ljwrites | Entries tagged with subject: feminism

Frozen is, in my memory, the first movie I have been agitating to see for an entire month. This began when I saw the Let It Go clip on YouTube via Love, Joy, Feminism. Like Libby Anne I was deeply moved by the way Elsa felt free to break away and express everything about herself she had been forced to repress all her life. Watching it, I tasted again the lonely exhilaration of that moment when you forget about being good and dutiful and give yourself permission to be your own self, a necessary if not final step to healing.

This began my hankering to see the movie, which to my disappointment would not open in Korea for another month. I all but marked the day on my calendar and pestered the husband about it every few days, until the long-suffering man took me to see it yesterday on opening night.

( Here be many spoilers )

For all its flaws and limitations Frozen has come further than just about any Disney movie since Lilo and Stitch, and shows that feminist storytelling is good storytelling, period. That's only natural, since stories are about human concerns and feminist themes are issues that affect people in their relation to gender and sex. Feminism, in other words, is about huge swathes of life. Leave those out and you can't tell the full truth of human experience. Frozen goes in the right direction. My only complaint is that it doesn't go far enough.

Yeah yeah, it's another "LoK ruined everything" post. Run for the hills!

Reading this thread between

chordatesrock and

attackfish, I was reminded again of what made the Avatar: The Last Airbender fandom so awesome for me. In addition to the epic story, great characters, and cool martial arts, ATLA is also a fairly progressive cartoon particularly on feminism and disability. (Okay, so the feminism is a bit ham-handed, but better than nothing, right?) It correspondingly attracted a sizable number of fans who are interested in these issues, making for great discussions and friendships with smart people who taught me new perspectives and ideas.

Legend of Korra Book 1, by contrast, is regressive on pretty much all social issues. On the feminism front there are a couple of strong female characters in Korra and Asami, though even their developments were stunted by unclear focus and rushed writing. Otherwise, the prevailing message in LoK seems to be that the status quo is awesome and those who complain are either deceivers or dupes. LoK Book 1 also has nothing to say about disability issues, and where the story could touch on disability it veers between being silent and ridiculously offensive.

I think that's why those of us who were drawn to the socially progressive and political aspects of ATLA were underwhelmed by LoK. The fans who primarily loved the fantasy martial arts and the characters from the original show seem to be fine with the new show, and I say more power to them. (It's not that I think the second group is any less intelligent or socially conscious than the first, of course. The two groups just seem drawn to different parts of the franchise, or at least the second group is more forgiving of LoK's faults in handling social issues. Or they're more optimistic about Book 2 and onward than I am.) In the end the differences between LoK and ATLA highlighted the different reasons fans loved the franchise, and brought home what makes the ATLA fandom special to me.

-For

attackfish's mother and the countless other parents, spouses, children, family, and friends who have the scars to show for love.

I mentioned before in a post about the nature of heroism that Éowyn's battle against the Witch-king of Angmar reads to me like a metaphor for taking care of a loved one in need. I decided to elaborate on that after talking to attackfish about her own mother's struggles in caring for her ailing daughter and son.

( This book is like a zillion years old and I will not insert spoiler warnings )

Who will care for the caretaker? She may fell the Nazgûl with the strength of her steadfast courage, but win or lose she is left with battle wounds that need tending. Her friends and allies can help with their support, both physical and moral. The greatest gift we can give from our position outside the battle and looking in, however, may be our willingness to acknowledge our own ignorance of what she has been through. and our humility in listening to her--her feelings, her suffering, her experiences. It's the least we can offer our hero: If she can stand against the monster at risk to her body and spirit, can't we muster the courage to face the reality of her hurts?

In the seething sea of humanity that is the Internet, it's inevitable you'll encounter some pretty wild comments every once in a while. There's your racists, your conspiracy theorists, your religious zealots, or people just plain having a bad day.

And then there are the people that totally blow your mind with the stuff they're willing to say anonymously. Here's a small but memorable sample I have directly encountered. There's some bad language, because srsly you canNOT expect me to keep this PG.

( 3. Of War and Victim-Blaming )

( 2. Lie to Steal Money from Murdered Children's Families? Why? Why Not? )

( 1. WARNING WARNING RAPE APOLOGY AND VIOLENT HOMOPHOBIA )

So I'm all amoral'd out. What's your "did they seriously just say that?" story? Give me them so I can take comfort from how others had it worse than I did.

I still remember my huge disappointment with The Lord of the Rings back when I was a wee thing of fourteen. In fact it might have been the biggest disappointment of my young life, which should tell you something about the kind of sheltered life I led.

( Some spoilers for LotR, but seriously what rock were you living under? )

In many ways Éowyn's journey is my own, and that of many others who went from self-importance to self-acceptance. Physical and social power may overlap with but can't be the entirety of heroism, which is in the end the willingness to be bound and to serve. The word "hero," after all, shares a root with "serve," and "heroism" means courage exhibited in fulfilling a high purpose or attaining a noble end. And the question of what makes for a high purpose or noble end is one we have to answer throughout our lives as tellers and consumers of story--that is to say, as human beings.

So I came across a video of abolitionist and ex-slave Sojourner Truth's 1851 speech, popularly called "Ain't I a Woman?" It was given in support of women's suffrage at a gathering of supporters at Akron, Ohio.

( Watch out, I have Thoughts about this. And Words. )

Movie night this time was with Kingdom of Heaven (2005), dealing with the fall of the first Christian kingdom of Jerusalem in 1187 and the plucky bastard (no, really) who led the defense of Jerusalem against the mighty armies of Saladin. My boyfriend swore up and down that the director's cut was not nearly the confusing mess the theatrical cut was said to be, and since he had gone through all the trouble of finding the version I decided to give it a shot.

( Liked: Ooh, pretty... )

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
				1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30	31

L.J. Writes

Fannish overthinker

Entries tagged with subject: feminism

Frozen: Good, could have been better

Thoughts on the ATLA Fandom and the Legend of Korra Split

Éowyn vs. the Nazgûl: Love as a Battle

Three Jaw-Droppingly Amoral Statements Encountered on the Internet

What does it mean to be a hero? The journey of Eowyn and heroism in fantasy

Ain't I a Woman: Feminism, Truth and Fiction, and Orwell

Movie Night: Kingdom of Heaven

Profile

August 2019

Syndicate

Most Popular Tags

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags