I Draw Dead People

AIGHT YALL RB THIS POST WITH YOUR ALIGNMENT CHART BLANKS FOR THIS ANON

Can we talk about this guy for a second? I feel like he doesn’t get enough credit even though he played, arguably, one of the most important roles in Mulan. For those of you who don’t know, this is the Chinese soldier stationed on top of the Great Wall at the beginning of the film.

After his helmet is knocked off and he sees the Huns throw grappling hooks up onto the ramparts, he calls out to the person who is supposed to be on top of the tower to light the signal. We don’t know where that person is supposed to be, but given the fact that several Huns come out from the door in this shot, we can assume they likely killed him.

But does that stop this guy? No. He judges the situation and reacts accordingly. Despite being swung at by a Hun with a large sword and being forced to pull himself up onto the tower, he doesn’t even stop to take a breather. He just grabs the torch and is about to light the signal himself when something stops him.

This guy. Shan Yu is already on top of the tower as this soldier is about to light the signal. Now, Shan Yu is already a scary mf, but I think it’s important to see how our soldier reacts to seeing him because it tells us an important detail that many people may overlook.

Look at his face. This soldier isn’t just stunned because there a massive Hun waiting for him on top of the tower, but because he recognizes said Hun. Or at least he knows enough about what Shan Yu looks like to put two and two together and assume that this is him. He knows this man and his reputation. He knows exactly the kinds of things Shan Yu is willing to do to people who stand in his way. And what does this soldier do? Does he beg for his life? Does he try to escape?

No. This bamf just looks Shan Yu right in the eye and does his duty. He lights the signal, knowing full well that doing so will likely get him killed. But, he does it anyway. And immediately after lighting the signal, he looks up the the Hun leader with this expression.

This is a man who would look Death in the face and say “Fuck you!” He knows he has maybe a few more seconds of life left and yet he stands tall. And why is this important? Because this one act of valor led to this.

you would not believe this song has been here for quite so long and that tomorrow’s its date of birth

“She deserves to be punished too.”

“I’m not saying I support rape, but-”

“Sorry to say - she deserved it.”

“She put herself in harm’s way”

“But if she was fingered, then that’s not rape.”

“She ruined their lives.”

“Yea, but did you see what she was wearing?”

“Boys will be boys!”

“She should know better than to drink at a party…”

  “He should’ve enjoyed it.”

“She must’ve lead him on.”

“But she orgasmed. That means she liked it - “

“Women can’t rape because…”

“Be grateful it wasn’t a man!”

“I’m sorry she hurt you but don’t call what happened to you rape, it’s an insult to the REAL victims…”

“You weren’t raped, you’re just lesbophobic.”

“She’s his wife, it’s her job to please him.”

“Oral isn’t rape.”

“Well he wasn’t armed, she could have walked away.”

“Guys can’t be raped, they love sex!”

“She didn’t fight back; it wasn’t rape.”

I am a student at an art university.

There is an infamous building on our campus, called “Montgomery House” or more commonly, “Monty.” Monty is the building for animation, game design, special effects, sound design, and basically everything that requires highly powerful, highly specialized computers and software. The building is infamous for a couple of reasons. It’s located pretty far away from any other building, for one. The building itself used to be a coffin factory, no joke.  Another is the building has no windows. None. There are also no clocks anywhere. Once you enter Monty, you are completely separated from the flow of time and the light of day.  Probably the reason Monty is most known though is because students in the “monty majors” have to spend a lot of time there. A lot. It is not uncommon for somebody to spend more than a few days exclusively within the sunless, dark walls of Monty. If you go to the building, it is not surprising to see students sleeping on the floor, on the few chairs available, on the computers. Some bring sleeping bags and rations. Some just forgo sleep, buy espresso shots and work. The entire building just smells of coffee and sweat. It really seems like an exageration, but its not hyperbole. 

Why I bring this up is because of something that’s started recenetly. Inside the building, the school has hung up artwork on the walls from other majors as is typical on campus. One of the artworks was a self-portrait painting of a man with long, scraggly brown hair and a full beard looking pensively off into the distance. The painting became known as “Monty Jesus.”

Students, in their desperation for their files to render, or the computers to work, began to offer prayers to Monty Jesus. Soon, they began writing their prayers and taping them next to the painting. The wall is now covered, completly plastered, in prayers to Monty Jesus for things like “Fix the wifi” and “let me live through finals” and more simply “help me.” Candles have been added. Literal candles are placed around Monty Jesus in hopes he will help them.

This is how religions are born. Monty Jesus is considered a “joke”, but people at Monty still hold…. quite a lot of superstitious faith in the concept. There is even talk of a “Monty Satan” that creates software failures. It might be in jest, but these students really are hoping for some force to help them. And they’ve given it a name, an image, and respect.  Monty Jesus is real, and I’m sure of it. The desperate students have created their own spirit and their own form of worship, out of need.

Religion, spirituality, didn’t stop being relevant. It didn’t stop being something people need and want, and have the desire to create. It’s still happening, and it always will as long as their are people.  The spirit of creation, new deities and new worship, is alive and well today and should not be ignored simply because it is “new” or “a joke.”

Eventually some fool took this beautiful art piece down, and someone wrote a goddamn article about it in our school newspaper