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alias_sqbrSomething I've been thinking about for a while is the assumptions people have about the motivations and purpose behind reading and writing reviews and analysis, especially the sort of amateur, social justice-tinged posts I make myself.
Specifically, as it relates to reviews and reactions on this blog: what is my goal here? And how much stuff I assume goes without saying isn't clear?
So here's a rough approximation of my goals, in vague order of importance:
Obviously this varies: a long rambling reaction post is less about helping people figure out if they'll like something than a short "I saw this and thought it was good" review is, etc. Also I may look at this list in like...an hour and go "Wait, that's all wrong!", my self-insight is pretty patchy.
But what I'm definitely not doing is trying to divide works into Good Progressive Works Everyone Should Consume and Bad Oppressive Works We Should Avoid. I do make a vague effort to promote and consume diverse/indie/worthy works but...I mean, the main thing I've been reviewing lately is a somewhat predatory gacha game about a maid being seduced by warlords, created by a multinational. Mainly: I review the stuff I consume, I consume the stuff I think I'll like, and the stuff I like is a crapshoot.
If I talk about how something pissing me off with it's, say, ableism, I'm
(a) venting and working through my feelings
(b) encouraging more awareness of ableism
(c) warning other disabled people it's there before they get a nasty surprise
(d) Giving other people who were bothered a chance to go SO IT WASN'T JUST ME.
But I'm not saying 'Don't support this' or 'If you enjoyed this you're ableist' or necessarily even 'the people who made this are ableist'. I'm often not even saying "I disliked this".
Very occasionally I do consider a work bad enough on moral grounds that I'd personally avoid supporting it, but that's more likely to be about like...union-busting bosses or something than the work itself. And I still trust you all to make your own decisions either way, based on your own values and priorities, which won't entirely match mine(*). I'm just giving you more information and my own perspective.
And that all doesn't go without saying. Pop culture feminism in particular is full of people who act like everything is either A Feminist Work that should be supported, or A Sexist Work that should be shunned, with this being a clear and objective distinction. Which it is not!
The main reason I talk about social justice aspects of a work is that it affects my personal, subjective reaction, and I know it will often affect your personal, subjective reactions. I'm still not sure where the line is between personal reaction and more objective analysis, and whether me exploring either of them has much of a positive effect on the world asides from self expression. But my self expression has value, and is the main point of this blog.
Also, something I just realised, which doesn't just relate to social justice stuff: while I am definitely not immune to peer pressure to consider something Good/Bad, I am also very prone to contrary reactions, where if it feels like NOONE but me has noticed an issue it bothers me WAY more.
Being able to express something that bugged me, or see other people agree that it's annoying, makes it bug me less. And I tend to assume other people work the same way, so that if they see me point out an annoying thing, it may make that thing less annoying for them.
But this all adds up to me listing a bunch of things which bugged me, which comes across as pretty negative, and may seem like I'm saying the work is Bad and should be Shunned. When to some extent I'm just trying to make it more enjoyable, for myself and others.
And until today it literally didn't occur to me that other people aren't all as contrary as me, so may not find this sort of thing as helpful, and might not realise how much contrariness affects my reactions. I mean it's a relatively minor thing compared to all my other motivations, so this realisation probably won't change much about how I express myself, but it's given me food for thought.
(*)I mean I'd rather you didn't go "Ableist, you say? Great, I hate disabled people! Take my money!" But I just...assume you're not doing that.
Specifically, as it relates to reviews and reactions on this blog: what is my goal here? And how much stuff I assume goes without saying isn't clear?
So here's a rough approximation of my goals, in vague order of importance:
- Let people who haven't consumed the thing figure out if they might like it
- Articulate and explore my own feelings about the work and how it fits into broader patterns, and express myself creatively
- Be entertaining
- Help others understand my POV and figure out their own feelings, even if we don't agree
- Give other people with similar feelings to me a chance to feel seen
- Have interesting conversations, both about the specific thing and broader topics
- Promote stuff I think is worthy or that my readers might like
- Encourage an environment where people can think and talk about this sort of thing without being made to feel bad or weird
Obviously this varies: a long rambling reaction post is less about helping people figure out if they'll like something than a short "I saw this and thought it was good" review is, etc. Also I may look at this list in like...an hour and go "Wait, that's all wrong!", my self-insight is pretty patchy.
