The Hoard Potato Feeds His Head: White Guilt in IMAX 3D

[athelind]

Fasten your seatbelts, kids; this post starts talking about current Pop Culture, then veers into politics, philosophy, personal development, and metaprogramming.

It all started when I was doing something I normally avoid: reading comments on an internet blog. Unmoderated comment boards are usually overflowing with ill-considered, insulting, infuriating nonsense that can completely ruin an article I may have otherwise enjoyed.

In this case, however, the opposite occurred.

The io9 Blog's review of James Cameron's Avatar is the same blah-blah-blah-Mighty-Whitey-IN-SPACE critique that I've heard over and over. Nothing new here. The comments, on the other claw, are full of feedback from non-whites and non-Americans that undercut that as a being a white-Americans-are-the-center-of-the-universe interpretation that's at least as insulting, if not moreso.

I think my favorite comment thus far is this one:

All stories are about someone leaving a group or joining a group, it's just that some of these groups are a racial group. Outsider Luke Skywalker joins the rebels and becomes their number one gun. That's a heroic journey story, but if Luke was the only human and all the rest of the rebels were aliens suddenly it becomes a white guilt story? I don't buy it.

And now, Mood Whiplash. This shook some things out in my head, and I think they're worth sharing:

I've been sorting through the cognitive baggage cluttering my mind lately, and you know what? I think that "White Guilt" is a particularly toxic meme. To be more specific, there's a pervasive idea that any action that may have "White Guilt" as a motivating force is automatically invalid, or just more cultural imperialism. This is bullshit. It is an invitation to inaction.

Your Obedient Serpent, when he's not a dragon, is a middle-aged Anglo-American, raised in a middle-class suburb, who's seriously considering an opportunity to teach middle school science in a "high-need", inner-city environment. The very idea of standing in front of a classroom is a massive paradigm shift for him, and coming to this decision has involved jumping over a lot of mental hurdles.

You know what? True Confession Time: One of them was "Mighty Whitey".

"What right do you have to come swooping in with your degree and your laptop and your melanin deficiency, to try and "save" these kids? That's no different than England coking along to "civilize" India!"

Sounds really stupid when you verbalize it, doesn't it?

But people keep saying this, over and over: these stories are bad, they're unprincipled, they're just new and different ways for the privileged to lord it over everyone else. And if these stories are morally suspect, and your life-choices parallel them, why, then, those must be bad choices, right?

Once again: it sounds really stupid when you verbalize it. Stupid and arrogant. The only thing more arrogant than casting yourself as The Great Savior is to walk away from helping people because you're afraid people will think that's what you're doing.

That's part of the point: there are a lot of unexamined assumptions that mass media promulgates on an entirely sub-verbal level. It's good to examine them, it's good to scrutinize them -- but it's an iterative process. What unexamined assumptions are the critiques carrying with them?

One of the big ones, in this case, is the assumption that any real person's real life is simplistic enough to use fiction as a valid model. This isn't the first time I've fallen into that trap, and I'm sure it won't be the last -- but at least now I'm aware that trap is out there.

Or in here.

---

Comments

[tombfyre.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the whole white guilt thing gets old really quick. I haven't really seen quite as much of it up here as is reported down south, but it still exists. Then there's all the racist fun against white people, being defended by one BS excuse or another. ^^() I think its time for quite a lot of people to grow up.

If you want to go teach, go for it. You may have to face some of those challenges along the way, but it will likely be worth it in the end. You're after a job, not to be mighty whitey or Mr. Savior.

Warning: Bitey Dragon is Still Bitey =E

[athelind.livejournal.com]

Yeah, well, "reverse racism" is bullshit, too. Poor, poor, pitiful white folks, forced to look at signs in foreign languages, unable to get all those lucrative minority-aimed scholarships, getting thrown en masse into poverty by Affirmative Action. Right. Such a tragedy. After all, if you can't treat someone else like second-class citizens, that means you must be one yourself, right?

