#tw race

[dailyhistoryposts]

Susan Sontag

An American writer, philosopher, educator, and activist, Susan Sontag (1933-2004) was a New York City native who wrote extensively about art, illness, human rights, and leftism. Sontag has been described as "one of the most influential critics of her generation."

Sontag was Jewish and an excellent scholar--she received her Bachelor's degree from the University of Chicago when she was 18. She received her master's in Philosophy at Harvard and taught. Sontag was a writer, and though her nonfictional essays are her most famous works, she considered herself a novelist. Sontag was openly bisexual and had relationships with both men and women.

Sontag was a role-model feminist and leftist. She vocally opposed the Vietnam War and the Siege of Sarajevo. She viewed American actions on the international stage as a form of imperialism. Sontag once said "The white race is the cancer of human history" due to its unique status as the only one which eradicates other civilizations and the environment. She later regretted this, considering it unfair to cancer patients, and wrote a book saying that illness should not be used as a metaphor.

[i-want-my-iwtv]

I hope the rumours of Louis being a brothel owner aren't true, but if they are I can sort of see why they're going for this route? I mean, with a black Louis they can't have him being a slaver anymore, so maybe they're trying to find something that is also morally reprehensible for him to be.

TL;DR: My kneejerk reaction was to be saddened, and I don’t like that this is starting up, and will continue to fuel, fandom drama. Ultimately, if we want peace, we’ll embrace the fact that the existence of this adaptation doesn’t take away from the existence of the books, and it also doesn't mean we have to acknowledge it.

It makes me wonder whether AMC wants us to make a storm about this. We’ll see...

After all, what makes this adaptation any more important than the graphic novels of the ’90s, the graphic novel Claudia’s Story, movie!IWTV, or movie!QOTD? In fact, many fans here on tumblr consider VC to be a trilogy only!!! and don’t accept the majority of the PUBLISHED CANON so what makes anyone think we have any obligation to swallow this AMC adaptation as some kind of gospel?

I see movie!QOTD as a buffet of ideas carried in an official fanfiction work, and I don’t accept as my headcanon the various things it changed about the books that I didn’t particularly like, such as merging Magnus and Marius (which, IMO, effectively made both characters more morally reprehensible). I accepted the things I did enjoy, like casting a Black/POC actress to play Akasha. I see this AMC adaptation as a buffet of ideas, some can be taken, and some not, it’s just another official fanfiction work.

[Anon, I need to catch other ppl up on the information, too.]

Deadline.com informs us that in the AMC adaptation for Interview with the Vampire, Jacob Anderson has been cast as Louis. I'm not familiar with him, but it looks like he’s a successful actor, from Game of Thrones and other things, he’s also joining Series 13 of Doctor Who. I’ll have to check him out from an acting standpoint!

Aside from his talent as an actor, this is by far the most controversial thing that's happened in VC fandom recently. I've been thinking about this for a few months now, talking about it privately online and offline, still gathering my thoughts. So this post is not engraved in stone, it’s initial thoughts on this.

I’m glad to see ppl talking about it and I’m sure we’ll have more public discussions. I’m trying to discuss it very carefully, but also, this is an entertainment blog, my opinions are mine alone, and I’m not looking for dogpiling on anyone, I have no obligation to respond publicly or privately to anything. Plenty of other ppl have differing opinions on this. So take all of the following with more than a grain of salt, I’m not being salty, I’m providing the links to the little info we’ve seen pulicly, I’m giving my initial thoughts, and I’m also trying to add a little levity because ultimately, again, this is an entertainment blog, and I try to add a little humor to help with such serious topics, humor can help ppl talk about controversial things.

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The casting of a POC/Black actor (I’m sorry I don't know the preferred terminology, let me know if you know what Anderson prefers) confirms at least one part of theilluminerdi articles that stated that Louis’ race will be different from the books. I didn’t post about these before bc I wasn’t sure how reliable theilluminerdi’s sources are (and I'm still not sure), but this was one major aspect that theilluminerdi announced before Deadline did, so now seems to be the right time to share those articles. For now, you can go check them out yourselves rather than have my reposting of the information, trigger warning: mentions of sex workers and race in the changes to the canon story of Interview with the Vampire.

