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thehighpriestofreverseracism

Guess which one caused outrage….

kittycatcaroline

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gael-garcia

Mya Taylor makes history as first trans actor to win Best Supporting Female at the 2016 Film Independent Spirit Awards

theartsabstract

~ looking 4 answers ~ AMERICAN BUFFALO Interview w/ director Mike Tucker

We spoke with Mike Tucker, director of the King’s Theatrical Society’s upcoming production of American Buffalo. Mike lives for theatre and hosting trivia @ the Wardy. He has recently assumed a mustache as part of a character study for his Halloween costume.

AA: Can you pick three words that describe American Buffalo? MT: Tense, dynamic, testosterone.

AA: What drew you to the script for this season? MT: I’m a very classic theatre kind of guy. I don’t go for big sets, period pieces or high fantasy. The kind of theatre that appeals to me is very simple character pieces and American Buffalo (with a lot of David Mamet’s other work) really excels at just telling an interesting story with complex characters.

AA: The play premiered in 1975. What themes continue to resonate most strongly with audiences? Will AB always be relevant? MT: The play explores hetero male relationships and how men feel like they can’t speak to one another directly and emotionally, and I think that is a sentiment that echoes as much today as it did in 1975. The thought of the show always being relevant is interesting because on one hand I feel that these emotional walls that some men build around themselves and how they interact with other men due to socially ingrained ideas of masculinity need to be reexamined and in a lot of cases torn down. However, I don’t really see that happening anytime soon so I think the show can stand as something that people can come back to to speak about these problems.

AA: How have you and your actors approached the misogyny and homophobia present in the script? MT: It’s been tricky, I can’t deny that. A lot of my own reservations about pitching this show to the KTS revolved around how the King’s demographic at large might react to some of the more risqué lines and scenes. Controversial shows are great but if you’re putting something up for the sake of shock value without any substance then you’re doing it for the wrong reason. I know people are gonna be offended by this show, I was the first time I read it, but I think theatre is a wonderful way to start conversations about these types of issues.

These characters are inherently flawed as individuals and I think sometimes an audience wants to relate to the characters they’re seeing on stage and with this show you don’t really have that luxury. Sometimes to attack the stigmas surrounding the dialogues happening everyday in regards to misogyny and homophobia you need a show like American Buffalo to show how far the extremes go. These characters aren’t meant to be idealized and I think that once people move on from the idea that by just putting this kind of show on that we’re glamorizing misogyny and homophobia they can really see what the show is trying to do.

AA: What’s been the most challenging part of the production? MT: Putting a show up in four weeks is never easy. Thankfully my cast and crew have been absolutely fantastic and have thrown themselves into their respective roles and jobs. I can hardly believe the process is almost done but that’s the reality of doing a KTS show. It’s scary and stressful but always exciting.

AA: And what’s been the most exciting part of the experience? MT: Seeing the show move beyond everything I ever imagined it could be. I figured at the outset that as long as the show looked good and the actors knew their lines I’d be happy. But at every rehearsal I’m learning something new about the characters through the actors’ performances. I also have my actors and crew chiming in with their own creative input, which is exciting cause they can take a scene in a direction I never would have thought of reading this script cover to cover so many times.

AA: Is there anything else you’d like audience members to know or consider before they see the show? MT: See it twice. It may sound arrogant but I’m not gonna lie and say this show isn’t complex. I won’t spoil the ending but I think people who are unfamiliar with the show may be a confused and a little enraged at how the climax plays out. But the show really is about the characters and their journey together. And I suppose if you can’t see it twice then come in with an open mind and let yourself be taken in by these characters. They’re not always pretty but I think there’s an important lesson to be learned from this show.

American Buffalo stars Genny Dow, Saunder Waterman, and Sam Hodgkins-Sumner, and is produced by Nathalie Marsh and Adam Tate-Howarth. The show runs November 4-7 in the Pit.

-MH

Header: James Hayden and Al Pacino in American Buffalo, 1983

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mouseremote147863456

amyroko

SLAY

hippiesispunkz

ronniesnark-deactivated20170613

Taraji being that over-supportive cousin at graduation. Loved this moment.

carsieblanton

Casual Love

Friends, put on your flak jackets. It’s time to drop some honesty on yet another uncomfortable topic: love.

