For one moment, I was my own shining star

[bewize]

I ran 4 miles this week. Why yes, I *am* a bad ass. I'm going to run that far again tonight. Because? I *am* a bad ass. :D

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So, Viggo.

Ummm, his new movie has him cast as Sigmund Freud.

It probably says something about my psyche how I reacted to that. Just saying...

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I'm hungry, but lately everything I eat feels like it gets stuck in the base of my throat, where it lies in wait to choke me to death. This is most displeasing.

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I interviewed Sue Monk Kidd and her daughter Ann Kidd Taylor about their new book today. Sue Kidd wrote The Secret Life of Bees. We got into a fascinating discussion of what myths mean to modern audiences, how the Persephone and Demeter myth can be taken in so many ways, what the purpose of travel for spiritual enlightenment is, why women in particular seem to be gravitating towards this idea now, rather than generations ago, and the complexities in a mother/daughter relationship, as well as what it means to figure out what you want from your life, and what it means about going to get it.

It was really interesting. I'm going to write an article about it, but I may end up writing a blog about some of the things it made me think about my own life.

This is one of those days where I really, really love my side job. I love people and fascinating people are, well, fascinating. Not because they're better, but because they somehow do something that I want to do, or seem to have figured out something that I'm struggling with.

This also leads me to some thoughts about cultural appropriation, but I'm not sure that most people I know would agree with me. In the end, I'm not sure taking something you've learned and making it your own in some way is a bad thing. Dismissing the original is a bad thing, yes, but no man is an island and if we don't learn from each other, we'll kill each other eventually.

Okay, stopping this point before I blog too much.

Comments

[crossedwires]

Congrats on the running!

Re appropriation -- I think it depends on the context. Like, there's a difference between what you described and writing over/erasing someone else's story; it depends on whose story is being absorbed/transformed/remixed as well. One of the main issues w/ appropriation is not just ONE story dismissing the original (people/source/culture), it's the majority of stories doing so; plus other factors like...white authors writing POC and getting published (and popular), while authors of colour don't seem to succeed as much (this is a trend that gets repeated in fandom too, when talking about race). It's not really 'sharing' if it's one sided or contributing to the misinformation/exploitation/death of a minority culture.

[bewize]

Thanks!

I would agree that it depends on the context, when it comes to what is appropriation. I haven't really involved myself in this debate, though, because a lot of what I see makes me a bit uncomfortable. I don't think that a story should be dismissed because a non-POC wrote it (and I don't for one second suggest this is what you think either), but I do see a trend of somehow diminishing its value because of it.

I also think there is a vast difference between something like the J2 racefail and the automatic dismissal of the story of someone traveling and telling the story of what zie learned, like with the next Sue Monk Kidd book. The background of that story - France, Greece, Turkey - played a large part in the story itself, according to both authors. And the framework is clearly not American, although I suppose that an argument can be made that Greek/Roman myths have formed a framework for much of Western culture.

[crossedwires]

I think it's perhaps a case of how one story cannot be all things to every person? A white person, say, travelling around the world could tell that particular story of their experiences (and how appropriative it is would depend on how aware they were, or maybe why they're travelling; eg, based on the trailer alone, I think 'Eat Pray Love' is incredibly appropriative, right down to comparing Indians or Indonesians to Yoda (which is like a shade away from the Magical Negro trope); I don't know how Kidd's book compares), but it likely wouldn't have the same viewpoint as someone native to the country or a non-white person travelling to the same places.

I don't think wanting minority voices to succeed diminishes majority voices, though I can understand how it might come across that way. That said, dismissing a travelogue because it was written by a white person isn't really something I find a problem, because white western povs tend to get taken a the authority on the subject, even if they're not experts or haven't considered other people's viewpoints (kind of like how mansplaining works).

Or, hmm. There this fic I read [The Tomato Plant Doesn't Grow Mangos], about a Filipina main character, written I think by a non-Filipino (or a Filipino who's internalized a lot of...pro-(white) USian sentiment), and it's not that the fic is faily or wrong, exactly, but it's not quite right either. And given the comments and rec I saw, possibly it's not something a non-Filipino would notice. I think it's the subtle stuff like this, more so than than the egregious J2 fail, that's almost harder to talk about in some ways because there's that edge of 'at least they're trying, what more do you want'.

[bewize]

I think it's perhaps a case of how one story cannot be all things to every person?

I very much agree on this point. One story cannot be the same thing to every person. I guess some of that is exactly the reason that some of the conversation rubs me the wrong way. While I have not seen, and have no intention of seeing/reading "Eat Pray Love," my objections come from a slightly different place. I fail to see how anyone can go on a journey of "spiritual enlightenment" when the advance they obtained to write a book about the experience is paying for it.

I won't read it for that reason, because to me, in my life, that would feel flat and fake. I did see a conversation somewhere about discounting women's travel memoirs while men's travel memoirs (On the Road) are revered that gave me a bit of pause, though. I think that's why I like the way you summed it up with a case of how one story cannot be all things to every person.

I haven't read the SPN story you recced, but I find your comments interesting. If the fail comes from not being Filipino, then I don't know that I would know what to suggest to the non-Fillipino author. If the fail comes from being a Filipino with internalized sentiments, I wouldn't tell the author anything at all. It's not up to me to decide how zie feels about zir race/history/background/life.

[crossedwires]

when the advance they obtained to write a book about the experience is paying for it.

Oh, I didn't even know about that part of it. *facepalm*

If the fail comes from not being Filipino, then I don't know that I would know what to suggest to the non-Fillipino author.

It's a lack of...verisimilitude, I think. The references to the Philippines are just a little too general.

I keep thinking some issues/stereotypes/fail could be mitigated if writers were more specific about who they were writing about (including, but not limited to, 'why is this character white') and why they do the things they do, instead of - as in this case - trying to capture a broad sense of 'Filipino culture'. Which I suppose leads back to the idea of how stories are not 'one size fits all'.

If the fail comes from being a Filipino with internalized sentiments, I wouldn't tell the author anything at all. It's not up to me to decide how zie feels about zir race/history/background/life.

Yeah. It's a tricky thing. I mean, I don't think I'd say anything anyway (directly to the fic author), because IDK what his/her policies are about receiving crit in comments.

[bewize]

Yeah. It's a tricky thing. I mean, I don't think I'd say anything anyway (directly to the fic author), because IDK what his/her policies are about receiving crit in comments.

Yeah, that's a good point, too. Although by virtue of being a public fic, it's open to public crit, I suppose.

It is a tricky thing. You know, I think, that my BFF is Indian and she gets shit from all sides. "Not Indian enough. Not American enough." It infuriates me for her, whichever side it comes from. And when it comes to my godson, who is biracial, I foresee it being even worse in the future.

*sigh*