Media Literacy - Blog Posts

America is an oligarchy led by a fascist president. Eco's Ur-Fascism is a good read. So is Animal Farm.

We are fucked because of a giant cult and the lack of critical thinking and media literacy.

I've been learning not to be suicidal just so I can be taken out by someone else? Great...

At least my suicidal thoughts have the ability of critical thinking.

I hate people.

Does anyone else feel like most people in EVERY FANDOM seem to not be able to separate the quality of a piece of media and their personal opinion.

Like, they say "the show is bad because something I wanted to happen didn't", "the show is bad because I don't like/can't relate to the characters", "the character I like didn't get enough protagonism", "the show is bad because it's woke". The same with movies, book, and videogames.

Bad writting =/= I didn't like it. Why is that so hard to understand?

This is a preview of my first post (that will be posted eventually, I promise)🎹🦖

My Hero Academia is a popular Japanese anime about a super-human society. About 80% of the population has a power of which they call a quirk. Although being able to fly or heal for example seems to be very exciting, these abilities dictate the course of the character's life. This is seen especially in the tragically beautiful and beautifully tragic character, Himiko Toga.

Something I have noticed is that so often in media and in real life, is that we push around this narrative that having a “dark side” or being someone who “you don’t wanna see mad” is a good thing.

If you have a “dark side” you’re dangerous, someone who could hurt others and be cruel, and that makes you strong. That being good in a fight, having the ability to be scary when your angry, those are things that push authority.

I don’t get it.

Why must being benign be seen as a weakness?

Being harmless does not make you fragile.

Violence and strength have been so interwoven to the point people mistake one for the other.

Being violent does not make you strong, and being strong does not mean you have to be violent.

One of the greatest ways to show strength not in a character but in life in general is to choose forgiveness (seriously, like watch ATLA and see how Aang shows great strength by forgiving others instead of lashing out).

Anger is a valid and real emotion that you are allowed to express, but it is not one that should be wielded as a weapon. Anger is a secondary emotion, morphed from pain and sorrow.

Anger is like fire. It’s okay to light a fire, as long as it is safe and contained. You can keep a fire in a fire pit going for as long as you want, just don’t burn a forest.

Do not fear your anger and do not use it to strike fear in others. Being kind does not make you weak, being forgiving does not make you soft.

Generosity, honesty, fragility with your emotions—these can bring you strength. To be open with who you are and how you feel is a tremendous feat.

It takes courage to cry, to ask for help, to forgive.

Know that being loving is not a weakness, understand that forgiveness takes strength.

It’s easy to kill a fly, but it takes effort to capture it and bring it home.

Chat I think we as a writing community lack in diversity.

Now I’m not talking about something like reader inserts with different genders and skin colours, because yes we do lack that but that’s another topic, I’m talking about fic IDEAS.

Things like one shots are getting kind of repetitive, most people focusing on the smut aspect of them when I think fandoms could explore so much more. And this is NOT me saying everyone’s writing looks the same, nor is it criticism on writers because I LOVE what yall do for us readers.

I’m talking about how when I want to consume something from my favourite media most of it is smut and it’s not even actual good smut that shows deep connections and trust between characters it’s just flesh out smut. What happened to creative scenarios and one shot scene guys can we bring back things like

“character x character based reader”

“Character x Reader *insert scenario*”

Where has all our creative literacy gone because half the time it feels like booktok has invaded my tumblr with their ‘steamy🌶️🥵🌶️🥵’ spice.

This isn’t meant to come off at authors btw this is just a little rant I absolutely LOVE fanfics and what the authors do for us readers it’s AMAZING just wish we had less repetition and hardcore smut somwtimes😓🫶

“we need to teach media literacy in schools” guys was i really the only person paying attention in english class bffr

Recently I’ve been going back through BSD to do some analysis and I was thinking about Atsushi as the tiger, and what the tiger symbolizes.

I think the tiger is a good allegory for Atsushi’s views on himself as a person. And hear me out:

At the start of the story, Atsushi fears the tiger, but he also seems to hold some spite towards it due to it being the cause of him getting kicked out of the orphanage.

But then we learn that Atsushi is the tiger, and Atsushi himself feels terrible about it. There is suddenly no separation between himself and the tiger in his mind. They are one and the same, and he is just as responsible for everything as the tiger is. He hates the tiger, he doesn’t trust it, and he doesn’t understand it.

And he is the tiger.

It’s kinda common knowledge that Atsushi hates himself, nor does he trust himself, and that is reflected in the fact that the tiger is shown to be an uncontrollable, bloodthirsty creature. It does nothing good for anyone; just as Atsushi thinks he himself does nothing good or useful for anyone.

I’d also like to mention the fact that during chapter/episode one (1), when Atsushi is revealed as the tiger, Dazai is the one to stop it with his ability, and I think that’s an excellent little nod to how it is through Dazai (and by extension the rest of the ADA) that Atsushi is able to begin to trust himself more, and have more value in himself as a person.

Of course later on, Atsushi does make peace with the tiger, and it’s such a powerful moment because it’s not just Atsushi reconciling with the tiger, it’s Atsushi reconciling with himself as well. And I think it shows his growth as a character just fantastically.

I’m open to hearing the thoughts of others as well of course :]

Damn, I’m depressed now

SAY IT LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK 🗣🗣🗣🗣🗣

Some of y'all SERIOUSLY need better awareness and critical thinking, especially when it comes to POC characters; particularly this issue is more prevalent with black characters and women of color, and how you perceive and react to them.

It's shockingly and VERY concerningly common to see this issue occur and to see the lack of self-awareness or flat out willful ignorance to their own internal biases coming out into fandom spaces and their interactions with media. All too often, there is hypercriticality or malice lunged at POC characters, but their white counterparts or even white characters who are absolutely abominable with their views and/or actions get a pass or even end up with sympathizers trying to excuse their actions and views.

Not to mention, it's getting frighteningly more prevalent/common with the rise of right-wing talking points and ideology; at least here in the States.

We need to be aware and alert about this, and always view media and the analysis or reaction to media, INCLUDING OUR -OWN- VIEWS AND ACTIONS, with a critical and analytical eye. We need to question the "why" behind all of it instead of jumping onto and believing in first instinct.

i know of course that fandoms are not immune from cultural and societal biases but it still disappoints me that people in fandom will be blatantly sexist and racist and not even critically think about where exactly those takes are coming from