The Sentimental Tradition and Boys Don't Cry

Those of you who have or have had a Children's Literature class will probably understand where I am coming from with this blog pretty quickly.
I was planning an essay I was going to write on Black Beauty the other night and suddenly everything I was thinking about seemed to correlate with the movie Boys Don't Cry.
To me, it suddenly seemed as if the movie had been directed under the influence of the Sentimental Tradition - The era that thrived on misfortunes of the misfortunate, weak and the minorities. Sentimental literature tried to bring to attention the mistreatment of these groups; the sentimental tradition looks for change, but never a change that is too drastic that it completely throws off the social order.
We discussed in class how Boys Don't Cry obviously reaches out to the audience to adopt a transgender gaze and sympathize with Brandon Teena, but then just as it seems there could be progress within the social order, Brandon seems to accept his feminine name Teena, and a lesbian scene occurs to bring the complicated movie back down to a level that society can understand better than they could a transgender relationship. Atleast with the lesbian scene, society is able to specifically label that relation as homosexual, whereas a transgender relation is more confusing.
And then in the end, like all active/unpassive characters within the Sentimental Tradition, because Brandon calls attention (even though it is unintentional) to himself and is threatening to disrupt all the norms that society has built, Brandon has to die (Just like Ginger and Seedy Sam in Black Beauty).

It Is All An Illusion But the Countess del Carpio

It has come to my attention that the notion of the world being completely arbitrary has been around for a Very long time. I have to wonder why it took me so long to realize it. Anyway, to the point, I was looking in my Visitor's Guide book of the Louvre yesterday and came across an enchanting Spanish Painting, of whose caption caught my attention as well. A quote from the artist reiterates perfectly what we've been learning in this class, but instead of learning it in a classroom, he must have discovered it another way, after all the man lived from 1746 to 1828.

The quote is as follows:

"The world is a farce; faces, clothes and voices; the whole thing is an illusion. Every man wants to seem something he is not, everyone deceives, and no one knows himself." - Goya (All you feminists out there try to give the guy a break for using only the masculine pronoun and just focus on the concept of what he is saying :) )

Never the less, despite his belief in the world as an illusion Francisco Jose de Goya y Lucientes was able to capture perfectly the Countess in the Portrait of the Countess del Carpio and "communicate the strength of character of this charitable, cultivated woman, who was still young but very unwell and, knowing herself to be terminally ill." For entertainment and curiosities sake I will post a clip of the painting (Although I wish it could be clearer and smoother to understand its beauty better :(.. oh well).

The F-Word

Just as the terms and meanings of "sex," "sexuality," and "gender" (along with basically all of the others that make up our world) are social constructions and are entirely susceptible to change, I realized that so are the terms that go along with these statuses.

The attached episode of South Park, which in my opinion is fairly comical (*note: the video is mildly controversial, but it is not my intention to upset or insult anyone by adding it), is a validation of my previous statement in the form of a satire. They point out that the term "fag" was used by labourers, and in more recent times has been used as a disparaging term against homosexuals. Homosexuality receives a fair amount of jabs because it is seen as the unnatural sexual preference (which we in Intro. to Lit. Theory class now know to be untrue). "Fag" then became used as a common insult on heterosexuals intended to mock those of "abnormal" sexuality. As of late, "fag" has become an invective, or sometimes even a jesting between friends, word against anyone deemed to be upsetting, or a "loser," without any purpose to harm homosexuals. According to the South Park's "The F-Word" episode, heterosexual "losers" are called "fags," while homosexual "losers" are specified as "gay fags."

Obviously the "f-word" can still be hurtful to homosexuals who have felt its wrath in the past, but this video just shows how arbitrary the term "fag" is and it's insolidity as an insult. So if you have about 20 minutes to spare, check out this link and let me know if you agree with what I am saying :).

http://www.xepisodes.com/southpark/episodes/1312/The-F-Word.html

The Quickest Cure to Racism!

So many times I have sat and listened to my friends day dream and fantasize about how life would be if we could live it a different way. I have often heard them say, "man, how cool would it be if you were a dog. I wish I was a dog, that would be the life."

Being free of duties and responsibilities, having all of your meals prepared for you, and running and playing all the while that you do not spend sleeping; these are the ideals that made the dogs life seem so enticing to my friends.

Just a night ago I was thinking on this idea, while I lay with my own canines, and thought of another reason being a dog might be so nice. As I watched the short Westie, the little Yorkie, the Shepherd/Boxer puppy and the Border Collie mix all play together with indifference to the others' colour or type, I realized that they were free from any bias against each other despite their differences. Now wouldn't that be delightful, to live in a world that is ignorant of race or racism. It is a shame we cannot simply all have four legs and a tail. haha :).