Author Topic: Media decolonization  (Read 3638 times)

90sRetroFan

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Re: Media decolonization
« on: March 08, 2021, 09:42:54 pm »
OLD CONTENT contd.

people.com/books/dr-seuss-books-racist-problematic/

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“Findings from this study promote awareness of the racist narratives and images in Dr. Seuss’ children’s books and implications to the formation and reinforcement of racial biases in children.”

The study continues by explaining that some of the most iconic characters relay the troubling messages of Orientalism (the representation of Asia and Asian people based on colonialist stereotypes), anti-blackness and white supremacy.

“Notably, every character of color is male. Males of color are only presented in subservient, exotified, or dehumanized roles,” the authors write as part of their findings. “This also remains true in their relation to White characters. Most startling is the complete invisibility and absence of women and girls of color across Seuss’ entire children’s book collection.”
...
Theodor Seuss Geisel, whose pen name is Dr. Seuss, published his first children’s book in 1937, and his works are filled with problematic portrayals that coincide with the culture of pre-Civil-Rights-Movement America. For instance, in If I Ran the Zoo a white male is carried by three Asian characters as he holds a gun. The caption beneath the Asian males describes them as “helpers who all wear their eyes at a slant” from “countries no one can spell,” according to the study. The only two characters identified as African appear in Horton Hears a Who!. Sporting grass skirts and wearing no shoes, “they are placed in a subservient role, carrying an animal to a White male child’s zoo,” Ishizuka and Stephens explain.
...
In September 2017, Cambridgeport Elementary School’s librarian, Liz Phipps Soeiro, made a political statement that quickly went viral when she turned down a shipment of Dr. Seuss books from First Lady Melania Trump.

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At least people are pointing it out:

www.yahoo.com/entertainment/disney-criticised-after-minor-white-aladdin-character-gets-a-spinoff-064607422.html

Quote
Disney have been roundly criticised after it was revealed that they’re developing a Disney + spin-off for a minor white character from Aladdin in the same week that its leading star Mena Massoud announced he couldn’t even get an audition for another movie.

The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that the studio were working on a show for Billy Magnussen’s Prince Anders, who only had a handful of scenes in the billion dollar grossing live-action remake.

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I have seen rightists brag about how "whites" and jews are more creative/innovative, hence why most inventors are "whites" or Jews. They often cite this as a rebuttal to the success of "non whites", whom they characterize as mere "worker drones".

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This claim takes for granted the progressive position (unfortunately shared by False Leftists) that invention is always good:

https://trueleft.createaforum.com/true-left-vs-false-left/leftists-against-progressivism/

This progressive position is what as True Leftists we are here to challenge:

https://trueleft.createaforum.com/true-left-vs-false-left/truth-knowledge/

https://trueleft.createaforum.com/true-left-vs-right/western-civilization-is-a-health-hazard/

https://trueleft.createaforum.com/true-left-vs-right/if-western-civilization-does-not-die-soon/

We must as far as possible avoid the False Left/neocon approach of trying to encourage "non-whites" to be machine inventors, as this will just enlarge the problem. Instead, the quickest way to discredit the "worker drone" stereotype is to point to Counterculture era "non-white" artistic contributions. I first noticed this as a video game fan. Western releases were constantly trying to be cutting-edge in graphics, sound, interface, etc. but the games themselves sucked:



compared to non-Western releases with 'outdated' presentation and technical features but infinitely more engrossing story, characters, mechanics, etc.:



The same is true of movies, TV dramas, etc. also. Unfortunately, the relatively limited exposure of non-Western movies and especially TV dramas among Western audiences during the Counterculture era has largely obscured this from mainstream awareness. This is something else we should aim to change by introducing more people to Counterculture era works from non-Western countries.

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The Witcher series, Halo, Assassin's Creed, the Call of Duty Modern Warfare trilogy, Uncharted, God of War, Bioshock, Borderlands, Fallout New Vegas, Alan Wake, Dragon Age Origins, Far Cry 3, Gears of War, the Mass Effect Trilogy, Metro, and the Prince of Persia Trilogy would like to know your location.

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"The Witcher series, Halo, Assassin's Creed, the Call of Duty Modern Warfare trilogy, Uncharted, God of War, Bioshock, Borderlands, Fallout New Vegas, Alan Wake, Dragon Age Origins, Far Cry 3, Gears of War, the Mass Effect Trilogy, Metro,"

All these are post-Counterculture-era franchises. After the Counterculture era ended, even non-Western video game developers shifted towards 3D (ie. became Westernized). This was why I totally lost interest in new games by the mid-2000s.

"Prince of Persia Trilogy"

I am happy to discuss Prince of Persia, however, as it is actually an example of what I was talking about:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_of_Persia_(1989_video_game)

Quote
Mechner used an animation technique called rotoscoping, with which he used footage to animate the characters' sprites and movements. To create the protagonist's platforming motions, Mechner traced video footage of his younger brother running and jumping in white clothes.[9] To create the game's sword fighting sprites, Mechner rotoscoped the final duel scene between Errol Flynn and Basil Rathbone in the 1938 film The Adventures of Robin Hood.[8] Though the use of rotoscoping was regarded as a pioneering move, Mechner later recalled that "when we made that decision with Prince of Persia, I wasn't thinking about being cutting edge—we did it essentially because I'm not that good at drawing or animation, and it was the only way I could think of to get lifelike movement."[10]

This reinforces the thesis of my previous post. Even in 2D, Westerners were always trying to make sprite animation imitate realistic motion as closely as possible:



The excessive realism made controlling the character just plain irritating due to the lag between input and response. For example, when you press jump, the Prince doesn't jump right away, instead he begins his Realistic Jump Animation Sequence which consists of coiling up and then jumping and then uncoiling, during which you may have already changed your mind about what you want him to do but have to wait for him to finish the whole move before you can tell him to do something else. Therefore the whole game experience is of trying to send delayed instructions to the Prince, rather than ever being able to feel that you are the Prince.

Compare with non-Western sprite animation which thoroughly disregards realism:



yet result in far more player-friendly control (you instantly feel like you have become Mario) and hence ultimately far more captivating games.

For the record:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan_Mechner

Quote
Mechner was born in New York City, into a family of European Jewish immigrants.

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“ After the Counterculture era ended, even non-Western video game developers shifted towards 3D (ie. became Westernized). This was why I totally lost interest in new games by the mid-2000s.”

Yes. I remember growing up in the mid 2000s, I was never interested in the video games released during that era. They seemed very dark and gritty and weren’t to my liking (probably a reflection of the times more than anything). I specifically remember playing Metroid Prime on the GameCube at a toy store and hating it. I spent most of my time playing games from the 90s my dad had purchased earlier. There was something about those games that appealed to me, almost like they were the supreme antithesis to the mood of the 00s games. It was almost like playing those games transported me to an earlier era (the 90s) that I felt I belonged to, and resonated with, even though I myself was born in the 21st century.

Just compare the aesthetic design of the GameCube console, to say, the SNES FFS!

This to say nothing of the games themselves:

Super Metroid (SNES):


Metroid Prime (GameCube):


Unsurprisingly, by the late 2000s I had completely lost interest in new releases altogether, which by no coincidence was due in part to the heavy influence of Zionist war propaganda present in the games. I would thereafter spend my life looking to rekindle that spirit that I felt as a child...

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"Metroid Prime"

Ah, yes. While everyone else was focused on the Prime series, I ignored it completely and only played Fusion and Zero Mission. Did you play these two?

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No, since I’ve never owned a Gameboy Advance.
« Last Edit: March 08, 2021, 09:52:35 pm by 90sRetroFan »