do you know what im afraid of? i’ve been thinking about this all day.
im afraid of being misery porn for westerners. (and other first-world countries). because whatever i create, the things that hit the best in terms of engagement and acclaim are all related to being ukrainian and my country being invaded and oppressed, and my identity as a ukrainian being marginalised.
one of my recent posts to pop off and escape containment was about my frustration of the lack of understanding of the ukrianian condition. out of like… four scripts and three short films, what gets the interest of producers the most is a script about a ukrianian immigrant living through the aftermath of the start of the full-scale war.
it’s not just me , either.
at a « ukrianian shorts » event two thirds of them were about the war. a series of theatre events in paris are all about it. photography exhibits show the fallout from the drones and the bombs, and faces of dead or imprisoned people. even the work that breaks stereotypes still somehow speaks about the same things.
i just don’t want to be reduced to a « poor sad ukrainian ». of course, i want the pain and trauma to be acknowledged, but it’s not all that i am, that we are. for one, i come from an incredibly privileged background (the capital city, high income parents with graduate degrees, one of the best public secondary schools, left ukraine straight out of high school instead of being forced to flee because of the war) so i can’t claim all the suffering.
for two, i am more than a sum of the « typical ukrianian hardship ». I have both personal issues and personal joys. i have mental health struggles, i hate dating apps, can’t stand some foods because of the texture, and despise doing the dishes. i like kdramas, obscure indie music, drinking wine outside, going dancing, the way the light turns blue for twenty minutes after the sun has set. i cook a few dishes well, wear too much blush and write porn on ao3.
i want to be seen as this person. i want my work about topics far away from my nationality and the war to be recognised. but i guess it’s supply and demand, and what everyone wants is the ethnicity-defined misery. i know so many talented ukrainians who speak of other things. the supply is there, but no one wants to « buy » it.
« you will be seen as the other and you will like it ».
I don’t have the solution to suddenly make ukrainian perspectives be seen as equal. this isn’t even something that happens that often interpersonally, and it is not exclusive to ukrianians, but applies to all marginalised groups and vulnerable communities.
it’s just something to consider when engaging with the cultural media zeitgeist. let’s make more occasions to use this meme.















