The Fragility of Dominance

Discussion

Aug 31

Once you read the title, quote, and peruse the references for this month’s post, I suspect you may be thinking; what am I getting myself into? I asked myself an identical question, while contemplating my exact reasoning for tackling this subject matter and almost decided against it.

When it comes to certain social phenomenon and addressing the overall brain rot plaguing modern society, I largely avoid it. There are far more intelligent people than I out there who are better equipped to approach these subjects in a succinct way. Besides, life has taught me to be very selective when choosing which hills to die on.

While there are similarities between last month’s post and this one, my intent remains the same no matter the subject. It can be difficult to stay focused when any topic related to social constructs, sincerely held beliefs and perceptions of the self are viewed from another angle. By another angle I mean the less dominant and popular one. Our attachments to false realities, which often stem from the culture we are born into, allow resentment and victimhood to manifest.

In my preparation for this post, I found myself meandering down more bunny trails than I care to admit but I am always thankful for the journey. It is a fine art to know when the time has come to say, I have researched enough and now is the time to put it to use. We always think there is one more tidbit yet to discover, which will help drive our point over the finish line in spectacular fashion. Well, trust me when I say, I will always tie my subject matter back to the primary focus of this blog; what inspires us to create and the proper elements of what it means to tell a wonderful story.

The main impetus for this month’s content began when watching a new series in the Star Wars franchise called, The Acolyte created by Leslye Headland for the streaming service Disney+. It is set at the end of the High Republic era, which spans approximately 500 to 100 years before the events of the Skywalker Saga and follows a Jedi investigation into a series of crimes. Headland, who began developing a new series for Lucasfilm in April 2020, expressed she wanted to explore the franchise from the perspective of the villains.

When I initially started viewing the beginning episodes, I did not see any critical missteps or egregious lore breaking mechanics albeit the initial episodes did not knock my socks off. I did feel happy and thankful to be hopping back into the very universe, which motivated me to create my own. Plus, it felt good to be delving into a new story and I liked, overall, what I was seeing.

Given its expansive lore since launching in 1977, I have always given Star Wars a wide berth in its evolution. I know from firsthand experience, developing an expansive universe, especially by yourself, is not a linear endeavor. They begin in your head much like the Big Bang. It is your mission, should you choose to accept it, to gather the right pieces at the right time for it to coalesce and become some semblance of what you envision it to be. If you cannot work in the gray or grasp nuance when it comes to incorporating the proper framework of good storytelling, it is best to fold up your tent and try something else.

If you have read any of my prior posts, you may have noticed references to some of these social phenomena in the form of review bombing, where a large amount of people or a few people with multiple accounts post negative user reviews online in an attempt to harm the sales or popularity of a project, a service, or a business.

In my opinion, I view this as intellectual terrorism where the opinions and belief systems of the dominant culture attempt to annihilate any perspective not fitting into their unique world view. This speaks more of their inability to defend a myopic perspective on the field of ideas, which is clearly evident by the victimhood witnessed on many content creators’ YouTube channels or social media platforms. The only dominant elements in their content are incessant whining regarding the death of their favorite content and when it is too woke, which seems to be a direct assault on their fragile self-image.

Another prevailing element associated with the behavior I just mentioned is the tossing around of terminology, which is inherently positive, as a pejorative. The aforementioned woke is a prime example typically witnessed in our current pollical climate to mock progressive social movements or what is considered over righteous liberalism. In its pejorative sense, woke means following an intolerant and moralizing ideology. I find this both puzzling and humorous considering those who are railing against the representation of LGBTQIA, BIPOC (Black and Indigenous People of Color), and strong women characters are pushing their own intolerant and moralizing ideologies. When you consider those who oppose wokeness tend to squawk the loudest and even go as far as sending death threats to content creators who do not bend the knee to them, you could say, they are the most woke.

It does not take an incredibly high IQ to denote when the dominate culture and subsequent mindset is challenged, people will fight to maintain the status quo no matter the cost to objective reality. It is one of the reasons why I choose very pointed words when creating the title for this month’s post. It is not meant to belittle the perspectives of those with differing thoughts on where the course of society is going, especially here in the United States. My intent is to point towards the inevitability of change and our roles in navigating said changes. If you find yourself reacting angrily to certain shifts in our sociological structure, you owe it to yourself to explore why the reaction is even taking place. When I find myself huffing and puffing about something I construe as unnecessary or just plain ridiculous, I will stop to ask myself; Does this truly impact me as I think it does?

I was first exposed to Arthur Schopenhauer’s quote and ideology when viewing one of Gary Yourofsky’s speeches, who is a vegan animal liberation rights activist. The link I provided below is to one of his greatest speeches ever told. It, plus the guidance provided for me by two of my dearest friends, is what helped me go vegan over 12 years ago.

