In the biggest and most popular series, the main characters are either outright law enforcement – like my book bae Peter Grant in the Rivers of London series – or they’re like Anita Blake, characters who don’t actually have badges worth anything but are set up as The Law in their neck of the woods.
I’ve read dozens of urban fantasy books in my lifetime and many of the books hinge very closely on these main characters in law enforcement or who are adjacent to law enforcement or… who have very close relationships with cops.
One thing I genuinely hate because of fandom is “[Black Character who is obviously under developed] hooks up two of their clueless white friends and gets them to realize their love”
Because the Black characters are never written out beyond how they can help the white folks. Eve gets Bond/Q together. Sam gets Steve/Bucky together. Rhodey gets Steve/Tony together. Finn gets Rey/Kylo together.
The second I see a story where a Black character is turned into a sassy romance guide for a white ship, I just… get so pissed? Because THAT reduces them/us.
Fandom: We love [Black Character] so much! He’s a fandom favorite!
Also fandom: *really only creates content for [Black Character] that views them shallowly, relies on racial and sexual stereotypes, literally reduces them, and/or uses them to get a white ship together.*
The “Who killed Hannibal?” meme where Eric Andre represents “weirdos in fandom” shooting “space to talk about racism in fandom spaces” and then going “why did antis do that?”
Back in February, shortly after the big wave of Rey/Kylo fans pretending they were underogoing gender based oppression over shipping their ship because John Boyega roasted them, I saw an account that identified as anti-anti (fan/shipper) or “proshipper” make a tweet that was basically like:
“Sometimes, I wish that as an anti-anti I could call out bigoted works in fan and professionally released media, but then people will think I’m actually an anti out to censor fandom”
Recentlyl, I was making memes and I remember that I’d just (as in this half of 2020) seen the same set of people – way too invested in shipping for their own good – once again complaining that they couldn’t call out or speak about racism in their specific fandom spaces. This time it wasn’t because they feared being called an anti and accused of censorship… but because they were.
And rather than pause for a moment to think about how the actual problem remains racists in fandom, I once again saw people moaning about how “antis” (and again, anti what? In what fandom? When?) are the reason why anti-antis/proshippers can’t talk about racism in fandom in their own communities.
This trash article about Meghan and Harry is actually super relevant to what’s been going on with @JohnBoyega, the Rey/Kylo fandom, and coded racism from people in fandom/media that think we can’t see what they’re doing.
At no point in this article does the writer mention Megan’s actual race or mention her Blackness.
But that doesn’t mean that it’s not racist? Look at the second screenshot and how it continues the condescending attitude towards her.
Setting: “MOMMAE” is set in a few different “places” (I’m using the term super loosely here). A dance floor in what almost looks like an abandoned club, a bed(room?) in bi flag colors, a tanning bed, a balcony, a pool, and what’s either a house party or a nightclub. It’s a video full of lots of lingering shots of women’s bodies in these places, as they’re dancing or lounging on every surface and you’re spending so much tieme looking at these women from the neck down that the body itself – the surface area revealed by the short shorts, sports bras and the like – could almost serve as a setting where the song’s themes play out?
Sound: It’s so helpful that Gray always drops a producer tag at the start of his songs. Like If I’m on shuffle or listening to a playlist and I hear that tag, I know I’m about to get some good music. Can that man produce things that aren’t absolutely enjoyable? I have yet to come up against an example!
Anyway, as long as I don’t actually look too long at the English translations for the lyrics, this is a great song. Looking at the lyrics – especially where Jay Park raps that “니 앞에 서면 비욘세 엉덩이도 납작해/When I’m in front of you, even Beyoncé’s butt seems flat – makes me want to lift and throw him.
0:00 Welcome to episode nine of Stitch Talks Ish: Stitch Wraps Up One Hell of a Year.
0:12 For this end of the year wrap up, we’ll be going over questions that I received from friends, and followers on social media. Some of them are from anonymous contributors; others are from people who I know because I- they attach their name. And across this, you’ll get a better understanding of what I’ve been up to in 2020, and what my vibes are at the end of the year. So stick around— lots of good questions coming up.
0:47 [Musical Interlude]
0:47 Our first question is from an anon: because of the very nature of Kpop a bunch of stuff about it isn’t an English. How do you handle that? Who do you go to for trustworthy translation? And is there stuff academic fan official, you would like access to that you can’t get?
