Kereea Says Unionize

Along the same line of thinking I don't think people who lack media literacy are stupid. Even people with high media literacy tend to forget it's a such valuable skill, but if it wasn't valuable and wasn't something that takes practice and effort there wouldn't be so many literary breakdowns and explanation videos and reviews that get into authorial intent.

More people WANT to understand the deeper intent behind art, but a lot of people never bother to try stretching that muscle because they're convinced that they're just stupid and can't interact with media in that particular way, that that's the job for the brainy reviewers and critics.

All it takes is a little nudge and some encouragement sometimes; There was a time in our lives where none of us knew what a metaphor was. Ultimately if it's someone you care about who "misses the point" of something you like, you COULD be upset that they're "not smart enough" for it or whatever, or you could break down exactly why the point is what it is, and encourage them to look for those literary devices in other things they watch.

important to realize that there is not only one Meaning there are all kinds of possibilities for meaning

"feeling stupid" is what expanding your mind often feels like... and the feeling of "feeling stupid" can unfortunately be scary because many people have terrifying experiences associated with it. But it can be very fun once you learn that it's safe.

Not queerbait: A cookbook has no soup recipes. You assumed there would be some based on vibes and wishful thinking. No soups were ever advertised or promised.

None of this cheerleader stuff for soccer, oh no sireee, I mean, no disrespect to cheerleaders who put a LOT of work and effort into their performances, but somehow "Rah-Rah! We're the best" from peppily gymnastic young things can't quite match the sheer power of entire stadiums of grown up fans yelling at the top of their lungs things like....

It's unclear if this one originated with the English of Scottish games (spelling of "old" as "auld" notwithstanding), but either way, well done.

And it's striking home too! :D

An innocent man is home with his family instead of spending his kids' whole childhoods in jail for "resisting arrest" when none of the cops could agree on why he was being arrested in the first place. (But it definitely had nothing to do with him being a Black man in a nice car, honest! 🙄)

And it still took like two hours of delibration after we'd heard all the evidence because one lady was so gung ho about believing everything the cops said, even when not a single goddamn one could agree with their own testimony, let alone their colleagues'.

Pointing out all the inconsistencies and admitted misconduct and letting people slowly come to their own conclusions as the trial played out was fucking hard, I won't lie. I can be patient, but it doesn't come naturally to me.

But. Yelling about how this was obviously a bs case would have shut everyone down and made them stop listening. Asking questions and letting people discuss how the cops tried to make xyz sound suspicious but it was totally normal, or about how if things played out the way the cops said then logically events should have proceeded in a totally different direction, and positing different theories that actually lined up with the evidence presented?

That got people thinking, and everyone realized that for a variety of reasons we all had reasonable doubts that the defendent had committed any of the crimes of which he was accused.

Look over there. There’s a Catergory 3 Kaiju. Biggest one yet. 

You may need to learn how to set up your paints and such… but this is what people did, live, while the show aired. That’s what the show was for. I had family members create lovely works of art they enjoyed, which I still have on my walls, because William Alexander and Bob Ross both said:

SCREW METICULOUS CLASSICAL ART PRACTICES — JUST GRAB A PALETTE KNIFE AND BIG OLD BRUSH AND PAINT!

They freed a whole generation of people who were taught to paint detail and realism and exact representation of reality — people who largely gave up this kind of thing because it got tedious.

I watched the joy of family members as they rediscovered art as a messy fun spontaneous half hour activity.