minds. We keep our thoughts to ourselves, for heaven forbid we should say something politically incorrect. Describing someone as 'black' has become a political minefield. When pointing out a friend to another we pause to consider our description; should he be identified as Black, African, African-Caribbean, African-American? Who are we to make assumptions about his origins?
This kind of anxiety is all too common in our politically-paranoid society, and is often counter-productive. How can we ever escape racism if we fear the repercussions of calling a black person black?
The situation is not helped by overbearing black anti-racism establishments, which report every potentially racial misdemeanour and specialise in exactly the kind of antagonism that fuels such insecurities. Publications such as weekly newspaper The Voice, billed as 'Britain's Best Black Newspaper' provide an outlet for black communities to express their concerns. Yet in a world of globalisation where cultures have become intertwined, and a society which continually strives to prevent its own segregation, the concept of publications aimed at a singular race appear entirely hypocritical, and fundamentally at odds with such social aspirations. Communities facing racial oppression should have a public outlet to voice their concerns, yet is a newspaper, read solely by a black 'partition', the best medium for this? Imagine the outrage if a service or publication were aimed exclusively at white people. "White News" would be a national scandal, assuredly denounced by the government as racial slur.
It is my belief that different cultural backgrounds provide for multivariate skills and talents. Africans are different to Indians in the same way that East Asians are different to Western Europeans. It is entirely possible that these races of people have disproportionate abilities in an assortment of activities. To ignore such fundamental differences between people is sheer ignorance, for we are each individuals and we are all very different. To use these differences against each other is real racism. Contrary to the common misconception; the practice of racism lies not in acknowledging these differences, but in using them in a demeaning and inhumane manner. To announce that somebody is black is not insulting and it is not racist. Similarly, finding an accented Spaniard's English difficult to interpret is also understandable.
Should you now discover that the author of this piece is indeed black, consider how it would effect your opinion of it. It is the white fear of and the black obsession with the recognition of difference that will forever allow racism to haunt us, even when those who are truly racist are long gone. As Joan Rivers argued, "It is not about black or white, it is about people."
Labels: Published
Lost
Season one of Lost premiered on channel 4 over the summer. My hectic schedule and profound wisdom led me to miss the first four terrestrially aired episodes. I saw clips and heard quotes involving beasts, an island and a guy named Jack; I wrote it off as a Lord of the Flies mimic. When I found all my housemates gathered on the sofas in the dark, faces like those of mannequins as they sat wide eyed in front of our old 14" watching episode six I realised that this was not necessarily the tame US import we so often receive. Through the wonders of the internet I acquired the older episodes and played catch up. This new show was actually interesting, original and entertaining, not to mention an adeptly named character based upon the great "Tabula Rasa" philosopher John Locke. Flashing credits also revealed to me some member of the old Buffy team working on the project which essentially rooted some sort of faith in this show.
In my house of 7 we all have highly varied and diverse tastes, we like different music, films and styles and it is very rare to find something we all equally enjoy (aside from fajitas); Lost is one of those rare things. Each of us seems to draw different inspirations and pleasure from the ongoing instalments and our opinions differ dramatically as to our favourite incidents and whether or not an episode constitutes as good. The absurdity of having a similar television line-up for six months and having to watch a show consistently for half of a year has escaped the American audiences. The mere thought of waiting a massive twenty weeks until the season finale filled our house with terror—our attention spans would drift, we would stray away and good heaven's, we may (all) have to pay for a TV license. Thus we came to a collective decision: I must download all the episodes immediately and watch them as soon as we can. Once again the internet has come through for us, yet organising 7 people to all be in the same place at once when term has started and we all have significant responsibilities and other plans proves extremely difficult. Alas we have only traversed up to "In Translation", episode 17. But we'll get there, oh yes we will and then we can move onto season 2 and start the process all over.
