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livefordrama · 3 years

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Reviewing Dramas I Have Watched Part 6

It’s been a while; I haven’t been able to watch a lot between school and just life. Not to mention the time I do have is spent doing buddy watches of kdramas I have already seen with my friends and family (On teleparty of course.) Again, here is my rating system: 1- Did not like, 2- Enjoyed but probably wouldn’t watch again, 3- Enjoyed and would watch some episodes again (or for movies may watch again), 4- Enjoyed and would watch again, 5- Loved

Korean Drama

Melting Me Softly: 3/5

Melting Me Softly is about a guy and s girl who get cryogenically frozen for an experiment for what was meant to be only a day. Unfortunately, something happens, and the 24-hour experiment turns into 20 years. Now they have to deal with the changes of not only their family and friends but the world and society as a whole all while trying to uncover the darker secrets behind the experiments.

I gave this a 3 because while the earlier and later episodes were amazing and hilarious, the episodes in the middle of the season bored me. I am not much of a romance person unless it is either subtle or played out a specific way and the romance in this wasn’t my personal cup of tea so it just got boring for me. On its good episodes though, it was funny, sad, and cute. I really did like the dynamic between the two main characters and the romance is pretty good, just a little slower in the middle of the series. The relationships with the family members of the two were so cute and so sad, I loved the all the scenes where the mains got to interact with their families. I did feel awkward and weird about the second-lead, I’m not sure if he counts as a second lead but for lack of a better term that’s what I’m calling him. I love Choi Bo-Min as an actor, and it had nothing to do with his acting, just the whole situation was uncomfortable to me. That other guy who doesn’t even deserve to be the second-lead, if you watch it you know, the stalker one, I despise that man. Not once during the entire show did I like one of his scenes. That could be why I didn’t enjoy the middle scenes as much cause he found a way to worm his way into almost every scene and I would get so annoyed with him. This show does have its good points and bad points, so I would recommend it for those who like romance with a little bit of suspense and humor.

Welcome to Waikiki (season 1): 3/5

Welcome to Waikiki is about a group of friends who own and attempt to run a guesthouse together. When they find a baby left behind in one of their rooms, they have to find out how to take care of her and find her mother. This becomes even more complicated when the mother returns in tears saying she had no where else to go and didn’t want her baby to suffer. After hearing about her troubles, they decide to take the two in, in exchange for help working at the guesthouse. It follows the group and mother as they try to figure out how to take care of a baby, save their failing guesthouse, and achieve their own dreams, all while falling in love.

This show was hilarious, I watched it because everyone was talking about how funny it was and I agree. I especially love how it focused on all the characters instead of picking just one or two and focusing on them. I love when shows really work on all their characters and this show played it out so well. Not one was neglected and I didn’t feel like any of them were underdeveloped by the end, and Sol was super cute! I loved every single one of her scenes, she was so funny and sassy and I know she is just a baby but she is amazing. I watched some episodes on the tv and my sisters even made comments on how cute she was when they looked up at the TV, even though they didn’t watch it. I enjoyed the ending and how it all played out and tied together nicely.

It was a delight for the first two thirds of the season. However, yet again that romance hit and the humor kinda dissipated to be replaced by the romance for a good few episodes. While it was admittedly cute, and I adored the romance scenes in the last few episodes, most romance scenes gave me such second-hand embarrassment I had to pause the show for a while and gain the courage to restart it. I did enjoy it but would probably only ever rewatch the first two thirds and maybe the last two or so episodes. It reminds me of Love With Flaws in the second-hand embarrassment romance scenes, so if you enjoyed that show, definitely give this one a chance. If you like romance, humor, and can handle the second-hand embarrassment stuff I highly recommend this one! It’s super cute and hilarious!

Missing Nine: 5/5

Trigger Warning: Plane crash, Blood, Injuries, Suicide attempts, Murder

Missing Nine is about a girl who gets hired as a stylist for an arrogant and cold idol. On her first day, the plane they are all riding on to an event crashes on a vacant island. Only nine of them survive the crash and must now fight to survive and be found all while struggling with the betrayal of one of their friends who began to murder them one by one.

I really enjoyed this one, it was my perfect type of show; angst, suspense, subtle romance, crime, found family. The only issue I had with it was the unrealistic ending, I just don’t understand how it is possible and don’t know how I even personally feel about it. I am also probably one of the very few people who didn’t watch it for Chanyeol, don’t get me wrong I am an Exol too, but like really new Exol. You can skip this parenthesis if you want, it’s a kpop tangent. (I am a huge multistan. I love all the kpop groups I have listened to so far and have all the dalcomsoft games minus Gfriend even though I love them, cause I feel like it’s going to be a BTS superstar and get deleted so it’s not worth my time or efforts. Feel free to talk to me about any group and any member. If I don’t know them, I would be happy to find new ones so even if they are not well known or new, don’t feel worried about squealing to me about them, I would love to make kpop/kdrama loving friends.) I watched for Jung Kyung-ho and only when I started did I see Chanyeol which was cool to find. This also means POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT I wasn’t disappointed or biased after a certain episode like many of the people I saw raging in the Tvtime comments, not saying this in a bad way just stating that since I am neutral on certain events, I will be focusing on specifically the plot and how I felt about said plot versus how I feel about characters. SPOILER ALERT OVER

Overall I really loved this show, it was certainly an emotional roller coaster. I felt that it could have had a second season or a spin off to tie up that last little cliffhanger but I personally and satisfied with how the main issue wrapped up, other than that one weird ending scene. If you like angst, suspense, crime, and a little romance seen in an enemies to lover type of trope then I highly recommend this show. I gave it a 5 cause I personally loved it and am already planning on rewatching it with my friend. It does have a lot of blood and injuries so if you are sensitive to that, I wouldn’t recommend it to you.

Because this is my first life: 5/5

Trigger Warning: Sexual Assault, Attempted R@pe (but it didn’t get far at all, just be careful)

Because this is my first life is about a woman (Ji-ho) who has to find a new place to live as her brother is getting married and her parents gave the son the apartment that they had bought for both their children. Because of many misunderstandings and coincidences, she accidentally rents a new apartment with a very strict and stoic man (Se-hee). Due to more problems, the two come to an agreement that they should get married since they both can gain something from it. The woman gains a place to stay and the man gains a tenant to help pay the bills, no more, no less.

Okay, so while I said that I didn’t like romance this is the exception, much like Shopping King Louie, it was just a really cute slow burn that I thoroughly enjoyed watching. Many people in the fandom, on TV time at least, were giving Se-hee a hard time and saying he was using and manipulating Ji-ho but I didn’t see it that way. She consented and never voiced anything other than that and the deal was for her to stay in the apartment since she needed a place to live and he needed someone to help pay bills. He didn’t ask for anything more, she was already following his schedule before the marriage issue and was just fine and accepting when they decided to get married. Neither had any expectations of falling in love, they just both needed something that marriage would help them gain and both consented to it. Later on, Se-hee even asked her if any advances were okay and backed off when they weren’t with no questions asked which I find admirable. Okay, rant over. It was cute and at times annoying cause you just want them to get together already. I laughed so hard in so many episodes and cried in a few too. The cat was so adorable and I love the interactions the main’s had with the little fluff. The best, and sometimes most painful, bonding moments between the main’s were the ones that dealt with the cat. I wasn’t too fond of the love triangle but was pleased with how it actually played out with the two women actually accepting each others presence instead of being horrible to each other for the most part. Highly recommend it to any romance lovers, and especially to those who are fans of shows like Shopping King Louie as mentioned above.

Flower boy next door: 3/5

Trigger Warning: Stalking, Panic Attacks, Sensory overload, Bullying, Teacher Crushes and Manipulation of Such

Flower boy next door follows Dok-mi, a young woman with crippling social anxiety to the point she never leaves her apartment. From her window she watches her across the street male neighbor every day, taking note of his entire schedule. This all comes back to bite her when her neighbor’s brother comes to visit from Spain and catches her. What starts as an attempt to make her stop stalking her brother, quickly progresses into a mission to help her overcome her past, anxiety, and to get out of the house and adapt back to a healthy social life. As this mission goes on the two begins to realize they have feelings for each other, but Dok-mi’s own next-door neighbor has his own mission of getting her to stay inside and fall in love with him. He has been writing a web comic about her being a modern Rapunzel and has been in love with her for many years.

I enjoyed this one, I watched it cause the actor from Psychopath Diary starred in it and it was really cute. The romance was adorable, and the whole telepathy thing was a great addition that made me laugh. I love the whole adorable dork male with quiet cold girl trope so much. I didn’t like the whole stalking situation very much, it’s just kinda weird and was something that made me really uncomfortable during the first few episodes. I wasn’t a huge fan of the next-door neighbor, he just seemed like an enabler to me and I found myself angry through most of his scenes, as well as through most of Dok-mi’s childhood friend’s scenes. Other than those two characters, I enjoyed it well enough. I know some people can get annoyed by each characters flaws but I usually am good with morally grey characters as long as they learn from their mistakes. Some did in this show and there was a lot of character development and some didn’t which is realistic but makes me kind of sad. I recommend it to people who like a cute romance show with some angst and don’t mind morally grey characters.

Web-drama/Mini-series

Ghost Vros: 4/5

Trigger Warning: Suicide, Death, Some gore, Jump scares.

Ghost Vros follows two young men who are trying to start up a business where they hunt ghosts using virtual reality software. The main character is able to sense the ghost through his ears turning red and his friend programs the virtual realty to make sure the main has everything he needs to catch the ghosts.

I liked this one, it was fast like many web dramas are, but really interesting. I did attempt to translate it myself with my, admittedly little, Korean knowledge before finding the English subs (which you won’t be able to find now that Youtube has rudely removed community subs, unless it’s uploaded somewhere else. If someone finds it please let me know.) I was always engaged during the show and wasn’t bored at any point. It did have some confusing points and I wish we got more backstory as there was mentions of some interesting things that was never explored further, but it is a web drama, so that is more than likely too much to ask for. Recommend to anyone who enjoys a quick comedy ghost story.

Cats Taste and Cat Bartender: 5/5

Cat’s Taste and Cat Bartender follow three cat gods who run a bar at night to make money for their injured owner. At this bar, they give upset humans cocktails which enable them to either posses said human or go into a dream world, this isn’t really clear, and correct the issue in exchange for items the cats find interesting on top of the alcohol cost.

This show was so cute, I absolutely loved and couldn’t stop smiling. I got the first season, Cat’s Taste, on my youtube recommend and decided to watch it since I was bored. I am so glad I did, I got super excited when I saw that there is a second season as well and spent forever trying to hunt it down before a kind person on MyDramaList put a link to the English subs in a comment (if anyone needs it, I will be happy to send it.) Both seasons were amazing, and I am hoping for a season three as the ending looks like it might be set up for one. The way they showed the bartending moves was so pretty and satisfying and I liked how all three cats got to show their moves instead of just the one. I don’t like alcohol, have tried many kinds many times to but just don’t, however this show makes me want to drink the mixed drinks even though I know I would hate the taste.

Also, is it just me or does Ms. Hana remind anyone of Johnny from NCT? I don’t know if she looks like him or what, sometimes someone reminds me of someone else and the two look nothing alike. Don’t know what that’s all about but let me know because I could not shake the feeling that she reminded me of Mr. Johnny from Chicago. Anyway, tangent aside, I highly recommend to someone who like a quick but cute drama.

Korean Movies

Beautiful Vampire: 3/5

Beautiful Vampire is about a female vampire who tries to avoid people due to her nature, but has all that shattered when she runs into her landlady’s son one night and begins to fall in love.

This movie was pretty good, but a little confusing. I couldn’t even write a proper plot explanation cause I was just so confused. I honestly felt like a fever dream, though a relatively interesting fever dream. I wish we had more information and backstory cause it just kinda felt like a rollercoaster ride of pining. It ended okay; I mean I was bored at the time, so it was something to do. If I am bored in the future, I might watch it again. I agree with most on TvTime when they say, it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good, it was just something to do. I feel like the story line needed more work done and that it ended too fast and progressed in such a way that it was hard to follow. If you are bored or have nothing to do, give it a try, you might like it more than I did.

Chinese Drama

Take My Brother Away: 3/5

Trigger Warning: Alcohol Abuse

Take My Brother Away is based on a web comic about two siblings living with their alcoholic, debtor father in China, after their mom filed for a divorce and left. It follows the two as they go to school, work, and try to live a normal life. The sister hates her brother for being lazy and not being able to help her get what she wants, and the brother gets annoyed at the sister for always getting violent with him and nagging him.

I loved this one, it was really interesting to see the dynamic between the family. I felt that the brother should have been given more credit in the beginning for all he does for his sister and I felt really sorry for the sister because she just wanted to be like the other students who could afford to read web comics or go on trips. Some episodes were hilarious, some were heartbreaking, some were admittedly annoying, some gave me secondhand embarrassment. I just love it all, the only reason I give it a three is because I wouldn’t watch all 50 episodes again, I loved it but some were more on the boring side like filler episodes and I just, don’t think I’ll ever watch the whole series again. I can defiantly say however, I will probably watch most of the episodes again. I enjoyed the ending though it was admittedly on the strange side, and felt it was wrapped up nicely. There was a lot of character development too which is always great. I recommend this to those who enjoy some dysfunctional family humor and some angst and who are able to commit to long seasons.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

#kdrama #kdrama review #review #melting me softly #welcome to waikiki season 1 #welcome to waikiki #missing nine #because this is my first life #flower boy next door #ghost vros #ghost bros #cats taste #cat bartender #beautiful vampire #take my brother away #shopping king louie #nct #johnny suh

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transsexualhamlet · 3 years

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tg anime vs manga *sighs*

i have the power of hyperfixation and anime on my side! AAAAAAAA

Ok now that we’ve gotten the sins of re post out of the way we need to discuss this. And I just feel that this needs to be covered because I can’t ever get away from constant discourse on this, mostly fueled by manga readers who feel entitled to always think they’re superior for reading the manga, that the manga is the only real canon, that it’s more complex or better, I’m so fucking tired of it. I am also a manga reader, and I tend to get like that sometimes too with many series (for example no. 6 and the promised neverland.) I get it. It can be really annoying to see something butchered on screen to what the original is, changed or represented differently or given a different message or simplified. But just. Some people like the anime and it’s not a goddamn holy war for y’all to fight. It only makes anime fans not want to read the thing even more yknow cause manga readers are pretentious assholes, and I am aware of this as one of them.

(again ok i’d like to mention i know this fandom is basically dead but a certain p*nterest is always like 4 years behind on fandoms so i keep fucking running into Discourse that’s like, still current, whenever i want old random ass content) (and youtube, why do i look at youtube comments, because I personally enjoy being offended? yeah probably)

And that brings me to the point of this anime vs manga.

This is a lot harder to compare than a lot of other series, because there are just... so many more differences not just in the style and vibe but the story itself.

Disclaimer, I’ve never watched the anime for :re and i don’t intend to, because I honestly have no earthly clue how tf you can get from the highly diverged tokyo ghoul root A to re and make it make sense, and I don’t really want A ruined for me. So you can call me biased towards the manga in the case of re, i guess (which makes my eventual conclusion even more strong I’d say) Honestly I just see them as two completely different stories, the manga’s version connecting with re and A just like... ending there. So how we’re drawing the lines is basically tokyo ghoul A versus the manga and :re. God, I know this isn’t a fair fight because I already hate re so much, but I feel like the manga’s story is much more intertwined with :re than the anime’s is, so that’s what we’re going with.

oh god also another disclaimer this opinion is coming from the biggest fucking kanehide whore, you can disregard anything i say if you ship The Straights and/or do not care for my boi hide

To be honest, if I can take my own conclusions and liberties to the story, I like both versions, each have their pros and cons and kind of a conflicting message. They can’t really coexist. Usually I’d consume all versions and then create one consistent canon in my head for what I accept as the true events (for example my main owari no seraph, first season of the anime is canon but after that we only follow the manga since those can come together and make sense.) but it’s very hard to do that in tokyo ghoul, since I must confess... I really like root A. Like of course, it’s a lot different from the manga, but tbh I think it’s super valid. (unlike most Fans TM like this Fan TM who i’m sending this post to just to spite their singular Youtube Comment Section Discourse, yes I did write this post for you and many others like you) But the ideas that make up root A conflict a lot with the ones of the manga, so I just have to accept that they’re separate things and treat them as such.

Now to break it down so people can understand where I’m coming from I guess? God this is already so long here’s a read more

The Case for The Manga (including :re manga)

More Lore + Plot Shit: One of the main reasons that manga readers are pretentious little bitches is a valid reason, namely that, as is the case with most manga, there’s simply more to it than people can fit into an anime. (Although people need to understand that’s because,,, it’s simply a different medium, so it will have different pluses and minuses, such as for example a soundtrack, color, moving pictures,,, you know, all that. Anime onlys don’t say that the anime is better by stating these things that a manga won’t have... because they’re fucking obvious. So manga readers should stop acting like an anime is inherently sub-par for being less in depth, but we digress.) I can understand that reading the manga is kind of important for wanting to understand the lore (though there are like so many other reasons ppl might want to watch it other than to get the lore) and without the explanation of how all this came to be and how it works, everything tends to be really mysterious, confusing, and seemingly random. It’s really nice to know what’s all going on, of course, and stuff like the washuus, rize’s backstory, the explanation for like, kaneki in general, all that- if you’re looking for like, plot shit, manga is definitely your go to. But like, sometimes, you like, don’t actually care about those things.

Haise: Of course one of the most important things about well, including re is that I fucking love Haise. Like he is my favorite Kaneki. He’s just so wonderful, look at him in he glasses and he floofy hair and he striped pants and he energy boxers and he s p i c e and he MOM. And I really like how they took Kaneki’s character and developed it more with Haise, you can see his turnaround from innocent--> Emo--> Trying To Be Innocent Again But Failing and I think that’s really sweet tbh. I rejected that at first because I didn’t understand it but once I actually read re I thought it made a lot of sense and was a logical thing to do with his character. (though, uh, moving forward, after his hair changes again i disagree with it, haise 1.0 is a good take and i love him and i want the best for him) I could go on I’ve already written a post of what I think is wrong with :re so if you want to hear my take on kaneki’s 37 pokemon evolutions that’s in there

Good New Characters: And of course there are my favorite bitches such as quinx squad, oh my god, there was a terminal lack of dumbass squad vibes in the original and ishida fucking gave it to us, I love them, I love them with all my heart and I think that if I wasn’t attached to them I’d probably just cancel all of :re but like this is just my personal problem. God I love them. Ishida always pulls through with characters I’m now too attached to.

Vore Lmao:Ok like hear me out. I just get a laugh out of it every time the manga has to remind me of this little fucking fact. Like ok I just. Cannot get over it. It’s so serious about it too and like I realize it’s a serious deal but o h m y g o d

Ok and now that we’ve got that little rant over I do want to say that it is like actually really important past the “lmao that’s pretty gay” bit, like??? In some ways it’s more fitting than the anime because well, ishida’s point always seems to be “what would mentally and physically hurt kaneki the most right now” and does it because that’s who this bitch is. But it just?? Kind of makes a bit more sense for the storyline if we’re being picky here, it’s so,,, painfully on point? Like the entire reason he gave in to Being A Ghoul and all was so he could save his friends and shit (i actually do not remember if this was a thing in the manga but like? when he was being tortured and he like imagined hide being really mad at him and getting killed by jason and shit?) LIKE AND THEN HE GOES AND HAS TO BASICALLY BE THE PERPETRATOR OF THAT HIMSELF, FUCK, it’s a lose/lose situation of “don’t do the bad thing and watch your friends suffer” or “do the bad thing and watch your friends suffer but like, later” ishida please

The meaning of Hide being alive: Ok this is just me crying over chapter 75 still but like. Instead of in the anime, where hide’s point seems to be that instead of letting kaneki sacrifice anything more he’d be the one to give his life up and such, and save kaneki, in the anime tbh he just really wanted to be with kaneki right then?? and like ouch but understanding that in the manga he wasn’t just planning on dying and leaving kaneki to deal with it afterward he wanted to go on and continue to try to help the guy no matter the shit he had to go through, no matter if the dude just like forgot that he existed for two years and all- LIKE UH CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW HIDE DOESN’T EVEN EXPECT ANY APOLOGY? like kaneki’s like “OH MY GOD I’M SUCH A TERRIBLE PERSON” and hide’s like lmao nah it’s cool i’m thriving- that his big motto was “live” rather than “peace out motherfuckers it’s been fun”. Cause. Fucking. Ishida. Can’t kill off characters well but like at least he made keeping this one alive justified.

The D e t a i l s: Ok well I feel like this is something everyone knows but the anime is missing a lot of really,,, crunchy details that the manga throws in there, like, well, kaneki’s fucking,,, bones thing, and other assorted details, g o d like those are missable if you want to never understand half the memes but also like,,, sometimes you just gotta read that shit. It also like, makes more sense when you do but sometimes it’s just stupid things that aren’t important but are fucking hilarious.

