i just wanted forty cents for my deliveries last week

[bossymarmalade]

I love how when people like anna post a long, smart post about the repeating patterns of race discussions vis-à-vis Carol Thatcher and RaceFail 09, inevitably somebody will show up with comments not about the thought-provoking exploration of race politics and society, but asking, "what's a golliwog?" Despite anna putting TWO LINKS right next to the word so people could educate themselves before joining the conversation.

At this point it's like ALL discussions of race that aren't Racism 101 should come with disclaimers. I'm taking mine from Wyclef Jean's "Anything Can Happen":

Take this lesson to your next session
I suggest you practice with the freshmen
Sophomore, junior, then come check the senior
By then I would have graduated from the school of ruckus

I totally thought of this song when I read the reiterated bit of Willow's post and hell, it seems like a better and better idea by the moment.

In other news!! The people making the crappy whitewashed Avatar movie have turfed Jesse McCartney and replaced him with Dev Patel. Yay! ... except that Patel will be the Japanese-based bad-guy character (instead of brown-skinned Inuit goofball Sokka, which, um, DEV PATEL!! Shouldn't this be OBVIOUS?!?!) As the sister says, this is not a change that shows the producers understand their racism, it's tokenism so they can point to the lone brown dude and say, "hey, lookit, we're not racist!"

Anyhow, this campaign is clearly not over. Lori has set up an awesome Zazzle store that sells Avatar protest shirts/postcards/buttons, and she has also made all of her excellent graphics available free if you want to do your own printing and whatnot!

Comments

[violetisblue.livejournal.com]

All else aside, even if she hadn't provided links, they can't even spend five seconds typing the fucking word into Google (http://www.google.com/search?q=%22golliwog%22&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a) before joining the conversation? That really is taking "I'm CLUELESS 'cos I was brought up that way, it's YOUR JOB to educate me!" to a whole new level.

[bossymarmalade.livejournal.com]

IT IS RICOCKULOUS. I've seen some real doozies of demands for education, but that one was just especially special.

[violetisblue.livejournal.com]

What's education? Where do I get some? Can you give me education links?

[skywardprodigal.livejournal.com]

LOLOLOL

[dragovianknight.livejournal.com]

In Firefox, you can just highlight the word, right click, and select "search google for". No typing!

[violetisblue.livejournal.com]

What is Firefox? What's a search?

[dragovianknight.livejournal.com]

What is right click? How do you do that?

[livinglaurel.livejournal.com]

If I right-click do I get a cookie?

[kyuuketsukirui.livejournal.com]

They should get together with this person (http://nokiaangel.livejournal.com/15242.html) who posted an angry screed about how she didn't understand how anyone could be trans, and then when I said it was offensive and hurtful and I felt attacked (especially considering she'd linked it (with no commentary, just the link) somewhere I expected to find stuff celebrating being trans), she said she was angry at herself for not getting it and just wanted to be educated.

dot dot dot

[violetisblue.livejournal.com]

...okay, is there some sort of special Carnival of Fail going on where you get a big prize and a free car or something if you run around pantsless for long enough and nobody told me?

[kyuuketsukirui.livejournal.com]

I'm beginning to wonder...

[livinglaurel.livejournal.com]

//chokes on tea

[florence-craye.livejournal.com]

What's tokenism? What's racefail09? WHY CAN'T YOU TELL ME!?! ;)

People don't even have to type to search google anymore... select the word you want to search, right-click, select "search google for___" and WHOOP! it does all that typing for you. Google makes learnin' easier!

[bossymarmalade.livejournal.com]

ahahahaha! I can also give you cookies if you need them!!!!

[strippedhalo.livejournal.com]

Seriously, I didn't know what a golliwog was either, but a) I clicked the link, and b) I know how to work Google. It is actually MORE WORK to leave a comment asking than it is to click the link.

I don't know much of anything about the Avatar characters, but that particular bit of news made me say, "Wait, so they've cast one POC... as the BAD GUY?!" Ugh.

[carta.livejournal.com]

it is more finger-bending work, but exponentially less mind-work.

[strippedhalo.livejournal.com]

And the brain is frequently the laziest muscle in the body, it's true.

[bossymarmalade.livejournal.com]

HAH! You got it, bb.

[livinglaurel.livejournal.com]

THIS. Yeah.

