#gravitywhatgravity

Cinder I think you’ve got the wrong idea

Commission for @gravitywhatgravity of this text post with these two

Yes, I’ve been following the situation as it unfolded and I know a couple people have reposted it and honestly, the more traction the justifiable upset gets, the more people who don’t even listen to the podcast are going to want to know what’s going on. I have 3 asks already from this morning asking me what Steven did and where they can hear it. It’s a normal reaction to distress and concern over a creator doing or saying something that doesn’t sit right; so I’m going to post the screenshots as well because there is a lot to discuss about the episode, Steven’s comment and the resulting backlash.

I also don’t think the situation is over either. Many people are not just upset about the situation itself but about the way it’s currently being handled. I disagree with various points people have presented but I also don’t believe that my perspective is the only one to consider in the wake of this.

I think that the statement covers all bases of what particularly upset me, but I am also of the opinion that youtube and the internet is awash with scripted apologies and written statements now that there will always without fail, be people who find things like this disingenuous. I also will hold that there are people engaging in this discourse with bad faith, riling themselves up further with their echo chamber and coming back around to be even angrier. 

HOWEVER, the notion of learning that someone you look up to and whose work you appreciate holds the belief that people in his life who hang onto terrible convictions and dehumanize groups of people (people in his audience) enough to be called racist and homophobic, that these same people are people he values and cherishes--that very notion really does a number on people specifically people who engage in fanculture, hyper fixate on specific people, and idolize human beings. This isn’t going to be an easy path and neither is it going to be clean. I just think that our fanbase could use a moment of consideration and contemplation about intersectionality and what it means that you’re specifically still angry.

Are we still upset because he only backtracked the statement AFTER the backlash, because I get it? Are we upset because they posted this whole episode, edits and all, without anyone on their team going “wait a minute, this looks fucked up”? Because I get that. 

So having said all that, I think my perspective on it going forward and what would put me at ease about all of it is if they sat down, as a team, and had a discussion together about what happened here, about what parts of it went wrong and what they could do better. I think as a society, we’re a little washed out by the energy of scripted apologies being pasted over something that says we have a bigger problem. i think that discussing liberal echo chambers and what it means in your personal life to detoxify your friend circle versus what it means as people trying to build a better world for future generations choosing not to engage with people who hold disgusting and dehumanizing beliefs. 

Of course, not everyone is obligated to engage especially for mental health reasons. I don’t particularly seek racists or queerphobic people out, but I don’t refuse to engage with them if I have the faculties to speak up. However, I also don’t call those people friends until they smarten up. 

You legit read my mind that song is so Jason. 'I'm a reckless mistake' honestly I could write an essay about that song and Jason Todd

like literally the first time I heard it, I was like “I’m” jason “a” jason “reckless” JASON!!!!!!!1 “mistake” jason :’( but for every single verse etc ahaha