The Flavor: In general I’d say the greatest difference between the anime and the manga is the general flavor of the thing, the vibe in the manga is a lot, to be frank, darker and grosser and bloodier than the anime, which is a lot more focused on being pretty and Tragic than “HOLY SHIT WTF” but like. That’s valid. With that comes it being a lot more, real, and although the art may not be as polished as the anime’s, sometimes that’s exactly what you need, and the really gritty sketchy shit that’s in the manga sometimes is exactly what it’s supposed to be for the manga. (in the anime, i’d say that the colored and polished style fits it better, so we’re good there.) It’s a lot more real, in the manga, when the anime hesitates to “go there” a lot (and well, sometimes that’s welcome, but sometimes it’s like y o u g u y s c o m e o n r e a l l y maybe i DID want to see that did you ever think of that)

So like, to sum it up i’d just like to say it’s more detailed, sharper and darker and is simply So Much. There is just More Content

The Case for Root A

ON THE OTHER HAND, (buckle up fuckers)

Depth of Emotion (that Ishida was too much of a pissbaby for): God like you know what I mean if you read the last post, we spent a whole episode on these gay fucks in root A, with backstory and dreams and drawn out suspense and emotion and GUYS LOOK AT THEM NO REALLY OH MY GOD YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND HOW IMPORTANT THIS IS whereas hide’s limelight in the manga is a whole... two pages, oh whoopee, and that’s mostly due to the fact of ishida putting himself in a spot of “oh fuck goddamn if i drew that in i’d get flagged for gay porn” but that’s his own fault, so he downplays the whole scene and really keeps it in the dark, whereas in this anime it’s understandably a lot less,,, like that, but how it plays out here is simply... really nice and makes you cry and shit, whereas in the manga I’d go “oh god oh damn oh fuck” *laughs my ass off because i really can’t take this seriously*. You get just... more here.

To elaborate on this, in the anime, as a gay fucking bastard, I can get practically an endless amount of content from episode twelve, and endlessly stew over all Those Things about it, every hard hitting line, the expressions, the music making it even sadder, the ways the VAs say the words, the cinematic beauty of the blood dripping on the floor and like how it’s supposed to make you think it’s kaneki’s, GOD I COULD FUCKING GO ON, but if we want to get that in the manga...

we get three incredibly basic lines, a blackout, and then a “QUICK LET’S MOVE ON TO SOMETHING ELSE BEFORE ANYONE NOTICES THE IMPLICATIONS OF THAT HAHA”

So if we want to have more, we need to write it. (sadly) None of it is ever played out canonically so like,,, all we can do is infer and make shit up. It’s like, I am a writer so like that’s my whole job but I really would rather have more content, and have the content that’s there get to be emotional instead of *blank face* “this is plot that is happening, sadly” but like maybe it’s just bc i’m gay

Really Fucking Beautiful (aesthetically as well as story-wise): This kind of just goes hand in hand with the depth of emotion bit, and I think it can’t really compared to the manga here because I’m gay so I see pretty colors and cry so the anime is understandably appealing for me, but I’m also talking emotionally, yeah. There’s a lot of plotlines and implications of the story that are really well played out, I always love to watch the original because it does a very good job handling a lot of the harder topics and stuff that makes the whole thing worthwhile- like the whole point you’re supposed to see that the ghouls and humans are both just as monstrous when you break it down, that there are good and bad people on both sides, everyone just wants to live and feel good in their own life and perspective, everyone has reasons that justify their behaviour in their mind, sometimes you just can’t win no matter what, all that... they’re all really important messages and make the whole story, and they were handled much more delicately and with more expertise in the anime.

It’s hard to pin down, but I feel like the manga was just based more on Fight Scenes Characters OoH Fake Science and kind of just gave kaneki infinite power ups after Trying Harder no offense, obviously those things were there and they were still very good in the manga it’s just sometimes they were cheapened a lot by ishida really not keeping track of what he’s trying to say with his story and sacrificing it a lot for “BUT WHAT IF KANEKI’S HAIR AND IDEALS CHANGED AGAIN” instead of making it a whole cohesive work. (and yes, I am VERY aware of your “well aCtuAlLy the hair represents his sanity” thing i know i know and i’m about to rip it to fucking shreds so)

Understandable Character Development And Staying True To It: Which brings me to this point, character development. This was another thing that was just... handled with more expertise in the anime, whoever was in charge of it. Mostly this has to do with Kaneki, since like, no offense but he’s the only one who ever gets much character development other than like, juuzou (asmr you only get character development if your hair color changes) oh and i guess there’s tsukiyama but he’s someone who shouldn’t have gotten character development. Touka gets character development only before re for some reason, and like tbh that’s kind of it. I do think Juuzou’s character development was valid, because well... it made sense? I complained about it before because I was like “well he just turns into spicy L” but i’ve since changed my opinion, he’s best boy. But Kaneki? They went way overboard with him in the manga, and generally? Calm tf down ishida.

Breaking it down, one of the main things that most of the tried and true manga stans seem to hate about the anime the most is Kaneki going over to Aogiri in root A. Since they’re much more acclimated to the manga, they don’t understand why he would do that (quoting a particular ‘probably made sense in the manga!’ yes i know that whole thing was poking fun at the show and i felt it lmao) and they just pin it to “ahaha he has now become Edgy for the fans ehehe time to make fun of him” and TO BE FAIR YOU’D BE COMPLETELY RIGHT. I love to make fun of Kaneki when he does his edgy bitch thing because that’s what he is. A basic edgy bitch who is just,,, such a main character. But like. He does actually have his reasons despite popular opinion and to be honest I think they’re a bit more valid than in the manga, where he’s just like “well I’ve been tortured, that was not pleasant and i kinda did a bad thing, let’s go back to anteiku but i’m just gonna Try Harder To Fight this time”. I can understand that, but like, it seems like in the manga every Character Development of kaneki is some form of “i will now be stronger” except for the singular “I will now be a different person” which, well, we’ll get to that.

In the anime though, even if it seems like more of a basic edgy bitch move, it’s like?? It makes perfect sense to me, and to be honest more than the manga does? Obviously he doesn’t wanna be best bros with Aogiri, he realizes they’re all bad people who have done really terrible things, but the fact is he now sees himself as the same thing, he now understands their motives because in his mind he is also now Bad TM. His whole character development of being tortured was that peace wasn’t an option no matter how much he wanted it, he couldn’t live being a pacifist and the world was forcing him to give the “i am the only one that understands! we need to stop fighting!” bullshit up because there was no way to achieve it. He realized if he kept himself the way he was more people he loved would be hurt like they already had because he couldn’t, so he doesn’t just Decide To Become Stronger, he gives up his humanity. And that includes basically letting himself defend his own actions and try to do “the right thing”.

Him then joining aogiri makes sense because well. They’re the people who are the strongest, who have the power, who are the same as he sees himself. He still wants to protect the people he loves, he just also realizes he can’t do it by working with them since he now understands that their more peaceful ways will by definition get them fucking killed. His understanding is flawed, of course. He’s not really right. But this is his understanding and from that it makes perfect sense for him to join up with aogiri and try to still do as much as possible from that standpoint, realizing that most likely the people he’s trying to protect will hate him for it. I think that makes sense to me, what do you not understand about it? (I also understand that may make some people mad because he’d Doing Bad Things but I point to you he’s so soft, remember when he was really nice to naki when he was literally the one who killed the guy naki was crying about? remember when he was doing a raid and he saw that guy hiding and he never mentioned it? remember like the seventy times he Cried TM, yeah he’s problematic obviously but if you want problematic I’ll point you to a certain fucking black reaper. Shironeki has nothing on that asshole.)

I think what Kaneki did in the manga was fine, but in general the anime (again) had more depth of understanding and emotion versus a steady Try Harder Get Stronger shonen deal, which, well, fair, but like, nah. Continuing why I think the anime dealt it better is the ending of A, which was a lot more well rounded then *kaneki gets stabbed and then there’s a lot of random plot shit going on in the background*. Here Kaneki then got to round out the end of his character development by realizing slowly through the second half of this season, him becoming a kakuja and then basically deciding like, not to

((kakuja kaneki was dealt with again different in the anime and manga because he basically stopped trying to use it in the anime bc he realized it was a bad fucking idea but this goes along with the ‘his character development of “i’m gonna do bad things for good reasons” --> “actually no wait that was a bad idea” was actually done in root A instead of being dragged out into :re and it’s appropriate for its own medium and the messages it’s trying to get across so manga loyalists hate it’ but we digress))

So in root A we got to see him actually develop and realize himself through the second half of the season starting with cochlea, his interactions with Amon, and ultimately through Hide, that he’d been doing the wrong thing by becoming more monstrous/fighting harder because what he did was ended up forgetting the most important thing, *smiles in gay* HIDE.(well, his humanity. yeah. i cite the terrible opening for root A with the fun ‘the hands taking off kaneki’s mask are hide’s’ bit.) He then remembered again why he wanted so bad to stop the war between humans and ghouls, he wanted to be able to live in peace and not have to be a monster- something that was not dealt with in the manga (though for understandable reasons of We Need To Fuck With Him In Re More, they then didn’t deliver on creating something like that later so I take this.)

That’s most of the difference between the original manga and anime, but I’d also like to discuss (briefly, I’ve already yelled about them) the ridiculous amount of hurdles ishida went through to fuck with kaneki in the manga, Of course there is the fact that well, the slower transition of his character does make some more sense for the manga because if you take :re into consideration, his eight billion character changes are more tolerable when they haven’t like, already happened before in the manga (just the anime). It makes more sense there for Haise to be tormented by past kaneki telling him He’s Too Weak because in the manga he hasn’t already had that development prior to “dying”, and he lost his memories still believing he had to be strong even if he did bad things, whereas in the anime it doesn’t track because at the end like i just said he kind of gives up his ghoulhood on purpose because he realizes that joining aogiri and fighting and shit was really wrong because, hide. So I can see why those character decisions were not made in the original when planning for :re, but... the fact remains that those previous decisions do not make up for how absolutely weak :re’s game ended up being with kaneki.

So tldr this entire section, All the manga’s defense of how they handled Kaneki’s development is basically void because all those choices were buildup for development in :re which ishida then COMPLETELY fell down on. So the alternative is better.

And now comes my yelling about how exactly Ishida fucked it up: hair colors and kaneki’s 80 kanekis. If black is supposed to represent sane and white is supposed to represent insane or, whatever, i dunno, who tf thought black reaper kaneki was sane? Who tf would think kaneki in the end isn’t? I haven’t looked into this really, and I’d really love it if someone explained it to me the way ishida was going for bc I do not understand it. Like that tracks with Juuzou, and with Kaneki up to Haise Original, but they don’t really make a cohesive sense seeing as after Haise’s hair color changed again that whole deal kind of goes to shit. Not to mention... I just... they completely failed to make those character changes actually part of the story, I’m mostly complaining about black reaper haise, none of him makes any sense. What’s his deal? He wants to protect who he loves? Tracks with the ghouls but fun fact he abandoned his kids? He actually cared for them? What then, he wants to be the strongest as possible? Sure but then?? Why?? I don’t understand his motives at all.

We also didn’t get to see him get his memories back either, which I was actually very much looking forward to, it just,,, like all of a sudden he’s talking with eto about yoshimura and i’m like bruh when tf did that happen? It’s bad, and although chapter 74-76 is super valid, and his change back into white hair kaneki makes sense, I also have the complaint about how haise basically disappeared just like he was worried he would. I think that was bad and I’ve said that already, it doesn’t make sense, he just literally throws those entire two years away to go back to the way he was before he was with the CCG and just forgets everything he’s wanted for the last few years? Fiction logic test fucking failed, and you’ve also broken my heart. Love Haise. You got rid of him. I love kaneki too but like. Why don’t they just. Like. Merge. He is one whole complex person, not one and an imposter, god.

This is a big negative for re and the manga, so automatically a positive for root A where I simply Do Not Have To Deal With That Bullshit and the character development actually makes sense. I can understand the decisions in the original manga could have set up for good development in :re, but they completely failed to deliver.

root a didn’t fast forward to re at the end god damn let us process this shit first before you try to connect it to something else: The thing with this point is that it’s really difficult to separate the original manga from the continuing story in :re because the thing intertwines so much and immediately moves us forward with a ton of plot points for the next part of the story before we’re done with this climax and the end of this story. Sometimes that’s ok and I can see doing that from an author’s perspective because you want people to continue reading your story instead of taking that as the end but it’s really annoying on a reader’s end, because I’m picky and I want to be able to just be able to enjoy my original canon without it like, metaphorically touching :re on a plate. It’s something that I don’t even do with my own longer stories, like for example I have like a trilogy of >100k fics that like, well i’m technically not done with them but like.

People really like the first one because it’s more focused on a more popular ship and basic elements people like about the thing, and then by the second book it moves on to talk more about the plot and lore and brings in more secondary characters. And so I knew that a lot of the readers of the first one wouldn’t want to have to deal with a lot of the “oh well stuff is happening elsewhere that will effect stuff later!!!” random plot shit that none of my readers actually cared about. So I kept it to wrapping up the points of the first book and then leaving the introduction of new characters and plot for the people who actually wanted to read it. Ishida didn’t do that, and of course it’s within his right to like?? Want to promote the next series but I’d have enjoyed it more if we ended it at kaneki’s “death” and wrapping up the deals with the rest of the characters instead of quickly shoving in the beginning of seventy more plotlines before the book ends. Like honey I simply do not have the reading comprehension for that. In the anime we get something that... makes sense.

In the anime, however, it’s quite the opposite, for example the reveals like Eto=owl=takatsuki sen were pushed before that and they saved episode twelve for, well, the end bit. Like what was actually the ending. There were detriments to this I had to say (LIKE GUYS I GET IT HE’S CARRYING HIDE HE’S CARRYING HIM I GET IT YOU’VE BEEN DOING IT FOR HALF THE EPISODE NOW OK I UNDERSTAND CAN WE MOVE ON) But like, I prefer the concept of a simple idea with as much emotion squeezed out of it as possible to a ton of confusing and contradicting ideas that are touched on for a second before moving on. So the *cries for half an hour* ending was much more appealing to me, and I can keep that separate in my head from any of the ideas that :re creates, letting me pretend it doesnt exist and imagine that’s the end and there’s nothing else to worry about. If we want to move forward and hear more, then we can, but it isn’t necessary like it is with the manga.

No Bad Takes that are hard to pry apart from good plot and characters:This is basically the downsides of the new characters, which is well, if I had to make a whole ~keep reading~ post about how problematic everything in re was that does have to count as a downside. I love the new characters, but they also come intertwined with a thousand really bad takes on like, everything, and of course I can ignore it and just act as though they were written in like, to be perfectly honest, a non transphobic way, it’s a real downside when the original anime was pretty pain-free in the way of their takes on their characters. They fucked everyone up in re and I will not elaborate, we’ve talked about this, it’s just the anime, and which i mean season 1 and root A, don’t really have any bad takes I need to try to get rid of, it’s surprisingly something I have little complaint about at all and I ALWAYS have complaints.

Hide!!!!: Obviously, you can tell that a lot of my opinions are going to be hide based because he’s the only thing I ever think about. But we have to take into account just how... hide???? This goes a lot into the depth of emotion bit but it also offers the other side of the argument for Hide’s part in the :re manga, which well. Was mostly chapter 75 if we’re going to be perfectly honest here. He doesn’t get any other limelight. Even in the chapter where Kaneki meets him again he gets a whole what, three pages? In the manga, he has an extremely valid deal about basically, living, keeping going no matter what, and that is a fitting part for the manga, considering the rest of the points there ride more on Keep Fighting instead of Think About Your Emotions And Morals, but honestly chapter 75 was really valid. So why do I still think the anime’s version where he like (ok I don’t know about the re anime we’ve discussed this, i don’t even know how they choose to explain that) he like, dies in kaneki’s arms is better overall? Again, I would have totally accepted that deal if it was made a part of the story because it made me cry, it was super valid, and if they’d continued in that way I would have agreed with it completely over that. But the fact is again that they failed to deliver, and Hide got largely ignored, suffered so much with so little outcome. There was so much buildup and it was incredibly valid, but when the time came for them to meet again and basically show... why it was important that Hide lived in the end?

They didn’t. They straight up didn’t. Kaneki’s like “oh sorry bro... glad you’re alive and all...” *goes off and fights* and like? Honestly? @everlastingspiral is right, if that’s all they’re gonna do with him what’s the point of keeping him alive? I love every single panel of him and I wouldn’t have read re if he didn’t, but hide gets absolutely NO payoff. For letting kaneki literally vore his entire mouth off, leaving him disfigured and unable to talk, then kind of disappearing for two years and doing seemingly nothing but trying to help kaneki even though he’d forgotten the guy existed, risks his life like a thousand fucking times, eventually gets back to him and the dude’s running a fucking anti-human organization, helps him like Not Be A Volitile Pile Of Flesh Anymore and then what should have been a very important moment of them meeting again gets completely overshadowed by touka and random plot shit and more fights and they barely interact, they don’t even hug or anything, they barely talk, and at the end hide is still there but to be honest he’s gotten absolutely no thanks for all he did and ishida acts at the end as though he’s done very well with hide and gives him a tiny bit at the end throwing in a tragic backstory for fun (which hot take he really didn’t fucking need on top of it all) and... there’s no real hint that Kaneki is better off with Hide there, even though there should be. In 75, in his dream, kaneki is sobbing and crying and all like i’m so lonely without you but when they actually meet each other again? “yo” “hey” “uh sorry about,,, the thing,,, you know” “nah man it’s ok” “let me talk about myself for a bit” “yes you always do do you want to hear what I’ve been up to” “not really” “that’s fine i’m only here to support you”

...So you can understand why I’ve gone a bit sour on that. If that’s all you’re going to give him? Hot take? Let him die. Hide deserves better. (and i will deliver that in writing, but for the purposes of canon.)

In the anime, however (not counting re again... although he still gets the short end of the stick just in the original manga too compared to the anime) he’s properly dealt with! he gets his proper limelight and he gets acknowledged for what he’s done thusfar in the story, which is already so much. Kaneki then realizes that, but it’s already too late (or it isn’t, and they like negotiate with the ccg and then they get to live happily ever after) either way he gets appreciated and he gets hurt, but it’s properly acknowledged. And after all that, after saving kaneki and getting him to the cafe and doing it all while bleeding the fuck out, he gets to spend that time with kaneki and die in kaneki’s arms. And frankly? That’s all I think he’s ever needed. It’s really poetic and pretty and brings kaneki’s character around full circle, and even if it’s overly sappy, cliche, drawn out... he gets the attention he’s due and he gets a fucking break. He wanted to show Kaneki he wanted to do something for him and save him instead of the other way around, but then HE GOT ACKNOWLEDGED FOR THAT, instead of just well, tirelessly working towards it forever and having to be content to be a background character with practically no value to Kaneki anymore.

Keeps The Same Vibe: The big thing about this is that with the manga and with re, shit just goes all over the place, and I feel like I’ve amply showed that already through this essay or whatever this is. Again about the consistency and the professionalism, It’s a concise story that makes more sense than the manga while also being simply neater and more deep, making sure all the points, themes and messages work together and make sense to create a cohesive deal even if it’s not as long. (the manga is like ishida had a TON of good ideas for an essay but then fleshed out the thing ten minutes before deadline and managed to completely lose what his original thesis was even if the thing was 10 pages long.) Basically. yeah. That kind of sums it up, my last point concerns the ending.

Not Cheap Ending: If you want to hear my take about how absolutely terrible re’s ending was, check out my The Many Sins Of Tokyo Ghoul :Re post, and we’ve discussed how the original’s manga ending was bad and well not really an ending, it just leaves you unfulfilled and takes you into “well I guess I have to start a whole nother sequel series ig...” but root A like? Actually ends it? If a reader didn’t know that there was any content after that, they could pretty much infer that hide’s death or almost death whatever you inferred out of that ending (again we’re ignoring re) allowed Kaneki to finish his character development and realize they needed to stop the war, which basically tracks with what’s going on in everyone else’s perspective- eto’s problem with the world because of what happened with everything, is basically like, all of aogiri, juuzou and shinohara, amon and akira and kaneki and they can realize all they have to do is just sit down and fucking stop it because none of them want to be fighting, hide is the catalyst for that because the CCG can see how Kaneki cares for him? And it’s so open ended that you could just like literally believe that and there’d be no way for that canon to tell you otherwise, or you could go onto re and whatever if you wanted to. I think that’s the best thing.