[bossymarmalade.livejournal.com]

Casting Patel as the bad guy is SO CONFUSING and LAME. Not that I expect any kind of understanding that Asians ≠ interchangeable from people who think Koreans wear kimonos, but COME ON!

What kills me is that there were two links *right there*. Like, wtf?!?

[indirajames.livejournal.com]

What is 'race'!? Please provide your answer in essay format!!

It's pretty much disingenuity, isn't it? I find it hard to believe that the nerds that make up fandom are completely incapable of clicking links or using Google. If they're able to sniff out every last tedious instance of White Boy A/White Boy B homoerotic bromance, they're able to CLICK A LINK and/or RESPOND WITH EDUCATION.

[bossymarmalade.livejournal.com]

OMG EXACTLY. I am trying to think of some witty rejoinder but all I am coming up with over and over is EXACTLY EXACTLY!!!!

[delux-vivens.livejournal.com]

I find it hard to believe that the nerds that make up fandom are completely incapable of clicking links or using Google.

Oh, just stick around...

[maschalismos.livejournal.com]

In other news, I now want to start watching the avatar series when I never had any inclination to do so before all this.

[yeloson.livejournal.com]

Folks around me kept going on about it, but they were mostly geeked because of the martial arts & magic powahz, which didn't leave me expecting much.

For a show that says it's aimed at 7 year olds, it's addressed: war, colonialism, sexism, abusive manipulators, broken families, refugees, torture, propaganda/media control, classism, and more.

Though there's definitely bits I wish could be better, it's still incredible in what it hits.

[maschalismos.livejournal.com]

I am definitely going to try to find this show, now. Thanks!

[bossymarmalade.livejournal.com]

It is BRILLIANT. Like yeloson says, it's not 100% perfect, but the sheer depth and scope of what it covers -- often painful topics, and done with respect to the Asian philosophies/cultures it borrows from -- is astonishing and glorious. Talking about it made me start re-watching it myself! *g*

Also: I am totally gonna use this icon when talking to you FOREVER MORE. HE THREW A CAN OF TUNAFISH IN THAT SLOP'N'CHOP THING WTF

[maschalismos.livejournal.com]

You both have convinced me. I'm totally going to try to find the show and watch from the beginning.

YOU'RE GONNA LOVE HIS NUTS. I couldn't even handle that commercial. I am glad it has brought you some happiness in the midst of raging stupidity.

[ms-nerd.livejournal.com]

I also said "what's a golliwog?" but then just as I was going to use this brand new tool called Google, I saw SHE PROVIDED LINKS.

Hollywood should just give up.

[bossymarmalade.livejournal.com]

this brand new tool called Google

ahahahaahah! YES. It's like some people think others should be happy to do every single bit of homework for them.

Hollywood should just give up

I think the lameass casting director for the Avatar movie should give up. Koreans in kimono? Belgians in lederhosen? Daishiki as "big African things" and putting a scarf on your head to look like "a Ukrainian villager or whatever"?!? WHAT THE HELL WORLD DOES THIS WOMAN LIVE IN THAT SHE CAN'T GET *ANY CULTURE* RIGHT?!?!?

[chrismm.livejournal.com]

Just THINKING about golliwogs makes me cringe and flinch, how could mini!Thatcher seriously think she could make a joke like that on TV and it would be OK? Ack!!

And then I had a whole rant about the education thing, but other people have said it better, including you, right here, so: Yes! Because damn.

[bossymarmalade.livejournal.com]

Oh, but she didn't make the remark on TV -- she made it behind the scenes to the show's host and another comedian (who were SEVERELY UNIMPRESSED)-- so now she is hurt and outraged that her personal private racist conversation has been cruelly leaked, and she demands an apology from the BBC! Newsflash, mini!Thatcher (hee!): the BBC didn't make you look like an ignorant racist, you did that one all on your lonesome. RARRGH.

[tsamm.livejournal.com]

GOOD GOD, ARE NO PRIVATE RACIST CONVERSATIONS SACROSANCT?????

[chrismm.livejournal.com]

*facepalm* What I get for trying to comment on LJ from work--reading comprehension goes down the tubes.

But yes. Yes. Dear mini!Thatcher: If you put your foot in your mouth, suck it up, apologize and work on keeping your foot out of your mouth better. I swear, it seems like it would take MORE energy to do all this defensive fussing, than to just suck it up and admit fault.