>>>theilluminerdi articles from May 21, 2021 and July 15, 2021:

www.theilluminerdi.com/2021/05/21/interview-with-the-vampire-amc

www.theilluminerdi.com/2021/07/15/interview-with-the-vampire-amc-2

^Meme of Dr. Ian Malcom from Jurassic Park reads: “Your writers were so preoccupied with whether they could that they didn’t stop to think if they should.”

I’m using that meme with a little levity here, clearly an AMC adaptation of vampires in which the producers/writers have chosen to change the race of a main character (arguably the original protagonist of the series) isn’t in the same VICINITY as the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park that broke out of containment and killed visitors to the park, but John Hammond’s intention for the creation of that park was very good, as I assume this race change was intended. Time will tell.

“But with this place, I wanted to show them something that wasn't an illusion. Something that was real, something that they could see and touch. An aim not devoid of merit.”

“Creation is an act of sheer will.” 

- John Hammond, Jurassic Park

Race is a more complicated subject than ever, so for AMC to make this bold change, I hope they have POC and Black writers on staff and are handling this very carefully. Even then, no racial group, including POC and Black people, are a hivemind, disagreements are bound to happen in the writing room, whether in good faith or bad. People have different intentions and motives, compromises will probably be made with the story in many ways, we all know how it goes with collaborations; the end product is a shared vision among multiple creators. This could be a potentially controversial adaptation, I don’t know whether they’re aiming for that or not, but with the elements it has so far, it seems to be headed that way.

Here's a comment by "Angellus" on the 5/21 article. It's undeniable that there's going to be the accusation of racism thrown at anyone who has any negative view of this change, regardless of their reasons. I find it unfair and narrow-minded that any negative response is automatically assumed to be coming from a racist point of view. To say that changing Louis' race is unequivocally an improvement fails to take into account how that change has a Domino effect on all of the other parts of the story. Not the least of which is that, if he is still a slaver/slave holder/plantation owner/(insert your preferred term) that adds a whole new racist element to his owning Black/POC people, even though, apparently there were Black/POC plantation owners. 

Not the least of which: How will this change impact his relationship with Lestat? Particularly when Lestat has the added issue of being described in those articles as having “mind control abilities” and “insistent that he gets what he wants and when facing rejection,” a terrible combination in terms of consent, even in a relationship of the same race, let alone invoking Caucasian/white dominance over Black/POC people, AND Lestat being the catalyst to Louis’ questioning his sexuality:

Lestat is insistent that he gets what he wants and when facing rejection, petulance can quickly turn to ruthless rage which causes frenzied acts of horrifically brutal violence. Lestat also has mind control abilities. Lestat initially infuriates Louis, but this soon turns to fascination which leads Louis to question his religion and sexuality. 

^Screencap reads: "I love how racist everyone is in the damn comments, this doesn’t pervert the story you’re all racist and it’s disgusting. I’m looking forward to it, I hope you keep crying your salty racist tears asswipes."

It makes me question whether Angellus truly believes what they wrote, if this is an ideology, or a troll. I would suggest their use of the term “pervert” is correct though, pervert means: “alter (something) from its original course, meaning, or state to a distortion or corruption of what was first intended.” That’s what this race change does, factually. Although, in this context, “distortion or corruption” carries a negative connotation. It would take a lot to show how this change does not meet the definition or “to pervert,” though.

I hope the rumours of Louis being a brothel owner aren't true

I agree 1,000%, I was hoping that these were just rumors. But, aside from the race change, if this were the only change, I find Louis being a brothel owner to be equivalently morally reprehensible to being a slaver/slave holder/plantation owner/(insert your preferred term). Ideally, they’d change his career to something that doesn’t involve benefiting from the bodies/labor of others in any morally reprehensible manner.

I mean, with a black Louis they can't have him being a slaver anymore, so maybe they're trying to find something that is also morally reprehensible for him to be.

He might still be a slaver. Who knows. Being morally reprehensible as a mortal man didn’t seem to me to be crucial to the story, but they still could have chosen something better. It seems to me like they want a brothel so they can have eye candy for an audience who want to see sex workers, maybe full frontal nudity. 