In conclusion, both have valid points, and in general I’d say that the manga goes better with :re and the anime is better as a stand alone but if I had to choose overall, this particular anime is better (taking into account only seasons 1 and 2), for mostly the reasons of favoring a simpler story taken with much more care and depth versus a more complex story with many, MANY imperfect elements, and I am aware I will get shot on sight for this opinion. So sue me.

#tokyo ghoul #hideyoshi nagachika #kaneki ken #tokyo ghoul :re #essay post #god i've been writing this for so fucking long #but i'm right #y'all fuckers asked for a fight? you're getting a fight #rowan's hyperfixation essays

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hubblebubblehub · 4 years

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wtf is up with that damn anti-soowon translator. please please please can't they just keep their opinions to themselves for once??? i can't take it yeessh

Bruh FOR REAL. Like I'm super grateful that they're giving us basically free scanlation and translation, but I don't understand why they feel the need to insert their opinions, especially when they're so biased and quite honestly, lowkey arrogant and borderline obnoxious.

exhibit a

exhibit b

and many more!

even the commentary that doesn’t exude their burning hatred for Soo-Won, or their frustration that the plot isn’t going as pro-HHB as they expected is still lowkey obnoxious... like you’re not being the comedic, thought-provoking commentator you think you are bruh

Their struggle and their notes on translation are hilarious though. It really does show this is just a hobby for them.

Even if I did agree with their opinions (and some I do), it's still annoying to have commentary, not scanlation notes on the side of the panels. It's also ... lowkey spineless to a certain extent even because they know they can put their opinion here and nobody can directly debate with them. They're literally putting their opinion in the scanlations so that it can remain uncontested, (since the comment section doesn’t mean that they’ll see it as their scanlations can also be uploaded to different sites, and they may not even participate in the comment section of their primary publishing anyway) and also to convince readers that their perspective is how the readership should view the story- and its seems like they're trying to tell the readers that anyone who even dares to contest Yona & the gang as well as support Soowon and his compatriots in any way shape or form is WRONG.

I think what really takes the cake is when they openly insult/call out an entire group of the fandom that might hold a perspective different to their own, such as these wonderful little notes:

The t/ns I listed beforehand were already quite annoying, but this is just...sad. The translator knows that the people they’re targeting can’t even try to offer a different perspective or defend themselves through these notes, as I mentioned beforehand it’s highly unlikely this translator and their team will actually engage with them in the comment section and is antagonising them to the readers. I too, wonder what their problem is.

I don’t think we’ll see them change their behaviour anytime soon. I mean look at their scanlation end page of 185:

This is a hobby for them after all, so I understand if they don’t want to do pristine translation because they’re not getting paid for it, but inserting biased commentary knowing you can get away with it with no direct discourse to yourself is just detrimental to your own pride as a decent person. If by some miracle this translator or a member of their team chances upon this point, I’mma just say this - Just go on reddit or literally any other platform (like this one lmfao) to talk about your opinions of the series!!

also all of the t/n examples I’ve used? Take from after 185 to around 197. This isn’t even all of them for the span of 10+ chapters.

#akatsuki no yona #akatsuki no yona manga #manga scanlation #rant #thoughts on scanlators #yona translator #akayona #akayona manga

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thatonekawaiigirl13 · 5 years

Text

Who Said Death Was Easy? [Death Note] Chapter Forty Two

Chapter Forty-two: Makeshift

Keiko’s POV:

“Just think, if I hadn’t snuck in, we wouldn’t have gotten this far yet,” Matsuda boasted as he inspected the scene displaying Yotsuba’s weekly meeting. “Things appear to be moving along rather smoothly, if I do say so myself.”

“Anyway,” L said, pointedly ignoring Matsuda’s comment, “it appears one of these people must be Kira.”

“Well, then,” the man Keiko recognized as Kyosuke Higuchi started. “Now that everyone is here, let’s commence the meeting.”

That’s him, the one who hit on me...while I know his disgusting behavior alone isn’t enough to suspect him in particular of being Kira, it certainly is enough to get me to keep a watchful eye on him. He also seems to be selfish enough to be Kira...however, there’s also the other executives to be watchful of...but wait...there’s an empty seat...which means….

“But…there’s supposed to be eight of them, correct?” Soichiro Yagami’s eyes narrowed as he studied the monitor, “why are there only seven?”

Keiko watched as the detective glanced over at Light’s father. A chill ran down her spine as he said the exact words she had been thinking.

“Kira probably killed one of them.”

“Who should we kill next to keep continuing the growth of Yotsuba Group?” on screen, Higuchi’s eyes scanned the room, waiting for responses.

“You see?!” Matsuda jumped out of his seat, “it’s just like I told you! I was right!”

The eldest in the room, Takeshi Ooi, waved a finger in the air. “Hm…I think, before we get to that, we should discuss a couple other topics. For starters, Hatori’s death.”

“He had it coming,” Shimura commented.

The executive with long dark hair, Reiji, cleared his throat, “I agree. To be honest, I’m relieved that he’s dead. Through his death, Kira has shown that he will punish those that aren’t serious about these meetings. He will not tolerate any weak links or disloyal members.”

“Yes,” Takeshi replied. He rubbed his chin. “I think we all know what Hatori’s death means...take that to heart, everyone. Now, onto the next order of business...Eraldo Coil’s report. I’ve handed out copies for each of you to read through…”

“Five million yen? For this report?” Higuchi flipped through the papers, “we don’t have anything about L’s name or face…”

Hmm...so Higuchi was the first one to comment on that, huh?

Reiji flipped to the last page, “hmm, wait, that might be true but down here, Coil warns us about the pace of our killing, saying that is we continue with our current pattern, L might catch on to us.”

“That’s impressive…Coil’s figured out what we’re doing,” Mido sighed. “At any rate, I personally feel that we should stop killing every weekend.”

Matsuda’s eyes widened as the conversation about killing continued on, “wow…this is unbelievable, it’s like they’re confessing!”

Keiko let out a deep breath, one that she wasn’t even aware she had been holding. She felt absolutely disgusted at how casually they were discussing murder.

That’s just sick! One of their business partners was killed because of Kira and they just move on like it’s nothing! They even said he deserved it! And that comment about L’s name and face....they’ll stop at nothing to find the man that’s been hunting them. L might be safe for the moment, but there’s no telling what’ll happen in the future...I wouldn’t want to live in a world without him. If anything, hearing this just proves to me that the world needs L. The world needs justice, not Kira. Not a murderer.

On screen, the topic soon switched from Coil’s report to who they should decide to kill next.

“...and Zenzai suffers from high blood pressure, therefore, if he had a stroke and died of natural causes, it shouldn't be too suspicious. Are there any objections?”

The entire room was in agreement. “No objections.”

“Damn,” Light muttered. He turned to face the rest of the Task Force, “so it’s just as we thought, Kira really can control all the aspects of one’s death.”

“No,” L’s voice was loud and firm. “Unfortunately, we can only that after those people they’ve named have died. As long as we continue to monitor what these seven say at their meetings, their actions, and whether the people they name due, we’ll definitely catch Kira.”

W-what in the world is he saying?! Keiko looked over at the detective in confusion, he can’t seriously be okay with this, can he? We can’t let any more innocent people get killed, not if we have the power to stop it now!

“Ryuzaki-san!” Light exclaimed, both shock and anger crossing his face.

L, however, was completely calm, stirring his coffee cup that was filled with way too much sugar, “yes? What is it?”

“I can’t go along with this! It’s wrong!”

“Oh, boy, here it comes…” Keiko heard the detective mutter.

‘Here it comes’...? Wait…so does this mean he was expecting this to be Light’s reaction? Is this some sort of test? ...I’d sure hope so, and anyway, this doesn’t sound like L at all. At least not the L I’ve gotten to know…I know we’re in a difficult position here, but also I’m certain L doesn’t want any more innocent people to die, either.

Light continued on, “you seem to be planning on catching Kira by allowing these seven to continue to kill, but I can’t let you do that!”

“That’s right!” Light’s father stepped forward, “it’s apparent that these seven are committing murder. Can’t we prove it’s them by Matsuda’s testimony and this footage?”

The detective played with a sugar cube, “hmm…if we caught them now, everything we’ve done up until now will go to waste. We wouldn’t be able to learn any sort of new information regarding Kira...”

“Light,” the chief looked over at his son, “you have the cell phone numbers of each of those seven members right?”

Light nodded. “Yeah.”

“Give me a number of one of the executives...it doesn't matter which one, any one of them will do,” Soichiro grabbed the list of phone numbers from Light, “I’m going to call one of them and stop the killing!”

L swiveled around in his chair. A hardened look was on his face, “look, if you do that only three days after Aiber’s made contact with them, we’ll arouse their suspicion. They’ll know that our investigation is catching up to them. Also, if you do this, it’s highly unlikely that we’ll be able to figure out who Kira specifically is. We came this far, I’d hate to have to start at the beginning all over again...in order to catch Kira, we need solid proof.”

We might need proof...but do we really have to wait until Kira kills once more to have solid evidence?

“There has to be another way,” Keiko said softly, running a hand through her hair. She studied the men in the room one by one. “We just have to find it.”

I know that there’s a chance neither of them is Kira, but for some reason...I keep on getting the feeling that Kira is among them, her gaze stopped on Higuchi a moment and she shivered, thinking about how he had made a move on her before. He gives me a bad feeling, but I could be biased...there’s also Suguru, he seemed rather antsy to leave after Matsuda’s fall...either way, I think one of them has to be Kira.

Keiko narrowed her eyes, still staring at the men in front of her, “Ryuzaki-san...I know you’re dead set on finding Kira...if Kira is among those seven, that means there’s a one in seven chance each person could be Kira...or, if there’s two Kira’s, a two in seven chance…if Light-kun or his father were to call one of them, there’d be a one or two in seven chance they’d be contacting Kira. Talking to Kira at this point wouldn’t do us any good. If they’re determined to contact one of the members, it should be the one least likely to be Kira. Perhaps some sort of deal can be worked out...”

“Well, she’s right...and I’m willing to risk it on those odds,” Light announced. He took the burner phone sitting in front of L, “I have something in mind...Ryuzaki-san, I hope you don’t mind, but I’m going to borrow your name for a moment. Based on this conversation, and what we observed while saving Matsuda-san, the one who is least likely to be Kira who carries some weight is Reiji Namikawa.”

“By all means,” L said after a long moment, ��if that’s what you want to do so badly, then do it.”

“Thank you, Ryuzaki-san,” Light said. He dialled Namikawa’s number.

Keiko watched as the businessman went fishing in his pockets for his cell phone, “hello?”

“You’re Reiji Namikawa, the vice president of Yotsuba Group’s Sales Department, aren’t you?”

“Yes. And who is this?”

“Listen carefully,” Light started, “and don’t draw attention to yourself. I am L.”

At this, Keiko noticed Namikawa slightly shifting in his seat, so he’s afraid, hm? Is he afraid because he’s Kira or because he doesn’t want Kira to kill him next?

“I have cameras and wiretaps planted in that meeting room. Even as I speak, I’m recording footage of your entire meeting. The opening topic was Hatori’s death. Then you discussed Coil’s report, and now you’re debating who to kill. If you are not Kira, or if you aren’t someone who can directly contact Kira, then let’s make a deal. I need you to delay the death of Zenzai-san by one month. I doubt it will be difficult for someone of your standing.”

“Yes, I see…right, go on,” Namikawa said into the phone.

“If you do this and cooperate with me, then your crimes-no, not just yours, but everyone’s crimes, other than Kira, will not be charged under the belief that they were threatened by Kira to participate in these meetings. Everyone aside from Kira will be pardoned. If you tell the others about this call, they will panic. There would be no advantage for you, and everyone would be arrested immediately. However, that’s not my intention, I want to go one-on-one against Kira. listen, if I win against Kira, you will be acquitted of all charges. If Kira wins, then you can just carry on like nothing happened. Either way, you remain as a spectator, it’s no loss to you. The only loss would be if I decided to have you arrested right here and right now. That’s all for now...”

“Right, I’ll see you on Monday,” Namikawa said. He dropped his cell phone back into his pocket, keeping a neutral expression on his face, “sorry for the interruption...a subordinate of mine messed up an order. I’ll have to fix it on Monday, what a pain...anyway, let’s get back on topic. We were discussing when we should kill Zenzai and the others...here’s what I’m thinking: we’ll give Coil another month to discover L’s identity. If he still hasn’t uncovered anything, then we’ll go ahead and kill the targets randomly. After that, we’ll give him another month, and if there’s still no progress, we’ll kill more targets. Hear me out...once we can get rid of L permanently, there will be no one else in our way. Our top priority should be the elimination of L.”

“I see,” Mido said, “once we get rid of L, we’ll be free to kill whomever gets in our way…I think that’s a good idea, that way we’re erring on the side of caution while still getting things done.”

“Are there any objections?” Ooi questioned.

“No objections.”

“That went well,” L commented, looking deep in thought. “You sure are amazing, Light-kun...not only did you delay the killing, but we may be able to get information from Namikawa. Furthermore, it looked like something I would do...and you figured it out first. You might be more capable than I am...at this rate, if I die, would you...take over for me as L?”

H-huh?! No way...I knew L was reckless, but I didn’t think he’d allow more innocent people to be killed. And now this...it really has to be a test. He wants to gauge Light’s reaction and see if he’s being genuine. Does he really think that, if Light is or was Kira, that if L died, he’d want to take over?

Keiko locked eyes with the raven haired detective, who raised an eyebrow at her, as if to say he knew exactly what she had been thinking about.

“What?! Ryuzaki-san, why are you being so morbid? We only have a month to figure out Kira’s identity! And anyway,” Light gestured to the chains connecting him and the detective together, as long as we have this, won’t we die together?”

“I suppose you’re right, Light-kun,” the detective lazily responded.

“Hey, wait a second…” Light narrowed his eyes at L, “this was another test, wasn’t it? You think that, if I am Kira, then there are two possible scenarios. Either I’m just pretending I’m not him and putting on an act...or Kira’s power has passed on from me to someone else and I have no memory that I was ever Kira. He’s trying to determine which, if either, are true. Ryuzaki-san still believes that I am Kira. even if that power had been passed to someone else, he assumes that I would have planned things to have my power return to me again once I’m safe from suspicion. In order words...he doesn’t think I was being controlled. And if L passes away, he thinks, if I am Kira, I will steal his title and become Kira again.”

“Yes, that is correct. Acquiring the position of L would be beneficial for Kira. He would be able to freely control the police and be Kira in secret without arousing suspicion,” the detective replied, “however, there’s a little more to it than that...you see, if I were to die, the only other person here whose skills match ours is Kagami-san.”

H-huh? He’s talking about me? At the mention of her name, Keiko could feel her heart rate slowly increasing. He’s basically just complimented me again...but what’s he getting at? What is he thinking?

“What do you mean to say about my ex-girlfriend, Ryuzaki-san?” Light questioned.

The detective met Keiko’s eyes. There was a hint of a smile playing at his lips, a look that caused her to go crazy.

Oh no. He hasn’t smiled at me since...well, probably since the double date. To be fair, I haven’t exactly been talking to him for most of that time. But still...it’s not fair how much he’s able to affect me.

“Well, for starters, you don’t want her to be your ex-girlfriend. You want her back, or so you say. But is that because you’re truly in love with her? Or is that because you’re Kira and you want to have her wrapped around your fingers so she doesn’t suspect you? The phrase ‘love is blind’ applies here I think. You know that her skills are sharp, but if she’s in love with you, she’ll be biased, she won’t be able to think straight. And if she got in your way somehow, I’m sure you wouldn’t hesitate to kill her as well, if need be.”

“So you’re saying I want to steal your title and manipulate her so I’m free to be Kira?! Is that it?! Light demanded, “is that what you think of me?”

“Hmmm….you said it, not me,” L responded. “But yes. I do. However...even if you were or are currently Kira, you wouldn’t reveal your plans in front of everyone.”

Light was livid. “No matter what I say or do, you won’t be satisfied, huh?! Look into my eyes! Even after we catch the current Kira, do you really think that I’d become Kira, a murderer?! Do I look like that kind of person to you?!”

“Yes, you do. I’ve always thought that.”

At this, Keiko could see the twitching of Light’s fingers as they curled into a fist. However, before Light could make his attack on L, the girl sprang forward, hugging her ex-boyfriend’s arm as she did so, “please don’t, Light-kun. This won’t solve anything.”

“Eh?” Light looked down at his ex-girlfriend, who was still holding onto his arm, “K-Keiko-chan...”

Feeling his gaze, and the gaze of a certain raven haired detective, who had been looking at her with an unreadable expression, Keiko let go. She was certain her cheeks were flaming.

Right...this is awkward.

“At any rate,” Light said after a moment, “we have to catch the Kira that’s in front of us right now...as long as the handcuffs are on, you shouldn’t have any complaints, right Ryuzaki-san?”

“I suppose so, we only have a month to catch him, meaning that we don’t have any time to waste.”

“Can’t we just arrest them now using the evidence we have?” Light’s father questioned, “they basically admitted to being Kira…”

“That’s not a good idea, I’m afraid,” L started, “it’s possible that Kira is none of the seven, that they just have a connection to Kira somehow, and if that’s the case...then we’d be back at square one. We need to find out who Kira is...and, that being said, I think I should go after Kira myself…you can still use these headquarters, as will I, but with this, you can do things your way, and I can do things my way. I have a feeling that we’ll only get into arguments if we don’t…”

Keiko was aghast, w-what?! Go after Kira by himself? Is he serious, or is this part of another test of sorts of his?

Light’s father peered at the detective, “are you saying you want to figure out who Kira is by any means necessary?”

L didn’t miss a single beat, “yes. This case will never be solved if we don’t capture him...don’t get me wrong, I don’t think that stopping the deaths is pointless, but if we don’t find and capture Kira, then Kira will end up killing more people in the end. That’s why it’s more important to figure out who Kira is. If you disagree with me, and you want to follow another course of action, then do so, but you’ll be the one taking responsibility for it...that being said, I will pursue Kira on my own.”

With that the detective got up, and started walking towards the stairs, dragging Light away with him, “I’m sorry, Light-kun. I have a feeling you’re on your father’s side, but I can’t remove these handcuffs, so you’re stuck coming with me.”

They’re heading towards the floor that Misa and I share! I have to follow him and figure out what’s going on!

“I’m coming with,” Keiko announced, following closely behind them. After climbing up the stairs, L led them straight into Misa’s quarters.

No way...he’s not planning on interrogating Misa once more, is he?

“Light-kun!” Misa called out. Upon seeing L and Keiko, her cheerful expression withered away, “oh. He’s with you...why’re you all here anyway?”

The detective walked over to the blonde girl, “Misa Amane...you love Light-kun, right?”

Looks like I was right, Keiko sighed, crossing her arms as she stood in the doorway, but, what kind of question is that? What is he hoping to achieve by doing this?

Misa’s face bunched together, “h-huh? Why would you ask that? Of course I do!”

“Hmmm...but you also say you worship Kira…”

“Yes,” Misa nodded, “I do.”

L’s POV:

L leaned forward so that he could clearly see into Misa’s eyes, “so...who would you pick, Light-kun or Kira?”

“Huh?! Is that even a question? Light-kun wins, of course! I’m grateful to Kira and all, and I want to meet him, but that’s not love,” Misa shoved the detective away, getting up from her seat on the couch. She walked over towards Light and grabbed his arm, “so definitely Light-kun.”

“Yes, I thought you might say something like that…” he walked over towards where Misa and Light were standing, “however, Light-kun wants to catch Kira. What do you think about that?”

The girl puffed out her chest, “well…if that’s what Light-kun wants, then I’m going to support him, no matter what!”

“Would you be willing to help Light-kun by working with him on the investigation?”

“Ryuzaki-san.” The detective could tell from Light’s tone that it was said as a warning, but he paid little attention to him. His sole focus would be on Misa for the moment. In order to go ahead with his own course of action, he needed her.

“Yes!” Misa looked up, staring at Keiko’s ex-boyfriend affectionately. “I’d do anything for Light-kun!”

“What are you thinking, Ryuzaki-san?” Light questioned, his eyes narrowing at the detective.

“I’m planning to have Aiber pose as Eraldo Coil again...I want him to tell those seven he learned, while investigating more on L, that Misa Amane might be able to identify L. He’ll also tell them that L brought her in for questioning because he suspected that she was the Second Kira. If the Yotsuba Group believe that Misa Amane is their lead to find L, they’ll definitely want to draw up a contract with her and use her in their commercials. I’m sure that they’ll use that as an excuse to question her about L and being the Second Kira. Luckily, thanks to Matsuda’s screw up, they’re probably already considering her for their commercials anyway.”

Light was aghast, “no way! We can’t do that. This plan is simply way too risky, Ryuzaki-san. You’re putting Misa-chan at risk...who knows what could happen to her! This is Kira we’re talking about.”