We use the word “love” to mean a lot of things. Throughout this post I’ll be referring to the romantic kind of love, the kind that usually involves sexual attraction, AKA “falling in love”.

Love: The Shocking Truth

The truth about love is: it happens. A lot. It happens at appropriate times (like, when you’re in a long-term relationship with someone great), and also inappropriate ones (like, when you meet somebody at a party and have a weirdly awesome conversation and then make out in a bathroom). Love is just not all that concerned with appropriateness.

We have a mythology surrounding romantic love that says it’s a special, rare feeling, reserved for just a few people in your whole life. It says that love takes time to develop, and that the feelings you experience at the outset of a relationship are not love, but something else (“infatuation”, “a crush”, or my favorite, “twitterpation“ (see Bambi)). It also says that love is generally constant and reliable, and that falling in love is A MAJOR LIFE EVENT, about which SOMETHING MUST BE DONE!

In summation, the plot of every romantic comedy: if you fall in love with somebody, you better go out and get ‘em - even if they’re already married and they don’t really like you and you’re their stepsister and you’re leaving for a six-year residency in Mongolia in the morning - because you’ll probably love them forever and you might not ever love anyone else.

We are so enamored with this idea that we tend to round some feelings up to love (when you first met the person you later married), and others down to not-love (your weekend fling with a Spanish dancer). The thing is, those experiences feel remarkably similar from the inside.

That Old Feeling

Love is a feeling. It’s hot and fluttery and tingly. I get it in my guts and chest and face. The feeling is accompanied by a series of enthusiastic thoughts, such as “This person is the greatest person ever”, “I wonder how I can make this person feel good”, and/or “I want to climb onto this person and put my face close to their face and smoosh my body onto their body.”

I have felt this way, to varying degrees, towards probably a hundred different people. Actually, that’s a lie; it is way more. When I was a teenager, I felt it towards approximately three people per day. Lately, the torrent has slowed to once every month or three (I am a bit of a love-fiend, I know. I don’t think such frequency is average.) And I’m married!

And speaking of being married, yes, I do experience this feeling towards my husband. It feels different now than it felt when we first met: softer, warmer, with more comfort and less urgency. But the love I have for my husband is surrounded by a bunch of other feelings and thoughts that are much rarer than love, in my experience. These include: a deep mutual understanding of and appreciation for each other’s personalities, values, and quirks (e.g.: he finds my love-fiendishness endearing); years of shared experience; a lot of conversations about the kind of future we’re aiming for; and plenty of similar tastes and preferences (e.g. New Orleans, humor, dogs, dark chocolate, Ray Charles, The Daily Show, preferred frequency of house cleaning/travel/sex).

But underneath all that is the same feeling: love.

Instead of trying to deny it, or ignore it, or call it something different in each different situation, I want to call it like I feel it: I’m in love. I’m in love with my husband, several of my friends, most of the musicians who move me (including some who are dead, such as Chet Baker, who would sympathize), and a handful of people I hardly know but have had good conversations/dances/make out sessions with. I fall in love all the time.

And really, it’s no big deal. It’s actually kind of fun, once you get used to it.

I love you. NBD.

The kids today are having a casual sex revolution. “Hookup culture” is akin to “free love”, but with more condoms and fewer hallucinogens. And I’m for it! In case you haven’t heard, I like casual sex. It’s my observation that as casual sex becomes more acceptable behavior (for men and women), it lessens the shame and anxiety associated with the sex that people are having anyway (and have been having since the dawn of time, and are going to keep having). I’m thrilled that young people are beginning to feel they have the option of exploring sex, safely and consensually, outside of the boundaries of long-term commitment.

But why not have the option of exploring love, too, with or without a side of commitment? If we can agree that our bodies are not inherently dangerous, can’t we do the same for our hearts?

I suggest we take a page from the casual sex book here. Let’s lift some of the weighty grandiosity off the shoulders of love, and allow it to be what it is: a sweet, ephemeral, exciting feeling to experience and share.

Imagine if you could say to a casual partner, “I love you. It’s no big deal. It doesn’t mean you’re The One, or even one of the ones. It doesn’t mean you have to love me back. It doesn’t mean we have to date, or marry, or even cuddle. It doesn’t mean we have to part ways dramatically in a flurry of tears and broken dishes. It doesn’t mean I’ll love you until I die, or that I’ll still love you next year, or tomorrow.”

