I keep thinking I am going to write about Jason Aldean, but I've got one or two movie things to cover first. I guess music will just be something to look forward to.
As a preview, that post will be about racist dog whistles (and foghorns); today's post is about language that is casually, accidentally racist.
Before I get to that, let me say that there was a different recent issue, where an Instagram post where a common religiously-based Black expression was accused of being anti-Semitic. For years, Black parents and grandparents have pointed out that no matter how good Jesus was, people betrayed and killed him, kind of as a way of reminding you that you are not untouchable, and as a consolation (or "get over yourself") when you do get betrayed. The issue arose because someone pointed out that "they" would be Jews, so it's anti-Semitic.
Okay, that sounds to me like attempting to police Black people's speech, but that there could also be a reason to think about how some expressions are used. I'm sure we can use Jesus as an example without being anti-Semitic, but there is plenty of anti-Semitism. There can be complicated thoughts and there can be tone-policing, and a mix of both.
So I am aware of that, and that is all the comment I feel a need to make on that. My issue is going to be simpler, and probably more applicable to the good-hearted but not always radicalized white people most likely to read my posts.
Moving on, for our next movie I turn to Barbie, which I really enjoyed and thought was an excellent movie. However, there was one "joke" that it was easy to ignore unless you are Indigenous.
“Oh My God, this is like in the 1500s with the Indigenous People and smallpox. They had no defenses against it.”
https://nativeviewpoint.com/what-was-that-indigenous-smallpox-line-in-the-barbie-movie/
Depending on how you calculate, there were an estimated 3 million Indigenous deaths from smallpox.
I knew about the line because I follow a fair amount of Indigenous people, and it bothered them. I won't even say that it ruined the movie for all of them, but it pulled them out of it, hurt, and not for any good reason.
I think I know how it happens. You have a line that is okay, and you want to punch it up a little; what can you add?
We have many phrases that refer to Indigenous issues that have become common usage: "powwow" "low man on the totem pole" "off the reservation"
Think about that one. They had been confined to reservations after their land was taken yet again. Generally there was no hunting, the farmland was poor (if it were good land, they would be moved again), and while the government promised supplies they were consistently bad about keeping those promises. Therefore, sometimes the residents would form hunting parties or do something to try and get more food.
Hilarious, right?
I suspect the reason those phrases are so popular is that there are still so many people who have this idea that it's all in the past, where there isn't anyone around to whom that matters now.
Guess what? There are, they saw your movie, and it made your good time hurtful.
I don't believe there is any intent to harm, but you can cause harm without intent.
To put it a different way, imagine the line like this:
“Oh My God, this is like in the Holocaust with the Jewish People and Xyklon B gas. They had no defenses against it.”
Uncomfortable, right? But we are more used to remembering the Holocaust. It also wasn't as long ago, except for the ways in which we still are not fair to Indigenous people, which by the way is the North American shame, so maybe we should be more aware of that!
I am not saying we should forget about the Holocaust; fascists and Nazis seem to keep popping up more and more so we better remember it. There are more things we should bear in mind.
I saw some calls to erase the line from the movie, and I think that would be okay. You can mention immunity without it.
"They were never exposed to patriarchy; they never had a chance to build up any immunity."
Is that line less funny? Only if you need racist reminders of conquering other people for a laugh. Surely we don't.
I do spend a lot of time on racism, so let me go over the non-racist factor in this, which I think is this feeling that we need to make things better or fancier.
I bug my sisters about this a bit, because when they are posting something is always "the cutest thing ever!" or "hilarious!" Some people pump up with profanity.
Logically, there cannot be that many cutest things ever, or the bar was set pretty low and is easily exceeded. A lot of the things posted as hilarious are really just kind of funny.
There's nothing wrong with being kind of funny.
I think it becomes this form of justification, like you need an extra reason to be good enough to share something that you found cute or funny or interesting. You liking it is reason enough. If someone else doesn't like it, you hyping it is unlikely to change their opinion.
This may not sound that important, but when there is this sense that what you are saying is not fancy or colorful enough, a lot of the things that get pulled in are related to bigotry in some way. Historically, the way many people make up for their inferiority is to cling to their perceived superiority over someone else.
The ones that are more obvious fall out of favor more quickly, so the ones with staying power tend to relate to the most marginalized groups. A lot relate to disability.
But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil. -- Matthew 5:37
The comes from a segment on false swearing, where people would look for ways to strengthen oaths because if the oath was not strong enough, maybe you would break it, or the person you were swearing it too wouldn't believe you. Really, you should just be the kind of person who does what they say they will. Not fancy, but honest and reliable and acting with integrity.
If you are not a witty person, peppering your speech with racism and ableism is not helping anyone.
If you are a person I am connected to on social media, I probably like you enough that I will give what you say and like a chance.
If you are connected to people for whom you are not enough, reflect upon that.
There are other options.
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