Upon hearing this, Misa let out a rather loud gasp, “wait! Are you really that worried about me, Light-kun? Does this mean that you’re starting to get over Kagami-san?!”

At the mention of Light’s ex-girlfriend, L glanced around the room. When his eyes fell upon Keiko, who had been watching everything unfold from the entryway, he let out a soft chuckle.

Even though she’s not doing anything in particular, I can tell how determined she is to solve this case...however, he thought back to how intimately she had grabbed Light’s arm earlier, although I know she was trying to keep Light from hurting me, which I do appreciate, the way she clung onto him in that moment...somehow hurt more than getting hit would’ve.

“Listen to me, Misa-chan, if they suspect you might know who L is, there’s no telling what they’d do to try and get information out of you,” the detective heard Light saying.

“It’s alright,” Misa replied, “if it’s for you, I’m willing to do it. I’m willing to do anything. Anyway, don’t worry, I promise I won’t say anything, even if they torture me.”

“I can definitely attest to that,” L muttered, still looking over at Keiko.

Misa Amane was definitely the Second Kira before...if I die, and Light takes over as L while acting as Kira, how long would it be before Keiko got killed? I’m certain that, even if she stopped suspecting him and took him back, it wouldn’t be too long before Misa would be overcome with jealousy and use her powers or for Light to just dispose of her via natural causes when it wouldn’t be suspicious. Light must know that Keiko would still be a threat to him, even if she didn’t suspect him. She knows too much and is able to notice certain patterns the others on the Task Force miss. I don’t want her to become a pawn again if I die, but...unfortunately, it’s a very real possibility.

“I’ll be fine!” Misa was saying, trying to calm Light down.

Light, however was not listening, “but Kira can control his victims’ actions before death! There’s a good chance he might try to manipulate her into revealing what she knows and then kill her!”

Hearing you of all people talk about manipulation like that...it’s rather ironic...and anyway...

“Light-kun,” the detective waved his pointer finger, “aren’t you forgetting that, if we win, Misa-chan won’t die? Besides, didn’t you say that, as long as we’re handcuffed together, we’ll share the same fate? If I die, so will you. If that happens, Misa-chan and Keiko-chan would be the ones most directly affected…either we lose and die together, or we win and catch Kira...now, what’ll it be?”

Misa pumped a fist into the air excitedly, “we catch Kira! I would never dream about living in a world without Light-kun!”

“Yes, that would be dark,” L deadpanned. He turned towards Light, “anyway, we have no time to waste, Light-kun. Therefore, I am desperate...as for Misa Amane, I’ve gone to her for help because I know both her bravery and love for you are boundless…”

“You know,” Misa started, “I think I’ve misunderstood you all this time, Ryuzaki-san...I even called you a pervert, but you actually do understand me!”

L chuckled, a smirk on his face, “yes, the way I see it, Misa Amane is the perfect woman for Light Yagami!”

“Yay! Thank you, Ryuzaki-san!” Misa squealed, she ran towards L, giving him a quick peck on the cheek. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

The detective had to hide his shock at Misa’s sudden cheek kiss.

This is the first time I’ve been kissed on the cheek...and for some reason, I really wish it would have been from someone else...

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Keiko awkwardly shifting around on her feet. Although she was looking away from him, L could see the faintest hint of hurt and anger on her face.

Could she perhaps be...jealous? Well, well well, it looks like she might not be taking Light back after all.…but...still, when I consider how she clung to his arm earlier…I know I’m being childish, but I wonder what would happen if I were to make her even more jealous…? I might regret this later on, but…

The detective gently touched his recently kissed cheek, “you know, Misa-chan, I could fall in love with you.”

Keiko’s POV:

Upon hearing this, Keiko’s hands balled into fists at her side, her blood boiling, what the hell?! ‘I could fall in love with you’?! He can’t be serious, right? Here I am, falling for him knowing that there’s no chance he’d like me back, especially given that kissing me was apparently a ‘mistake’, and he goes and says this to Misa?! Is he trying to piss me off?!

“Ehhh?” Keiko could hear the hesitation in Misa’s voice, “well, I, uh...let’s not go that far, Ryuzaki-san, but we can be friends! Would that be okay?”

“Why...yes,” Keiko heard L reply, “it looks like I’ve gained yet another friend…”

“Of course!” Misa grinned, “any friend of Light’s is a friend of Misa as well!”

“Even Kagami-san?” L questioned, quirking an eyebrow.

Keiko narrowed her eyes at him, why’s he bringing me into this?! Honestly, how dare he? He’s still not being very fair, I see…yet again, if I ever get the chance to speak to him alone, he’d better be prepared…

Misa paused. She glanced over at Keiko, looked her up and down a moment before shooting her a grin, “sure, I mean, why not? She’s no longer with Light-kun, after all…”

I’m sure it’d be quite a different story if I wanted to take Light back...

“Let’s all be friends!” Misa cried out, “yay! Let’s join hands, everyone!”

The last thing Keiko wanted to do was join hands. Before Light, whom Keiko noted also looked pissed, could complain, Misa grabbed his hand with her own.

The girl then latched onto L with her free hand, “come on! Join hands everybody!”

Keiko, who had been hoping to sneak away from the situation, was stopped when she felt someone taking hold of her own hand, “ehh?”

She looked over at the detective, who gave a light chuckle, the corners of his mouth turned slightly upwards, “come on. I wouldn’t want you to miss all the fun. You’re my friend too, after all.”

He’s doing it again! Keiko thought to herself, he’s deliberately teasing me. But why? There’s no way he’d be jealous because of what happened between Light and I earlier, right…? Is that why he said what he said…? But it doesn’t make any sense.

Light’s POV:

So he wants to play it like that, huh?

Upon seeing L grab hold of Keiko’s hand, Light decided to take hold of her other hand, finishing Misa’s friendship circle.

“Yay!” Misa cried once her circle had been completed, “we’re all good friends! And, of course, I would never think about betraying any of my friends! I’m sure, with our combined powers, we’ll be able to arrest Kira!”

“Unfortunately,” L started, “Light-kun’s taking a different investigative approach from us. I assume that he wants to work with his father, Kagami-san, and the others. Only you and I will be working together I’m afraid, Misa-chan.”

What?! First he hatches this outrageous plan that puts Misa in danger, then he dangles Keiko in front of me once more, and now this?! It’s unforgivable.

The blonde turned her head towards Light, “huh? What’s up with that?”

Light narrowed his eyes at the detective once more, “come on, Ryuzaki-san, now you’re just playing dirty. Now our only option is to join your investigation.”

The detective shook his head, “no, no. That’s quite alright. Neither of you have to join if you don’t want to. It’s entirely up to you guys.”

“What are you talking about?!” Misa cried out, “of course Light-kun will be joining us! And Keiko-chan’s joining us as well! That way Keiko-chan and Ryuzaki-san can work together, allowing a romance to blossom! Ooh, that’d be so cute! That means you and I can work together and perhaps we can finally get together as well! It’s perfect!”

“No!” Light was firm, “I’ve been opposed to this plan from the beginning! It’s far too dangerous! And the last thing I want is a romance between Ryuzaki-san and my ex-girlfriend!”

Dammit! He’s really pissing me off right now!

“Thank you again, for being worried about me,” Misa said quietly, “even though you say you still have feelings for Kagami-san, your worry shows me that you’re capable of getting over her...I want to do this for you. If I do this, maybe you’ll truly fall in love with me...that being said, please let me do this. I want to be of use to you...”

It looks like I have no choice…

“Fine, Ryuzaki-san, I’ll join you. But because I have to, not because I want to.”

“Yay!” Misa cheered. “With all of us working together, we’ll be sure to capture Kira quickly!”

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michael-radi-the-glamorous-life · 5 years

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It's Critical!

Lately, I’ve noticed that a lot of people - friends and strangers alike - have been saying something very similar to me as a I talk about productions, performances, or people that I’ve recently seen onstage.

As I’m giving my solicited opinion and actively formulating my thoughts, people keep stopping me to say things like:

You’re choosing your words very carefully.

You can just say what you mean to me.

You’re trying to be so [nice/PC/positive].

This got me thinking about how we, as artists and audience alike, deal with the art of criticism/critique/opinion. I’ll also admit that I recently listened to two interviews with high-profile theatre critics - both of which bothered me in very different and specific ways that I won’t go into here - so this topic hasn’t been far from my mind.

And after last week’s blog post, which was a semi-review of Hadestown, I got a lot of comments from people online and in person that basically said “Thank you for focusing on the good.”

But isn’t this how we should be talking about art?

All of those things above that people have said to me made me react the same way:

“No no no, I am saying what I mean, which is why I’m choosing my words so carefully.” And as for positivity, I think that is important to bear in mind as we critique - why focus on only the negative?

So, what is the best way to give theatrical criticism?

Everyone’s A Critic

And that’s totally okay.

People, by the nature of being people, have opinions. Sometimes they share those opinions and sometimes they don’t. Sometimes they’re mostly positive, sometimes mostly negative, but generally they’re pretty well mixed.

But it’s how people share their opinions that separates them. And yes, I realize this can go far beyond the arts and into daily life as well.

*Reminder: I am not an expert in critique, this is all just…well, my opinion!

Anyone who knows me personally knows that I am filled with opinions - for better or for worse (depends on who you ask!). And I’m always puzzled when people say things like “You have so many opinions!” because in my mind I feel like “Yeah, don’t you?” Because we do. Let’s just call it as it is and go from there.

I also know that I have a very specific way of processing my opinions. For me, this is how it tends to go:

Initial (often knee-jerk) reaction. This happens in the first moment of whatever performance I’m watching.

Pre-opinion. I have a feeling about where this show is going to go and whether or not I’m going to enjoy that.

Gather more information. I stop thinking as I watch so I can see more of what is and isn’t going to occur. Sometimes this means just sitting back and enjoying the live theatre.

Moment of change. Often this is mid-Act 1 where something either very positive or very off-putting will happen, which I know will color the rest of my opinions. Even if I try to not let it do so.

Intermission analysis. Partially this is just me thinking over what I’ve seen as I stand in line for the restroom. And partially this is informed by listening to what the people around me are saying to see if I agree with their thoughts as well.

A new set of glasses. This is the reactionary moment to the top of Act 2. Sometimes it’s an absolutely delightful moment that tints my non-existent spectacles to a rosy color, and sometimes the show takes a different direction that changes my mindset in other ways.

Finish out the story. I do my best to not pre-judge the end of a show before I' have seen it. I find that I tend to do this, so I try to fight back and just experience the remains of the performance, no matter how I’m feeling about the show thus far.

Post-show analysis. Now sometimes, by the time the show ends I have formulated enough of a solid opinion about what I just saw that I can talk about it immediately. Other times I feel the need to go have a conversation with someone who has seen the piece (or who was with me) to hash out my thoughts and get to a conclusion. And - albeit rarely - I occasionally have to not talk about the show and sleep on it first in order to gather my thoughts.

But this is my way of creating opinions, and I know it’s extremely specific.

When I was younger I had a difficult time not letting my initial reaction color my entire experience of a show or a production. Luckily, I had the opportunity in college to learn how to better analyze performance and formulate my opinions in a less biased way. The result is the above process, which keeps me about as even-keeled as I can be when watching a show and making judgements.

Why am I telling you this?

I think it is extremely important to be aware of how you process information and how that effects the way you formulate your opinions. I’m not saying that you have to have a process that is anything like mine, but before good critique can be given it must be clear how that opinion was formed.

It’s All In The Formulation

Where I feel most people have trouble is not in the formulation of opinion, it’s in the delivery.

Let’s look back to the sentences from above as a bit of a guide:

“You’re choosing your words very carefully.”

Okay, yes, I am and I do. I’m also someone who was an English and Theatre major, so I’ve been trained specifically to do this.

But more importantly, when I was taught about how to give critique - and yes, we do give theatre professionals training in this - I was told that the most crucial aspect is your word choice.

Why?

Here’s what words can do:

Specify precisely what you mean to say. 3 people can all tell you that a show was “great,” but you’ve gained no new information. All you know is that they all felt positively. But if the answers had instead been “Beautiful,” “Solid,” and “Phenomenal,” then you gain a much clearer understanding of how each of these people felt and what type of show they saw.

Descriptive language is always better. I could tell you that a performer was “terrible” in that one show and you’d get my specified opinion, but I haven’t told you why. And without the why, you can’t be certain from what context my opinion is coming. If I say that performer “didn’t seem connected to the role and appeared to be phoning it in,” well now you can judge for yourself. Is that just my perception? Was it just that one performance? Or is this not the best role for this performer, who might be excellent in other shows? But now you can think this through for yourself based on my description.

Hyperbole is an ever-present danger. It’s easy to get wrapped up in one’s emotions while speaking about something on which you have an opinion - and that’s totally cool - but you can more easily say something that you don’t necessarily mean. Perhaps you adored that actress in the leading role, but someone else didn’t like her, and therefore you go over-the-top in your praise of her. Or maybe you feel so strongly about a show that you didn’t like that you tear it to shreds with highly negative wording.

Word choice can be the difference between “like” and “love.” Words can uplift or tear down. But nothing is ever truly either black or white, good or bad.

It would be folly to think that your opinion is the only opinion, or that there was nothing good about that show you hated. So when making you word selection, it is important to focus on what you can concretely back up with examples. Otherwise, you may be talking just to hear yourself talk.

“You can just say what you mean to me.”

Oh, please do. Say exactly what you mean, always.

Honesty is the best and leads to the most fruitful conversations about art. If everyone had the same opinion life and art would be very boring. Instead, tell people what you think and why. And if you make good word choices, there’s no harm in stating your opinions.

“You’re trying to be so [nice/PC/positive].”

Yes. Definitely.

Why would I want to be mean, insulting, or negative?

Nothing can be gained from this.

As I’ve already stated, even if you have a negative opinion about something, that doesn’t mean that everyone shares in that opinion. You can be critical of a show or a performance and still leave room for positivity that you may have overlooked.

But that’s exactly where we run into the biggest problem of all: People don’t want to be wrong.

Oof. There it is. I’ve said it.

It is so much easier to lean into something overly mean and negative as a defense mechanism than it is to concede that: 1) Your opinion is not the be-all end-all, and 2) There is room for error in your opinion.

And I get it.

No one enjoys being wrong or contradicted or have the flaws in their logic pointed out, but all of these things are okay. This is what sparks good conversation and what can lay groundwork for more open-mindedness in the future - both of which are excellent goals.

But this isn’t the only reason I choose to keep things positive when giving my opinion. The other major reason is that everyone who works on a show is a living person with real feelings who poured a little bit of their soul out of them to create the art you just experienced.

This is what we do. And whether or not you enjoyed it, you should always be aware of the fact that art is both personal and difficult. It never hurts to be kind.

Let’s Give ‘Em A Hand

What do we do at the end of a performance?

We clap.

Why? Because a large number of people did a tremendous amount of work creating something in the hopes of providing (hopefully meaningful) entertainment. They did that - live - just for you.

So no matter what your opinion may be and what sort of words will make up your critique, let’s keep the people in mind. And remember that art is subjective. Opinions will differ, and that’s a wonderful thing.

The next time you experience art, think about the way you formulate your opinion. Or don’t, and completely disregard everything I’ve said here today.

This post is a piece of my art that I give to you, and now I trust you to go forth and be a good critic. Happy critiquing!

#glamorous life blog #glamorous life #theatre #theater #musical theatre #critique #criticism #critic #opinion #word choice #art #artist #specify #language #positive

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anti-alice · 5 years

Note

YouTuber Heythisisrya actually did a really good response to contrapoints terf video. In her response (she’s a trans woman) she refuted a lot of what Natalie said in a calm and respectful manner without misgendering her and I would highly recommend you check it out x

Just watched it- and unfortunately, I have to disagree. To start, Rya takes the video incredibly seriously- accusing the character of Tiffany of being a mouthpiece for Natalie “ContraPoints” Wynn, which is simply false, and something Natalie herself told people to keep in mind. Rya also acts as if this video is super biased for having the TERF character act a certain way, when ALL the characters involved are played up in various ways for humor, even the Trans woman. However…The bottom line is that just about everything the TERF character SAYS is actual TERF rhetoric, and jokes aside, that TERF rhetoric gets debated by a Trans stand-in character, whilst a neutral third-party who simply thrives on debate chimes in. Rya accuses Natalie of taking everything that questions Trans people as a personal attack, but in her response she DOESN’T come off as calm or collected- she comes off as offended that Natalie even dared SUGGEST that TERFs act like the joke one in her video. She even accuses all the humor on Natalie’s channel as coming from “Highly Sexualized Feminity”, as if how she chooses to present or make humor would even AFFECT her CHARACTER’S points about how Womanhood isn’t all JUST presentation- It’s honestly one of the MOST frustrating response videos I’ve ever had to sit through. Rya not only gets worked up defending TERF ideology, she continuously jabs at NATALIE HERSELF, when she isn’t the character she MADE for the TERFs video. Rya even pulls the usual TERF schtick, that womanhood is determined by Biology, by having a womb, and overall acts outright dismissive of “Natalie” (aka NOT Natalie, but the character of Tiffany)’s points to instead Nitpick Details about them- like saying “oh, so CATCALLING makes you a Woman?”She laughs at Psychology, laughs at the IDEA that Womanhood might be from a feeling, NOT biology- acts as if it’s some outlandish magic, when Psychology is A SCIENTIFICALLY BACKED FIELD. Rya has some good points- that women being concerned about things like Men invading spaces is a VALID concern, and that debate should be a thing that happens when people don’t understand something. She also makes a good point about how TERF has become a bit of a buzzword, used against people who simply hate Trans people, regardless of if they’re radfem or not- but Rya still drops the ball by acting as if TERFs are OPEN to debate, when as a whole, they act like bigots and refuse to listen to the words of Trans people, due to their lack of respect for Trans people. Rya practically demonizes Natalie for even INSINUATING this is the case in a video she made to be humorous and lowkey strawmanny.My god, Rya acts so offended at the idea of a TERF being portrayed as a bigot, and calls them “WOMEN WITH SAFETY CONCERNS”- and YES, that is part of TERF ideology- but the issue is that TERFs are not JUST women with safety concerns- IF THEY WERE, THEY WOULD BE OPEN TO CIVIL DEBATE AND GENUINELY WILLING TO LISTEN TO THE OPINIONS OF TRANS PEOPLE, THE FACTS OF SCIENTIFIC STUDY, AND EVEN FELLOW LESBIANS OR RADFEMS THAT HAPPEN TO NOT EXCLUDE TRANS PEOPLE. The issue is that Rya takes this video so seriously, gets offended by it, makes snarky remarks and little “gotcha!” comments at NATALIE HERSELF, even accusing her of Male Entitlement, because Rya is upset that a group well known for how their “Good Intent” has harmed and undermined innocent trans people has been given a Strawman/Caricature in a video that is Half Satire and Half Interesting Debate.Anon- I hate to say this, but Rya’s video is legitimately not very great, at least in my opinion. It’s nigh impossible to sit through.

#extra extra #long post #tw transphobia

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dandelionpie · 6 years

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Okay @mentalwires all I can say is you fucking asked for it. This is

Madeline’s Lengthy and Mostly Very Positive Track-by-Track Review of

Off to the Races

by Jukebox the Ghost

(feel free to follow along at home on your Personal Listening Device; it’s all on Spotify or wherever)

(and I’m not going to follow any formatting rules because this isn’t being graded so fuck it quotes are in italics)

I don’t know if it’s just because I listened to it over and over again, but this album is an album. Friends, there are motifs in this album. There are themes. There’s something that’s not quite a narrative, but a strange awakening to the crises that plague people who have reached a certain stage of human development just beyond the beginning of real adulthood.

1. Jumpstarted

Our speaker is awfully self-aware for someone who admits to a chronic lack of self-awareness. This song is like the “I Hope That I Don’t Fall In Love With You” by Tom Waits for a new generation, except instead of tragic it’s just, like…incredibly goofy. It also follows in the footsteps of many other songs (the Temptations’ “Just My Imagination” springs to mind), it rehashes a very familiar theme: Young Man sees Young Woman*; young man becomes instantly fixated on an imagined future with her; young man admits that his imaginings are the product of his deranged imagination but, though he fully admits to his own emotionally compromised state in great detail (and your gravity / my depravity / won’t take my advice), he refuses to relinquish the fantasy and face reality, even as he does so in the utterance of the lyrics. Rather, he accepts his eventual heartbreak to be as inescapable as the laws of physics - what goes up must come down, after all, and as foolish as his infatuation seems, it’s even more foolish to try to change something as immutable as that. It’s too ridiculous to be properly sad, but we feel for him all the same.