1:15 So first, I do panic a bit, sometimes, when I’m looking for something time sensitive and I can’t find any reliable translator; because usually things like academic papers, or maybe critical articles, don’t get translations from the fan translators. But when it comes to, like, BTS, as a really good example, I utilize fan translators like Wisha. Her account is really good.
1:54 If it’s something small, I do have friends who I don’t mind asking. And, you know, they’ve been like, “I don’t want to see you post something that’s absolutely incorrect. So if you need help, like, reach out.” So I have friends who, who read Korean or who can understand it, like, listening to it possible— You know, some of them are Korean, and so I’ll ask them for help.
2:20 I also look to see, if possible, if the author of the post would be able to provide anything, because sometimes, with academic papers, there may be other versions. So, like, I look to see what they have going on.
2:37 And then, haha, when it comes to the stuff I would like access to that I can’t get: So if you’ve been paying attention across— well since 2019, really— but largely across 2020 I’ve been really just in love with Myoung-Sun Song’s Hanguk Hip Hop. She wrote a two volume book (like two books… that’s how that works) about hip hop in Korean, and I want it desperately— desperately. And there is no English translation. I don’t know if it’s something she intends to translate, or have translated, in the future.
I love making memes about fandom and my experiences in fandom. Have a meme.
The “Is this a pigeon” meme with the a thirteen year old weeb mistreating people over shipping as the butterfly and adults in fandom gesturing at the weeb-butterfly and going, “is this a reason not to care about an unrelated conversation about racism in fandom?
I think it’s really funny (but like in a morbid way) when I see someone using a twitter user as an example of how bad all “antis” are (where anti can mean anything from someone harassing someone over ships to someone that dislikes a character or trope to… someone writing about racism in fandom) and that “antis” need to handle this person because there’s apparently a hive mind afoot…
And I then click through to go block and report the person because it’s my thing and then the “anti” in question is like a thirteen year old weeb shouting about a ship from a show they shouldn’t be watching in the first damn place.
I listen to music all the time. When I’m working on Day Job, writing the next thing that’ll make nerds frothy mad at me (because I’m right), or even now as I rewatch Love O2O for the millionth time, I’ve always got music playing somewhere. Last year, I did a similar list and I wanted to start a tradition by uh… keeping that energy.
Enjoy!
Title: Body
Artist: Megan Thee Stallion
What Had Me Hooked: I love Megan Thee Stallion. I shamelessly and publicly have called her “my baby” when talking about her. I adore so much of what Megan does, how she carries herself, and how hard she leans in to having fun and being herself. “Body”, the lead single from her first studio album Good News, is a fun and sexy song where Megan and a bunch of beautiful dancers and celebrities basically celebrate their fine physiques. Every time I hear this song on one of my playlists, I have to dance!!
Think of the “Ask an English MA Anything”/”Hire The Stitch” feature as you paying me to do [at least] an hour of work on something you’re working on yourself. You can email me at [EMAIL] with your task (and the subject Hre The Stitch – [THE MONTH YOU’RE EMAILING IN]) as well as if you want to talk via Google Hangouts or Discord and what times would work for you!
Silencing is a real issue, let’s get that straight. In fandom, however, it’s something that happens to people who don’t actually go with the established fandom order – and if you think talking about racism in fandom aligns with what fandom wants… I can only assume that you’re a gullible one.
I don’t love seeing BLM in folks’ display names and social media bios at this point of 2020. It feels like it’s all a quick and handy way to signal care… without having any. There are people harassing, insulting, and harming Black people in and out of fandom that think the cute lil BLM covers their bases.
Instead of thinking that this is just a form of fandom that’s confusing to you because you’re not in it— one that’s still very valuable— Groszman seems to be pointing out that this fear of being seen negatively as fans, and as fans study scholars, keeps folks in the field but outside of the idol-academic complex from engaging with the very idea of Kpop as a fandom because they think that it’s so negative, because they think that these companies have us all by the purse springs, purse strings, and that we are being exploited by an industry that exploits idols.
And I think that is a very simplistic way to look at this 30 year industry, by people in a 30 year academic field, you know?
Imagine having the nerve to try and silence someone talking about racism on their own twitter account or blog because you think your (similar) identity somehow trumps theirs. Wild!
I have a lunchbox I bought from Gamestop, stickers, a bunch of tees from various nerd stores, and essentially okay, I was that person who bought Kylo merch back in the early days of the sequel trilogy.
Also, this is a thing these Korean bloggers (her and TK Park aren’t the only ones) do repeatedly when people are talking about antiblackness: they bring up violence against migrants and women in Korea. But only ever to dismiss antiblackness.
