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wJun 4, 2009 | |
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In which I try to address my white privilege, or otherwise justify my ardent love for Little House. I'm reading lots of Little House-related books and was about to write a post about Roger Lea MacBride's Rose books. But then I got to writing, and figured I should just make this its own post. Please feel free to openly discuss the topic: I am okay with being called on my shit, analyzing my white privilege, and focusing on the discussion at hand and not my hurt feelings. I've already written on LiveJournal about Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books here and here. I reread the entire series every year throughout my childhood. I think that I was reading these books in kindergarten. This seems improbable, but I have pretty distinct memories. There was some discussion last time I posted about the books, with people linking to this website about the books showing the erasure of the American Indians. I'm still not really sure how I feel about this critique. The book that deals most closely with American Indians is the second one, Little House on the Prairie, when Pa accidentally builds a house right next to hunting path, in the middle of Reservation land. As a child, I remember imprinting on Pa Ingalls disagreeing with their neighbor, Mr. Scott, because Mr. Scott would say, "The only good Indian is a dead Indian." 'What a dick!' I thought as a kid. And in the end, the Ingalls move. Yeah, the Ingalls moved around the Midwest and "settled" land that had already been inhabited by American Indians. It sucks. Even though Pa didn't kill anybody, he still participated in this movement of shunting aside indigenous people in favor of white people. So did my ancestors, who lived in cities and farmed land that used to belong to different people. But I guess I'm just curious. What else was Laura supposed to write about, if she's writing her personal history? It's a shitty thing that happened, but I think that not owning up to it, or sanitizing children's literature from it is not going to help matters at all. She lived in the 19th century, and wrote in the 1930s. She wrote about her life. Is that bad? I can see why any person would prefer to not read the Little House series and would rather read books about the lives of American Indians instead: books about them, books by them, books that celebrate them. I totally respect people who might decide to do that (not that anybody needs my permission). But I guess I'm just curious why Laura Ingalls Wilder gets a bad rap when not everyone else does. As Anyway. This discussion of race will probably be tied in to future posts I made about this universe of Laura Ingalls Wilder books, because I'm devouring them like candy, and I tell you what Internet, there is some heinous shit out there, and I intend to read it so that you don't have to. I wanted this topic to get its own post, so that's that. Labels: a: austen jane, a: brontes, a: wilder laura ingalls, books, books: ya, race scribbled mystickeeper at 7:55 PM 
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wApr 7, 2009 | |
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Yeah, I bought it. And there aren't just zombies in it. "My dear girl," said her ladyship, "I suggest you take this contest seriously. My ninjas will show you no mercy." Labels: a: austen jane, a: grahame-smith seth, books scribbled mystickeeper at 9:48 PM
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wJan 14, 2008 | |
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Son of a mother. I am so damn tired. What the hell. Lest I expound for paragraphs about my day, I will use a bulleted list. What I Did Today --Went to work. Less co-workers today. Actually had to work. WTF. --Left work early (didn't take a lunch) to go to bookstores for textbooks. --All of the bookstores were useless. One didn't allow me to copy down what books where on the shelf for one of my classes because they were unpacking things from boxes, and "working." I'M PRETTY SURE WHEN I'M WORKING, I'M NOT A JACKASS ABOUT IT AND FORGOT ABOUT CUSTOMER SERVICE, KTHX. I have no idea where one of my English professors is having his books sent, because they were not at any of the bookstores. Some of us like to hunt down good deals at used bookstores! Bastards. --Went to the post office. Spent lots of money. Gave them packages that aren't supposed to go to our address. --Dropped off prescription at Walgreen's. Was stupid, and forgot health insurance card, and will have to return tomorrow. --Made and ate dinner while watching Angel. OMG, Angel and Buffy are so good (seasons 2 and 5, respectively). I love Buffy season 5 much more than 4, so far. I think Angel also does much better when there is an over-arching plot. --Went to Qdoba so I could see Antoine (who was eating dinner), and his new book, and show him how I got the complete Princess Tutu series in the mail today (OMG SO GOOD). Blahhhh. I'm supposed to be doing things, like job-searching, or possibly caring enough to figure out what the eff I'm doing after I graduate. I suck. Maybe I'll just go to bed at like, 9pm. Fucking a, it already is 9pm. No wonder I'm tired! Anyway. I need to close windows, and there are lots of things I'm too lazy to write up my own thoughts about, so links are what you get! Last night, I watched Jane Austen's Persuasion on PBS, and am wondering if the Sarah Connor Chronicles TV show is worth watching. I mean, Summer Glau being in it is almost reason enough in itself, as is the fact that Battlestar Galactica's composer Bear McCreary is doing the music, but comments are welcome! An essay on recent book-to-movie adaptations, namely Beowulf and The Golden Compass. The writer thinks both films were brilliant, while I'm inclined to disagree. I've already written at length about Beowulf. I saw The Golden Compass last week, and overall, I enjoyed myself immensely, although I still feel the book is vastly superior. I also think that it was a hugely stupid decision to chop off the book's ending. Many think they're saving it for a second movie, but....I think the film may have been more successful with the big-bang ending that's in the book. Speaking of book-to-movie adaptations. My friend Angela and I watched the BBC's recent remake of Jane Austen's Persuasion on PBS last night, and it was decent. I was not a fan of jiggly camera work, the rushed ending, or Anne Elliot's intense camera-gazing that occurred every 10 minutes, but it was okay. Also, Anthony Stewart Head (Giles, from Buffy) was a hilarious baronet, and made anything sucky worth it. A gratuitous picspam of the entire movie, with commentary. A scathing review! An interesting article about young evangelicals embracing Mike Huckabee as their presidential candidate. Promo material for the fourth season of Battlestar Galactica has surfaced, namely with a Last Supper-esque picture of various characters. You can see it here, although be warned that the commentary by Ron Moore in the magazine scans are very spoilery for seasons 1-3! The empty cup and opened/closed books intrigue me. Rampant speculation by fans can be read here and here. This reminds me that I've still never blogged about what I thought about Battlestar Galactica: Razor. For now, you can read On Saturday, I watched the Whisper of the Heart movie (Studio Ghibli) with Antoine and his roommate, and I remember how much I loved it. It might be my favorite Ghibli movie, but I'm not sure. I identify very strongly with the main character. It is so sweet, and amazing! Everyone should watch it! Sometimes, lists help. Let's see if they do! Things I'm Stressing About --Anime Club needs fliers to post around campus. I have no skillz and no time. But it's looking life if I don't do it, nobody will. :/ --I need to change my bedsheets. Okay, I guess that's pretty easy. --The senate is in session tomorrow. Not sure how lunch-eating works into all that, :/ --This career/job stuff is freaking me out like none other. --Last semester, I took a shower at night instead of in the morning (morning being when I did it for the other 20 years of my life), but since Saturday, I've been doing it in the mornings and having better hair days. THIS IS A TOUGH DECISION. --I have no idea what to wear tomorrow. Matching an outfit to our ugly blue blazers that are mandatory on session days is pretty tough. I think blogging works better when I make smaller posts more frequently. tl;dr my ass Current Music: Country Road - Susumu Hirasawa (Whisper of the Heart OST) Labels: a: austen jane, anime: studio ghibli, british costume dramas, movies: beowulf, movies: HDM, tv: battlestar galactica scribbled mystickeeper at 9:29 PM
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