On Media, and Why We’re Doing This
Here's something I've been asked, directly or indirectly, for years: Why do I care so much about media? Why am I so passionate about franchises from my childhood or stories I watch in my spare time or games or music or comics? Why is it that I find it so difficult to just Watch And Forget, or read something toxic and then just let go of it?
It's a difficult kind of question to answer, because it sort of betrays a fundamental disconnect in values between me and whoever's asking. At the core of the issue is this: I firmly believe that the stories we tell shape us as human beings. I believe that humanity fundamentally relies on this power we have, to look at a pattern of events and build a narrative. I have studied language, studied literature, studied the law, and I can tell you that the most important thing in all three fields is that at the core, humans are storytellers. We have evolved through generations to become a species dependent on narrative to form our identity, to give us a sense of context for our lives, to guide our decisions in the future. Stories connect us to what came before us, to our families, to our experiences. Stories connect us to what we care about, to the things that we know in our hearts HAVE to be true in order for our lives to have any meaning.
Sir Terry Pratchett (GNU) communicated this expertly in Hogfather:
"You're saying humans need... fantasies to make life bearable."
REALLY? AS IF IT WAS SOME KIND OF PINK PILL? NO. HUMANS NEED FANTASY TO BE HUMAN. TO BE THE PLACE WHERE THE FALLING ANGEL MEETS THE RISING APE.
"Tooth fairies? Hogfathers? Little—"
YES. AS PRACTICE. YOU HAVE TO START OUT LEARNING TO BELIEVE THE LITTLE LIES.
"So we can believe the big ones?"
YES. JUSTICE. MERCY. DUTY. THAT SORT OF THING.
"They're not the same at all!"
YOU THINK SO? THEN TAKE THE UNIVERSE AND GRIND IT DOWN TO THE FINEST POWDER AND SIEVE IT THROUGH THE FINEST SIEVE AND THEN SHOW ME ONE ATOM OF JUSTICE, ONE MOLECULE OF MERCY. AND YET—Death waved a hand. AND YET YOU ACT AS IF THERE IS SOME IDEAL ORDER IN THE WORLD, AS IF THERE IS SOME...SOME RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED.
"Yes, but people have got to believe that, or what's the point—"
And in that sense, stories are important because they belong to all of us. They HAVE to. We as humans participate in the creative, self-identifying act of storytelling even when we're just the ones listening. Just the ones watching. To tell a story takes two: One with a story to tell, and one who's ready to listen. Maybe some people are content, after they listen, to let go, to say that the story meant nothing and not let it affect the rest of their lives, but I couldn't ever do that. I love stories. And I think that when we think about them and talk about them, we get to know ourselves a little better. And I think that's precious.
My name is Lily Von Pseudonym. I run one of the blogs over in the left sidebar. (It's the one with the picture of a fairy on it!) I am 29, and I'm a trans woman and a lesbian, and because of the time when I grew up, certain stories have always been denied to me, while others have been presumed to be my exclusive domain. There are things I've never experienced that are shared memories to people who share my gender, and there are things I love that others like me have been told for decades Aren't For Them. For my part, at least, this blog and the conversations we will have here are going to be an effort to bridge that gap.
My partners in this project and in many, many other things, are Lani B. Goode and Ashelia-Daydream-Weaver. Ashe is a bi trans girl whose experiences are often pretty similar to mine with regards to what media was considered "acceptable" for her to read, and she will be doing mostly behind-the-scenes stuff with occasional contributions to the main blog. Lani is is biromantic ace and nonbinary, and they have a good knowledge of a lot of the things Ashe and I missed out on. Together, we are going to read things, watch things, experience things, and try to talk about them, and, with any luck, it'll be fun for you all to be a part of too.
Keep an eye on this space, because in the next few days, it's our intent to start delving into things you know, things you don't, things you maybe remember and things that will make you cringe in abject horror. First port of call: For a special celebration of the 4th of July, a little something from the American Girls series.
"When people told themselves their past with stories, explained their present with stories, foretold the future with stories... The best place by the fire was kept for the storyteller."
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