Veronica Mars
Ah yes, the other great American television show I have grown addicted to. This time it is without the support of my housemates or terrestrial television. This show was forcibly inserted into my face via the V-mars goons at Something Awful who felt it their need to advertise through avatars and banners. The intrigue finally got to me at the end of August and I asked the internet ever so nicely to kindly place a copy of UPN's pilot episode into My Documents; and that it did. Thanks Internet. Veronica Mars is one of those shows you can casually watch 10 episodes of without having to stop for water, and after a week I had practically finished. Who killed Lilly Kane? Who attacked Veronica at that party? Why is Logan such an asshole and how does he still manage to be so awesome? All of these could be essay titles for media studies students who have chosen to do something highly practical and academic with their time. They also pertain to the most brilliant and evolving storyline of this great genre breaking teen adventure. The blurb for Veronica Mars makes it sound so incongruous that when described to people it actively turns them away: "A teen girl investigates school mysteries and deals with being a high school outcast while looking for clues as to the murderer of her former best friend in a stereotypical Californian poor vs. rich sunshine city." Yet the characters you would ordinarily expect to be wooden cut-outs: the bully, the drop out, the boyfriend, the father and the bitches all break the boundaries of traditional teen sitcoms, they have issues and they have background stories that aren't stolen from a soap opera brainstorming session.
Herein lies my true Buffy replacement: it makes my laugh, it makes me cry and it is original. I can only hope that season 2 lives up to the ever growing internet fandom that is spreading consistently through word of mouth. UPN does not advertise this show, it had a poor slot in last years schedule and in the UK it is only just starting to air on cable only Living TV yet somehow the season 2 premiere which was pitched in direct competition with season 2 of Lost still managed to draw in over 3.3 million viewers: UPN's highest ever (apparently).
Labels: TV
I have taken to reading The Times newspaper every morning, I particularly enjoy the commentaries and their future responses in letters to the editor. I am hoping regular reading and comprehension will engage my brain in the skill that is writing for journalism, much in the same vein that watching "The Space Race" on the BBC will provide me with great insights into Rocket Science; making the occupation of rocket scientist oh so much closer.
"I feel, the more programs I watch about rockets and how they work, the less brains I need to become a Rocket Scientist"
University has begun once again, we are all going through the motions one more time, one year on, 3rd year brainiacs. I realised as I passed the half way point of my degree that much of my time here has been spent wallowing in the misery of too much work, the dullness of the work and often the frustration of being around the same people for too long. It was this revelation that led me to a new scholastic year resolution: I shall get involved and have fun. Last year I was pretty miserable; whether it be due to my cold uninsulated Victorian lounge-bedroom, my severe tooth ache that led to me missing the first two weeks and the associated introductory fresher events or the content lacking course, who knows. As part of this resolution I have vowed to eat healthy, get fit and build my stamina. I'm a regular sufferer of headaches and I am trying to find ways to minimise this pain, I have given up caffeinated drinks, I wear my glasses during lectures and I listen to my iPod at a lower volume all in hopes of having a pain free week--it's probably good to give up caffeine anyway, I hear that I'll feel more awake within a week or so. To replace my daily onslaught of tea and coffee I have switched to Actimel, Fruit Juice and the occasional decaf tea when I just need something warm. I've also given up salty foods such as crisps (chips in the US) which pretty much consist of fat and salt. I can purchase a Fudge, Nutri-grain, Apple, Banana and The Times for £1.
As part of this new year I have joined the Squash sports club and the Poker society. I'm now playing regular squash, 3 games or so, every Tuesday and Thursday night and plan to partake in regular poker tournaments, the most recent one being a welcome back free roll wherein 200 people turned out to play, they expected 40. It was my first time at playing in real life and it was nerve racking yet enjoyable; I didn't play too badly, suffice to say I went out with a very bad hand having received no good playable cards all night.
In recent years I have also been pretty tight fisted with my money, not through greediness, but in light of student debts and the helpfulness of having money there when you need it. Spending money is something I dread doing and if I can do it electronically so it feels as though cash is not leaving my hands then all the better. This is one of the reasons I didn't go out much last year, I didn't want to waste money having fun. Either spend money and have fun or save money and be bored. My philosophy has been severely altered; I repeat that statement to myself in some form or another whenever I consider doing something potentially fun that involves spending money.
Rightyo, I'm leaving now, without having mentioned the drama and great dissatisfaction of not getting to see 2manyDJs and Vitalic live. Here's a footnote to think about:
"Silent gratitude isn't very much use to anyone"
Make your thanks heard.
Labels: Life