Well, I haven't been around these parts much lately, but videogum will always hold a special place in my cold, dead heart. The most lasting legacy of this whole thing of course being the friends I've made (and never met? that's stupid) and still commune with daily on this glowing screen.
It's been great, it's been fun and I think we still have lots of interesting places to go. Thanks Gabe and RIP!
Woops. I should have read what everyone else said. But still, I think knowledge of this might be regional. I think I've always been fairly observant and I didn't really know about the history of this until I was a grown-up...
I'm Canadian and I grew up in a small town on the east coast where there was some racial diversity, but not a whole lot. And while I now know that black face is very, very wrong, I would still have to google exactly WHY it is, were I to have a conversation about it. We learned very little about American history, and generally what I do know I learned myself.
This in no way excuses what they did, I just think they may not have been aware of the full assholieness of their actions. Still, you'd think that SOMEONE at that school would have had a notion that this was a bad idea.
When I finished watching the Wire I thought to myself, "Other countries make tv shows... I bet there are OTHER Wires out there!" But then I tried googling it and everything just led me back to Coronation Street which while simply excellent, is no HBO's The Wire.
Anylorry, I'm super excited to watch this and scroll back through dialogue several times when I can't figure out the accent!
The library of the elementary school I attended was in a broom closet. It was so small that only 2 or 3 kids were allowed in at a time and there was a bloody competition to determine who would get in first to get the new Guinness Book of World Records (1993) or Adventures of Tintin (not new, but we didn't care, it was just THAT GOOD).
I got my hands on one once (such a satisfying victory for a 10 year old) only to have it ripped out of my hands moments later... kid never returned it either, so I was banned from the closet library for the rest of my days.
Anyway, I'll probably watch with cautious optimism......
I was bullied too, mostly in middle school. A kid threw a brick at my head once, which was super mean... I can't remember his name. Being bullied is formative, and it sucks. But I agree with what everyone else has said in that when I was bullied I could still escape it. It didn't follow me on my phone or into my living room.
Now I work in group homes which are pretty much bully headquarters. I don't know how to stop kids from being so GOD DAMNED MEAN to each other. Is it awareness? Is it more love and compassion? My POV is there is enough pain and hurt in the world, I don't have the energy to actively create any more. But that doesn't translate to any of the teens I've ever worked with.
I'm still confident that bullying is learned behaviour and no one is born an asshole. I'm sure there are kids who grow up in good homes that are bullies, but I bet that's the exception not the rule.
I would really love for a documentary to make life easier on a few kids (kids who bully hate themselves too), but I dunno...
The Halifax meet-up was great. We stopped at the grocery store on our way home from work at 11pm to pick up something to mix with the tiny morsel and only scrap of intoxicating substance left in our freezer. We then discovered that our debit card was irreparably damaged from some leaked nail polish remover so we drove home, fed the cats and went to bed.
I was literally just thinking how I needed Gabe to tell me what to watch this summer (or now) because I'm all out of ideas! I've watched everything! I have my doubts that there's even anything good left out there...
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