Then later, perhaps over brunch, you could tackle the question of whether there’s anything to do about it. All of the aforementioned - dating, marriage, cuddling, etc - are options, and there are an infinite number of other options (Skee ball, sailing around the world, double suicide). These are all things you can now choose or not choose, as two conscious adult human beings. The important distinction is that none of them is implied just by saying the word “love”.

The Point

There are advantages to separating the wacky, butterflies-in-the-gut, unpredictable feeling of “love” from the ideally rational, cool-headed decisions and agreements of “commitment”. For one: love is just not a good enough reason to commit to somebody (trust me, I’ve tried). You need a few other ingredients: mutuality, compatibility, and availability, for starters.

The big advantage for the lover is that falling in love will feel less scary, life-threatening, and crazy-making. As long as love is theoretically reserved for people whom you want to date and possibly marry, falling in love will be confusing and dramatic. If we interpret this particular set of feelings and thoughts as an epic, life-changing event, we’ll have no choice but to get really, really attached to our beloved. We’ll throw a lot of expectations at them (“Love me back! Love me only! Love me forever!”), and feel hurt and resentful if the feeling is not mutual. We’ll imprint upon them like baby ducks, and resolve to stick with them through thick and thin, through hell or high water, through abuse and neglect and lies and bickering and frustration and mutually-assured destruction, whether or not it brings us (or anyone else) any kind of joy.

The big advantage for the beloved is that being loved will feel less like an attack, and more like a gift. The little-discussed fact is that it’s super uncomfortable to be loved when the feeling is not mutual (see my song Please). So uncomfortable, in fact, that many of us would rather act like callous, cold-hearted assholes than be in the same room as the person who loves us. We panic, we get distant, we deny any interest or care for the other person, we stop returning their texts. But that’s not an aversion to love, or to the lover; it’s the attachment and expectation being hurled in our direction with such intensity. If love was casual, we could take it as a high compliment, say “thanks!”, and feel some warm fuzzies. We might also begin to feel some compassion for our lover (who, after all, has a stomach full of butterflies and can’t eat or sleep very well), which might allow us to make better and kinder decisions about how to respond.

If love was casual, perhaps it wouldn’t collide into our sense of identity or our plans for the future at such high velocity. It wouldn’t feel so personal. If it’s not mutual, so what? If it doesn’t turn into a relationship, so what? I have feelings and desires all the time that go unsatisfied. Sometimes (okay, a lot of times), late at night, I want Chef’s Perfect Chocolate ice cream, but Creole Creamery closes at 10pm. Do I panic? Do I call Creole Creamery and leave a series of desperate messages? Do I curl into a ball and lament that without Chef’s Perfect Chocolate, I am a broken person who is not worthy of ice cream? No. I deal. I feel my feelings, whine a little if I need to, and go without. Like a grown-ass woman.

And here’s my favorite part: if love is casual - not something rare and dramatic and potentially painful, but something common and easy and mutually enjoyable - we all get to feel more love, and share more love.

Sounds lovely, right?

****

If you like this post, let me know! You can send me money and buy my music via bandcamp, or become a subscriber on patreon. To learn more about me, visit my website.

4ysl

thisisnotjapan

Hi! I just moved into my dorm at college and my roommate (white) has hung up Tibetan prayer flags in our room. She told me she got them from her mom but I don't know where her mom bought them. Is this cultural appropriation?

I think you’d have to ask a Tibetan Buddhist about this, maybe one will respond here?

gothicalum

Yo Tibetan Buddhist here to answer the anon’s question (keep in mind that this is coming from my experiences growing up Tibetan in a traditionally Buddhist household, others may differ with my opinion).

It comes down to why does she have Prayer Flags, does she know what they are (and by that I mean their signifigance) and where did she get them from.

1. TIBETAN PRAYER FLAGS ARE NEVER HUNG INSIDE THE HOME.

I don’t know where this notion came from but ask any Tibetan Buddhist and they will tell you that they usually never hang Prayer flags inside. If you look up pictures you will see that they are almost always placed outside at the highest point in the area and then allowed to hang downwards in a pyramid-like fashion until they hit the ground. They are placed this way because in Tibet a common place to put them was on top of a mountain and in having Monasteries shaped as such it is/was a form of imitation.

