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#Post#: 4813--------------------------------------------------
Re: Media decolonization
By: rp Date: March 14, 2021, 4:03 am
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Funny kids video criticizing colonialism:
HTML https://youtu.be/7IZJjLpNEbE
I like that the actress was able to capture the haggard, ugly,
look of Victoria. Speaking of which, why are the British
"Royals" all so butt-ugly? ;D ;D
Contrast this with the mythical Queen of Camelot, Guinievere,
whose exceptional beauty was nothing short of a goddess:
HTML https://youtu.be/0ywxJcW0ewM
For examples of the vomit-inducing ugliness of the "Royals", see
this thread:
HTML https://trueleft.createaforum.com/colonial-era/'royal'-family-hate-thread/msg4814/#msg4814
#Post#: 4830--------------------------------------------------
Re: Media decolonization
By: 90sRetroFan Date: March 14, 2021, 11:45 pm
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"Contrast this with the mythical Queen of Camelot, Guinievere,
whose exceptional beauty was nothing short of a goddess:"
I think the whole point of the story is that Arthur falling for
Guinevere (who later betrayed him) was a mistake (which ended up
causing the fall of Camelot). So if we praise Guinevere's
beauty, we would in effect be encouraging the mistake to be
repeated! Nimue, in contrast, was the one truly trying her best
to help Arthur all the way through (but Arthur was too stupid to
appreciate it):
HTML https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_of_the_Lake
[quote]the Lady of the Lake traps Merlin in a tomb, which
results in his death. She does this out of cruelty and a hatred
of Merlin.[27] In Le Morte d'Arthur, on the other hand, Nimue is
still the one to trap Merlin, but Malory gives her a sympathetic
reason: Merlin falls in love with her and will not leave her
alone; Malory gives no indication that Nimue loves him back.
Eventually, since she cannot get rid of him otherwise, she
decides to trap him under rock and makes sure he cannot escape.
She is tired of his sexual advances, and afraid of his power as
"a devil's son", so she does not have much of a choice but to
ultimately get rid of him.[7]
After enchanting Merlin, Malory's Nimue replaces him as Arthur's
magician aide and trusted adviser. When Arthur himself is in
need in Malory's text, some incarnation of the Lady of the Lake,
or her magic, or her agent, reaches out to help him. For
instance, she saves Arthur from a magical attempt on his life
made by his sister Morgan le Fay and from the death at the hands
of Morgan's lover Accolon as in the Post-Vulgate, and together
with Tristan frees Arthur from the lustful sorceress Annowre in
a motif taken from the Prose Tristan. In Malory's version,
Brandin of the Isles, renamed Brian (Bryan), is Nimue's evil
cousin rather than her paramour. Nimue instead becomes the lover
and eventually wife of Pelleas, a gentle young knight whom she
then also puts under her protection so "that he was never slain
by her days."
In an analysis by Kenneth Hodges, Nimue appears through the
story as the chivalric code changes, hinting to the reader that
something new will happen in order to help the author achieve
the wanted interpretation of the Arthurian legend: each time the
Lady reappears in Le Morte d'Arthur, it is at a pivotal moment
of the episode, establishing the importance of her character
within Arthurian literature, as she transcends any notoriety
attached to her character by aiding Arthur and other knights to
succeed in their endeavors, subtly helping sway the court in the
right direction.[/quote]
#Post#: 4842--------------------------------------------------
Re: Media decolonization
By: rp Date: March 15, 2021, 8:39 am
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"So if we praise Guinevere's beauty, we would in effect be
encouraging the mistake to be repeated!"
Ok. Do you know any other examples of pristine beauty in
Medieval history that we can praise instead? I want to highlight
the aesthetic inferiority of the "Royals".
#Post#: 5152--------------------------------------------------
Decolonizing Cinema
By: Starling Date: March 29, 2021, 7:27 pm
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Colonialism & The Lost World
HTML https://youtu.be/lyczktZVbzA
An excellent vlog. Stays within PC, yet makes very valid points
that show a good direction.
An overview of the 5 major screen adaptations of Arthur Conan
Doyle's "The Lost World" with a focus on colonialist tropes and
Western bias.
Opening quote:
"...a deep sympathy for (indigenous) people as an ideal while
being hostile
towards those (Natives) who fall short of that construct."
~Linda Tuhiwai Smith
Critical Points Made:
*9:13* - a take down of "A Patriots' History of the United
States" which is described as a "a self-congratulatory white
supremacist fantasy fable" and a fave of Steve Bannon.
NOTE: The common opposing piece (not mentioned in the vlog) "A
People's History of the United States" by Howard Zinn (Jew) is
not mentioned.
