Social Bookmarking Soulmate

I think I found the one.

I know it sounds crazy, and we haven’t officially met yet, but sometimes you find people and BAM! it just hits you, right? Let me introduce my new significant other.

Her name is celechi zero.

Okay, so I don’t actually know if she is a girl. Is it bad that I assumed that she was a girl because she was looking at articles that dealt with female portrayal (and all its faults) in the industry, among other things? 

Maybe it is. I’ve become pretty cynical these days.

I digress.

The top tags for this…person are as follows: racism, Hollywood, sexism, race, film, culture, rape, casting, colorism, feminism.

Any of these sound familiar to you?

I’m just gonna lay it all out there. celechi seemed to line up pretty perfectly with what I cover in my blog. They say opposites attract, but sometimes, you stumble upon the perfect match.

celechi zero is a quiet one. She (or he) doesn’t really comment on the articles she (or he-okay, for all intents and purposes, we’ll call her a she) bookmarks. Merely, she highlights sections of the article that stood out to her. I like that. Sometimes standing behind a statement is all you need to do – no embellishments, no add-ons. This one’s got quiet strength.

celechi’s bookmarked about ten articles, meaning she’s knows how to play the field, but she’s still new to the game. One small drawback (everyone has their flaws, guys), she seemed to have bookmarked a whole bunch of articles in August of 2013, a couple in December, and hasn’t bookmarked since. It’s okay! I’m sure she’s still out there fighting for the cause, as they say. Maybe she just wanted to make her legacy short and sweet. To the point. I like that.

The best part about celechi? She bookmarks some really, really interesting articles. If I could, I would talk about all of them, but here are a couple that really stuck out to me:

What’s The Difference Between Cultural Exchange and Cultural Appropriation? on “The Good Man Project” – The writer tackles the issue of cultural appropriation, and how often the issue is taken to either extreme: complete ignorance or wracking guilt over each little thing. The writer suggests that in order for cultural exchange to happen, there needs to be a mutual understanding of respect. For so long, cultures persecuted through oppression have been carefully picked through by well-intentioned white people, these people only glorifying certain aspects of that culture that they deem is “exotic” and “cool.” The writer insists that if you are a guest, act like a guest. Treat the culture with honor, not as a weird ritual. Only then can free-flowing exchange happen without fried nerves.

As I’ve touched upon actors playing characters of different races, I think this is extremely relevant. Perhaps Hollywood could learn a lesson or two when they choose to exercise this practice, and maybe, just maybe, it could become a practice that didn’t feel so exploitative.

Anna Gunn and ‘Breaking Bad’s’ Skyler White: Just the Tip of A Very Big Iceberg on The Huffington Post – Maureen Ryan talks about the problem with Skyler White and the immense sexist backlash that character has faced on Breaking Bad. Ryan claims that the character was written stereotypically in the beginning, and was only fleshed out and made a complex, multi-faceted character in the show’s later seasons. She questions whether Hollywood is actually beginning to take steps towards consistent three-dimensional female characters, or if their lateness only fuels the hateful and repellent attitudes of the sexist minority that has dominated Hollywood for decades.

With television shows like Orange is the New Black and Mad Men that heavily feature female characters becoming more common, this article touches upon a very topical subject. Are the tides finally changing in Hollywood? It’s ridiculous that Anna Gunn has had to deal with so much vitriol, but progress is never an easy road to take. Overall, I think this article gives great insight into how Hollywood might slowly, but surely be changing for the better, which offers great balance to my constant critique of its old-world gender normative practices.

I will never be able to thank celechi enough for introducing me to so many great articles. Isn’t she just great?! I really hope you like her guys, because I think I’m in it for the long haul.