(no subject)

As is frequently (REALLY frequently) the case, firecat has said something far more articulately and concisely than I feel currently able to say it. She's also kind enough to let me just gank her words to speak for me:

I really wish people who get defensive about hearing that there is racism/ablism in some entertainment product they enjoyed would figure out that if someone points out the racism/ablism, it doesn't automatically mean "and if you enjoyed the movie/book, and/or didn't notice the racism/ablism, you're a horrible bad person."

I do look for racism/ablism in movies, because it helps me become more aware of racism/ablism in me and the rest of my life, and I think being aware of it is a good thing.

I'm not sure how the race of an actor can be a metaphor, deliberate or not. But metaphors can certainly be racist.

I tend not to enter into discussions about works I haven't seen or read (unless invited), but I certainly enter into metadiscussions about the discussions.

In this case, although I haven't seen the movie, I have seen the preview, and that is racist/ablist enough. I don't have to see the whole movie to know that's part of what's going on.

And the preview told me the whole plot of the movie because I've seen so many other "what these people need is a honky named Marty Stu" movies and "a disabled person isn't a real person until they get a functioning body" movies, and those genres exist because of the racism/ablism in my society.

2009 in first lines

Here's a paragraph of the first line of each month in my journal. I'd love to see yours, either here or in your journal, if you feel like it:

Woke feeling oogy. I just bought tickets to go see my mom in April. Today is my first day off my meds. You knew this already, but my friends are geniuses. Adorable kids (okay, they're probably adults, but I'm getting old and they look like kids to me) signing Jonathan Coulton's "First of May", not safe for work in any fashion, but utterly adorable. Returning to crossposting to LiveJournal, though I've really resisted making that my practice. Things I have done this week to take control of my finances: 1) Eaten work-provided food and drunk water, rather than buying breakfast and coffee. Done with the bar exam; I hope he passes. I am not, in general, a huge fan of nature photography. Got to San Diego around 7 on Tuesday; 68 and partly cloudy turned into a lightning storm on our way home, but it never really rained much. Good things today: The kid is just really great to be around lately, and I'm enjoying her company. I wish I remember who pointed me to this first (probably [info - personal] wordweaverlynn or [info - personal] supergee, I'm guessing), but it's been kicking my ass (in a good way) for a few days, and I am finally getting around to posting it: An Adult Child Abuse Survivor's Guide to the Holidays.