*10:15* - Facts about Christopher Columbus, including the one
that many of his own men hated him for his treatment of
Americans. Columbus was arrested, stripped of his titles, and
imprisoned by the Spanish Empire itself.
*11:31* - "The first whites to explore many parts of the
Americas therefore would have encountered places that were
already depopulated. As a result... all colonial population
estimates were too low. Many of them, put together just after
epidemics [due to plagues from cattle herding "explorers"],
would have represented population nadirs, not approximations of
pre-contact numbers." ~ Charles C. Mann, "1491" (2005)
*11:58* - Tawantinsuyu, the name the "Inca" used for themselves.
They were hit with the first smallpox epidemic in 1524, seven
years BEFORE meeting Europeans.
Half of them died.
*12:56* - town names explained --> basically Europeans arrived
onto already cultivated land.
*25:22* - a quote from one of Columbus's men:
"While I was in the boat, I captured a very beautiful woman,
whom the Lord Admiral [Columbus, there's his title] gave to me.
When I had taken her to my cabin she was naked - as was their
custom. I was filled with a desire to take my pleasure with her
and attempted to satisfy my desire. She was unwilling, and so
treated me with her nails that I wished I had never begun. I
them took a piece of rope and whipped her soundly, and she let
forth such incredible screams that you would not have believed
your ears. Eventually we came to such terms, I assure you, that
you would have thought she had been brought up in a school for
whores."
This was during Columbus's second voyage and shortly before his
arrest.
And to think, it was ONE OF THESE GUYS that grew to hate
Columbus.
*27:18* - Take down of the "white savior" trope
"The Desire to make contact with those bodies deemed Other [aka
goy?], with no apparent will to dominate assuages the guilt of
the past... even take the form of a defiant gesture where one
denies accountability and historical connection" ~bell hooks
(aka, Gloria Jean Watkins)
*28:07* - "advancedness"
*28:05* - Native tech and tools, it was BETTER than European
stuff.
*29:05* - "Natives didn't yet even invent the wheel" = total
bullshit. They did, just on a small scale (kids' toys) and
didn't have horse and cattle carts since the in dense jungle,
mountains, streams, rivers, etc it's just easier to carry stuff.
*29:39* - Tenochtichlan had a bigger population that Paris and
better food security. Americans were generally very well fed,
tall, and muscular. Incoming Spaniards and Anglos were hairier
and shorter (lol).
*29:52* - Africa was very well developed (aka "advanced") for
its people's lifestyle, they had EVERYTHING they needed and they
made it all themselves.
*30:55* - intro to "How Europe Underdeveloped Africa" by Walter
Rodney
"Most African societies raised the cultivation of their own
particular (food) staple to a fine art. Even the widespread
resort to shifting cultivation with burning and light hoeing was
not as childish as the first European colonists supposed... and
when the colonists started upsettig the thin top-soil the result
was disastrous."
*31:34* - "Mono-culture was a colonialist invention... In
Africa, this concetration on one or two cash-crops for sale
abroad had many harmful effects. Sometimes, cash-crops were
grown to the exclusion of staple food - thus causing famines."
*32:00* - "Zimbabwe was a zone of mixed farming... Irrigation
and terracing reached considerable proportions. There was single
dam or aqueduct comparable to in Asia or Ancient Rome, but
countless small streams were diverted and made to flow around
hills in a manner that indicated an awareness of the scientific
principle governing the motion of water. In effect, the people
of Zimbabwe had produced 'hydrologists,' through their
understanding of the material environment."
*33:26* - The vlogger's own best quote:
"...if you read more than two books about the history of
capitalism, you'll learn there's no such thing as an
'under-developed' country, only and over-exploited one."
*38:40* - It was Indigenous men taking "white brides" but rather
Western men taking Indigenous brides, yet the "The Lost World"
(1999) makes it seem like the former.
*42:24* - "The Lost World" (2001) and it's themes of Western
religion. Interesting take.
"The Christian missionaries were as much part of the colonizing
forces as were the explorers, traders and soldiers. The church's
role was primarily to preserve the social relation of
colonialism, as an extension of the role it played in preserving
the social relations of capitalism in Europe. Therefore, the
Christian church stressed humility, docility and acceptance."
~Walter Rodney in "How Europe Underdeveloped Africa"
NOTE: What's not mentioned is that Old Testament part, the root
is the Jewish religion and feeling "chosen" and thus eshewing
the simpler and humbler vague Buddhist-like parable and stories
that Jesus told in favor of bowing to YHWH.
