i felt the same way watching wicked. like I couldn’t help but think while watching, all of the people that are also seeing this movie not picking up, or even understanding, the veryyyy overt messages in it.
that's why i took praise of it coming out right now, with a grain of salt. america’s poor media literacy, hollywood is hollywood still & these are still rich people doing theatre.
You put this into words perfectly! Also the "“Maybe the curtains are just blue” or maybe they reflect the dour mood in english classrooms now that the people have given up on using metaphors." was brilliant!
I also feel like with a lot of people they don't "miss the point" they just fundamentally disagree with the point but sometimes it isn't as obvious when they express that in indirect ways. Sometimes I feel like people with... certain ideologies hide behind these more indirect, external modes to distract from their actual core belief and/or argument, because if they just said it how it is, it would 1. sound bad and 2. be easily refutable (which is basically what a lot of respectability politics hinges on).
I wish people were more honest about disagreeing with the basis of something (which is also fine and actually good criticism in a lot of cases- ie rating birth of a nation 1 star because it's extremely racist and caused so much hate and violence in its aftermath) rather than doing the media analysis/criticism equivalent of passive aggression, because then we could have so much more productive conversation and get to the point faster without all the deflecting and excuses. Like-for example- discussing WHY a certain thing was censored rather than focusing 99% of the energy on the external mode of it being censored, if that makes sense? Because a book making commentary on authoritarianism being banned by a government because it's a threat to their ideals is not the same as a remake of an old video game (of which you can still access and play the original game) cutting a misogynistic feature because it was unnecessary and adds to the pyramid of r*pe culture. anyway sorry for the tangent!
Tbf I also agree that these prejudices and beliefs can be so subconscious that people miss the point passively until they're told clearly (since a lot of perception of art is based of our own experiences and knowledge). Which is why I don't think it's bad at all to want to see other people's thoughts on and reactions to a piece of media, in fact I think it's innately human, necessary and honestly just interesting and fun- I wish more people went deeper as well by consuming more long form reviews, essays and analyses, whether that be on general film theory or specific films, oh yes and making ofs, director's commentaries and interviews with various different crew and cast members to see how much effort and thought goes into every detail. And I also of course agree that there are a lot of people that just lack media literacy skills in general- and how it's not a coincidence that the way most of our institutions and narratives are built don't reward it as use ignorance, close-mindedness and anti-intellectualism as a tool to control and subdue. Maybe it's a chicken or the egg kind of situation, where it's kind of a vicious cycle of the hierarchical and power benefitting ideals being plugged into people so they can't recognise and/or productively interact with subversive narratives in media, so the ideas being plugged into us stay that way unchallenged- and repeat (although more complicated than just that obviously)
Anyway, you also perfectly described and explained something I've been struggling to put into words, at the beginning of the fifth paragraph, thank you!
I feel like just being honest in how you feel or think about a piece of work is how we make good art. Creation requires that sort of honesty or humility or else you're working with one hand tied behind your back. But I guess we also have to accept that a lot of people have no desire to create anything so then they would have no need for any of that. Honestly I'm rambling now but your comment has been incredibly insightful. Thank you!
i felt the same way watching wicked. like I couldn’t help but think while watching, all of the people that are also seeing this movie not picking up, or even understanding, the veryyyy overt messages in it.
It's stunning isn't it!
❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥!!!!!!
Thank you!!!
that's why i took praise of it coming out right now, with a grain of salt. america’s poor media literacy, hollywood is hollywood still & these are still rich people doing theatre.
You put this into words perfectly! Also the "“Maybe the curtains are just blue” or maybe they reflect the dour mood in english classrooms now that the people have given up on using metaphors." was brilliant!
I also feel like with a lot of people they don't "miss the point" they just fundamentally disagree with the point but sometimes it isn't as obvious when they express that in indirect ways. Sometimes I feel like people with... certain ideologies hide behind these more indirect, external modes to distract from their actual core belief and/or argument, because if they just said it how it is, it would 1. sound bad and 2. be easily refutable (which is basically what a lot of respectability politics hinges on).
I wish people were more honest about disagreeing with the basis of something (which is also fine and actually good criticism in a lot of cases- ie rating birth of a nation 1 star because it's extremely racist and caused so much hate and violence in its aftermath) rather than doing the media analysis/criticism equivalent of passive aggression, because then we could have so much more productive conversation and get to the point faster without all the deflecting and excuses. Like-for example- discussing WHY a certain thing was censored rather than focusing 99% of the energy on the external mode of it being censored, if that makes sense? Because a book making commentary on authoritarianism being banned by a government because it's a threat to their ideals is not the same as a remake of an old video game (of which you can still access and play the original game) cutting a misogynistic feature because it was unnecessary and adds to the pyramid of r*pe culture. anyway sorry for the tangent!
Tbf I also agree that these prejudices and beliefs can be so subconscious that people miss the point passively until they're told clearly (since a lot of perception of art is based of our own experiences and knowledge). Which is why I don't think it's bad at all to want to see other people's thoughts on and reactions to a piece of media, in fact I think it's innately human, necessary and honestly just interesting and fun- I wish more people went deeper as well by consuming more long form reviews, essays and analyses, whether that be on general film theory or specific films, oh yes and making ofs, director's commentaries and interviews with various different crew and cast members to see how much effort and thought goes into every detail. And I also of course agree that there are a lot of people that just lack media literacy skills in general- and how it's not a coincidence that the way most of our institutions and narratives are built don't reward it as use ignorance, close-mindedness and anti-intellectualism as a tool to control and subdue. Maybe it's a chicken or the egg kind of situation, where it's kind of a vicious cycle of the hierarchical and power benefitting ideals being plugged into people so they can't recognise and/or productively interact with subversive narratives in media, so the ideas being plugged into us stay that way unchallenged- and repeat (although more complicated than just that obviously)
Anyway, you also perfectly described and explained something I've been struggling to put into words, at the beginning of the fifth paragraph, thank you!
I feel like just being honest in how you feel or think about a piece of work is how we make good art. Creation requires that sort of honesty or humility or else you're working with one hand tied behind your back. But I guess we also have to accept that a lot of people have no desire to create anything so then they would have no need for any of that. Honestly I'm rambling now but your comment has been incredibly insightful. Thank you!