Will Shetterly's Blog, page 40

Camilla and the Tribe with Wings

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More: Camilla.

Current Affairs and the Sacred Contract Between Writer and Editor

ETA: I’ve deleted the editor’s name. Everyone deserves a second chance. During an internet flamewar, a Current Affairs editor tweeted this: fyi if anyone wants to know why Anna Khachiyan is salty about Current Affairs, it’s because she submitted a miserably bad “critique” of feminism and Brianna Rennix tore it apart while Anna was (oops) still shared on the google doc. Rude? yes. Hilarious?

Current Affairs, Lyta Gold, and the Sacred Contract Between Writer and Editor

During an internet flamewar, Current Affairs editor Lyta Gold tweeted this: fyi if anyone wants to know why Anna Khachiyan is salty about Current Affairs, it’s because she submitted a miserably bad “critique” of feminism and Brianna Rennix tore it apart while Anna was (oops) still shared on the google doc. Rude? yes. Hilarious? also extremely yes — Lyta

It's better to separate social class and economic class than blur them as "socioeconomic" class

I don't find "socioeconomic" useful. Economic class and social class are distinct if you are willing to look closely—a member of the social elite can be unlucky enough to become working class, and someone who the elite consider "trash" can be lucky enough to join the rich. A sneer is a powerful weapon in a conflict about social class, but when the war is about economic class, only capital

Yes, Helena Bonham Carter, everything in life is art, but it is political too

Everything in life is also politics. In any system with rich and poor people, rich people are able to do more because most people are able to do less. To those who object: Tea is free? Pens are free? Clothes are free? Parties? Groceries? Homes? Even how you talk is dictated by your educational opportunities. Even your smile has a great deal to do with the dentists you can afford. And if you

Marx and Adam Smith on productive labor and art

Talking about whether writers and freelancers are working class brought me to two quotes, one by Adam Smith and one by Karl Marx: “There is one sort of labour which adds to the value of the subject upon which it is bestowed: there is another which has no such effect. The former, as it produces a value, may be called productive; the latter, unproductive labour. Thus the labour of a manufacturer

Four hard questions for people who want reparations for slavery

1. How do you justify giving money to poor black people while ignoring 3/4 of the people in poverty? 2. How does a person prove they're ADOS (American Descendants of Slavery)? The historical records are incomplete, especially for people who were freed before the Civil War. 3. Does the one-drop rule apply? If so, a great many white people will be having DNA tests to see if they can get free

Anna K’s observaton applies to Racefail 09 (aka RaceReductionistFail 09)

Anna Khachiyan wrote on Instagram: The problem with allowing identity politics to overtake class politics is not just that progressive iconography has come to stand in for actual progress, but also that the mandate to honor the “subjectivity” of one’s “oppression” means that we are routinely held hostage by mental illness and personality disorder masquerading as a messianic fervor for social

Captain Marvel, the greatest Mary Sue ever? And a little bit racist?

As I hope my previous post made clear, I liked the movie and will probably see it again. But, dear God, is the character a Mary Sue. 1. She's retconned as one of the most powerful characters in the universe. (Yes, it is a problem that Fury never called her before, though a later writer can always say he did and she was too busy to take the call.) 2. She is so important that she gave the

Captain Marvel—fun movie, but she didn't have to be a neoliberal Mary Sue (spoilers after first paragraph)

Lightly edited things I said elsewhere: Fun. Brie Larson is only okay, perhaps hindered by a character who's a bit of a Mary Sue, perhaps miscast. Good use of Samuel Jackson. Wanted more Coulson and Hill. Last act is the weakest. Would see it again. I suspect both Jackson and Larson would’ve been better with a stronger script. Carol seems like a Mary Sue because she doesn’t have a well-defined