There’s definitely a gender element happening here. I’ve been that guy, but far more often, to greater and lesser extents, I’ve been that girl. We have this idea in our culture that women are obsessed with love and will throw themselves into relationships with men at the drop of a hat, but I’ve seen it played out far more often the other way. In my (limited! human! biased! don’t @ me!) observation, women may throw themselves into the emotional side of a relationship, but the planning part (this person fulfills everything I want from a spouse/life partner/parent of my anticipated children) and therefore it must be Fate)…well, I haven’t done that since I was about ten. I’ve seen grown-ass men do it on multiple occasions, to me and many of my female friends. So like…make of that what you will.

The song also does that cute thing where it name-drops the title of the album in the lyrics, and I love that.

*the object of the speaker’s affections in this particular song remains mostly ungendered except for one she pronoun in the bridge. If you ignored that one tiny “she” (or changed the gender of the speaker), it would be easy to make this song about a very real and serious problem facing today’s LGBTQ Youth: Queer and Here syndrome**. That is, when you see another person of more-or-less your persuasion and they are around your age, breathing, and moderately attractive, you tend to fall in love with them regardless of actual chemistry or lack thereof. Again: I have been the speaker, and I have been the object.

**EDIT: Ben Thornewill, who wrote the song…might be queer? I can’t find any info either way, except for he helped with a fundraiser for Everyone is Gay one time. Someone with a longer attention span should google this for me.

Enjoying this nonsense? Click below for the rest!

2. Everybody’s Lonely

This track continues the theme of powerlessness in the face of one’s own self-awareness (dragged into another heartbreak / like a moth into a flame) while implicitly making the way for a gentle interrogation of the music industry. Are we programmed for broken romance? Probably, but we’re sure the hell not going to stop singing about it. And we have to admit, it’s more than a little diverting. The singer is having a marvelous time with the vocals for how much he’s complaining, and the track switches up the speed and time signature more than once (there’s some sophisticated musical term I’m failing to call to mind here, but dammit Jim I’m an English major not a music doctor).

The title itself is a simple statement on the nature of humanity, and a somewhat comforting one (to me, anyway). It’s hard, but if everybody’s lonely, then…well, no one is, right? And, of course, the lyrics could also be read (heard?) as a comment on the content of this very album, as well as the greater Jukebox the Ghost canon, which, self-admittedly, mostly concerns either love or drinking too much (and often both). Lampshading? Probably a little, but I think it works.

3. People Go Home

I will admit: I hated this song until I saw the album performed live. It’s just so damned cynical, and at the same time describes a lifestyle (car! boss who wears a watch! wife and children and a house and a dog!) my generation seems to have given up on aspiring to. Because the American Dream is an illusion, etc. But the thing about it is, despite its dour outlook on the life of its subject, the song itself is just so much fun.

The metaphor of the calendar pages being torn off and thrown away would be a bit too cliché in a more serious track, but the irrepressibly catchy beat makes it work somehow. The repetitiveness is really artful - of course it’s repeating itself; it’s a song, but it also evokes the passage of time and the subject’s own mortality (the tick of the clock / and the tick of the clock / mark the moments ’til the ticking stops). And the abrupt end of the song is…well, actually a little unsettling in light of its lyrical content.

Another motif arises: are we becoming who we hate? Is it inevitable that we should do so in growing up? And, again - if there’s nothing we can do about it, should we perhaps make an effort to enjoy the ride?

4. Fred Astaire

First, a confession: this song is primarily for me about the Blupjeans pairing in The Adventure Zone, so like…I’m gonna do my best to ignore that aspect in my analysis but no promises.

I love this song.

I think it’s the strongest track on this album From the very first bars, it’s psyching you up for something, and the powerful opening vocals do not disappoint. This is an excellent showcase of Ben Thornewill’s raw vocal power.

I’m also a huge sucker for the “man who has landed the partner of his dreams hardly daring to believe his luck” trope (cf: Blupjeans, Jake/Amy from B99, tons of other cute pairings I can’t call to mind just at the moment). There’s something so beautifully pure about watching someone realize how fortunate they are to have someone great in their life. In this case, the speaker seems almost playfully resentful as he wonders at his partner’s inexplicable admiration of him - “what are you even doing with a dork like me?” he seems to ask.

But in the bridge, he contrasts that playful exasperation with a genuine admiration of his beloved’s clarity of insight - when I lose myself / there is no one else / who ever sees through me quite like you, he points out, and something about his tone feels genuinely grateful. So for me, this resonates on a personal level as well - in my life, I’m continually astounded by the people who have seen me at my worst and continue to refrain from telling me I suck.

Well, that was distressingly sincere. Don’t worry; I turn back into a snarky pumpkin in just a sec.

5. Time and I

If previous tracks have hinted at themes of growing up and having way too many feelings about it, this track drives those concepts home with a freaking sledgehammer. I have less trouble with it than “People Go Home,” but it’s still a bit too relatable if you ask me. There’s a deeply sympathetic undercurrent of frustration (try as I might / it ain’t no friend of mine) - this guy’s been making an effort, and he’s announcing a sort of surrender, even as he continues to beg time to slow down for him.

I’m intrigued by we’re not the way we used to be - is he talking to a third party, or to time itself? If the former, the feeling t is one of those universal heartbreaks we all go through at this point. People don’t just change - relationships do too, and that can be even more frustrating and harder to pin down. And if it’s the latter, isn’t there something too beautifully futile about the act of begging an abstract concept to act against its nature?

This whole album is so wonderfully human.

Overall, the lyrics feel a bit weaker than the rest of the album to me, but I love the way it sounds. The vocal tracks in the bridge layer on top of each other one by one in this really evocative way, piano is perfect for a track like this - since it’s both percussive and melodic, it invokes bittersweetness of the inexorable passage of time. Maybe? I dunno, just spitballing here.

6. Diane

I hadn’t actually paid much attention to this track until I saw it performed live and the singer got the audience to sing part of the chorus for him. Neat trick, dude. I still didn’t like the song all that much until I saw @mentalwires spin very enthusiastic rope dart to it. Anyway - like many songs by Jukebox the Ghost, it would be downright obnoxious if it weren’t such a jam.

What really grabs me about this song is the line about not being able to focus. Maybe it’s just an ADD thing, and it’s certainly not an original thought - of course you can’t focus, dude, you’re basically worshipping this chick - but it’s true that people we like are distracting, and it is highly inconvenient. And it’s way more fun than most of the other inconvenient things that afflict our little species, so that doesn’t help matters. I relate similarly to I can’t sleep / why even bother, although that probably has more to do with my insomnia than anything else.

Damn I love power pop.

It’s another self-imposed tragedy — our dude doesn’t know how to let go of the idea of this girl, but how well do they actually know each other? The bridge (You make me feel like I’m alive / you make me feel like I’m the only one) brings home what the speaker’s been hinting at since the start of the track - it’s much more about how he feels than about the person he feels it for. Sometimes / I don’t even think you know my name could be read two ways - either she knows him but acts like she doesn’t (rude), or they’ve never even actually met.*

All the while, he begs her to tell him her thoughts, but does he actually want to know? And if they haven’t met, then how could she tell him she’s thinking about him at all? How is she even going to hear what he’s saying? Well, of course, she can’t - the classic futility of the pop ballad returns. So much in this song is about being unheard, and that fascinates me.

An observation: Songs in this vein hardly ever give any detail about the ostensible (usually female) subject. This is probably at least a little bit to make it easier for everyone involved to identify with them, but it also makes it clear that the speaker’s love has far more to do with his own hang-ups than with the supposed object of his affections. And doesn’t the way we love say so much about us? Maybe that’s why I’m such a sucker for romance.

*The tertiary Queer and Here interpretation makes itself available yet again. I mean, the whole bit about sweaty palms goes all the way back to Sappho, you guys.**

**Fuck I’m such an English major send help

7. See You Soon

Imma be real with y’all for a sec - I couldn’t handle this song at first. It’s about losing a person, and not even in a way that’s final. It gives me sort of the same feeling as “One Art” by Elizabeth Bishop (read it; it’s short and will tear your little heart from your chest). In both that poem and this song, the ambiguity of the addressee’s identity makes the loss all the more poignant - is the speaker addressing a lover or a friend? Is it both? And which is worse?

The painful wisdom imparted by the passage of time is another motif that keeps coming up in this album. Our dude used to get mad at the small things, and he’s realized what’s actually important, but like every lesson learned the hard way, it’s too late to apply it to the situation in question. And perhaps he never would’ve come to that revelation without the accompanying loss, but that doesn’t make it any less excruciating.

Remember when your life felt like it would be never-ending - if you enjoy the particular kind of masochism brought about by that sentiment, I’d encourage you to check out “I Wanna Get Better” by Bleachers. Not to get too philosophical, but grown-ups have this thing where they lecture kids about how they think they’re immortal. And we don’t believe it when we’re kids, at least I didn’t - I wasn’t particularly inclined to take dumb risks, or so I thought. But (dammit) somewhere, we actually do realize that life isn’t permanent, that the place we grew up isn’t the entire world, and that there’s so much of that world that we’ll simply never experience. Wondering how a relationship could have gone differently is more than just a painful (and arguably necessary) experience - it also calls to mind all the different directions our lives could take, and forces us to watch as all those paths converge into one.

It’s another special mid-20s crisis - by that age, we’ve had a few close friendships and relationships, and we’ve experienced the end of some of them. And after that end, we have to change, both as a result of the loss and - you guessed it - the unstoppable, unbending passage of time. If I say it enough it might come true, the speaker says as he leads into the final repetition of the chorus, and we get the sense that he almost believes it. Is it denial, willful self-delusion, or genuine hope?

8. Boring

This is the track that really got me thinking about this album. If “People Go Home” stands on a soapbox wagging its finger at The American Dream™, this song drunkenly embraces it in a bar a few hours later. And, like “People Go Home,” I sort of hated it until I noticed what a great time Tommy Siegel was having with it.

We begin with the inexorability of time again - the seasons are changing / but my world always stays the same. Of course, the use of “lame” to describe undesirability is crummy for obvious reasons, but it also reads as delightfully teenage - our friend is desperately clinging to whatever vestiges of youth remain to him. There’s also a charmingly youthful tendency to exaggerate - I guess they’ll procreate until they die / everyone is boring / everything is lame / everybody thinks they’re not the same could have come straight from the mouth of a fourteen-year-old in the back of a car on a family road trip.

What I love love love love about this song is how smoothly the speaker seems to come around over the course of it. He begins with a distressing observation: all my friends are having kids / but nobody’s sure why. And by the end of the song, he’s worked out exactly why. He’s a little ashamed to say that he’s figured out just what the big deal is. And he’s going through some internal conflict, but that doesn’t mean he’s got to be shy about how he feels.

After wondering for a minute how he got this way (I webmd myself but somehow nothing’s ever wrong has to be one of the most #relatable lyrics I’ve ever heard), he smoothly switches from lambasting the Nuclear Family™ to flattering his addressee:

Baby let’s get boring

Let’s get old and lame

Let’s get a house and kids and change your name

‘ cause I don’t think you’re boring

I don’t think you’re lame

Let’s get a house and summer up in Maine

(kind of a lazy rhyme there at the end, but still sorta cute)

While he acknowledges his frustration with his desire to become that which he most detests, he also acknowledges that the alternative is much worse: I’d rather rot in hell / than watch you become someone lame with someone else.* And yeah, growing up resolves a lot of exciting questions into formulaic predictability, but if you find someone to share it with who’s interesting, you can enjoy it anyway. It’s either a cute little bit of poetry or the most adorably fumbling marriage proposal in the history of time.

We could be so boring, he promises his intended, and he sounds, well, sort of excited about it. Because if everybody else thinks they’re not the same, he asks, why should we bother pretending? It’s not important if we’re actually boring. It’s that I don’t think you are. And I think I agree - the most important parts of any relationship only matter to the people in it.

I’m not sure what he’s doing to that guitar at the end there, but he sure is doing it.

*There’s another reading that he’s settling but I’ll go with the optimistic one thank you.

9. Simple as 1 2 3

I found this to be sort of a weird tone shift, but the more I listen to it, the better it fits. The lyrics are all about how you can’t fall in love without taking chances - a played-out theme that still meshes beautifully with this track’s youthful simplicity. When I saw this performed live, the singer literally counted on his fingers while he sang and played the piano, and it managed to be incredibly charming. Or maybe it was just his pretty pretty eyes.

When you feel your pulse / knock you over like an animal is so simple but so vivid and I’m not sure this is going anywhere; I just wanted to point it out.

The second verse,

So take a risk

and find a little love

hidden where you didn’t see it

‘cause the time you have is all the time you’ve got

briefly brings it back to the existential crisis that dominates most of this album, but it’s somehow much more optimistic with this new spin - life is short, so you might as well give the whole falling in love thing a whirl. And if it goes badly, hey, there’s always Track 7.

Lyrically, the bridge doesn’t do a whole lot, but I like how it just sort of sits there building on itself - it increases the tension, like, well, the moment of waiting in a corner before going over to talk to someone - and when the musical track drops out to leave only the singer’s voice, it’s like the strange silence that seems to accompany a difficult utterance, and okay, I’m definitely reading way too much into this. Whatever. Death of the author.

10. Colorful

So this is gonna get pretty sentimental, because that is the sort of track this is, and for that I halfheartedly apologize. In an album full of glibness and cynicism, this song stands out relatively devoid of artifice or dire warnings of death.

This song, to me, is about being an artist, and an aggressively happy one at that. I dunno if you’ve seen my art, but, well, it’s downright obnoxious. I mean - Wanna feel like a light in a dark place? Why yes, as a matter of fact; where do I sign. And For the lovers and the broken-hearted feels almost like a call to action - it’s important to bring out the beauty of the world for the people who want to revel in it and for the ones who might be too sad to notice it. All that stuff about trying to paint the world in a new way is probably meant to be a metaphor, but I like taking it literally. It makes me feel better about how I’ve chosen to spend the vast majority of my free time, dammit.

And while this track is pretty repetitive, it forms a perfect conclusion to an album that’s just as much about the ways we talk about romance as the romance itself. It’s one more frame to fit around the first two, if you like.

The bridge is a blatant and transparent excuse to show off Thornewill’s vocal range, for which I can hardly blame him. That man sings like a god.

Bonus Notes:

Stay the Night (single)

I know this one didn’t make it onto the album but I fucking love it. It’s so catchy, and I love that it doesn’t sound like “Pretty Woman” or “Come on Eileen” - I don’t feel like the guy is being coercive or weird. Sure, he’s lamenting that he can’t sleep with the object of his affections, but it’s very much a lament of circumstance - he can’t stay the night because they don’t have time, or they’ve got work in the morning, or it’s only their first date and they’re taking things slow, and you get the sense that he understands from the second verse - I’m singing Journey on the highway / I’m still believing; I’m still believing / that I’ll wake up beside you one day - it almost feels like a reassurance.

It also brings home a lot of themes that come up later in Off to the Races. We’re not getting any younger, and yeah, we might as well have fun with it. But again - I’m not getting a “To His Coy Mistress” vibe here. It’s feels much more along the lines of “Dream a Little Dream of Me.” Perhaps it’s just the evolving sexual mores of our society, or perhaps it’s that the speaker spends absolutely no time convincing his date - he simply states the obvious. It’s that universal thrill of something starting, and I am, as they say, here for it.

Anyway that was approximately 2.73 million times longer than I meant it to be. I guess I like talking about poetry? Who could have predicted this? (Really, I actually had a lot of fun with this, so if you liked it, let me know and maybe I’ll do it again sometime. Although, fair warning, it is liable to be about Fall Out Boy.)

#mentalwires #music #jukebox the ghost #music reviews #are apparently a thing i do now #sort of #i dunno if i'd call this a review

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benjamintimm · 3 years

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The varying approaches of creativity

So I went off-grid for a few weeks as I was on holiday! Was enjoyable but I’m raring to work now.

In response to my last blog @codeandcognition commented on a topic I have been hoping to discuss for a while! I wasn’t planning to post it now but will push it forward due to its sudden relevance. I entirely agree with their points that engineering requires far more creativity than many would expect and that the importance of multidisciplinary subjects is paramount to the successful progression of any modern field. Though I will say that the previous post was not to focus on the dynamics of creativity in engineering and artistic fields but the struggles of communication between the two. Regarding the element of creativity in various fields, I feel that it is so much more complex than a mere mention and deserves its own post. So I’ll get started!

Similarly to what was mentioned before, when creativity is thought of, the immediate reference for most would be a painter, dancer or musician, but the reality is that creativity encompasses every field within human reach. It is the spark that has reached any start or change to every creation and has been quintessential to every project I have been in as a musician, biomedical engineer and now as a neuroscientist. I speak with experience from these fields and can once again agree with @codeandcognition that each of these fields is heavily reliant on their own element of creativity, but the approach towards them is totally different. This in turn has made each field highly unique and in many respects “beautiful” in a sense, (a reason why being a specialist is so much more than just knowing certain things) but can cause issues in communication between themselves when being approached blind. See my previous blog for more details there!

The approach towards creativity in an artistic format: (Once again I will say this is from my experience and therefore, largely my opinion!) The traditional format if you will, largely starts off with that blank screen so many artists often find themselves staring at. It’s the worst thing in the world for me and has time and time again prevented any form of creation when all you really have to do is start with a single note on the paper. I’ll explain why this is slightly different to the approach of engineering later, but while all fields experience this simple block between nothing and something, the block artists experience is truly prolific in the sense that the only way to overcome it is by feeling your way around it. For me, it was orchestral composition and the difference between a successful piece was down to whether the sequence of notes within the score felt right or not. While the technical aspects of composing were certainly necessary, needing to know how things worked to make it sound a certain way, the feeling of whether or not something was right or wrong, truly defined the product. Of course, people have developed systems based on logic, reason and various forms of technicality to fully justify why artists define their work as good or bad, it is the unique creativity of these people that dictates the approaches they have on their own masterpieces.

Now despite what is next, I feel I should continue to say that this “feeling” can also be translated into other fields. There is no exclusivity when it comes to creativity and its approaches. However, it should be noted that artistic compositions are so much more often based within a feeling format whereas other fields that are much less traditionally creative (engineering), have been developed in a way that fundamentally differs and thus promotes a different form of thinking.

The approach towards creativity in an engineering format: A very interesting concept and one I think is rarely discussed between and outside of engineering circles. While I feel I may be a little biased as my experience in engineering has largely been in research whereas my experience with art has been as a student and freelancer, the element of creativity in engineering (in my opinion) is intrinsically tied to the understanding of the individual and the extent of which the field they sit within has grown. While this is not to say engineers do not require that element of creativity to go from nothing to something in a project as previously mentioned, artists will push boundaries from their own imagination and feelings while engineers will push the boundaries using their imagination and tools provided. The distinction between these two sets are the root causes between the fields differentiation. Progression within Engineering has always been set in a systematic fashion, using the ideas, the proofs of concept and then the tools that have all been thought of and constructed within a similar process of imagination. The only exception to this is the theories that are constructed, but even this can largely be based on our current understanding. Anything outside of this can sometimes be called science fiction which in itself blurs the lines between science and art.

This is why there is so much more of a need for multidisciplinary work within the fields of engineering as the system that we stand on requires it to expand to other forms of thinking. It cannot simply become flexible without the push for progression and will merely be fixated within the confines of its own limitations if not pulled out by others that are willing to extend an open hand and collaborate.

Once again I will say that these methods of thinking are absolutely not exclusive to themselves but instead are indicative of the systems that have promoted their thinking for longer than any of us have been alive. I can only hope that the further we progress over time, the more multidisciplinary work becomes a norm, and in turn, promotes alternative thinking.

I welcome anyone to discuss this further as I find these concepts fascinating and would love to hear others perspectives.

#creative #creatives on tumblr #engineering #academia #creativitymatters #blog post #university #communication #perspective

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lauramalchowblog · 4 years

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CT scanning is just awful for diagnosing Covid-19

By LUKE OAKDEN-RAYNER, MBBS

I got asked the other day to comment for Wired on the role of AI in Covid-19 detection, in particular for use with CT scanning. Since I didn’t know exactly what resources they had on the ground in China, I could only make some generic vaguely negative statements. I thought it would be worthwhile to expand on those ideas here, so I am writing two blog posts on the topic, on CT scanning for Covid-19, and on using AI on those CT scans.

As background, the pro-AI argument goes like this:

CT screening detects 97% of Covid-19, viral PCR only detects 70%!

A radiologist takes 5-10 minutes to read a CT chest scan. AI can do it in a second or two.

If you use CT for screening, there will be so many studies that radiologists will be overwhelmed.

In this first post, I will explain why CT, with or without AI, is not worthwhile for Covid-19 screening and diagnosis, and why that 97% sensitivity report is unfounded and unbelievable.

Next post, I will address the use of AI for this task specifically.

I’ve been getting a bit upset

Anyone remember Film Critic Hulk? Someone should definitely do a Research Critic Hulk. PUNY SCIENTIST CLAIMS A P-VALUE OF 0.049 IS CLINICALLY MEANINGFUL? HULK SMASH!

