There are legitimate critiques to be made about Joss Whedon the creator, but none of the vitriol I’ve seen directed at Joss Whedon the person this past week was ‘constructive’ or could even be counted as ‘criticism’. Bullied is definitely a word for it.
(Though I’m pretty sure Joss Whedon - helmer of the #1 movie in the world right now and the #3 movie of all time, arguably the most in-demand creative in the industry at this particular moment - is gonna be okay, guys. Nice try.)
WHAT IS NUANCE? None of the ~fandom~ participants tweeting reductive, overblown insults at Whedon this past week have any idea whatsoever.
It’s both counterproductive and absurd to exert most of your feminist/progressive energy on attacking people who are actually trying.
I already stopped taking all ~fandoms~ seriously years ago, but congrats on ensuring that literally no one with any sort of decision-making power in the industry will be doing so ever again from now on, I guess.
For the record, because ~fandom~ seems to have no idea how Marvel operates or how the industry works in general, Joss Whedon’s contribution to the MCU goes way beyond Avengers & Age of Ultron. He did a pass on Winter Soldier - which most of the ~fandom~ participants who hated Age of Ultron hold up as the pinnacle of the franchise - and creatively oversaw every single Phase 2 film. Sit down.
TNG 5x17 'The Outcast': An androgynous race prohibits any expression of gender, as it is viewed as 'primitive'.
TOS 3x15 'Let That Be Your Last Battlefied': Two members of the same species view the other as inferior because of which color is on which side of their body.
VOY 7x13 'Repentance': Voyager rescues passengers from a prison ship whose prisoners are on their way to be executed.
TNG 2x9 'The Measure of a Man': Data's sentience is brought into question when he is forced by Starfleet to undergo an undesired procedure.
TNG 7x20 'Journey's End': The Enterprise is ordered to relocate a population of Native Americans from their planet of 20 years because of a treaty with the Cardassians.
ENT 2x14 'Stigma': T'Pol is recalled when it is discovered she has Pa'Nar syndrome, a disease transmitted through mind-melds conducted by an unaccepted sub-culture of Vulcans.
DS9 6x13 'Far Beyond the Stars': Benny Russel is fired from his writing job when his story about a black space station commander receives scrutiny from the publisher.
TNG 7x9 'Force of Nature': Two Hekarans board the Enterprise to convince them that their warp drive is damaging their home world and the space around it.
TOS 1x23 'A Taste of Armageddon': The Enterprise discovers a 500 year war on a planet that is run by computers that calculate the fatalities and force those people to die.
VOY 3x6 'Remember': B'Elanna experiences the memories of a telepathic woman's youth, where her lover and his people are relocated and murdered without repercussion.
Star Trek + Social Commentary (context in the captions)
THIS is what the original Star Trek TV series and films were about. Not just about blowing up things in space and snazzy lens flares with a side order of casual sexism -.-‘.
dude do you know how many people I have pissed off by saying the exact same thing?
A police shooting of an unarmed black man in Ferguson, Mo., this summer, along with other shootings by police officers around the country, led to weeks of protests in communities around the country. The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) will join the national conversation by hosting a daylong symposium titled,“History, Rebellion and Reconciliation: Communities Mobilized for Social Change.”
“We need to explore what this moment in our nation’s history means, especially in terms of leadership,” said Lonnie Bunch III, the director of NMAAHC. “What impact does generational change have on leadership and faith communities? What are the lessons to be learned from Ferguson, particularly within the context of community mobilization?”
Bunch will open the symposium and welcome guests at 9:45 a.m., followed by a discussion with Rev. Willis H. Johnson, pastor of Ferguson’s Wellspring Church. Willis will describe the conditions that led to the distrust between law enforcement and the city’s African American community.
The symposium will consist of three panels, one each in the morning, afternoon and evening. The first panel,“Ferguson: Impact, Importance & Long-Range Hopes,” from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., will explore the evolution of the media, community leadership and activism as they relate to communities organized against excessive police force and economic inequality. This panel will be moderated by Juan Williams, journalist and Fox News political analyst. Panelists include:
Lisa Crooms, Howard University law professor
Rev. F. Willis Johnson Jr., Wellspring Church
Mychal Denzel Smith, contributing writer, The Nation
The second panel, “Ferguson & Faith in the 21st Century,” from 2 to 4:30 p.m., addresses the past, present and future roles of faith organizations as advocates for social change. It also examines changing roles of faith leaders and the range of their focus. Moderated by Rex Ellis, NMAAHC associate director of curatorial affairs, the panel includes:
Jeff Johnson, journalist and motivational speaker
Renee Harrison, Howard University School of Divinity professor and former Los Angeles police officer
Rev. Osagyefo Uhuru Sekou, pastor, theologian, author and community organizer
The final panel, “#Words Matter: Making Revolution Irresistible,” from 6 to 8:30 p.m., features the response of the creative community to excessive police violence, racism and communal demands for equality. The panel, moderated by Morgan State University professor Jared Ball, includes:
Mark Bolden, psychologist and co-moderator
Jasiri X, rapper and community activist
Jamilah Lemieux, senior digital editor, Ebony magazine
In addition to the panels, the symposium will also present “Citizen” works by award-winning poet Claudia Rankine, interpreted on film by director John Lucas from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. The film shorts, titled Situation #1through 5, are based on Rankine’s book Citizen: An American Lyric, which is a National Book Award Finalist for 2014.
