Fandom: Bandom, Pretty Little Liars, Make It or Break It, Sons of Anarchy

More fandom fail: Per sohotrightnow and inlovewithnight, there's a Bandom Big Bang in which Gabe Saporta is a Catholic priest. As sohotrightnow says: Because, you know, he's Latino, so he can totally be Catholic, because everyone who speaks Spanish must be Catholic! It's not like he's been super-vocal about how important he considers his Jewish identity or there's a really nasty tendency in modern Western society to write Judaism off as the beta testing stage of Christianity or an even uglier history of forcibly converting Jews or anyth -- oh wait.

(I do not know who Gabe Saporta is, and I don't really understand the culture of RPF -- what is canon? How much canon do you use? etc. -- but I flinched when I read about this. A Catholic priest AU may seem like a good idea ETA: in fandom in general ETA: because AUs make the fandom world go round, it seems, but here it does come across as simply erasing his Jewish identity, which is very problematic.)

Fandom joy:

Sons of Anarchy: J and I have been sporadically watching episodes of Sons of Anarchy, because we both miss the show. I realized I fairly strongly identify with Tara in season two, even though she's never been one of my favorites. (GEMMA. And Donna in season one.) But Tara's a professional woman struggling to balance her clean-cut above the board career with the people she loves and this other, darker, more dangerous side of life. I empathize with that.

(Also, J, Dad, and Dad's BFF just took off for a couple days of a biker gathering. I am sad I did not go with them, but I have responsibilities here. I may have to go on a long ride by myself. Besides Dad and I may hit Sturgis this summer. It's the 70th anniversary. Also, my bike is awesome and I love it.)

Pretty Little Liars: I devoured all the books (except the very last one, which I don't have) recently. Sort of they are very ridiculous, dragging out the storyline, etc. However, the characters are delightfully ridiculous and sometimes mean and sometimes do stupid things, but I really enjoy them. I watched the pilot of the show on Hulu and I'm a fan. Emily is my favorite so far, but Spencer is also fun. (ETA: Though casting Bianca Lawson as a high school student might be pushing it. I love her and love the character, Mya, but she definition looks older than the other girls.)

Make It or Break It: Along with watching PLL, I watched the first couple episodes of Make It or Break It on Hulu and really enjoyed it. It reminds me of Stick It somewhat, with more ~dramatic moments and over the top acting, but I think it will be fun.

Now if only I could find a teen show about show jumping, my trifecta of awesome would be complete.

I need to load up my bag and go dog sit for awhile.

Fandom: more links

What the title says: more links.

mardia throw my head back and shout, come on now

Quote: I deal with racism all the time, and I very rarely--if ever--have a choice about when I have to deal with it. So the oh-so-common trope of "White Person Opens Their Eyes To Racism In Their Society" doesn't really appeal to me. In fact, it does nothing except piss me off.

Yay for you, you've noticed that the world is fucking racist. Would you like a medal? A pat on the back? An acknowledgment of the fact that you have deigned to notice a part of my reality, my world, that I have to deal with all the fucking time? Should I be happy that you're supposedly bothering to give a fuck?

Should I feel bad for how much racism sucks for you?

The answer is no. I do not feel bad for your rose-colored glasses being snatched off your face. I do not bad because you are weeping tears because oh noes, slavery happened and segregation happened and people still use racial slurs and oh noes, people are still being oppressed! I do not feel bad because you have decided to take all that oppression and all that tragedy and all those real-world problems with no easy answers or solutions and make them all about you.

ephemere Itys

Quote: Rather, my primary concern is the system. Because it is wrong, and it remains powerful and pervasive, and allowing it to go unchallenged only makes it stronger. How can anyone who truly knows how terrible the system is as it crushes people's rights wonder that people are angry? How can anyone dismiss that anger without at the same time undermining the reasons for this anger? Is stemming the tide of anger, is attempting to reduce the force of the backlash, in any way just? I ask you: you have dammed a river for centuries; when it breaks through its bounds do you expect it in any way to be kind? Say that anger can only result in defensiveness; say that numbers merely mean a mob -- I will say that sometimes only the shock of an impact can break a wall; that numbers speak of the greatness of the injustice.

I am weary of people speaking of anger as if it were a chosen, controllable thing. It is so tiring, this anger, and I would will it away from me if I could. It exhausts me to go into arguments with the full expectation that I will have to defend myself from accusations simply because I am angry. I don't even have to wonder about the lines of thought that lead to these statements -- why should I, when I'm surrounded by the same system that has taught us to suffer in silence, to be patient, to work hard, to deserve the voices and the rights to be regarded as equal with those who have taken these very things away? I know (because I have been told, over and over) that one shouldn't blame anyone else for ignorance, that one should value intention, that one shouldn't deride those who mean well because eventually they'll learn.

Maybe they'll learn. Maybe they won't. But I refuse to stay silent in the meantime. An act that perpetuates oppression, if unchallenged, only serves to reinforce oppression. The more people that choose to recuse themselves from speaking out, due to fear of giving offense, the less there will be to join the struggle against these wrongs. Speak to me of the hue and the cry. Speak to me of it, again and again, because it is still necessary, and it is still not enough, and the fact that we have to raise these issues, over and over, is an outrage in and of itself.

medie I'm sorry, what with the where with the fucking what?

Quote: I can't ask myself how someone could do this. We live in a culture where filmmakers can produce racist, misogynistic bullshit and get held up as visionaries. Fandom, surprisingly, is actually a place where racism, homophobia, and misogyny are more visible and more likely to be called out (and generate reaction like this) whereas offline, not so much. It takes more, longer, and is forgotten much more quickly in the 24-hour news cycle.

I make an ableist comment in my DW/LJ, it's quickly and rightly called out. I make a similar comment in every day conversation and no one but me notices (bless fandom and the people I've met in it for that. I might not catch every comment before I make it, but damn do I censure the hell out of myself afterward because I know better).

AND

But then again, how can anyone live through the history we have and still produce Centurion? Avatar? Sex and the City 2?

How could it happen? How could it not?

One of the first fannish steps to doing it? Blame the fandom it occurred in.

I've seen so much "oh, of course, SPN/J2" in the course of this and, seriously, no. SPN is, by in large, no saint. Neither the show (*facepalms*) or the fandom (*epic facepalm*) but that's not isolated to that one.

Gateverse? Trek? DCU? Marvel? Some obscure fandom so teeny Yuletide couldn't even nominate it? Yep, there too.

That's the thing of this. The best way to all but guarantee it happens in 'your' (and I include me here) fandom is to say that. Worse than that, it all but guarantees 'you' (same here, hi medie) will be the one doing it.