I was initially going to write a single post on AI, but as I started reading the radiology literature around CT use in more depth, I found myself getting more and more frustrated. These articles, published in very good journals, are full of flawed designs and invalid conclusions!*

So I have split this post off, and written an article that isn’t about AI at all.

I still think this is relevant for AI-interested readers though, since this is a great example of how a surface level reading of the literature can be really misleading. As always, consult a domain expert before you start building AI models!

CT in Covid-19 is just awful

I’m going to give two arguments here. The first is an unapologetic appeal to authority, for those of my readers who aren’t interested in a discussion on cohort selection, study design, and how research methods determine what sort of claims you can make. The methodology discussion will be in the next section, but you can skip it (and the rest of this blog post) if you want because the experts are unanimous.

The American College of Radiology says “CT should not be used to screen for or as a first-line test to diagnose Covid-19.”

The Royal College of Radiologists says “there is no current role for CT in the diagnostic assessment of patients with suspected coronavirus infection in the UK.”

The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiology says “CT should not be used for routine screening for Covid-19 disease.”

The Canadian Association of Radiologists “recommend against the use of routine chest CT for screening, diagnosis and surveillance of Covid-19 infection.”

There are many more. Boom, argument done. CT sucks.

Technical problems with the radiology literature

If that is a bit flippant, then below is a short technical discussion to explain why the papers are claiming CT is good, and the experts are saying it is bad.

I see two main problems in the literature that suggests high sensitivity for Covid-19 detection with CT:

severe selection bias, which invalidates all the conclusions

incredibly permissive diagnostic rules, inflating sensitivity ad absurdum

Selection Bias

I’m going to mostly refer to this paper, since this is the major source the 97% detection claims, which concludes that:

“Chest CT has a high sensitivity for diagnosis of COVID-19. Chest CT may be considered as a primary tool for the current COVID-19 detection in epidemic areas.”

Many sources have picked up on this, both in social media and the traditional outlets.

The problem is that this is totally wrong and not justified by what they showed. The reason for this is called “selection bias”.

When the patients you select for your study (orange box) aren’t representative, you have selection bias.

Selection bias is when the subset of cases you have tested (called the cohort) is significantly different than the people you want to apply the results to (the population). In a screening setting, you would like to apply the test to anyone who is suspected of Covid-19 (having a cough, sore throat, contact with infected person etc). In the diagnostic setting, you might do a CT after some other tests (like blood counts or similar) to exclude other things first, but you will still be testing a lot of people.

In the study they analysed a retrospective cohort of 1014 patients from Tongji hospital who had both CT scans and viral PCR tests (the current gold standard). The idea is that we can see which patients with viral PCR positive tests within a few days of the scan also had CT features that would allow us to diagnose the disease. Seems fine, right?

Here is the cohort diagram:

The question you need to ask is “which patients were these? Were they from the general population of patients who might have Covid-19?”

The answer is “no, these are patients in the hospital that got referred for CT scans.”

The cohort is therefore biased because the patients a) had a reason to be at hospital, likely because they were hospitalised, and b) had a reason to get an expensive, time-consuming test (the CT scan).

The authors never comment on how these patients were selected (which isn’t really acceptable IMO), but we can infer that the cohort is biased because the radiology literature and the clinical literature are reporting different things. The radiology studies say that nearly 100% of patients have CT changes, but the clinical reports says that 81% of cases of Covid-19 either have no pneumonia or mild pneumonia. While the use of terms like “mild” and “severe” infection are pretty rubbery, we should recognise that one common definition is that patients with mild infection don’t go to hospital. If that is the definition used here, 4 out of every 5 Covid-19 patients won’t be represented in this cohort at all!

Not only are 80% of all Covid-19 patients potentially not included in the study, but these excluded patients are also specifically those who are less likely to have CT findings. One study suggests that over 50% of patients who have Covid-19 infection will have a negative CT study in the first few days of infection (likely a decent proxy for “mild infection”). Another study showed that only 50% of asymptomatic patients had changes on CT.

Put this all together, and we could imagine an extreme scenario where the study reports a sensitivity of 97%, but the actual sensitivity for screening is below 50% (and possibly as low as 20-30%).

This was so strange that I thought I was missing something as I read these studies, so I asked radiology Twitter for input. The overall position among the TwitterRadis was pretty similar to mine; there was extreme skepticism that these results reflect the true population.

The only thing that is >95% certain is that my tweets will have typos in them. Blame the 5-day old newborn who was keeping me awake

Blinding and misleading metrics

The second problem relates to the metric choice itself. Sensitivity is a great metric, since it tells us “of people with the disease, how many will the test detect?” This is exactly what we care about with Covid-19 screening.

But sensitivity has a seesaw effect with another metric, specificityh m(false positives you get). As sensitivity goes up, specificity goes down. There is a trade-off, and how much you favour one metric or the other will be determined by the clinical setting. In a screening scenario, it can be reasonable to aim for high sensitivity, so you miss as few cases as possible, at the expense of a lower specificity (we can accept a higher level of false positives).

The trade-off between sensitivity and specificity is often plotted as a ROC curve.

What is often not appreciated, however, is that you can turn the dial all the way. It is always possible to achieve 100% sensitivity (top right corner of the curve); you simply say that everyone has the disease.

This is an absurd approach, since a) it means a whole lot of people without the disease are getting treated, and b) it completely invalidates the test. Why even do the test if you don’t need to look at it?

With that in mind, let’s look at another “CT is highly sensitive for Covid-19 detection” paper. This study, in the same high-tier journal, claims that the sensitivity of CT is 98% vs a sensitivity of 70% for viral PCR. They say:

“Our results support the use of chest CT for screening for COVD-19** for patients with clinical and epidemiologic features compatible with COVID-19 infection particularly when RT-PCR testing is negative.”

With a statement as strong as that, surely they are saying that they have evidence that CT can be applied broadly? They even mention patients with epidemiological features of infection … that is to say, folks who have been exposed but don’t have symptoms.

Here is the patient cohort diagram:

We can see we are again looking at only hospitalised patients who underwent CT, so we are likely to be overestimating the sensitivity due to selection bias.

But I noticed something else in this paper too – they show us the images for some cases, and some of the images are a bit weird. The image below, which was reported to contain “atypical features of Covid-19” (specifically “small peripheral linear opacities bilaterally”), was a massive red-flag for me.

Well, they must be small, because that looks like a normal CT chest

Now, maybe that image was unrepresentative or included by error, but they show this one as well, with a handy arrow:

According to this paper, tiny random opacities are now diagnostic of Covid-19.

I’m getting snarky here, this is only 2 images out of the dozen or so in the paper, but would anyone like to guess what percentage of healthy patients have a tiny vague opacity or scattered basal interstitial markings?

Old memes are good memes.

The point here isn’t that this test will have low specificity. It will, but as I said, that can be acceptable for a screening test. Rather, the problem is that the way they have performed the study throws the sensitivity results into doubt. It is trivial to achieve high sensitivity if you call any abnormality on an image a positive result. We could have equally high sensitivity on chest x-rays too, because almost every study ever has some degree of atelectasis (which could, in theory, be a ground glass opacity and therefore Covid-19).

Look at that minor left basal atelectasis. Must be Covid.

This also highlights a major problem with the whole study design. They don’t actually say how they identified the features of disease (again, pretty unacceptable), so I can only assume they had some radiologists look at the images post-hoc (commonly called a “reader study”). If that is the case, then how did this study actually work? Did they say “here are confirmed cases of Covid-19, tell me if you can see any features of the disease”?

In radiology research we always try to blind readers to the actual outcomes, because otherwise they will be biased by the known answer; doctors will be actively trying to find evidence that supports the already proven diagnosis. They aren’t cheating on purpose, this is a known subconscious bias that affects their performance.

Blinding is the incredibly important, because in real life the readers don’t know who has the disease. If you don’t blind, your results will not reflect reality.

Even if they didn’t tell the doctors that these cases all had Covid-19, how long do you think it will take for the doctors to twig that almost every case is diseased? A reader study without negative examples is, effectively, unblinded.

It is worth noting the the first study I discussed (in the section about selection bias) was appropriately blinded and had negative cases, so the blinding issue may or may not be a problem, but at the very least I am concerned that the authors were overly permissive in what criteria they used to define CT-positive results.

Summary

In my opinion, the studies that have reported high sensitivity for CT imaging are fatally flawed. They only report results on highly biased hospital populations, and it is likely that the reporting rules used were too broad to be a fair estimate of the real-world use of the tests.

There have been several studies which showed more plausible results. A large study in NEJM of hospitalised patients (still a biased cohort) in China showed that, in practice, about 18% of CT scans were normal at admission. This is real-world evidence, as they used the radiology reports to determine the CT diagnosis rather than having radiologists read the scans post-hoc.

The cruise ship study I already mentioned is nice as well, since this is a group of exposed people who were all quarantined and comprehensively screened. They found that 50% of asymptomatic Covid-19 positive patients had no CT changes, and (similar to the above NEJM study), around 20% of symptomatic patients were also CT negative.

These results are markedly different from the optimistic early reports in the radiology literature, and the reason for this is clear. They looked at the holistic population rather than a small biased sample in hospitals, and (at least for the NEJM study) they used the actual clinical reports to assess the presence of CT changes, rather than only looking at positive cases without negative controls through the retrospectoscope.

Rather than 97% or 98%, the overall sensitivity of CT for the detection of Covid-19 infection is probably below 50%, and is almost certainly much worse than PCR testing. Thus, as all of the expert panels and committees have said, CT imaging has no role in the screening or primary diagnosis of Covid-19.^

*this is not unique to the radiology literature, but there have been quite a few studies of questionable value in good radiology journals.

**typo in the final line of the conclusion is reproduced from the source. This isn’t a comment on the authors, more a reflection of the reduced editorial oversight that comes with any disaster. I don’t doubt that the need to get papers out (with both good and questionable motivations***) is responsible for some of the problems raised above.

***I’d be remiss to not mention the questionable motivations, although I am not aiming this at the authors of the papers discussed here or the journal editors, some of whom I know. There is a metric crap-ton of terrible research on covid coming out. The writing and publication of rubbish science is heavily motivated by the near infinite citations on offer, the unlimited altmetrics, the slavering media chasing after new and controversial content, and even political agendas. And, next blog post, in AI in particular there are millions of dollars on the table for even vaguely believable claims, as governments want to look like they are doing something rather than nothing, and AI always looks good in a press release.

^that is not to say that CT scanning has no role at all. We do imaging for a wide range of reasons, but that is a different discussion. The papers claim that we can use CT for screening and diagnosis, and that appears unsupported by the evidence.

Luke Oakden-Rayner is a radiologist in South Australia, undertaking a Ph.D in Medicine with the School of Public Health at the University of Adelaide. This post originally appeared on his blog here.

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kristinsimmons · 4 years

Text

CT scanning is just awful for diagnosing Covid-19

By LUKE OAKDEN-RAYNER, MBBS

As background, the pro-AI argument goes like this:

CT screening detects 97% of Covid-19, viral PCR only detects 70%!

A radiologist takes 5-10 minutes to read a CT chest scan. AI can do it in a second or two.

If you use CT for screening, there will be so many studies that radiologists will be overwhelmed.

In this first post, I will explain why CT, with or without AI, is not worthwhile for Covid-19 screening and diagnosis, and why that 97% sensitivity report is unfounded and unbelievable.

Next post, I will address the use of AI for this task specifically.

I’ve been getting a bit upset

Anyone remember Film Critic Hulk? Someone should definitely do a Research Critic Hulk. PUNY SCIENTIST CLAIMS A P-VALUE OF 0.049 IS CLINICALLY MEANINGFUL? HULK SMASH!

So I have split this post off, and written an article that isn’t about AI at all.

CT in Covid-19 is just awful

The American College of Radiology says “CT should not be used to screen for or as a first-line test to diagnose Covid-19.”

The Royal College of Radiologists says “there is no current role for CT in the diagnostic assessment of patients with suspected coronavirus infection in the UK.”

The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiology says “CT should not be used for routine screening for Covid-19 disease.”

The Canadian Association of Radiologists “recommend against the use of routine chest CT for screening, diagnosis and surveillance of Covid-19 infection.”

There are many more. Boom, argument done. CT sucks.

Technical problems with the radiology literature

If that is a bit flippant, then below is a short technical discussion to explain why the papers are claiming CT is good, and the experts are saying it is bad.

I see two main problems in the literature that suggests high sensitivity for Covid-19 detection with CT:

severe selection bias, which invalidates all the conclusions

incredibly permissive diagnostic rules, inflating sensitivity ad absurdum

Selection Bias

I’m going to mostly refer to this paper, since this is the major source the 97% detection claims, which concludes that:

“Chest CT has a high sensitivity for diagnosis of COVID-19. Chest CT may be considered as a primary tool for the current COVID-19 detection in epidemic areas.”

Many sources have picked up on this, both in social media and the traditional outlets.

The problem is that this is totally wrong and not justified by what they showed. The reason for this is called “selection bias”.

When the patients you select for your study (orange box) aren’t representative, you have selection bias.

Here is the cohort diagram:

The question you need to ask is “which patients were these? Were they from the general population of patients who might have Covid-19?”

The answer is “no, these are patients in the hospital that got referred for CT scans.”

Put this all together, and we could imagine an extreme scenario where the study reports a sensitivity of 97%, but the actual sensitivity for screening is below 50% (and possibly as low as 20-30%).

The only thing that is >95% certain is that my tweets will have typos in them. Blame the 5-day old newborn who was keeping me awake

Blinding and misleading metrics

The trade-off between sensitivity and specificity is often plotted as a ROC curve.

Here is the patient cohort diagram:

We can see we are again looking at only hospitalised patients who underwent CT, so we are likely to be overestimating the sensitivity due to selection bias.

Well, they must be small, because that looks like a normal CT chest

Now, maybe that image was unrepresentative or included by error, but they show this one as well, with a handy arrow:

According to this paper, tiny random opacities are now diagnostic of Covid-19.

Old memes are good memes.

Look at that minor left basal atelectasis. Must be Covid.

Blinding is the incredibly important, because in real life the readers don’t know who has the disease. If you don’t blind, your results will not reflect reality.

Summary

*this is not unique to the radiology literature, but there have been quite a few studies of questionable value in good radiology journals.

Luke Oakden-Rayner is a radiologist in South Australia, undertaking a Ph.D in Medicine with the School of Public Health at the University of Adelaide. This post originally appeared on his blog here.

The post CT scanning is just awful for diagnosing Covid-19 appeared first on The Health Care Blog.

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atrocitycl · 7 years

Text

Critical Discussion: “PRISTIN’s Fan-Signing Confrontation: Addressing Delusional/Sasaeng Fans Seriously”

“PRISTIN’s Fan-Signing Confrontation: Addressing Delusional/Sasaeng Fans Seriously”

Posted on April 19, 2017

So for where I do want to direct our discussion, I instead wish to focus our attention on how we, as sincere and supportive fans, are to address fans who genuinely are delusional and obsessive. For aspects this post will discuss: the need to take delusional fans seriously; a misunderstanding of how idols are to be perceived; discussion of mental health; and lastly, the idea of compassion even towards those who seemingly do not deserve such.

Personal Message: To clarify, I am in the middle of reviewing PRISTIN’s “Wee Woo” and hope to finish the review quite soon. That said, and especially as I believe that K-Pop and generally pop culture of any kind is more than just the entertainment, musical aspects, this Critical Discussion is one that I hope readers will seriously consider. For what will be discussed, in light of PRISTIN’s recent confrontation with a man I personally deem dangerous, I think it is time I personally bring up a topic that even I have oftentimes belittled: the topic of delusional fans—or in Korean terms that K-Pop audiences might be more familiar with whether one knows Korean or not, “sasaeng” fans.

Now to clarify, quite obviously this Critical Discussion will not focus on persuading readers to not be delusional fans; I expect that many genuinely delusional fans would not even be reading these types of posts in the first place, and furthermore, I say with full confidence that those who are reading this post are intelligent, critical, and ethical human beings who already know why it is problematic to be an overly obsessed, delusional fan. So for where I do want to direct our discussion, I instead wish to focus our attention on how we, as sincere and supportive fans, are to address fans who genuinely are delusional and obsessive. For topics this post will discuss: the need to take delusional fans seriously; a misunderstanding of how idols are to be perceived; discussion of mental health; and lastly, the idea of compassion even towards those who seemingly do not deserve such. And of course, I will cover in brief terms what exactly occurred between PRISTIN and a delusional fan, but admittedly this discussion will focus more on delusional and obsessive fans in general rather than just PRISTIN’s case. After all, sadly, this concept of delusional fans—or “sasaeng” fans—requires a discussion that addresses them all rather than just a particular case. (Another prevalent case in mind is, if I am correct, with EXO and how Suho was sexually threatened—or “sexually harassed” if my language here is too biased—with rape from a woman. Point is, there are many of these extreme cases involving both male and female artists and thus, I wish our discussion to be general and that PRISTIN’s case will merely provide a contextual example.)

_______________________________________________________

Context: I will link a news article that addressed what occurred: Soompi’s article. I have praised Soompi before, but I will do it once again—and no, I am not sponsored by them at all nor write for them: I simply appreciate their professionalism and website layout of not pouring in obnoxious pop-up ads as do many other translated K-Pop news sites do as of the late. But on topic, the news article should cover what exactly occurred with PRISTIN and the “fan.”

For more specific details on why this person’s behavior is highly inappropriate, he intended to propose to Kyulkyung at this fan-signing, and regarding a sketchbook he planned to give, he wrote in the sketchbook sexual threats (or, again, “harassment” if my language is overly harsh and biased) such as desiring to get Kyulkyung pregnant along with including an image of a decomposing corpse. For where credit is deserved, the staff and group members all acted very professionally and appropriately despite such pathetic actions from the “fan.” The only criticism I have on this practical, procedural end however is questioning why Pledis Entertainment does not use a blacklisting system akin to, if correct, JYP Entertainment (and of whom are also very strict with how fans can interact with idols when not at meetings). The fact that an infamous delusional fan is able to physically meet PRISTIN is perhaps the more disturbing aspect of this entire incident—and bear in mind, the company was aware of his coming given that fans have taken preemptive measures of alerting the company and hence why the staff was prepared to deal with him. With that, though, let us now focus on the actual and more general discussion at hand.

_______________________________________________________

Analysis: Already, one of the major takeaways I hope readers have from this post is the fact that delusional/sasaeng fans need to be taken seriously. I connote this on both practical and social levels. In PRISTIN’s case, once again, I highly wish to emphasize the fact that such a fan was still able to attend despite multiple, proactive warnings about his behavior. While there could be many reasons for why this occurred, and to clarify I do believe in the best intentions and that Pledis Entertainment agreed it was—for whatever reasons—the best to still allow the delusional fan to attend, I do wonder if part of the reason involves the company not necessarily taking these types of fans seriously in the first place.

In defense of Pledis Entertainment however, especially with most of the delusional fan’s comments being online, it could all be an entire hoax to make everyone anxious for the person’s own amusement—and admittedly, I would consider most of these delusional fans to indeed be mere frauds and jokes. And of course, this is complicated by the unreliability to detect when someone is genuine or not online; after all, if someone despised me enough, she/he could take my sarcastic humor of me jokingly claiming TWICE’s Jihyo will propose marriage to me as real evidence to me being a delusional/sasaeng fan. Now for a more complicated case, while my own “delusional” points are easily found as sarcastic, there are cases where drawing such clear distinctions is difficult. A prominent example is, if correct, how a boy sexually harassed IU in a live stream. While IU’s label company brilliantly did decide to press charges—after all, sincere or not such behavior deserves to be addressed—the boy did claim he was merely joking and was not genuinely going to act on his words. Nevertheless, we find our tension here: how serious are companies to take delusional fans?

While I personally propose we need to take all actions and words from these types of fans as serious, I still wish for readers to consider the opposing view: many could disagree with me as perhaps there may be fans who are indeed misunderstood and therefore wrongly punished. And of course, I am thinking of genuinely innocent examples; in IU’s case, whether the boy was joking or not, the degree of his words are unacceptable. Instead, “innocent examples” might involve how a fan “jokes” on SNS that she would kidnap a certain idol if she could. Quite obviously, there is the tension of whether this fan would need to be investigated and blacklisted or if it is quite clear—whatever constitutes as “clear evidence,” another issue in of itself—she was joking. All in all, readers can see there is in fact a serious discussion on this front. I urge that we need to take all repetitively “proven” delusional fans seriously, but already that statement can be strongly and rightfully disagreed with and I do encourage readers to always be critical thinkers with considering various perspectives.

