Blood

And another topic.

I don’t know about you, but fake blood and gore do not bother me. I have no problem eating dinner while watching a movie monster disembowel their victim, and play with it’s G.I. Joes in the poopy-slime cover end-trails. The reason I bring this up is because I can’t understand why someone would be bothered by it. It’s not real, we all go into a movie knowing this, with the exception of children. They have those wonderful hyper-active imaginations that translate that stuff into horrible nightmares and years of therapy.

Naturally this leads me to wonder if there is something wrong with me. Am I a sociopath and I just haven’t realized it? Doubtful. I think this stems from an even worse problem. I am all too capable of separating reality from fantasy. Where is the fun in that? Maybe life would be more interesting if I got the two a little confused from time to time.

I’m a member of a Facebook group called, NaNoWriMo. Recently there has been some debate about triggers. Someone posted a question about their writing that contained some form of tragedy that someone had lived through. The survivor became upset and it just went downhill from there. So now every person that posts starts the message with the words, Trigger Warning, followed by place holder that require the reader to scroll down to see the actual content. This bothers me. In fact it bothers me so much so that I refuse to take part in that group. Maye what I am about to say next makes me an insensitive dick hole. If so, than I will own up to it. If you’re so sensitive that you can’t read a post by your peers seeking help to improve their works because it makes you upset, maybe you should find the Mr. Rogers Rainbows and Sunshine Group to go play with.

Let’s make it clear that I am not downplaying the experiences of the people that were offended because they experienced the malicious act of whatever first hand. I feel for them, and wish it had never happened. Unfortunately, we live in a world full of fucked up people that make more fucked up people. It is our job as individuals to develop skin thick enough to handle the brutal world we live in. It is not our job to censor others because we have failed at thickening said skins.

A to Z post 2, B.

Anime

I started watching Anime long before I knew what it was. My earliest memories are of me waking up, sliding to the edge of my modest bed, and flipping on my small black and white T.V.. For reasons I absolutely do not know, the local channels not only played the usual gambit of Loony Tunes and the like, but also Japanese cartoons. At the time I had no clue that they were Japanese as they were all English dubs.

While I found the same joy as every one else in a bully rabbit picking on a hunter with down-syndrome, they just were fulfilling. Shows like, Grandizer, and Force Five satisfied my need for action and adventure. What did I get from those shows? Heroes putting it all on the line for a cause far bigger than themselves. It was exciting and dangerous combined with giant robots and kick-ass space ships. For this, I woke up early everyday to get my next fix.

When I was approximately twelve, I found a feature length Anime show that changed my perception of cartoons. Up until that point I was a happy passenger on the, “cartoons are for kids,” bandwagon. I was a kid after all. This movie, Space Station Dallos(that’s pronounced with a hard O sound), as it was titled, was a sci-fi movie in space with some very adult themes. By which I mean politics and commentary on the human condition. I know some people tend to think tentacles and boobs when anyone mentions the words adult and Anime, but most of the time that is not the case. For the first time I saw a cartoon character die and it had a real emotional impact on me. I was in a position where I could not only empathize with the heroes, but also with the bad guys. Both sides had people fighting for what they believed in, and made good arguments for their cause. I was enthralled, it was like watching the world’s worst car wreck, and there was no way in hell I was going to look away.

The small mom and pop video rental place a block from my house is where I found Space Station Dallos. They had a small collection of Anime films and shows, probably just ordered randomly from a catalog. I found my self in that section often. For the first time I began to read the copy on the back of the VHS box to see what the movie or show was about. I wanted more intrigue, and meaningful violence. Sure I still enjoyed the action adventure shows with little to no philosophical value, and even the American toons that were just kinda stupid. I was still a kid after all.

Not till I was in Jr. High that I came to learn the cartoons I really loved were not made in the U.S. In fact, cartoons were looked down upon by adults and I would probably never see cartoons of that caliber that were home grown. Some of that bias still holds true today. While he U.S. has come a long way in taking cartoons seriously as a multi-generational genre we still come no where close to Japan. This saddens me. Cartoons are a tool for story telling that is underutilized, and I would like to see that change.

A to Z post 1, A.