From 1:30 to 2:30 p.m., the symposium will present “On Art and History: A Conversation with Ava DuVernay.” With Selma, DuVernay is the first black female director to have a film nominated for an Academy Award. She will discuss filmmaking and the creative responses to historic events such as the Selma to Montgomery march.
From 5 to 6 p.m., guests at the symposium can view a slide presentation of social justice related objects from the museum’s collection and select artists, accompanied by a mix from DJ Jef Tate of Words, Beats and Life.
In an effort to engage audiences beyond the walls of the Smithsonian, the daylong symposium will be available by livestream through a link on the museum’s website. The museum will also participate in dialogue on social media throughout the symposium. The public may follow the museum on Twitter @NMAAHC to participate in the discussion using #HRRlive or #WordsMatter.
I’m a very ordinary girl writing to an amazing extraordinary person and I don’t know how to start this little letter because my sincere love and huge admiration to you, as a person and actor, are so big that I don’t know if there are enough words to express my feelings. The first time I saw you on screen, I was so mesmerized and fascinated by you that I couldn’t sleep well many nights thereafter. You brought a sunlight and pure happiness to my life in my darkest period. I’m a 19-year-old pianist from a small country, struggling with the problems that money cause and fighting to survive when nobody sees and notices me. I have a problem with my right eye, and I have always been the weird girl with crossed eye. But you are the person who deeply inspires me every second of my life to continue fighting because it’s worth it, life is worth it, we are worth it. And we are gonna win, everything that is out there and troubles us, we will fight and we will win. Thanks to you and your few mentions to me on twitter, now I’m more confident with myself, and I can think about a better future and I can solve my problems, not letting them to haunt and destroy me. You are not only my favourite actor but my favourite person. And I know to you I’m just a fan, there are millions like me, loving and admiring you, but to me you are the only one, you are special and unique. And I love you for everything you are. I don’t know if I’ll be able to meet you in person one day but this is my biggest dream, and I believe that dreams come true.
With so much love,
Konstanca
Konstanca, thank you so much for this very kind letter.
It’s tough being a human being. There is no denying that. Everyone of us struggles with one thing or another, some things more visible then others, but no one gets through this without struggling at some point. It is my belief that this struggle, these “hardships” are in themselves a kind of gift. From these things we are offered an opportunity to grow and develop depth of character and breadth of compassion. You have been given gifts to deal with these difficulties like your gift for music. Hold tightly to that, that will never lead you astray.
The difficult part of being young is having to look for validation from the world around you. That is a natural process and popular culture puts a great deal of importance on things like looks and materialism, but that is not what leads to peace and contentment. Peace and contentment come from an entirely different journey. Those things come from an inner journey and a relationship that primarily involves the self. It really is the relationship you have with your self that presents the key to the “kingdom”, so to speak. That journey is one of Love and understanding and compassion. Imagine how you would treat a child that was dealing with the things that you are struggling with. You would be very kind to that child and would have compassion for it and probably would be very forgiving of it’s shortcomings. That’s really how you have to treat yourself. No one is perfect. Every single human being has their flaws and shortcomings, trust me. Everyone can be better in one aspect or another. I am saying accept what you have to work on with kindness and compassion. Know what your shortcomings are and set off to work on them. Be gentle with your struggle, if it was easy it would not be worth a damn. But do not be brutal or disparaging toward yourself. Give yourself credit for the work you accomplish and be proud of your gifts, be proud of your accomplishments and celebrate them in your own way the way that feels right to you.
Lastly, and what really seems the most difficult for so many people, is the business of loving yourself. I don’t mean to sound cliche but I have really come to find that is probably the only place to begin. It seems to me everything else springs from that; how you treat your life and the people around you, the mate you choose, the quality of your life, the way the world looks to you. Many of us are looking on the outside for what we will not find and forgetting that what we are looking for we are carrying with us.
So, go easy on yourself. Yes, push yourself every day to be the best you can be and improve your work your mind, your body and your relationships. Work hard to achieve the things you want to achieve. Find out who you are, by looking into yourself, by listening to your hunches and cultivating your tastes, exploring your desires. Be courageous and daring with your interests and your work, with you, your music. The rest will come in due course, or not, but I promise you, you will feel whole. Turn your look for love inward, what you will find there is vast and divine and quietly waiting for your return. Be patient with that too. That too is like a fine growing thing that develops over time.
I too am on the same journey. I too am developing, I am not there, I too am finding my own way, working on my shortcomings, learning to be kind and generous with myself and those I love. I am a lot older then you and still have a lot to learn. I am a work in progress, I know that I will be until my last breath. Don’t be fooled by celebrity nor the appearance of things. I appreciate your admiration but I am doing the same dance you are. I am fortunate that I am where I am today. I don’t know how I got here. I am surprised myself by it often. I am grateful for it but do not believe that I am above you nor anyone else for that matter. We are all making our way. I don’t care if it’s the biggest damn star or brightest thinker or most beautiful person they are all doing the best they can and are struggling in one way or another. Believe me, I see it all the time, and it makes me feel good to know that I am not alone.
I read your note and know that you are on your way. I suppose this is a kind of open letter to myself at your age. I felt very much the way you do now. Always struggling with money, not liking the way I looked, not feeling like I fit in in the world, fighting, always fighting, wanting the world to be different. Not feeling understood. Fighting is good, but not when it is fighting yourself. Changing the world is good but first one has to start inside and concurrently make that place right. The strife and the ugliness in the world is the outward manifestation of this troubled relationship we have within on a whole.
That is my humble response to you. It comes from my experience. It is only my point of view. I hope that it is helpful. I wish you all the best in your endeavors thank you for your note,