Switching onto our next topic, this one will be relatively brief as I hope to many readers this will already be common knowledge: that idols are not to be perceived in an objectifying manner. I bring up this point as there is a peculiar yet reasonable argument for why delusional fans “can” exist: some argue an idol’s job and role does, at times, involve putting themselves out there for fans to figuratively consume via entertainment or in some cases even sexual appeal. After all, it seems far too extreme if a genuinely well-behaved fan can never say, for example, “Kyulkyung is so sexy!” without suddenly being labeled as a dangerous, delusional fan. Indeed, to some extent, I agree: it is not unethical to idolize idols—and hence, perhaps, the very label of “idol.” In fact, this idolizing can range beyond just how one might look up to an idol as a role model; I think it is not utterly inappropriate if a fan is suddenly expressing how she is very much sexually attracted to some idol. If such occurs, then so be it. However, this is where I argue there needs to be an appropriate balance: idolizing to extreme ends to the point it affects idols and fans, whether sexual or not, is never acceptable.

For example, despite my conservative beliefs (as admittedly while I am socially ethical and therefore categorized as “liberal,” I culturally am “conservative”--and of course, “conservative” or “liberal,” we all should be socially ethical) of how a “real man” and a “real woman” never makes sexual comments to others, I have—as indeed, I am a regular nerdy human—made sexual-based remarks before. With PRISTIN in mind, I believe I have even posted a YouTube comment along the lines of explicitly calling Nayoung “sexy.” Is this entirely unethical? I argue far from it; my comment was that of being a fan at the moment and I obviously meant it as a lighthearted praise. Most importantly, I did not take it to the degree that the comment would be objectifying and I very much praise and acknowledge Nayoung more for Nayoung herself rather than for her physical appearance. Now that said, and particularly to male readers, this is not an excuse to suddenly go on a “she/he is sexy” complimenting marathon. I say this to male readers as we have to acknowledge that an innocuous sexual-based comment, even if meant to be lighthearted and a genuine praise, can indeed still be considered sexually objectifying and demeaning because we speak from a position of social privilege. In other words, we speak from a male privileged stance and could be unintentionally contributing to the issue of freely sexually objectifying women (and men) because speaking from a male privileged stance automatically justifies a male’s sexual comments as acceptable (due to gender expectations) when such actions should not be excused at all.

Thus, my overall point is this: in a reasonable, mature and respectful manner, there is not a problem should a fan idolize their idols—whether with admiration or with sexual attraction. The key idea is that such comments and idolizing need to be respectful and reasonable. Praising that Nayoung is sexy is not an issue; there is an issue, however, should one keep repeating and pushing forth such a comment to the point where Nayoung—a wonderful human being—is reduced down to purely her body. And of course, adding on male privilege should the fan be a male, and indeed we have an even more serious situation as it now leeches beyond just one individual case but is now reaching a social level of perpetuating the idea that men can freely sexually objectify women. Likewise, claiming that Nayoung is one’s role model is not a problem; there is a problem, however, should the fan suddenly find the need to stalk Nayoung and genuinely believes she loves him/her back in a romantic sense.

As for PRISTIN’s delusional fan, he is indeed in the wrong: he has made a sexual threat to Kyulkyung—a comment that claims he would make her pregnant versus merely complimenting her—and his excessive admiration has led him to believing she genuinely loves him back in a romantic sense. Yes, idols’ jobs and roles do involve them being idolized, but an ethical dimension still exists: idols, too, are human beings and deserve respect and dignity. Indeed, many Korean idols (I have no authority to comment for other pop cultures) are absolutely fantastic role models for male and female fans and thus, I do find it acceptable should fans admire them as role models or even find idols sexually attractive should a fan opt to go this route. (Biasedly with my cultural views, though, I do urge fans to praise idols beyond their physical appearance if physical appearances are to even matter at all. Idols’ work ethics, respectful conduct, care for members, skills, and so forth are what I find most “sexy” and I do encourage fans to view idols in this aspect rather than merely physical attractions.) What is problematic is when such infatuation—sexual or not—goes to the extent of disrespecting the idol and said idol is no longer a human but instead an object. After all, as much as I joke about being delusional and loving TWICE’s Jihyo and how she will one day get on her knee to propose to me, I obviously know at the end of everything—besides how we will never meet at all—Jihyo is simply an amazing woman who brings a lot for the world as a role model and musician—not an object that I can somehow “possess.”

Finally, this brings up perhaps the most sensitive topic yet in this post: a discussion on mental illness. Already I wish to clarify that I do not want to further perpetuate the stigma that socially deviant behavior (if that is a proper term; I merely mean behavior that is not of the norm and do not intend to connote something else) must automatically be the result of mental illness. Whether it is PRISTIN’s delusional fan or the woman who claimed she would rape EXO’s Suho, as ethical and critical human beings, we should never automatically assume these individuals are mentally ill. For all we know, they might be very sane and reasonable people; the only difference, though, is perhaps they lack ethics and have no regard for acting upright in the world. (This is why readers constantly see me discussing social topics in an ethical lens; in the end, I consider my ultimate goal as a human being—let alone a K-Pop reviewer and future teacher—is to spread as much goodness and to encourage others to do as much good as possible.) Nevertheless, however, I think the discussion of mental illness is still relevant: it needs to be reminded that us mentally healthy individuals have an ethical role with challenging the stigma of mental illness, but should the case be that certain delusional fans are mentally ill, such needs to be addressed appropriately.

Without intending to, I have already discussed why readers should not hurry to the conclusion that delusional fans are automatically mentally ill. Again, the example of how these types of fans might be sane but merely lack ethics is a possible and reasonable explanation. Furthermore, the automatic association that any social deviant behavior means one is mentally ill is a highly misunderstood idea. Mental illness cannot be easily generalized in that sense, and I argue such negative associations of mental illness—such as how individuals who are mentally ill are dangerous—make it even more difficult for those who need mental support to get that very support. Think of, for example, those with depression: if mental illness is considered wicked and dangerous, the likelihood of a depressed individually getting the help she/he needs is highly reduced due to social stigma. Thus, I do challenge readers to be more critical in their view of mental illnesses and to very much confront biases they have towards mental illnesses. Although I am the one suggesting this, I do indeed admit I have biases that I very much am working to challenge—after all, my first instinct to reading about PRISTIN’s incident was a quick assumption that the delusional fan is “crazy” and “mentally ill” (in other words, I used the label as an insult rather than its appropriate use as a general, clinical label). These are disturbing, highly biased thoughts I have, but indeed I share this as readers need to realize we all have biases worth correcting and I indeed am joining along in the process of being a more compassionate, knowledgeable human.

_______________________________________________________

Conclusion: With addressing so many different points, I might now have made readers feel overwhelmed, more confused, or simply unsatisfied with how one is to reconcile what PRISTIN and Pledis Entertainment staff members experienced with the delusional fan. I will attempt to conclude this Critical Discussion: a discussion on compassion.

Indeed, I find that the ethical layer is why a lot of social-related topics matter as all of these related discussions is ultimately an attempt to answer how we are to make the world a better place for each other. On one hand, compassion here means that we need to understand what idols feel and why, despite idolizing them, they are worthy of respect and dignity as is every other human entitled to. Now for where the idea of compassion gets tricky, admittedly feeling compassion—in other words for those unfamiliar, having a sense of understanding and even “acceptance”—for delusional fans is difficult. In fact, I wholeheartedly admit despite my current teachings and discussion, I do struggle with having compassion for these types of individuals. After all, how is any ethical, critical person supposed to “accept” and “understand” a woman who dares to make a rape threat to a man or a man who dares makes a sexual threat to a woman? But, this is where I challenge readers and myself: we still need to, at the very least, make attempts to understand these individuals.

For perhaps a controversial point I will make, having compassion for these delusional fans does not mean one is to necessarily accept them entirely; I absolutely prohibit these types of fans from ever attending fan-meetings and also desire to ban them from posting content on idols’ fancafes. What I mean by “accept,” then, is that I still have to accept and acknowledge these delusional fans are humans. It would be wrong, for example, if fans suddenly made plans to kidnap the woman who made rape threats to EXO’s Suho and physically assaulted her—reason being she still is a human, and that using such escalated violence would lead to nothing. (Now even more controversially, I do want to clarify that I do believe at times violence to counteract violence is sometimes essential and appropriate. For a random example, a police officer who kills a criminal who would have otherwise harmed innocent people is, in my argument, worthy of praise as she appropriately used violence in this case to prevent malicious violence. This is the only violence that is acceptable—in my argument, that is.) Therefore, in one sense, compassion in this regards means delusional fans do not deserve equally heinous treatment—barring, as in the example above, cases where violence must be used to prevent a delusional fan from inflicting violence.

Secondly, another reason for compassion and perhaps the most important reason is that it allows us to be critical in assessing such types of fans. Why are they behaving this way? Compassion grants us the moment to genuinely attempt to understand where a delusional fan is coming from. With PRISTIN’s case, I am highly curious of the background of the sasaeng fan. His mental health, his relationship with women in general, his views on ethics and behaviors, his views on masculinity, his views on sexuality—all of these are aspects that can very much help hypothesize reasons for why he behaved highly inappropriately towards Kyulkyung. And through this process, we come to realize there is a humane side to a person who we otherwise would only desire to bash and trash.

All in all, while these types of fans should not be physically accepted at all, I think they ethically deserve to still be—if not accepted—then at least understood in regards to motives. But, this is indeed still a tough situation and how one feels about this situation will ultimately be up to their own moral views. Some fans might feel compassionate and attempt to understand the delusional fan’s seemingly troubled life and mind, but others can equally and rightfully believe such a man is disgusting and perhaps even inhuman for his actions and words. It all depends on one’s own ethical views, and that is something I do not desire to shape. All I desire is to make people think of their very own ethical views—regardless of what they are. If hate is to be used, then I hope there are at least solid reasons for such. No matter what, though, we all can agree on this: on a practical level, delusional fans are a threat to idols and staffs, and indeed, I believe safety precautions need to be implemented such as blacklisting such fans or thoroughly inspecting these types of fans for any suspicious items (be it weapons or hidden cameras).

_______________________________________________________

This Critical Discussion took far longer than expected. As a result, the review on “Wee Woo” will be posted much later, but of course, I do believe that this post is much more valuable than a musical analysis of their debut song as this post matters on both a practical and social layer. My words here are not necessarily to convince readers what to think, but I do hope it sparks discussions and encourages more critical, deeper thinking for PRISTIN fans or other K-Pop fans—or even simply fans of any pop culture should this post reach a broader audience.

Look forward to a review on PRISTIN’s “Wee Woo” in a week or perhaps even two weeks as I will be heading into university finals soon. Thank you to readers for being patient, and thank you to those who have read or skimmed this post.

#PRISTIN #Sasaeng Fan #Delusional Fan #Nayoung #Yuha #Roa #Kyulkyung #Rena #Eunwoo #Sungyeon #Yehana #Xiyeon #Kyla #Pledis Entertainment #Kpop #Korean Pop #Critical Discussion

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allopropaganda · 7 years

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In regards to these posts 1 2

As we, hopefully, reach a new era in our history, one where we may talk freely among ourselves and explore new and old ideas. We are at a cusp of growth.

We have dealt with foaming aphobes, we’ve been dealing with them for so long, maybe we forget that there are other levels of violence.

Let me be clear, I have been fighting for a long time. Reactions that spring up in me come from years of “training”, I have a very intuitive grasp of social justice issues and I’ve come to realize/reason that just because something seems obvious to me, can’t make it so for others. I think we need a bit of breakdown to see where the community is becoming ableist, aphobic, and victim blaming, and areas that are going to hurt us in the long run.

So this post is in two parts, because when I said I felt “ganged up on” I meant it in more than one way.

The Personal Attacks.

You make what you believe to be an innocent comment, maybe you make hasty judgements, and in many many ways even I - the CPSTD sonofabitch - must admit, that there would be no way for you to truly know where you’ve misstepped, before you’ve stepped.

Nobody thinks they’re saying something harm/that harmful, and that’s essentially why it’s not up to them to decide they didn’t! (not without real evidence).

*dramatically opens curtains* Come see through my eyes *tinkling music plays*

Firstly, claiming I had reacted aggressively - was majorly aphobic and ableist. For the aphobic part, that may be a little easier to see. My response did not shame someone, believe me I can shame I’m sure you’ve seen it. I did not look to attack them personally, I actually did not attack at all! My response was about the heartache a-specs had to go through, it was about experiences that happened to me. To assert that I was harming them, that mentioning the attacks on me where harming them, the words “that’s messed up” come to mind.

The left hook on this is the implication that showing any emotion and not seeking to soothe the aggravator is aggressive. At no point does an oppressed person have to placate the oppressor - nor does the oppressed person have to coddle and soften words to soothe their feelings. If you spread oppression, even if you didn’t mean to, that is your rightful title! And the world is inundated with people making these mistakes, the best thing for you to do is own up to them, take responsibility, and seek to rectify! THAT makes you an ally! THAT truly changes the world! And yes, you can definitely spread oppression even if you are in that group, that is exactly how oppressive systems work! They rely on many hands.

Boop down to the abelism which I don’t think you could have possibly recognized even if you DID take a special interest in me, or in C-ptsd, or remember those two things at a time - but this is what happened to me all the same.

C-PTSD Is Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Many of you may be familiar with PTSD, that’s what war veterans get diagnosed with all the time. I think we can all remember instances where it’s been depicted of war veterans suddenly going in to “fight mode” when they get triggered. All of the bad instances where they had to survive comes up, boiling hot like a geyser, and the truth is that it’s not always wrong. That’s me. I don’t know what you may be thinking what fight mode may be like, but fight mode is filled with fear, panic, and anger. I am ready to attack and disable my attacker at all costs. For me, enemies are everywhere, everyone’s motive is suspect, each new thought is a breakdown in my spatial cognition. This is a survival mechanism that is made to protect me.

So what I’m saying is, with all of this running through my veins, clouding my mind, how my brain screamed attack and justified any means of survival, and was actively telling me that not to attack was wrong, I still did not attack. I did a really great job of restraining myself, in the interest of bettering my community, and you…trashed that.

And in regards to claiming my tags were “aggressive”, well like I mentioned above about hostility and all - my tags where about asking if this ask was legit or not. So with CPTSD it is hard to tell when someone is being sincere, or reading any other emotion other than hostility. Let me tell you, I have literally read really nice messages sent to me and couldn’t understand them because I read them in an hostile slant. So that’s why I ASKED, to make up for my disability.

Oh man, which brings up another thing. Gaslighting me. Gaslighting is further explained down the post but in regards to me - My thoughts scatter, and I may read things that just aren’t there. To make up for that I read, reread, think - over think, reduct my think, over think a little more, write out the thinking. There’s a hell of a lot of thinking just to be absolutely sure that I’ve had this down correctly. No offense, but I’m a really smart person, and I am highly intuitive. When I come up with a stance, I have written a book in my head to back me up (see ENTIRE POST). It is so inappropriate to jump in and say “nuh uh”, just because you like the person who said the thing, or is entirely reactionary. I see that as highly disrespectful of my intelligence and trying to take advantage of my cognitive disabilities. Hey, that could be my CPTSD talking, but also you could just not do that, ever. For the record, if I doubt something I ASK, or put it in non-definitive terms. No argument of “nuh uh” is an acceptable retort to what I put into my words.

And to put an extra fine point on it, don’t even try using my disabilities against me to attempt gas lighting me. I specifically take precautions to protect myself from that.

And for icing on the abelism cake - using anger as a reason to dismiss marginalized peoples. No.

I was able to save myself, because I’m pretty kick ass at that. You take this entire post and everything it means, and crunch it into one burst, and shove it in my soul - all of this at once and ongoing. Could you possibly imagine that I would be able to make a coherent argument? I think not. It would have gone on - everyone justifying their actions because “I can’t act right”, but this in turn sparking even more hostility. But I stopped myself, even when I KNEW I was right and you DESERVED to be gotten and I was wrong and dangerous to leave, I knew this in my soul, but I still left because I could take hold of something tiny and believe in it against all odds. To say that this is fair and just to expect other people to do, other victims to do - I could never suggest such a thing. I am just lucky. Respect people’s right to be hurt.

Part Two

In regards to our community, in the new times there will be new prejudices rearing it’s ugly head, it will be subtle, it will be blatant, it will come from our own side.

And you’ve been exposed to blatantly violent aphobes for so long, I know a certain feeling arises in you that you associate with “bad people.” To be sure, assigning labels such as “good” and “bad” person wise is a mistake made time and time again, stretching time and place.

“Nice Guy”*

*The “nice guy” is a phenomenon ever occurring in our society and is not meant as a way to gender anyone - phenomenons have no gender.

What you are teaching yourselves is that no one “nice” should be corrected or called to attention. They should have words minced, you feel like a traitor and mean for suggesting that they might have some aphobic biases. Newsflash, everyone has aphobic biases, we live in an aphobic society!

And to be honest, the “nice guy” rhetoric has been used on just about every abuse victim and should never deign to cross the lips of someone interested in justice. In my mind this is the shock, anger, and call to fight that fills my heart.

But let’s go back. For one, the defense of the “Nice Guy” is often that they didn’t know better, they misspoke, and/or they didn’t really mean that. In all of that - it doesn’t change a thing of what was done. Aphobia doesn’t just stop “because it was a mistake”, it keeps going, it gets picked up. You can’t undo what you’ve done by saying, “not me”! You can only work to erase your actions by having a reaction, you must put forth an effort to rectify your mistake. In fact, raising your hands and declaring no responsibility is dangerously disrespectful.

Next, you cannot say, “they didn’t mean that”, just because you like the person. This is a form of gas lighting. You are taking reality and shouting that it never happened. Gaslighting is abuse.

Here’s the scenario, either A) They typoed something and they said the exact opposite of what they meant. That means they still said it, that means it was still spread. That means it definitely exists and has caused harm. To say it didn’t exist doesn’t help a-specs, to recognize the mistake and take steps to fix it does. Just own up to your mistake and don’t get angry that it upset people and they reacted. Of course they reacted they just got blindsided by aphobic rhetoric, just respect their feelings.

B) They didn’t realize how horrible they sounded, until it was pointed out. This is called “internalized aphobia”, or maybe micro aggressions for allo people. It happens to everyone. That means they still said it, that means it was still spread. That means it definitely exists and has caused harm. To say it didn’t exist doesn’t help a-specs, to recognize the mistake and take steps to fix it does. Just own up to your mistake and don’t get angry that it upset people and they reacted. Of course they reacted they just got blindsided by aphobic rhetoric, just respect their feelings.

C) They really did mean what they said, but are willing to shrink back due to backlash. This has no matter (and no way to determine through isolated incidents) because all you need to do is call out the behavior.

But they were Mean to the Nice Guy It forever remains a mystery how you can demean someone with a smile on your face, but when the oppressed don’t smile back they are viewed as the hostile ones! I think we’ve covered this time and time again! It really should not be your priority to police the emotions of a harmed oppressed person. People can react hostilely to people because they are using a system of oppression that boosters them up while putting the oppressed down. People have feelings.

The Logical Conclusion to Nice Guy So your first instinct is to not make waves, to be as understanding as possible, you are friendly, you are nice. As long as you Smile you are Nice. You see something that makes you uncomfortable and you let it pass, because we’re all friends! So that something is passed around, it’s multiplied, other people, it becomes established. The implications of why it made you uncomfortable becomes clear as an aphobic notion takes root. What was now one misinformed statement is now a war. WOULD your nice guy, because they are so nice, really want that? Would they really want to harm the a-spec community? If they would, well then they’re not so nice, if they wouldn’t, then in the end you are helping them and yourself out.

#asexuality #aro #a-spec #aromantic #asexuals #actually aromantic #says goat

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allenelslove · 7 years

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Bias In Medicine

I read a lot. On an interest level I am tangentially involved with medicine but I am also concerned with how medicine is practiced for both my husband and I. Recently, an article appeared in Kevin MD.com about “Does Racial Bias Compromise Patient Care?” KevinMD.com is a medical blog that covers the realities that confront doctors based on first person experiences. The shared common experiences highlight how the practice of medicine affects the lives of individuals in medicine who, for the most part, are highly educated/trained professionals that work long hours, often under difficult circumstances.

The article addressed a pediatric anesthesiologist who stated that Michelle Obama speaks “ebonics and has a “monkey face”. The racially benign (sic) physician, a Dr. Herren, ‘affirmed on her Facebook page that she is not a racist and is just telling it like it is”. The article elicited multiple comments, including my own. The article attempts to seek avenues to ensure that physicians with racial bias are minimized or normalized at the very least.

Following are specific comments about how to approach physician biases.

For example: "How this is executed is a fertile frontier". ‘The devil is always in the details. How exactly does an ER incorporate perception of bias in patient satisfaction scores? Are they anonymous which makes them worthless? Are the physicians going to allowed due process or just be sacrificed on the altar of political correctness ? What if a physician gets accused of bias simply because the patient was demanding narcotics and the physician refused? All of this sounds like just another poorly thought out straw about to be thrown on physicians backs that are about to break.’