*45:20* - intro to "Decolonizing Methodologies" by Linda Tuhiwai
Smith
"The ways in which scientific research is implicated in the
worst excesses of colonialism remains a powerful remembered
history for many of the world's colonized peoples... just
knowing that someone measured out 'faculties' by filling the
skulls of our anscestors with millet seeds and compared the
amount of millet seed to the capacity for mental thought offends
our sense of who and what we are."
About the "Charter of the Indigenous Tribal Peoples of the
Tropical Forests" from 1993:
"The Declaration calls on governments and states 'to develop
policies and practices which recognize indigenous peoples as the
guardians of their customary knowledge and has the right to
protect and control dissemination of that knowledge and that
indigenous peoples have the right to create new knowledge based
on cultural traditions.'"
Search link to actual Declaration:
HTML https://duckduckgo.com/?q=%22Charter+of+the+Indigenous+Tribal+Peoples+of+the+Tropical+Forests%22&t=ffsb&ia=web
*46:41* - "...belief in the ideal that benefitting mankind is
indeed a primary outcome of scientific research is as much a
reflection of ideology as it is of academic research. It becomes
so taken for granted that many researchers simply assume they as
individuals embody this ideal and are natural representatives of
it when they work with other communities."
A final point made in the 2001 version, and also here by Linda
Tuhiwai Smith
*50:20* - "Moreover, it is also important to question that most
fundamental belief of all, that individual researchers have an
inherent right to knowledge and truth."
#Post#: 6414--------------------------------------------------
Re: Media decolonization
By: 90sRetroFan Date: May 16, 2021, 12:00 am
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HTML https://www.msn.com/en-us/music/news/why-is-aggressively-racist-orientalist-opera-still-a-thing/ar-BB1gx5f6#
[quote]For those unfamiliar, Madama Butterfly is the story of a
15-year-old Japanese geisha named Cio-Cio-San. She marries an
American naval officer named Pinkerton, who takes advantage of a
law that allows him to temporarily marry her. Pinkerton returns
to America shortly after their union. In her infantile innocence
(musically represented by simplistic melodies that also
symbolize the “Orient”) Cio-Cio-San believes Pinkerton’s
deceptive promise to return. Eventually, after three years, he
does — with his “real” American wife Kate. They want to take the
son Cio-Cio-San birthed after Pinkerton left and give the child
a “proper” American upbringing. Unable to live without
Pinkerton, Cio-Cio-San kills herself.
Orientalist operas like these remain exceedingly popular in the
United States. Many find them to be a space of beauty or escape.
Yet, as an Asian American woman, I can’t help but associate them
with violence and dehumanization. For nearly two centuries
before the current rise of anti-Asian violence in America, our
opera culture has glorified violence against, and profited from
the objectification of Asian women.
To earn my living as a professor of music, I find myself in the
absurd position of having to teach this material. Orientalist
operas are included in every major introductory college music
history textbook, where their musical contributions are
uncritically lauded. Of the five textbooks I’ve used over the
years, only one bothered to give the issue of Orientalism any
serious critical consideration.
...
The most nefarious forms of Orientalism arose in the latter part
of the 19th century. The great composers and rising stars of
opera including Verdi, Puccini and Bizet created works like
“Aida,” “Madama Butterfly” and “Carmen.” These productions
featured lurid treatments of sex, violence and opulence that
would have been considered offensive if they depicted European
women in a European setting.
Reports of scandal and brilliance fueled the public’s desires to
see these Orientalist spectacles for themselves. And American
demand for these works has remained consistent ever since. The
repertory report of the Metropolitan Opera, America’s oldest and
most established opera house, shows that Verdi’s “Aida,” set in
ancient Egypt, has been staged 1,175 times. After Puccini’s “La
Bohème,” it is the second-most performed opera since the
company’s founding in 1883. “Carmen” comes in fourth with 1,023
performances, and “Madama Butterfly” eighth, with 891. At the
Met, these works are an essential part of a venture that drew
$120 million in operating revenue last year — even during
COVID-19.
...
I’ve long loathed having to teach these operas. But now, amid
the tragic and abhorrent rise in anti-Asian violence, I find it
impossible to look at the students in my class and explain that
the “Oriental” woman’s role in opera is to die. That her death
is essential to ensuring the tormented, tempted male tenor-hero,
unable to resist her exotic allure, will be redeemed. That these
are important musical conventions worthy of study.
In Bizet’s Carmen, the naïve but “good” hero Don José cannot
resist the seductive power of the Romani woman Carmen. So, he
kills her to destroy his temptation.
Some redemption!
These Orientalist narratives are so trite it’s shocking that
anyone would take them seriously. Yet they map directly onto the
narrative of “sexual addiction” that the Atlanta shooter
offered, and that many Americans — including the police who
investigated the shooter — readily accepted.
My students deserve better. And they know it.