When I began to explore veganism and other issues facing our society, I came upon an article from Medium, a publishing platform where people can read important, insightful stories on topics which matter most to them and share ideas with the world. I would suggest examining the references section of this blog for more context. The Medium article written by Alan Philips encapsulates my approach to this month’s writing and I will be directly quoting their content in the paragraph below. Remember, work smarter not harder and give credit where it is due.

In citing the dilemma facing today’s innovators, creators, and entrepreneurs, Alan Philips had this to say when exploring Schopenhauer’s quote; To create significant value, they must harness their creativity to do things differently – sometimes dramatically differently. Schopenhauer’s theory states (and countless experiences have confirmed), innovators will inevitably be met with ridicule and fierce opposition, no matter how positive their pursuit. Humans are wired to react negatively to change – especially change to deep-seated ideas, practices, and behaviors. The trick is to stick to your course while not acting belligerently when questioned or ignoring quality feedback – you should always be looking for non-biased data or evidence that can support your beliefs or validate feedback. All I have to say is, amen.

If I am to speak directly to the criticism and what I construe to be overt hostility towards The Acolyte series, I want to be clear on my assessment. Were there some things needing improvement? Absolutely. I will not go into all of them as the Wikipedia article I provided already does; however, I do agree with many of the critical responses listed in the article. Star Wars does need to break its reliance on creating twins when attempting to articulate the light side versus the dark side. As a storytelling element it is overused and, as we know in our real lives, living in the gray is where most of our characters reside. The writing was lackluster, which is an element I find baffling given the number of talented writers who have either already written good stories for the Star Wars universe or those who would jump at the chance to give it their all and write the best story they could in a galaxy far, far away. Yours truly being one of them.

I did find the action sequences, especially in the 5th episode, to be on point with what I expect to see when Jedi and Sith drive home their ideals with well-articulated and fast-paced lightsaber maneuvers. There was some criticism regarding the combination of martial arts with the force, which I can understand given we have not seen martial arts thoroughly incorporated in the movies or streaming content. From my writer’s perspective, I find this observation to be lacking when you consider many in the Jedi Order refer to the Jedi arts when training their Padawan’s. The very nature and fluidity of the martial arts would come naturally for many practitioners of the force, especially given the myriad species in the Star Wars universe. Just because we have not seen the martial arts integrated enough in Star Wars does not mean the mechanic does not work nor exist.

This leads me to my final point and, trust me, there is much more nuance to discuss related to the phenomena I have mentioned in this month’s post. I view my observance and respect for implementing the proper framework in telling any story as my greatest responsibility. Plot, setting, cause and effect, foreshadow, and characterization should always be used to look at something familiar in a different way, especially when creating expansive universes where diverse points of view and cultures dwell. In my opinion, this is the role of any genre, not just science fiction.

It is not logical to expect a fictional story, especially one in a galaxy far, far away to contain the same cultural nuances, belief systems and moral concepts you believe in. A universe filled with fantastical technology, diverse sentient beings, unique religions or non-religions, and philosophies will, undoubtedly, clash with your preconceived notions of how the world turns.

If you find the representation of those with differing skin tones, orientations, genders, and identities in the content you consume to be forcing you towards following an intolerant and moralizing ideology, it begs a couple of questions. Why are you even watching science fiction? As I mentioned previously, the very nature of content creation is for us to look at the familiar and see it in a different way. Lastly, does this truly impact you in the way you perceive it?

Science fiction is supposed to challenge us, no matter what culture we adhere to or persona we have adopted. This can be alarming for many among us, especially those groups who have dominated the course of our society for hundreds of years. This is why we must move forward with positive intentionality, even though it may be challenging and easier to label those we disagree with as a fundamentalist or deplorable, then whisk them away in a quick dismal. This is when I remind myself of The Fifth Agreement by Don Miguel Ruiz and Don Jose Ruiz, which is be skeptical, but learn to listen.

In closing, your moment of Zen is to talk less, do more and be humble. This will allow wisdom to take hold and give you the ability to help yourself, while being effective in helping guide others to take their journey towards living in the moment.

Until next time, be safe, be well and let us continue to hone the fine art of creative writing.

References

Patterns of Social Change

https://www.britannica.com/topic/social-change

Review Bomb

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Review_bomb

Social Dominance Theory

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_dominance_theory

Star Wars: The Acolyte

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Acolyte_(TV_series)

The Best Speech You Will Ever Here (Gary Yourofsky, Vegan Animal Liberation Rights Activist)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxhL2lsgokY