My response: Your response clearly points to a codified bias against the assumed veracity of patients. Patients that visit ER just to procure drugs are typically a known phenomenon across medical facilities in a given area, therefore the "charge of discrimination" would sink like a rock. It has been found historically, that anonymous responses often yield greater truths because most people are afraid of the potential repercussions they might be subject to if a valid complaint is aired and shared with said physician. Like most other professions, medical doctors are often aware of the shortcomings of their colleagues and many choose to simply ignore blatant racism in exchange for what is perceived as "the greater good."

The response: “Ah yes, everything is about bias, codified or otherwise. When someone reserves the right to unilaterally define bias as they see it they can immediately point the finger at anyone. Well, we have finally had enough of having fingers wagged in our faces with charges of bias no matter what we say. Unless all parties can agree to the ground rules there is nothing left to talk about.”

My reply to this response: You seem to be dismissive of other people and their very real experiences, unless you agree that their experiences are valid. Perhaps you might take the time to explore some of the research that has occurred and still ongoing on implicit and explicit bias? Perhaps you could start your investigation by googling the "Implicit Association Test".

Respondent’s Reply: "Experiences" are in the eye of the beholder. A critical mass has been reached where people without a biased bone in their body are tired of constantly being accused of bias where none is intended, especially where there are legitimate differences of opinion. People being accused of being racist just because they disagreed with President Obama's policies is a classic example. Perhaps you should start your investigation by re-reading, and understanding the lesson of, "The boy who cried wolf"

To me, this final response of the commenter represents the thought processes of millions of so-called non-racist Americans. And to be clear, this distinct attitude of the commenter is exactly why there are so very few real dialogues, nay dialogues for that matter, between people of color and those of the dominant race about race and its effect on people of color. This individual clearly feels that most minorities spout/claim to experience bias in their lives, when in fact no bias/slight has been intended. And yet, according to this commenter and millions of others sincerely believe that the occurrence of bias in the lives of minorities across this great land of ours happens so rarely that any account of bias is simply incorrect, wrong, to be specific and should be viewed simply disregarded like that age old fable, “The Boy That Cried Wolf”, despite the fact that the boy was correct the third time that he called “wolf”! Like most fairy tales and fables were constructed to relay a certain obvious truth. But to quote the commenter with an all-knowing vantage: “The devil is in the details”.

A great amount of research has been completed on implicit and explicit bias and yet there are people, in the medical community, that believe that doctors and nurses are somehow immune to racial bias, kind of like unbiased police officers or prosecutors, unlike the rest of society. There is a specific arrogance in this commenter’s responses, his absolute “tiredness” and complete dismissal of a very real issue that bleeds into the lives of minorities daily, the permanence of racial injustice that clearly has not been solved in our American society. His response(s) identify him as the poster boy of white indifference and fatigue with all things that point to racism, like millions of others, who are all just too dismissive about 14% of medical students and doctors that admit their racial biases and under-prescribe pain medications and under-treat minority patients. Whether these practicing physicians and/or future physicians believe that black people “suffer less pain than whites”, or have thicker skins, or are more “prone to lie about their level of pain”, each contribute to a medical system that is broken. Those same physicians have a far harder time identifying those hard working white folks that are addicted to drugs or are rarely inclined to lie about drug use or addictions, simply because my patient(s) “looks more like me than the monkey face”, ebonics speaking person that sits before me. I have the right to refuse those individuals first class medical care.

This scenario of biased judgement plays out in every segment of modern day society, time and time again. Cable TV pundits, journalists, far too many academics, spout the “tell” of racism and all deny their so very obvious Freudian slips about the “other”. Exactly when did it become acceptable for the dominant culture to deny the effects of their dominance over minority populations? To claim that bias does not exist is like claiming the sun will not rise, sometime, somewhere, some place on the face of this earth, at least once every twenty-four hours. And yet, the legions of folks who seek to return America to a past time, who seek to “make America great again” are individuals loath to accept their futile pursuit steeped in chasing an impossible dream, of attempting to recreate a time that really never existed for the majority, in the first place.

The entire globe is tilting towards destabilization because of a world-wide intrinsic, fatalistic fear of other people. Minorities, women, the LBGTQ communities are not recent additions to our diverse society. Exactly where did transgender individuals relieve themselves before their gender issues became a national outcry to “protect the children?” Why does anyone care if two men or two women decide that they want to share their lives, sanctioned by the state, as two married individuals? Why does any adult care about what happens between (sexually) two consenting adults? Why is it so difficult for supposed reasoned adults to accept that bias, and that includes implicit bias and does not imply that only explicit bias is a concern, does effect the level of care or non-care minorities and even women receive medically?

Isn’t it about time that every adult American put on their big boy/girl pants and start thinking and acting like the adults they claim to be?

#race #racism #bias #assumptions #reality

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topicprinter · 4 years

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With COVID being the topic that dominates our media, it’s pretty hard to get away from.While I’m not particularly interested in pandemics, I do find it an interesting and unique opportunity to observe human behavior. (As I imagine most of us marketers here do as well.)There are a few things I’d like to discuss in this essay:I’ve decided to split it up into multiple parts instead, so today we’ll just examine point i.i. Behavioral PsychologyCOVID is a perfect example of why technological innovation is not enough. With no vaccine available yet, how do you get experts to share their knowledge in a way such that it actually gets absorbed? How can we combat laid-back governmental approaches? Why are certain governments laid-back to begin with? How can we influence human behavior such that people self-isolate, wash their hands, and generally help decrease the rate at which COVID spreads?ii. Hoarding and ScalpingA subset of people have started hoarding and scalping basic supplies. Why? And what are the ethics of price gouging? Should this be regulated (conservative) or would this be better solved by free markets (liberal)? Are such people balancing market inefficiencies or creating them? Can we create worse situations with good intentions?iii. Injecting RandomnessIt’s safe to say that a lot of people’s routines have been turned upside down. Companies being forced to do remote. People’s automated routines being disrupted. Could there be a strange upside here, or not?i. BEHAVIORAL PSYCHOLOGYThere are many technological problems. Before you can influence people you should know toward what end. What are you trying to accomplish? What is the truth?Science can answer these questions. What’s the basic reproduction rate? How should we judge risk? Why does it spread? What measures are effective?But while creatives are well aware that they lack the tools to do the job of scientists, there’s often an unconscious assumption that that line of reasoning need not travel in the opposite direction. And as it is with all things, the less you know, the easier it is to fall into the Dunning-Kruger trap.So you see smart people trying to influence behavior with stats, graphs, and complex lexicon. But because we’re all capable of understanding English as opposed to mathematics, there’s a tendency to overestimate the complexity of math (due to intimidation of strange symbols) and to underestimate the complexity of influencing behavior (because we all speak English). I.e. It’s tempting to think, ex post facto, that it’s easy to run through the maze after you’ve been guided through it.This is a fascinating bias I call tool bias (if it has an official name, let me know), which ties the complexity of the tool to the perception of difficulty. Math can appear complex even when the application is very simple. Influencing behavior can appear simple even when the application is very complex. This phenomenon occurs in comedy as well. It’s easy to underestimate how difficult it is to create a good set because the tools (language) are simple, so while you laugh you think, I could do this easily.So how do you get experts to communicate their knowledge effectively? Answer: you don’t. While this job needs to get done, the person who does it is relatively fungible. I.e. Structural integrity tests need to be run at SpaceX but it need not be Elon who runs them.When scientists have figured out part of the puzzle, it needs to get passed onto the creative department if you will, just like you’d do with a brief for an ad agency.WHEN RATIONALITY KILLS PEOPLE AND IRRATIONALITY SAVES THEMHundreds of thousands of years have selected for humans that are best adapted to the environments such that they pass on their genes. One trait of past environments was risk. Risk of being eaten. Risk of starving. Risk of getting killed. Risk of an accident which results in you killing yourself, and so on.So it makes sense that from an evolutionary perspective, humans that were best able to reduce individual risk had a higher chance of passing on their genes.This creates biases in us where we fear spiders more than we fear doctors with messy handwriting. Even though messy handwriting which causes patients to receive the wrong dosage or incorrect medicine has an astronomically higher probability of killing you than a spider does (Sokol & Hettige, 2006; see also Ennik, 1980).And then there’s systemic risk (Taleb & Norman, 2020). Behavior that’s pretty safe for an individual can be highly risky for the collective.Younglings who’ve read How Our Physics Envy Results In False Confidence In Our Organizations might recognize the similarities with ergodicity economics; analyzing a system using an ensemble perspective need not equal an analysis using a time perspective. So a decision can be both good and bad depending on whether you look at it from the POV of the collective or the individual.When individual risk is low but systemic risk is a risk to all, it’ll still feel rational to act in a conservative way. But that would maximize the rate (R0) at which COVID spreads if adopted by all, which would optimize harm done at the systemic level (Ecdc, 2020). Healthcare gets overloaded if the people that would get sick get sick at the same time. Non-related emergencies might not be treated due to a lack of resources. Doctors might need to choose between patients. More doctors and healthcare staff might get sick due to a scarcity of masks and other materials (which decreases the number of patients that can be treated). And if the maximum number of people are infected, the number of people that get sick is higher than if fewer people get infected by using social distancing. After 14 days in quarantine and not getting sick, the probability that you’ll infect someone is low. If you do get sick, then the probability that you’ll infect others after about 10 days of showing symptoms, is also low. There also might be second-order risks such as hoarding, scalping, riots and such.Acting rationally will harm others initially, and then it’ll harm you as well. So the right course of action is to act irrationally; to ‘overreact/panic’ at the individual level to minimize systemic risk.In essence, this is a technical way of saying: ‘sometimes, things that feel dangerous are safe, and things that feel safe are dangerous.’HOW SHOULD WE INFLUENCE HUMAN BEHAVIOR?Experts in advertising have taught us that influence follows a predictable pattern in precisely the following order:i. Get the attention of the consumerii. Communicate CLEARLY to the consumeriii. Persuade the consumerIn order to persuade, you must communicate, and in order to communicate, you must first get the attention of the consumer.Nearly 90% of ads aren’t remembered, and this is being done by so-called experts in my industry!So clearly, the hardest part is getting attention.When we have the attention of people, we need to communicate. That requires that we’re crystal clear on what 1 thing we wish to communicate in our message. And it needs to be digestible for the average person without them having to expend any effort.Let’s take ‘washing hands more frequently’. You don’t want to run a campaign with washing hands, and social distancing, and coughing in the elbow, and doing elbow bumps instead of handshakes, all in one campaign. [1]It’s also important that it’s created with Kahneman’s system 1 (or fast thinking) in mind (Kahneman, 2014; see also Kannengiesser & Gero, 2019).Can the message be absorbed by scrolling past it, quickly glancing at it or walking past it? Does your grandma understand what’s being said? How about your 7-year-old niece?If it meets those criteria it’s probably good. Simplicity is your friend.And finally, you need to persuade the person we’re talking to. Give them a reason to do what we’d like them to do.The fact that hand sanitizer is hoarded is a sign of the poor job that’s being done on communicating the superior effectiveness of soap. Professor Thordarson’s thread on why soap is so effective against viruses.We know that women are better at grabbing attention than men for both men and women, so running a campaign with an attractive celebrity would likely grab people’s attention.The headline of the copy or the intro of an ad could be something along the lines of: ‘’Do you know the single, most effective way to protect yourself during the Corona outbreak?’’ ‘’Yeah.. me neither. Turns out, that it’s social distancing. But properly washing your hands is a close second. It actually kills the viruses.’’Followed by a demonstration of how to properly wash your hands.This would cover all the bases, attention, communication, and persuasion.Now as you might remember from Alchemy: Turning Words Into Money (The best guide on the web when it comes to writing effective sales copy), it does not matter how great your starting point is, it is still merely a starting point. This means it’s important to test at a small scale such that we can test its effectiveness. Creative work is not like mathematical work. We do the best we can, present it to reality and see what happens. Using things like split tests and gauging its reception, we can get a feel for how good of a job our campaign is doing.NOTES[1] Those elbow bumps are quite possibly the dumbest thing I’ve seen in my career. It’s clear that no one with even a minimal understanding of human behavior was involved. This is another clear sign of the overestimation of tech and the underestimation of creative. People didn’t feel the need to include experts because it never occurred to them there are right ways and wrong ways to solve the problem of replacing handshakes.Handshakes are deeply ingrained so it’s already a tall order. That’s made even worse by this new, socially embarrassing behavior. If you want people to replace a culture behavior it either needs to be cool or have a low amount of friction.You could make it cool by having celebrities and influencers do that elbow thing, but why learn a new behavior. The simple nod is something that we’ve been doing for ages. It would be much easier to replace the handshake with a nod or a slight bow.REFERENCESEnnik F. (1980). Deaths from bites and stings of venomous animals. The Western journal of medicine, 133(6), 463–468.European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic: increased transmission in the EU/EEA and the UK — sixth update — 12 March 2020. Stockholm: ECDC; 2020Kannengiesser, Udo & Gero, John. (2019). Empirical Evidence for Kahneman’s System 1 and System 2 Thinking in Design.Sokol, D. K., & Hettige, S. (2006). Poor handwriting remains a significant problem in medicine. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 99(12), 645–646. https://doi.org/10.1258/jrsm.99.12.645Taleb, N., & Norman, J. (2020). Ethics of Precaution:Individual and Systemic Risk. Retrieved from http://academia.edu/42223846/Ethics_of_Precaution_Individual_and_Systemic_RiskIf you made it to the end, thanks for reading. You can find more content on behavior design, marketing and entrepreneurial science over at www.younglingfeynman.com/featured

#/r/entrepreneur #reddit

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garp19-alexgorcik · 5 years

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Quotes from Girl Gamers and their Relationship with the Gaming Culture

“At the heart of academic understanding of computer games and games consoles is the widely held conviction that technology embodies a culture which is expressive of masculinity. Male designers who have developed games have traditionally preserved male dominance within the gaming industry based on their own taste and cultural assumptions. Computer games such as ‘sport simulations’, ‘beat ‘em ups’, ‘shoot ‘em ups’ and ‘adventure games’ that incorporate fantasy and human violence are said to maintain gender differences in play and affect the degree of female participation in computer play”

“In the early 1990s Eugene Provenzo’s content analysis of games available on the Nintendo platform revealed that games contained a small number of female characters in mostly submissive and marginal roles. For Provenzo, stereotyped portrayals of gender embody the culture in which games exist as well as reveal its’ prevailing attitude towards women. ”

“Although gender representation has altered during the last decade, game developers openly state that their rationale for the inclusion of female characters is based upon the premise that they appeal to the average boy gamer than equivalent male character.”

“The first section of the interviews sought to discover how girl gamers gain access to gaming, that is, whether girl gamers own or merely have access to a console. With girl gamers only representing a comparatively small proportion of the gaming market, it was important for us to explore whether girl gamers are unaccounted for or representing a comparatively small proportion of the gaming market, it was important for us to explore whether girl gamers are unaccounted for or unrepresented in game content, primarily because their access to the gaming culture is achieved secondary access to consoles owned by others.”

“Respondents also indicated that they believed gaming was strongly biased in favour of males. In explanation of this supposition, it was argued that:

Adult Gamer: They’re very boyish in fact that they tend to be football games or rugby games, and even the driving games tend to be rally racing type stuff, they are quite aggressive aren’t they?

Interviewer: Yes, perhaps they are.

Adult Gamer: I mean I like Spyro… he’s a very gentle little dragon.”

“It was commonly stated that more boys play because so many of the games are in fact ‘blokey games, y’know things like shoot ‘em ups’. Referring to the disproportionate amount of games that are released with only male gamers in mind, girl gamers highlighted the lack if real choice available to them:

Child Gamer: There are like more boy games coming out for the Playstation, I get Crash Bandicoot because they are my favourite games and because there’s not much girl games out like. The only games I’ve actually got is the ‘Spice Girls’ [reference to Spice World the dancing game].

Interviewer: Would you like to see more games which have more for you as a girl?

Child Gamer: Yes, I think there should be more girl games coming out because there is a lot of boy games and they like , … you don’t understand them because they are like for boys. Like there’s football games and everything

Interviewer: But I see you have football posters on your wall, why don’t you play football games?

Child Gamer: I don’t like the football games that are out, because it’s hard to play because you’ve got to… try and get it off another player, and if you don’t really know what the rules are … it’s hard.”

“This girl gamer not only recognised that gaming culture has direct links to existing male culture, but also there are ways in which such games presuppose a certain level of cultural competence. This and other similar comments were notable for the way computer games are not perceived as neutral artefacts by girl gamers, but an embodiment of the knowledge and practices of a male culture. Thus, with reference to the range of games played by females, girl gamers revealed that their experiences outside the context of gaming did not in any way facilitate their ability to ‘learn how to learn’.”

“Questions relating to the Tomb Raider series were used to address girl gamers’ attitudes and opinions towards the highly gendered images within games. Although one of the most successful and popular games of the 1990s, Tomb Raider is a good example of a game that appears to offer more for males than females. Indeed, the game‘s protagonist, Lara Croft, was featured in The Face magazine as one of the most popular twentieth century icons. Conforming to stereotypical perceptions of female beauty, its popularity with males is not only documented by the selling power of the product, but also exemplified by Playboy’s attempt to feature the human Lara Croft representative in their magazine”

“Inevitably, the exaggerated physique of Lara Croft also figured in girl games’ explanations for their dislike of the game:

Adult Gamer: Her boobs are too big, huhuhuhu well the Lucozade advert, I don’t think anyone looks at the Lucozade, well the men don’t, but I mean It is pathetic really, I mean I have played the games … but her as an individual is a bit over the top.

Interviewer: What do you mean pathetic?

Adult Gamer: Well it’s like, Lara Croft is very curvy and everything whereas the blokes she’s shooting are straight figures … they’re all ugly. Anyway, I prefer the games you don’t have to just keep shooting.”

“It is also important to point out that the unpopularity of Lara Croft as a protagonist, within our sample, did not rule out female characterisation as something that girl gamers would like to see in places in games. Interestingly, one member of the child sample revealed that she was in the process of designing her own game, using the co-star of Crash Bandicoot (SCEE), Coco Bandicoot as her heroine. Currently, Coco is not an interactive character, but one that appears in the animated clips between levels. She declared that:

Child Gamer: I’m trying to design a game, but I haven’t finished it yet.

Interviewer: Can you tell me about what you’ve done so far?

Child Gamer: I’ve started to draw the characters … because everybody knows about Crash Bandicoot, so I’ve started a game Coco Bandicoot. I’ve drawn the characters, I’ve got one or two, I’ve got them in my file over there.

Interviewer: Can I have a look? [finds a blue file and pulls out a folded piece of paper with pencil illustrations on it]

Child Gamer: That man is called Neo Cortex, and he’s starred in Crash Bandicoot one, two and three, and Wooky Witch is our new character we’ve tried to design.

Interviewer: Tell me about Wookey Witch

Child Gamer: Well she’s when Coco Bandicoot’s gonna try and get past her, she’s gonna like either have a magic cloak or something and you’ve got to try and steal it off her, and she fires her magic lightning bolts at you.

Interviewer: What made you want to have new characters then?

Child Gamer: They’re always men, the baddies and goodies and I like Coco but you can’t be her.”

“Attention was given to the nature of girls’ gaming activities, in particular alternative locations for their gaming. When asked whether they try out new games on playing-posts in shops, none of the respondents reported that they did. The responses indicated that shops, like arcades, are a male preserve. This attitude is perhaps best summarised by one of the young gamers, who stated that she sometimes watched boys play new games in shops, but has never had the courage to participate in that particular setting. Adult gamers, however, revealed that gaming occasionally occurs in the company of friends. However, it was commonly stated that they rarely instigate social gaming, neither do they actively participate when it does occur. Again, the process of play were revealed as affecting female playing practices with male involvement typically leading wither to the exclusion of girl gamers, or girl gamers to exclude themselves.”

“In answer to the question, ‘Who girl gamers?’ this study firstly identified girl gamers as a group that are drawn from a broad age range. This was a group that enjoyed gaming as a secondary activity, in the sense that their absolute playing time was constrained by several self-imposed sanctions. Despite the wider availability of gaming consoles, the restrictions placed upon playing time were caused by interactions between several factors. Factors included the presence and dominance of male gamers, the salience of contrasting female/familial social roles and the self-efficacy levels of girl gamers in relation to their playing style and gaming preferences.”

“Girl gamers also revealed their awareness of the sexism in games and claimed to desire a more balanced portrayal of males and females in games, as well as greater flexibility in character choice. Thus, in gendering the technology, this study revealed that girl gamers require a specific combination of characterisation and game-play.”

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