i like this essay a lot, i think you're pulling on a huge thread with BEs being reductive and hand wavy, as if the whole history of an event can be explained away by, specifically, poorly functioning human bodies. it makes me think that there's a secret ableism involved in the way we narrativize the past, as if those humans weren't as evolved or as adequate as us.
i'm not necessarily convinced on the "fear of fiction" moment, because, at least on my read, you seem to be appealing towards a sort of "fiction for fiction's sake," which evokes "l'art pour l'art," which arises as a rejection of the politicization of art. my questions is, do you have an account of what these stories and cosmologies *do* for the people who inhabit and develop them, both in salem's time and ours? the BEs we see today are themselves a type of fiction, they're merely theories about the past that say something about the present. what does pure fiction do, for you and for humanity at this historical hour? thanks again for the essay.
A good test for whether something is a BME might be “does this sound like a buzz feed article?” It reminds me of the way in which people like to say “they should have known better” or “they just knew they were meant to be” about the outcomes of different relationships, it’s reductionist. I don’t necessarily think it’s a new phenomenon, but maybe that it’s in our faces more and more as all of our conversational/cultural spaces are stirred togetherbb on different platforms. TikTok, for instance, both allows people access to different ideas that they might not have accessed otherwise and fosters the sort of contamination of any sort of media literacy by the dumbassery that passes for critical thought for most people.
I read this after seeing your video on it. I really think you are onto something about the fear of fiction and disbelief in imagination. "Write what you know" makes some sense but there shouldn't be anything wrong with "write what you can imagine".
Your take on the Greeks is especially good, because it is not out of the terms of possibility that people just enjoyed telling and listening to stories about the fantastic, like gorgons, dragons, and giants. In 1000 years I hope nobody will read Lovecraft inspired worksand think we all believed in extraterrestrial gods.
I also hate the way B.E.'s try to create a form on innocence out of the past. Salam is an especially important example because everyone wants it to be superstition or psychotropics and ignore the very real possibility that it was just local politics and a power struggle between families.
The improvisation section made me think of a particular example: Heath Ledger’s Joker performance, specifically him licking at his mouth and the common belief that he did it because his makeup was dry and irritating or something. But, like, I think that choice was very much deliberate and that snarky little tidbit kind of devalues the work he did, you know? But the popular assumption is that actors just kind of fall into character and run with it, so it entices a lot of people, and reinforces that assumption. Love this essay
I find that thinking of people from the past in such a simplified way kind of discredits their humanity, in a way. I’m not expressing what I mean in a way that actually expresses it properly, but this is a comment so whatever.
The reason I say that is because what about the now? What about all the bad things people do that are misinformed or bigoted actions today? If we just say “oh they’re just stupid. That’s why they’re cruel. “ you’re not fixing anything and are allowing things to fester. It kinda just, forces everybody to be “a type” and disallows change. Which means people back then were unable to change, and that puts our free will into question. But that’s kinda bogus because of that we’re true, we wouldn’t have the advancements we have today.... I realize this is practically nonsensical now lmao
this is such great insight! explanations like this have also bugged me forever and i couldn't put my finger on why so this was really satisfying to read.
I do like this theory a lot, but I do think that BMs can shed some light on humans and how we react to things. Like for Salem, I think that the ergot seeds did make people start hallucinating and convulsing. But the interesting part is how the general public of Salem reacted to that. The response to something unknown and scary happing to a group of people quickly led to scapegoating. The interesting part then, is looking at who specifically is being looked upon as the villains even though it was just blighted crops. I just think that our interpretation of the world around us (which BMs can sometimes shed some light on) will greatly affect our imagination. I'm not sure you said anything contrary to this now that I think about it.
I do completely agree on the folklore part though I think people just like to tell fun stories.
i like this essay a lot, i think you're pulling on a huge thread with BEs being reductive and hand wavy, as if the whole history of an event can be explained away by, specifically, poorly functioning human bodies. it makes me think that there's a secret ableism involved in the way we narrativize the past, as if those humans weren't as evolved or as adequate as us.
i'm not necessarily convinced on the "fear of fiction" moment, because, at least on my read, you seem to be appealing towards a sort of "fiction for fiction's sake," which evokes "l'art pour l'art," which arises as a rejection of the politicization of art. my questions is, do you have an account of what these stories and cosmologies *do* for the people who inhabit and develop them, both in salem's time and ours? the BEs we see today are themselves a type of fiction, they're merely theories about the past that say something about the present. what does pure fiction do, for you and for humanity at this historical hour? thanks again for the essay.
A good test for whether something is a BME might be “does this sound like a buzz feed article?” It reminds me of the way in which people like to say “they should have known better” or “they just knew they were meant to be” about the outcomes of different relationships, it’s reductionist. I don’t necessarily think it’s a new phenomenon, but maybe that it’s in our faces more and more as all of our conversational/cultural spaces are stirred togetherbb on different platforms. TikTok, for instance, both allows people access to different ideas that they might not have accessed otherwise and fosters the sort of contamination of any sort of media literacy by the dumbassery that passes for critical thought for most people.
I read this after seeing your video on it. I really think you are onto something about the fear of fiction and disbelief in imagination. "Write what you know" makes some sense but there shouldn't be anything wrong with "write what you can imagine".
Your take on the Greeks is especially good, because it is not out of the terms of possibility that people just enjoyed telling and listening to stories about the fantastic, like gorgons, dragons, and giants. In 1000 years I hope nobody will read Lovecraft inspired worksand think we all believed in extraterrestrial gods.
I also hate the way B.E.'s try to create a form on innocence out of the past. Salam is an especially important example because everyone wants it to be superstition or psychotropics and ignore the very real possibility that it was just local politics and a power struggle between families.
Thanks for the great piece!
The improvisation section made me think of a particular example: Heath Ledger’s Joker performance, specifically him licking at his mouth and the common belief that he did it because his makeup was dry and irritating or something. But, like, I think that choice was very much deliberate and that snarky little tidbit kind of devalues the work he did, you know? But the popular assumption is that actors just kind of fall into character and run with it, so it entices a lot of people, and reinforces that assumption. Love this essay
I find that thinking of people from the past in such a simplified way kind of discredits their humanity, in a way. I’m not expressing what I mean in a way that actually expresses it properly, but this is a comment so whatever.
The reason I say that is because what about the now? What about all the bad things people do that are misinformed or bigoted actions today? If we just say “oh they’re just stupid. That’s why they’re cruel. “ you’re not fixing anything and are allowing things to fester. It kinda just, forces everybody to be “a type” and disallows change. Which means people back then were unable to change, and that puts our free will into question. But that’s kinda bogus because of that we’re true, we wouldn’t have the advancements we have today.... I realize this is practically nonsensical now lmao
this is such great insight! explanations like this have also bugged me forever and i couldn't put my finger on why so this was really satisfying to read.
I do like this theory a lot, but I do think that BMs can shed some light on humans and how we react to things. Like for Salem, I think that the ergot seeds did make people start hallucinating and convulsing. But the interesting part is how the general public of Salem reacted to that. The response to something unknown and scary happing to a group of people quickly led to scapegoating. The interesting part then, is looking at who specifically is being looked upon as the villains even though it was just blighted crops. I just think that our interpretation of the world around us (which BMs can sometimes shed some light on) will greatly affect our imagination. I'm not sure you said anything contrary to this now that I think about it.
I do completely agree on the folklore part though I think people just like to tell fun stories.