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What also gets my attention is that Anne and Christopher Rice have not yet posted publicly about it, which leads me to believe that this change wasn’t their choice. They take every chance to brag when they’re proud of something, every chance to crowdsource about casting ideas or which VC books Anne’s fans liked best, etc., and in this case, as of Aug. 31, 2021, (and to be fair, maybe I missed it), I haven’t seen either of them post about this on the official VC FB, Anne Rice’s FB, Annerice.com, Christopher Rice’s FB, or christopherricebooks.com. If it had been their choice, I think they would have gladly trumpeted their credit by now, but maybe they’re waiting to do it in a specific venue. Time will tell.

[lucifers-golden-bitch-apparently]

Opinion on black cops?

i was getting ready to type out a long paragraph but like.

id be lying if i said i didnt support those cops more than white cops, naturally, as a black person, bc thats who i'd feel safer with. ive heard some black cops tell me they've joined to keep fellow poc safe on street, which is appreciated! so, id say they're fine and i wouldnt feel as threatened with more on the street

Acab tho ;)

[shifting-lark]

As an FYI, for personal reasons, any picrew I post from here on out will have at least four skin tone options.

I don’t judge anyone who doesn’t follow this “rule” I’m just letting y’all know I’ll be more picky about which picrews I’ll post!!!

❤️

[galaxycerebri]

To this day I wonder why I made Xiaojun, the protag of Requiem, Chinese. The culture/her ethnicity doesn't take a focus, and I'm not Chinese so I worry that if it were a focus I may get something wrong. And yet, I chose to make my protagonist Chinese, regardless of this.

For all intents and purposes, I could have just made Jun white and called it a day. On the other hand, I could have made her black, or even Somalian like myself, because to some degree Xiaojun is a projection of myself in the vein that she, Amelie and Maria were created in a time of emotional upheaval for me and I originally designed Jun off my apathy, Amelie on my anxiety and Maria off what I wanted to be (someone strong and stable like my sister) before I realised that Maria's state of being wasn't healthy either.

But yeah, I could have made her any ethnicity because it doesn't really factor into the story.

Recently I watched a video essay on the "ideal body" or something akin to that by Khadija Mbowe (someone please correct me in notes, and provide a name, I can't find it again and I really wanna watch the video again), and I have the attention span of a spoon. So I internalise things very quickly and depending on the situation, I can either hold onto it or not.

And I spent a lot of the time around starting Requiem (at the time Hunter X Spirit, about... 5 years ago, wow) reading Chinese web novels and comics and such. So I think perhaps I internalised that and just went with it, since even before then I spent so much time consuming East Asian culture because of my older sister.

I couldn't get into the serialised dramas and soap opera styled shows (gossip girl, PLL,) things my classmates would watch because I couldn't access them. And when my family finally got Sky tv, my younger brothers would hold onto the remote and we would watch (1) channel day in and day out (Disney XD) for years. I wish I was kidding.

As a result, I just never got into general tv shows. And my sister at the time was going through her anime phase, so the only real opportunity for me to experiment with the content that I wanted to enjoy, was through her laptop or novels and manga that I also got from her.

By the time I got a phone, it kinda just stuck. The first western tv show I remember choosing to watch (outside of merlin and dr who, that I would watch with my family) was Castle iirc.

It was easier to find anime streaming sites than it was to find streaming sites for western shows because streaming wasn't so big back then and any site that I could find was swiftly taken down because of copyright laws. I suppose borders kept anime pirating safe?

Moreover, Somali content was hard for me to access. A lot of it was poorly redubbed Bollywood tv shows, and movies, and I wasn't really into those huge set pieces and overdramatisation (props to them though, honestly that must be so hard to shoot). That's not even to take into account the fact that over the years of me codeswitching and trying to assimilate, I lost my grip on Somali language and now that I'm nearly 20, you couldn't even call me a native speaker.

I think all of these things:

- consuming east asian media growing up

- my hyperfixation on serialised chinese fictional content (webnovels/comics) around the time I started planning Requiem

- the lackluster grip I have on my own culture which resulted in me feeling like an imposter whenever I try to partake in Somali things

Kinda resulted in Xiaojun being Chinese. This, in general, has no bearing on the plot but like-- interesting.