2. HANGING THEM INSIDE DEFEATS THE ENTIRE PURPOSE OF PRAYER FLAGS.

Tibetans place them outside, usually near the home on a tree (a source of living energy), on the highest point, and occasionally above doorways (as a form of protection). They are meant to be free and able to flow in the wind so the positive energy from the scriptures printed on them and the selected color scheme is released. If you hang them on a wall, they are fixed and the purpose of them is now sabotaged.

3. YOU’RE MIXING UP PRAYER FLAGS AND THANGKAS.

Thangkas (traditional Tibetan paintings) are what you hang inside your home (usually in your shrine room, or on any wall that is not facing a bathroom), not Prayer flags. That being said this is not your permission to go out and buy them in abundance as they are a delicate combination of paint and brocade and must be cared for and displayed in a specific way. Most non-Tibetans don’t understand this and end up damaging the Thangka within a few years when they should be able to last generations.

4. WHAT DO PRAYER FLAGS MEAN TO THE TIBETAN PEOPLE?

Contrary to popular belief Tibetans do not live in a world of perfect harmony. The Prayer flags to us don’t represent ‘peace and compassion bruh’ but they are a symbol of freedom. Tibet is currently occupied by communist China who have in turn committed/is committing cultural genocide, has murdered 1.2+ million Tibetans in cold blood, and has forced 200,000+ to flee into exile in India where there are now refuge camps. Prayer flags are us saying ‘we’re being slaughtered each day, 142+ people have self immolated (24 of which were under the age of 18) to try to draw attention since no one is helping us, our culture is being smashed into pieces, we are now minorities in our own country but we are positive because that’s all we have - hope.

5. PRAYER FLAGS ARE NOT DECORATION.

They are not here for you to use at a background for your instagram photo where you wear tie dye shirts with your buddies, make the peace sign and have a cigarette emoji in your caption. They are sacred objects. Understand that, respect that.

6. WHAT IF SHE IS BUDDHIST?

If she is Buddhist (and I mean she follows real Buddhism not the bastardized version westerners are fed by the media) then by all means she is allowed to own Tibetan prayer flags. That being said if she is a Buddhist she should know that there is no point in hanging up Prayer flags inside the house because it doesn’t make any fucking sense? By then I’m really starting to doubt that she knows what she’s talking about and wouldn’t trust her. If your basic knowledge of a religion is lacking substance yet you still identify with it and own objects that have a in-depth meaning then I wouldn’t take you seriously at all. She should also know an overview about the symbolism of Prayer Flags for the Tibetan people if she is a Buddhist as it only makes sense (and I’m talking about the specific type of Buddhism that Tibetan people follow cause why would you own Tibetan Prayer Flags if you don’t follow Tibetan Buddhism).

7. WHAT IF SHE ISN’T A BUDDHIST?

Then what is the point in owning religious objects that hold thousands of years of meaning that you know nothing about. Why did you/your family members (if they’re not Buddhist) even buy them in the first place? You’re basically admitting you see Prayer Flags as nothing more than a colorful prop.

8. WHERE DID THEY COME FROM?

I certainly hope that they were bought from an original maker because I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen a white person buy “Tibetan Prayer Flags” that are just pieces of fabric with gibberish on them instead of the actual Tibetan language. It’s embarrassing the lengths white people will go to “become Buddhist” when all you need to do is become educated (and constantly keep on educating yourself) and don’t overstep your boundaries.

P.S - If you ever visit a monastery/or a Tibetan Buddhist and they present you with prayer flags you are allowed to keep them but trust me when I say this - they are giving it to you with the intention of it not being a decoration. So this means that all rules above adhere to you, hang them outside for heavens sake.

(same goes with statues and/or any other sacred objects that you are gifted with - you can keep them and display them, just do it respectfully and without any superficial implications)

pinkprogram

Humans take their decorations too seriously… A piece of cloth is just a piece of cloth until it is given meaning. It can have any meaning it is given regardless of what the original source may be. Without it being given a purpose it is “just a prop”. The flag may mean something in Tibet… and that is fine. The same flag can have different meanings to different people and that is also fine. What is important here is people and not objects. Objects don’t care what they are used for.

thisisnotjapan