I have been struggling with the idea of my blog for a long time. It is the place where I decided, long ago, that I wasn’t going to use it as a soap box for my politics, my philosophies, or my general opinions on the way the world works. It would be a place for me to talk about movies, plays, books, and maybe a few games here and there when I had a chance to play them. It was a refuge for me to write about and share my interests regarding entertainment. Did I like something? Did I hate something? Was it worth spending money on, in my opinion? Is there a way I can promote local artists and performances without just being some random dude who says “go see this show” and maybe give performers the kind of coverage usually reserved for big budget Hollywood blockbusters? I had some regular readers, I had some random readers, and I had people who appreciated MY art for what it was…
And then the old monster reared its ugly head- a vicious beast once called “Politically Correct” culture, and has now fallen under other names… “Social Justice Warriors”, “Call Out Culture”, and “Antifa”. You see, I could no longer call “Split” a tense thriller- because it was so “obviously promoting transphobia”. I could no longer write about my views on plays, because those plays were not intended for me as an audience member. I wasn’t allowed to enjoy “It” because they presented Bev as a “Damsel in distress” and countless films and shows were guilty of “Cultural appropriation” even if casting Scarlet Johannsen fit with the core concept of a Japanese woman’s brain trapped in an android modeled after Western beauty standards. No, I couldn’t dare to write about things and if I did I would get backlash- either on my social media or in person.
So I’m in this place right now where I don’t want to write on my blog… MY REFUGE!
So, if you read my blog- I’m going to use my platform to promote something that really should be small and really shouldn’t even need to be said;
start calling them out on it.
Start embarrassing them.
Start showing them that they’re being silly or stupid and don’t just dismiss the extremist views and presume other people are just going to ignore it.
They are killing art and they are slaughtering culture and they are slaying real heroes who have struggled for decades. They have fed on Dave Chappelle and RuPaul and various performers, writers, and artists. They have attacked, demonized, vilified, and virtually crucified people by using the small niche markets they have access to in order to cry foul without context. They have pushed and shoved till the fringes have become indistinguishable from the norm. They have presumed their “experiences” and their “identity” simply trumps all logic and reason and they shouldn’t be challenged. They are weaponizing compassion to excuse their tyranny and mob mentality.
It is time to remember that, sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar. That context matters. That discussion matters. That bullying is wrong even if it comes from a former victim, even if it’s “revenge”, and that we need to risk being offended and talking about that offense rather than silencing it. And that the ridiculous needs to be exposed for what it is.