[ibythetide.livejournal.com]

Is anyone else wondering if Patel's inclusion is for the fan uprising or for the director?

[bossymarmalade.livejournal.com]

Heh -- M. Knight made some noise about having "had his eye" on Patel even before Slumdog, which I find REALLY hard to believe. Considering how crappily they cast him.

[kadymae.livejournal.com]

As the sister says, this is not a change that shows the producers understand their racism, it's tokenism so they can point to the lone brown dude and say, "hey, lookit, we're not racist!"

Well, casting Patel is the studio's first baby step towards the right direction.

However.

One baby step =! walking the walk.
One baby step =! a great stride forward.

It just means you took a teensy step and then promptly landed back on your ass -- where you started.

---

And s/he who thinks that a movie with a racially diverse cast won't play well in the market has obviously never heard of a franchise called The Fast and the Furious.

I mean, hoo-boy do those movies have flaws, and the Avatar target audience is a few years older than than the TF&TF one, but one of the things they've gotten overwhelminly positive feedback for is the diversity of the casting, and if you listen to the commentary track on the first movie, director Rob Cohen's very upfront about casting roles and picking the extras for diversity. The So-Cal modding and tuning scene is very multi-cultural and he wanted that reflected accurately in the movie.

[kadymae.livejournal.com]

the Avatar target audience is a few years older than than the TF&TF one

I meant younger, not older.

[bossymarmalade.livejournal.com]

I was excited when I first heard the news about Dev Patel, but the whole thing's been gone about so wrongly! And he's so miscast! Sigh. We'll just have to see what happens.

[robanybody.livejournal.com]

So it's apparently ten years ago and Google DOES NOT EXIST, and that's why this person has asked such a stupid, unnecessary question when there were already links provided. Yes, that is the reason. I will not hear any other theory because then I'd have to believe that some people really are that thick, and I've lost enough faith in humanity in the last few months as it is.

The Avatar thing still aggravates me, especially since a) it's such tokenism and meant to be a "look, we're giving you people what you want, so just back off about the whole race thing, okay?" placation, and b) I just discovered Dev and want to see him in a movie that isn't complete and utter shit before it even screens in theaters.

[bossymarmalade.livejournal.com]

Yes to everything you just said. I *want* to be excited, but there's been so much fail around the movie casting already that it's hard to see it as anything but a sop.

[arallara.livejournal.com]

If I had asked that question, I would feel like such an IDIOT right now, so here's hoping whoever asked it is feeling idiotic in the way that provokes future self-education. Gah.

I enjoy your disclaimer very much, however! School of ruckus!

[bossymarmalade.livejournal.com]

She went and deleted her question, so I think she did. Heh. I'd feel bad, but hey, you gotta learn somehow, and at least nobody piled on her in anna's post!

The school of ruckus is TOTALLY my new tag for racefail. Hee!

[withdiamonds.livejournal.com]

THAT'S SO UNFAIR OF YOU, EXPECTING HER TO CLICK LINKS OR USE GOOGLE WHEN SHE CAN JUST ASK SOMEONE TO TEEELLLLL HEEERRRRR.

Jeez, Maggie. You're so demanding.

[bossymarmalade.livejournal.com]

I KNOW RIGHT

I should go over and help her type and turn her computer on and off too!

CLICK HERE, DAMMIT

[robynbender.livejournal.com]

http://tinyurl.com/d5ghpo

To make your own, go to: http://letmegooglethatforyou.com/ and copy the tinyurl at bottom of your result

Re: CLICK HERE, DAMMIT

[bossymarmalade.livejournal.com]

"Was that so hard?"

ahahahahhhaha! This is AWESOME, thank you!

Re: CLICK HERE, DAMMIT

[robynbender.livejournal.com]

Use it in good health! (here via rydra, btw)

[elynross.livejournal.com]

...somebody will show up with comments not about the thought-provoking exploration of race politics and society, but asking, "what's a golliwog?"

This is the whole point of google and especially Wikipedia!!!

And very agreed on Patel; I saw him on The Daily Show last night, and I might end up seeing the Avatar movie just for him, even though I'm still cranky about it, but he should totally be Sokka! But then they'd have to recast Katara, you know. And given that I don't know how much the movie will cover, I have this fear that Zuko will remain a bad guy throughout, so the only CoC is the bad guy, against the lovely white folks...