Re: Warning: Bitey Dragon is Still Bitey =E

[cpxbrex.livejournal.com]

I like you. You can come to my house and fuck my sister!

Re: Warning: Bitey Dragon is Still Bitey =E

[tombfyre.livejournal.com]

Heh, that certainly seems to be the case in some situations. :p

[athelind.livejournal.com]

You're after a job, not to be mighty whitey or Mr. Savior.

All that said, "Mr. Savior" is still a significant motivation complex in my psyche. I don't just want a job; I want a job that makes a difference.

I don't just want to push papers in a subsidiary of MegaHugeConglomCo, facilitating Rupert Trumpgate's never-ending quest to line his money bin with more trillions pulled out of the pockets of Joe and Jane Underpayed.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

That kind of job is called a calling by some, and it's the reason I'm a teacher.

[athelind.livejournal.com]

And on the flip side -- one reason why I HAVEN'T looked at teaching ere now is because I thought it SHOULD be left to those who felt The Calling To Teach.

I'm starting to figure out that "callings" may not be as SPECIFIC as that.

[tombfyre.livejournal.com]

All the more reason to go for it then chief. :3

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

You've made me think. Thank you.

[cpxbrex.livejournal.com]

I've heard the criticisms of Avatar as being white imperialist but was largely inclined to dismiss them, myself. And one of the reasons does seem to be that the movie has been embraced by pretty much everyone who's seen it, regardless of their ethnicity. And, quite frankly, it's hard for me to imagine a James Cameron script having enough subtlety to really for or against anything. I've read a number of reviews of Avatar – including the mighty whitey ones – and they're just crazy about inferring things into this movie. One of the reviews I read of it said it was actually a repudiation of the US military's human terrain systems that use professional anthropologists to go into countries we've invaded and soothe “the natives” so we can more efficiently conquer and exploit them. The avatars are just like the HTS, right?! Well, kinna maybe sorta, you can squint your eyes and tilt your head just so and see it that way. Like most of Cameron's work, it's really a loud, flashy mess that's a lot of fun with just enough intelligence to make you think that, maybe, it's about something other than what it appears to be. It's the kind of thing that it's real easy to project yourself into. Which is part of his brilliance as a director – he makes things that contain our zeitgeist without preaching about it. The perfect vehicle for pretty much anyone who wishes to praise or condemn anything in our zeitgeist.

About white angst, I have no particular use for it. I think it's evident that a lot of white people – and certainly our broader culture – is racist. I am sure I do racially stupid things now and then.

But when I was in South Carolina, I took a couple of sections of a black history class. In two semesters, I was the only white guy in the class. Seriously. It was the only college class I took where the white guys were in the minority. I really enjoyed the class but the weird thing was really that I was often asked questions as a representative of my whole ethnicity. That was weird. However, what I learned from the classes is really that black people in the US don't want us to feel guilty, not as a group, anyway. And our assistance is absolutely vital for balancing any historic injustices in the system. They recognize the historical injustices, the present day injustices, the role of white people, historically, in their oppression, and the need to make white people part of the solution to racial injustice. Moreover, there is nothing like a broad rejection of “white culture” by black people. Oh, they DEFINITELY want to see the history of Africa treated with the same respect that Americans treat European history and feel it's preposterous that European history is taught at the expense of African history, given the obvious contributions of black Americans. But they're really Americans and they have pride in the accomplishments of white Americans. Weird, huh? ;)

Mostly, what I took out of what was almost certainly the best experience I had in college was we're all in this together and that underrepresented minorities largely understand that. They don't want anything different than what white people in America already have – they just want to be respected, have the same opportunities, etc., as everyone else. We are a lot more alike than we are different.

But, hey, I was still the only white guy in the class. :p

[athelind.livejournal.com]

... but am I forgiven for being middle class?

Ducking now.