In the days that followed the Atlanta shooting, my class shifted
gears. Opera, and the history of Western classical music, is a
story. We talked about who gets to tell the story, for whose
sake, and at what costs? The students have their own questions —
about musical debts, and about their future roles in shaping
musical institutions.
My class recently finished its survey course textbook. That
story has been told. For my students, it’s about the choices
they will now make, and the new chapters they get to write. Who
gets to have agency, and who must stay an archetype of sacrifice
and victimhood? Freed from bigoted tropes, who could Cio-Cio-San
have become, how could she have changed the world and what
stories would she want to pass on to us?[/quote]
#Post#: 7344--------------------------------------------------
Re: Media decolonization
By: rp Date: June 30, 2021, 6:11 pm
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Our enemy Quentin Tarantino (previously covered) behaves exactly
as you mentioned earlier in the thread, i.e. not even
acknowledging Bruce Lee was an American:
HTML https://twitter.com/franklinleonard/status/1410296810468298758?s=19
[Quote]
There's a hell of a lot here, but I would like to start with the
fact that BRUCE LEE WAS AMERICAN.
[Quote]
Quentin Tarantino on Bruce Lee: "Bruce had no respect for
American stuntmen, he was always hitting them with his feet...it
got to the point where they would refuse to work with Bruce. He
had nothing but disrespect for American stuntmen."
HTML https://www.indiewire.com/2021/06/tarantino-bruce-lee-hollywood-scene-critics-1234647709/amp/?__twitter_impression=true
#Post#: 7893--------------------------------------------------
Re: Media decolonization
By: 90sRetroFan Date: August 4, 2021, 11:13 pm
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This is what happens when you put a Eurocentrist in charge of
decolonization:
HTML https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAP2B5M0raY
HTML https://smallimg.pngkey.com/png/small/129-1297667_clip-free-stock-collection-of-free-failing-clipart.png
Just don't do ballet at all! We already covered ballet here:
HTML https://trueleft.createaforum.com/true-left-vs-right/western-civilization-is-a-health-hazard/msg43/#msg43
There are plenty of non-Western dance styles to choose from,
either ancient or Counterculture-era! But Eurocentrists still
can't get enough of the Renaissance.....
#Post#: 8720--------------------------------------------------
Re: Media decolonization
By: 90sRetroFan Date: September 11, 2021, 3:45 am
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HTML https://supchina.com/2021/09/09/resurfaced-simu-liu-interview-spurs-nationalist-backlash-against-shang-chi/
[quote]another prominent Chinese criticism that accused Simu Liu
and his co-star Awkwafina of not being good-looking enough for
their roles. At the time of the casting announcements, many
Chinese netizens felt that the duo’s “stereotypical features” of
“square faces and small eyes” conformed to “condescending
Western perceptions” of Chinese people.[/quote]
I was wondering how long it would take people to notice!
Contrast:
HTML https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Tony-Leung-Awkwafina-Michelle-Yeoh-among-others-join-Simu-Liu-in-Marvels-Shang-Chi-and-The-Legend-of-The-Ten-Rings.jpg
Two of these actors broke through in Hong Kong before
transitioning to Hollywood. The other two were given their
breakthrough roles by Hollywood. Why is it so easy to tell from
their face shapes which are the former and which are the latter?
#Post#: 8721--------------------------------------------------
Re: Media decolonization
By: acc9 Date: September 11, 2021, 5:25 am
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The latter two faces do remind me of my days in the UK - the
lady is typically found at checkouts in Chinatown supermarkets
while the guy's the one moving goods around and stockpiling.
Those were the days!
#Post#: 8743--------------------------------------------------
Re: Media decolonization
By: 90sRetroFan Date: September 12, 2021, 1:19 am
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The worst are the Eurocentrist False Leftists who turn around
and in effect accuse those who dislike the ugly looks of
Liu/Awkwafina of being Eurocentrist(!). Their reasoning is that
"Asians" should force themselves to find beautiful the Western
caricature of Chinese looks, or else they are guilty of
upholding "Western beauty standards" by demanding that Chinese
leading actors look better. Those who fall for this are now
absurdly pretending not to notice that Liu/Awkwafina have
subhuman faces, thinking that such pretence is displaying "Asian
pride", when in reality they are just being useful idiots.
The truly proud are those confident enough to openly call out
the Western caricature itself as Eurocentric. Yet they are the
ones being labelled as Eurocentrists simply because they prefer
more [s]Aryan[/s] highly evolved faces on lead roles (regardless
of ethnicity). The true Eurocentrists, of course, are those who
think "non-white" lead roles are not entitled to be represented
with [s]Aryan[/s] highly evolved faces.
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