中國香港
Yeah I saw it.
It's good. And worth watching. But there are so many people on social media saying this is going to be revolutionary for the feminist cause.
You're right about the corporate puff piece part. And the rehabilitation of Ruth Handler's image like she was anything other than a cynical capitalist whose creation played a huge part in calcifying the concept of gender roles in generations of children that came after her.
Mattel signed off on the movie. It exists with their permission and approval. They are not going to start or enable a cultural revolution against their own interests, and if they reinvent themselves so that it is in their own interests, they'll be doing it for profit, not for the liberation of women.
But fuck if anyone will listen to the skeptic's take. This thread is the first discussion I've come across where saying negative things about the movie (not even saying it's bad, just criticizing) doesn't result in a dogpiling of misogyny accusations.
The face of feminism in 2023 is a fictional character and it's copyright belongs to Mattel.
I'm not sure if I'm being pragmatic or bitter, but I'm of the view that they're not worth the effort. Liberals that are of the kind of mindset that would be willing to listen and reconsider their convictions won't be found amingst the types that come into these kinds of places swinging Xinjiang and Ukraine around like a hammer. The kinds of liberals that do that will dig in and be stubborn, and would rather double down and make asses of themselves than admit to any mistake. And more importantly, those kinds of liberals are in the imperial core, where they have no real political agency because they can't change the system from within and refuse to do it from without. Their opinions don't matter, there's no material difference to the work of AES states whether those liberals are class conscious or not. I mean it in the most pragmatic way possible when I say they aren't worth the effort. Education effort should be spent on people at the periphery, in Africa and South America, where the fronts of this ideological struggle are and where changing someone's mind could affect how they vote, and the cases they make in support at their local elections.
Western Democracy is when you give your little brother the unplugged console controller so he stops asking you for a turn. And he sits there like an idiot pressing the buttons thinking he's in control.
Sometimes he starts to get suspicious, so you tell him he needs to press the buttons harder. Then you look over at which buttons he's straining himself on and follow along for a bit until he thinks he's making a difference again (but never in a part of the game that actually matters of course).
The difference is, with Western Democracy you've got a chorus of commentators sitting behind your brother telling him he's in control, applauding or criticising accordingly, telling him he's being silly when he gets suspicious, and moving hell and high water to keep him distracted when he starts following the controller cable to see where it really leads.
"Self-crit" and "caring what people on r/communism think" are two very different things.
They're only related in that the former is needed wherever the latter occurs.
The Belt And Road Initiative will have to continue without r/communism101's approval.
All the nations, demographics and people who are able to use this alternative to Western imperialism to liberate themselves will have to do so knowing that people who learn their communism from reddit will sternly disapprove.
If parts of the Western World reject the notion that "a rising tide lifts all boats" because they read on the internet that China and the BRI are imperialist, who can disagree with them? Liberals are never wrong, after all. They can cling defiantly to the rock bottom capitalism has driven them to and laugh at the rest of us for being so gullible while the tide rises around them.
Socialist boy/girl scouts are called 'Young Pioneers' - e.g. Young Pioneers of Cuba or Young Pioneers of China. They look like scouts except for the red neckerchiefs. idk if any organisations exist outside socialist countries or if they're allowed to - Hong Kong still has scouts because of the 'no imposing socialist values' part of the joint declaration.
Eloquently put 👏
If this guy had his way we'd abandon all support for the socialist powerhouse that is steadily liberating the rest of the world from Western economic hegemony, in favour of the kind of uncompromising ideology that the Capitalists have destroyed, destabilised or usurped with ease time and time again. Cui Bono?
Also I bet from the tone of his writing that he's an absolute blast at parties.
For me it's pro wrestling in general. People like Vince McMahon at the top, who I'm pretty sure played a big part in Trump getting elected - you can see a lot of the manipulative techniques he used for popularity coming right out of Wrestling's Carnie culture. And there's the anti Union/Black Panther caricatures they've had as past gimmicks.
But then you get some incredibly based individuals in the industry. Lots of leftists and progressives and sometimes you get a hint that someone in WWE might be hiding their class consciousness.
Like here's Kevin Nash understanding the real reason the US 'liberated' Libya from Qaddafi: https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxnkaiWBdkrHH-Ji_B8MOeEA3Pv-Df63-B
The ideology of individuals that you meet or see in the industry makes it look like a microcosm of the Western world's ideology. This overarching cloud of despair, but with little embers of hope just waiting for their moment to catch.
BayArea415 got unwanted attention because what he said was true and often incendiary. BadEmpanada wants attention so he says incendiary things that are occasionally true.