I was not really a part of Gamer Gate, in any capacity. I remain not a part of Gamer Gate, in any capacity. So this entire video was instructive to me. Dave's usually pretty good at factual objectivity, so if he's wrong let me know. I include it because I do have my own thoughts, inspired by the video.
When I was in highschool I learned something very important: how to watch movies and consume other art in a Christian manner. I was taught all art is morality, aesthetics/enjoyment were the highest expression of said world view, and that it was possible to view the world through the Christian myth. I was taught to apply the faith, as expressed in the Scriptures, the Fathers, and our Eastern Christian liturgical texts.
No, not your remembrances of said sources!
Actual critical reception of said sources!
The themes of resurrection, a broken humanity, and the common yearning for renewal were given pride of place. And then our priest proceeded to have monthly movie nights, where we were shown movies like Gattaca, SpiderMan 2, Spanglish, and many more, and asked "How does this square with how you view Christianity?" There were no wrong answers, and our priest always gave what he saw at the end, which he allowed us to disagree with. We were given a toolbox and shown how to use it a bit.
I've never not seen the world this way since. And to be blunt, it's helped keep me sane. It's helped me see the common humanity of people via art, to empathize and see that, in reality, nobody is really against me and mine. We all hurt. We all need forgiveness. We all need renewal. And we need it so badly that even if the event isn't real we make it real in ourselves. We are one. And, no matter how bad a piece of art is, if it has these elements, addresses these yearnings, there's still a spark of goodness within it, no matter the subject matter.
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| Yes, even this bloody and obscenely beautiful thing. |
Using this approach has let me view a wide variety of media with little to no issue, in a way that constantly intrigues (and frustrates) many of my friends, who want something of a simple answer from me... and almost never get it. Because I assume Christianity, inherently. So if I make anything creative, it's always with humanity's need for resurrection, forgiveness, and the frank acceptance of darkness in mind. Always. Because we need these things so badly we're willing to check out of the literal world to get them.
But that also means that bad works of art do not follow these principles. Works that deny the ability to be forgiven and change, that do not allow for the transcendent, are hurtful to people. There's enough nonsense darkness in the world, there's no need to deny people what they need but cannot get in "real" life; actual, real, life happens between your ears. And those things I don't just feel as gross, I feel them to be repulsive? The new Green Knight movie? That's a bad movie to me. It takes the themes of the poem and not only denies them but despairs they can happen at all. I feel bad for the director and his bleak vision, but ultimately I won't be seeing it again. I don't find it edifying at all.
So, at least to me, the situation with SJWs screaming foul about everything is darkly hilarious. There is no neutral humanity, it doesn't exist, and therefore everything is ideological. I agree with them on that! I always have! But, as I've covered in the previous post, wokeness and the SJW movement's use of Marxism means all they will ever be are suckers for the elites in their petty little conflicts. Wokeness does not address the need for forgiveness, resurrection, and acceptance, it only makes one into a rage drone.
Oh, right, we need to get into why the messaging matters. Why this isn't neutral. Why there is no such thing as something neutral and simply enjoyable.
Let's talk The Rape of the Mind, by Joost Merloo. I've talked about it before, but Mr. Merlo studied brainwashing in detail and wrote what could be considered one of the huge pieces on the subject. Merloo's findings include a crucial fact: if you keep yelling something at someone they will eventually come to believe it. Our brains get tired. They want a break. Or, as a friend of mine once said: "I have to stop thinking sometime!" You can only keep your guard up for so long. So all it takes is to just brute force a population with propaganda, because eventually people will just accept the propaganda, because eventually people get tired.
So, for all those who are professing "belief" in anything SJW/Woke: there's a very, very, very high likelihood that you don't, at least on purpose. Because brute forcing a population is real thing. It's very well documented. And if you think you're not affected you're not just wrong, but you're exactly where people pushing their agenda want you.
Don't believe me? Think I'm a conspiracy theorist? Here's the first chapter of the book. It's right there.
Go ahead.
And no, you can’t “reset”, because humans are social beings and will never be neutral. You can either do it to yourself (“education” and “habits”), have someone help you (“teaching”) or let society force it upon you because people need something in common (“culture” if it creates positive unity or “mass brainwashing” if it’s a negative unity).
What you enjoy is what you believe. Whether you like it or not, acknowledge it or not, aesthetics are the window into your soul.
And just in case you think I’m sitting from on high, judging you, in no particular order:
Clannad/Clannad Afterstory transcends all media for me
Movies
The Last Jedi
Brick
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Chronicle
Logan
It’s a Wonderful Life
Pacific Rim
The Big Short
Serenity
Schindler’s List
Books
The Solar Cycle (yes, ALL of them, I see all of them as one thing)
The Wizard Knight
The Lord of the Rings
A Wizard of Earthsea
Lilith
The Odyssey
Orthodoxy
The Great Divorce
Jurassic Park
The Black Swan
TTRPGS
Crescendo (yes it’s mine tough!)
Burning Wheel
Trophy Gold and Dark
Hearts of Wulin
Crowns
Bleak Spirit
Burning Empires
I think if you know anything about the media listed you’ll know a hell of a lot more about me than I’d care to think. I believe in these things. I can’t help it. It’s what I’m drawn to.
But this isn’t a permanent fixture. I can hack my own brain. And so can others.
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