On the one hand, because I’m British and so far haven’t experienced (at least to my face) the brutal racism that is found in America (the uk loves it’s microagressions and gaslighting you into thinking it’s not even a problem), I don't feel comfortable writing a black character because people will expect that overt racism. And I don't want to write a white character, because I will never understand that level of privilege, and while I can consciously point it out I never want to empathise with it. This pushes the onus onto a character of Asian descent which isn't great to say the least, more so with the rise in Asian hate and crimes directed against those of Asian descent.

On the other hand, I guess a part of me is trying to call back to days of innocence and naivete from my childhood years, as the initial planning for Requiem (then called Hunter X Spirit) happened when I was a baby teenager. 

And while, certainly, you can't say racism isn't a thing as it most definitely is, I know myself and a few others I have talked to would like something where race isn't punching you in the face as a theme. (Case in point, Bridgerton, wherein my buddies and I were excited about just having black people in that kind of setting without it being questioned only for them to drop that one line about a black/mixed race woman marrying a king and then acting like that solved all the racial issues of the period). And that we would like characters of minority background being present without it being questioned, or being considered "ticking a box."

Lemme know your thoughts.

[daaveed]

@Diggs: Y'all nominate a white boy for his redemption story before you even acknowledge a black woman for her immeasurable talent... #ISaidWhatISaid

[obeythefloof]

Things I’m including in my sci-fi series whenever I get motivated to actually write it.

After the race war, white people sorta faded into obscurity, now only found in small communities that still believe in white supremacy. Everyone just sorta ignores them the same way you’d ignore your crazy uncle. It’s not like they have any power over anyone anymore anyway.

As soon as white people stopped being in power, the world instantly got a whole lot better. Economically, politically, socially, just in general. Non-racist white People still existed, but after two centuries, it’s rare because intermarriage.

Only one main character who’s white, and she will be described the same way mainstream authors describe people of color.

[aconissa]

Hi Ana do u know of any resources of how the normalization of awful things in media (racism, pedophilia, etc) can cause a rise in the action of these things in real life?

Hi! Sorry this is super late, I’m on holiday and haven’t been online much. I haven’t got a huge number of resources on hand (sorry!) but hopefully my followers can add to this too. A lot of these are about 50 Shades of Grey because I’ve posted about it a lot in the past:

This article talks about the relationship between the novel 50 Shades of Grey and abusive relationships in real life

Here’s an example of one man who was inspired by 50 Shades to abuse and rape a female classmate

And here’s another one

Also this quote from this article by Jenny Trout sums this up pretty well: “Before Jaws hit theaters in 1975, great white sharks weren’t the villains we now believe them to be. But when the movie–which was purely fiction–became a blockbuster, it directly caused humans to seek out and kill sharks, causing widespread population drops in shark species across the board. The influence of that piece of fiction (coincidentally also based on a novel) even coined its own name: The Jaws Effect. When Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita was published, it was perceived by the public to be an erotic novel, despite the fact that it told the story of child sexual abuse through the viewpoint of an unreliable narrator. The result? To this day, we refer to sexually precocious teen girls as ‘Lolitas,’ despite the author’s intent. Yes, 50 Shades of Grey is fiction, but fiction isn’t created or consumed in a vacuum. It is influenced by our culture, and influences our culture, and 50 Shades of Grey isn’t an exception. Even though something is ‘just fiction,’ it can still have detrimental effects on society or expose problems that already exist in our perceptions. So when someone says ‘50 Shades of Grey promotes abuse as romance,’ they’re not saying, ‘50 Shades of Grey is a totally real thing that happened and is a cautionary tale.’ They’re saying that this work of fiction is having, or has the potential to create, real world effects.”

This post talks about child pornography (particularly in fandom spaces) and how it impacts paedophilia in real life

Here is a paper on the correlation between the consumption of child pornography and instances of sexual assault on children

This looks at the effects of ‘lolicon’ and ‘shotacon’ in Japan

This quote and the work it comes from looks at how racist fetishitic pornography that focuses on Asian women is harmful to women in real life

Also check out my ‘race’ tag, as there should be more posts on how racist representations of POC and the normalisation of racism in media can lead to a rise in racism in real life.