But what I'm definitely not doing is trying to divide works into Good Progressive Works Everyone Should Consume and Bad Oppressive Works We Should Avoid. I do make a vague effort to promote and consume diverse/indie/worthy works but...I mean, the main thing I've been reviewing lately is a somewhat predatory gacha game about a maid being seduced by warlords, created by a multinational. Mainly: I review the stuff I consume, I consume the stuff I think I'll like, and the stuff I like is a crapshoot.
If I talk about how something pissing me off with it's, say, ableism, I'm
(a) venting and working through my feelings
(b) encouraging more awareness of ableism
(c) warning other disabled people it's there before they get a nasty surprise
(d) Giving other people who were bothered a chance to go SO IT WASN'T JUST ME.
But I'm not saying 'Don't support this' or 'If you enjoyed this you're ableist' or necessarily even 'the people who made this are ableist'. I'm often not even saying "I disliked this".
Very occasionally I do consider a work bad enough on moral grounds that I'd personally avoid supporting it, but that's more likely to be about like...union-busting bosses or something than the work itself. And I still trust you all to make your own decisions either way, based on your own values and priorities, which won't entirely match mine(*). I'm just giving you more information and my own perspective.
And that all doesn't go without saying. Pop culture feminism in particular is full of people who act like everything is either A Feminist Work that should be supported, or A Sexist Work that should be shunned, with this being a clear and objective distinction. Which it is not!
The main reason I talk about social justice aspects of a work is that it affects my personal, subjective reaction, and I know it will often affect your personal, subjective reactions. I'm still not sure where the line is between personal reaction and more objective analysis, and whether me exploring either of them has much of a positive effect on the world asides from self expression. But my self expression has value, and is the main point of this blog.
Also, something I just realised, which doesn't just relate to social justice stuff: while I am definitely not immune to peer pressure to consider something Good/Bad, I am also very prone to contrary reactions, where if it feels like NOONE but me has noticed an issue it bothers me WAY more.
Being able to express something that bugged me, or see other people agree that it's annoying, makes it bug me less. And I tend to assume other people work the same way, so that if they see me point out an annoying thing, it may make that thing less annoying for them.
But this all adds up to me listing a bunch of things which bugged me, which comes across as pretty negative, and may seem like I'm saying the work is Bad and should be Shunned. When to some extent I'm just trying to make it more enjoyable, for myself and others.
And until today it literally didn't occur to me that other people aren't all as contrary as me, so may not find this sort of thing as helpful, and might not realise how much contrariness affects my reactions. I mean it's a relatively minor thing compared to all my other motivations, so this realisation probably won't change much about how I express myself, but it's given me food for thought.
(*)I mean I'd rather you didn't go "Ableist, you say? Great, I hate disabled people! Take my money!" But I just...assume you're not doing that.
no subject
Date: 2020-04-21 02:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-04-25 12:50 am (UTC)That's really nice to hear :)
no subject
Date: 2020-04-22 02:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-04-24 01:25 pm (UTC)Yes, exactly! Same!
no subject
Date: 2020-04-22 06:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-04-24 01:25 pm (UTC)Oh, I'm glad! Sometimes I feel bad knowing the majority of my readers aren't into dating sims etc.
no subject
Date: 2020-04-23 03:34 pm (UTC)And I really appreciate your reviews! It's always delightful to read one of your SLBP recaps --- it's fun reading your perspective on things, and they always make me laugh. I also found the recent Nier Automata posts really interesting too, though I haven't consumed the canon (and probably won't).
no subject
Date: 2020-04-24 06:58 am (UTC)Ah, I'm glad, thank you!