Setting: There is not much to say about the setting of this video beyond how this looks like the filming budget was light. Like I remember seeing a twitter meme asking for folks to name videos that looked like they cost $10 (an exaggeration, of course) and I honestly thought of this video immediately?
Sound: Written by Big Bang’s leader G-Dragon and with music/arrangement by Israel Dwaine Cruz, “Ma Girl” is a smooth R&B track that sounds like it was ripped from the 90s. It’s a love song with Taeyang crooning about missing a love that he fears that he’s in the process of losing, and I mean… in the end it is basic. It’s comfortable in its familiarity though, sounding exactly like something I could imagine hearing on the radio as a younger adult or teenager.
A high point is the feature where G-Dragon and T.O.P pinged that part of my brain that had imprinted on the group back in the day before I went back to being a casual fan for the better part of a decade? They’re so YOUNG here!!
Styling: Yes, I see those cornrows. In “Ma Girl”, Taeyang really showcased the Light Skinned Energy TM that he’d become known for in some circles of international VIP and wider K-pop fandom. (Okay, look… it’s largely the Black parts, but still.) It’s not enough that he sounds like Omarion in this track… he has to look like him too. Back in 2008, while Black fans of K-pop (they were there, trust me) undoubtedly caught themselves kekeing over the visuals in this song and praying for Taeyang’s poor scalp with those tight ass braids.
Full Thoughts:
“Ma Girl” looks and sounds like this for a reason.
Back in Cultural Appropriation in the Age of K-Pop Part One, I mentioned that:
As talented as Big Bang was when introduced to the Korean pop landscape, they were still functionally a Korean B2K cover group. Voice, visuals, and styling all pointed to the same conclusion: that Yang Hyun Suk clocked that Korean audiences wanted popular Black music… but not from Black people.
Winding down 2020 with a HEFTY list of links to stuff that I found interesting between November’s second collection and now! Enjoy!
Edward Said on Orientalism
I first read Edward Said’s Orientalism in a class I took for my history degree on British cultural artefacts and colonialism. Edward Said’s views on the ways that culture was used as a tool of imperialism have helped me understand the ways in which literature – and later, fandom – is used to shape a dominant cultural narrative (that does shift depending on where the culture is coming from). I’m fascinated by Said’s work and I think it continues to have stellar applications across a wide range of fields because he’s still right!
Even as the number-one pop group in the world, even with their hard work day in and day out, even with tens of millions of adoring fans redefining the concept of “adoring fans” by literally healing the planet in their name, these guys still suffer from impostor syndrome. RM explains, “I’ve heard that there’s this mask complex. Seventy percent of so-called successful people have this, mentally. It’s basically this: There’s this mask on my face. And these people are afraid that someone is going to take off this mask. We have those fears as well. But I said 70 percent, so I think it’s very natural. Sometimes it’s a condition to be successful. Humans are imperfect, and we have these flaws and defects. And one way to deal with all this pressure and weight is to admit the shadows.”
I really freaking love BTS. You may have missed that… somehow. In case you have, this fascinating and well put together Esquire feature serves as a stunning first look at the group – but also works if it’s your fortieth. I chose this segment of the feature because RM’s words about the “mask complex” and while they have the fear that someone will unmask them… They’re going to keep going and admit to their shadows/flaws. Unless you’ve spent the past 2-ish years living under a very large rock (or you don’t follow me on social media, which is… plausible) while I love BTS a unit, I have extra adoration for RMbecause of how he carries himself and the way he expresses his hopes and fears. This was, overall, an incredible feature that gave us tons of brilliant moments that will either spark your interest in BTS or rekindle the embers of your interest!
The recording this is from on Patreon (out 12/10) is uh… 20 minutes long and this is kind of a segue away from the thing I was actually focusing on and therefore not super relevant. But I wrote and recorded it so… here it goes anyway.
Transcript
In Haeryun Kang’s NPR piece “’Hitman’ Bang Si-hyuk, The Brand-New Billionaire Behind BTS”, there are two parts that stand out to me when it comes to thinking of how people misunderstand and, to an extent, misrepresent, the parasocial relationship as it exists between idol and fans.
One of the things that we all have to learn is when to block in silence. It’s very easy to get caught up in engaging with someone who is vocally a bigot. Because you think “Oh, I can change them, I can show people not to be like them.”
But at the end of the day, they want the engagement, y’all.
Stitch's Media Mix 
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