[cpxbrex.livejournal.com]

I think you're recovering nicely, hehe.

[cpxbrex.livejournal.com]

Also! White guilt is a luxury of privilege! Just had to throw that in there, too. ;)

[athelind.livejournal.com]

ZIGACKLY!

That's kind of what I was getting at, and it's a common thread running through a lot of the comments on that review.

One of my policy classes referred to privilege as "the invisible backpack". Us Middle-Class White Folks carry it around, and it's full of all kinds of useful things that we take for granted. I've got a pretty full pack, myself, and part of the reason it IS full -- a good chunk of my economic leverage -- is because of things my ancestors did.

Do I feel "guilty" about that? Not usually, not unless Emo Guy is at the controls, and then the state of the WHOLE DAMNED WORLD is my fault.

Do I feel an obligation to USE the resources in that backpack, and spread them around so that, maybe, just maybe, other people can live slightly less shitty lives?

You betcha.

[richardf8]

I like this post a lot.

[cpxbrex.livejournal.com]

And! I think you'd make a great teacher! I forgot to say that. You're passionate about the subject, and capable of explaining it in fun and accessible ways.

[athelind.livejournal.com]

Danke.

I've been hearing that from a lot of people lately, often with overtones of "well, yeah, of COURSE."

Positive reinforcement helps a lot.

[cpxbrex.livejournal.com]

If you take the job, I will think you will further find that the parents of minority children are overwhelmingly interested in your skills as a teacher.

Adrienne has worked with vulnerable kids in the past and, particularly with science, the parents are, like, "Ohemgee, my kid came home from your class thrilled about science!" That she's a nearly translucent middle class woman was wholly beside the point.

[scarfman]

I've linked to this, from Twitter and (consequently) LJ.

[notthebuddha.livejournal.com]

I hate to bust on your favorite comment, but I will point out that Luke was re-joining his childhood friends in the rebellion, re-connecting to his father's Jedi legacy, and the hero's journey business was not even suggested by Lucas until years after the first three films were in the can. Luke does join arms with an all-alien rebelling force on Endor in the third film, and it's race and religious exploitation, not white guilt.

Anyway, if you want to do something that helps people, do it because it helps people. If you get something out of it as well, that helps you sustain it and help more people for a longer time.

[antikythera.livejournal.com]

I don't think it's precisely harmful for white people to fantasize about helping the people they have oppressed.

What's bad about it being a trope is that so many movies are based on it. You never see one of the oppressed rising up to save her/his own people. There are no movies that speak to audiences who identify more with the oppressed than with the oppressor.

It's not too different from the overload of movies with smart, strong, capable, likeable male heroes coupled with vapid, pretty, and useless women.

The overuse of one trope that speaks to one kind of person (whether it's male, white, or both) makes it glaringly and painfully obvious that Hollywood doesn't cater to other kinds of people.

[antikythera.livejournal.com]

Rrrgh, stupid side button on mouse erased everything I was saying.

In short: please don't confuse the anger against offensive fictional tropes with attitudes towards real life situations.

There are real reasons why a white person trying to 'help' may not be wanted. Many people of colour have seen white people 'helping' by enforcing their own values on a community, as if making people act like white people would solve their problems. If you're a white person trying to help, you are going to meet people who are suspicious of you, whether or not you act that way.

I remember being really really little and being fed up with all the brave male heroes rescuing helpless princesses in the stories I was supposed to be enjoying. I hated it so much that my dolls lived in a society where if a woman saved a man's life she was hailed as a hero; if a man saved a woman's life he was ignored. That would really not work, and it didn't work in my own head past age five or so. ;)

The thing about fictional tropes is that if a storyteller is promoting a certain trope as a positive thing, you have to assume that the storyteller believes that that trope is good. Lots of people have negative experiences with white people trying to 'save' them, so they aren't going to embrace this trope as easily. To them it isn't a symbol of something good and noble.