Osu

[Kishi]

7 minutes ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

What are you doing for Q&D?

 

Well, right now I can swing my 70 whether 2-armed or 1-armed. I've got to the point where I can do push ups, but I haven't got beyond that yet. I've also taken to working in the odd bit of bodyweight work instead of the swings every now and again, so like the last time I had time to do anything I did standing jumps as opposed to swings. I also think I'm clear to do banded swings too, but I roll dice for that one and it hasn't come up yet.

 

I've also been wanting to get into Snatch work again, but the only room I have to do it now is outside and, generally, I take every 4th week as a deload/test period and it's been raining those weeks for the past couple months. Since I'm also trying to actively recover, I haven't really had the urge to run test and incorporate just yet.

 

What about you? Have you got a chance to start in on it, or is it kind of outside of your considerations right now?

[Sloth the Enduring]

I haven’t even read the book. I’m no where near Simple yet. I’m back on an S&Sish program, except that I can’t do get ups until my elbow heals, so daily swings and goblet squats.

[Kishi]

Thursday done. BJJ and Q&D in that order. We kept working on escapes. I missed out on an opportunity to pull a technique in randori, but that's how it goes sometimes. It involves going for an arm bar from the back and I almost never get someone's back, but I got someone's back and even had the situation where it would have been an appropriate thing to go for, and even the choke that the arm bar is supposed to set up. Just didn't come to mind.

 

I'm pleased to say we almost had too many bodies for the mats, and I'm kind of feeling like I could go back to the kickboxing gym to get moar mat time and keep working on my kickboxing. Man. Keeping different sets of skills sharp is a chore. I do it happily, but it's a chore.

 

Q&D followed, one arm swings and push ups from palms. Body feels heavy. Good for power, I suppose. I tried out a different bench dip set up where I put two chairs close to each other and dipped in the space between so that my body and my shoulder couldn't mimic the position. Dipping from an actual "station" was actually super good; felt no pain at all. So, that shows some real promise as far as solutions go.

 

My headspace is... touchy right now. I've gone from being sad to something that's part cold indifference and part flashpoint anger. I keep pushing myself to be kind and to come back to baseline, but those habitual patterns of thought, y'all. They are well-worn grooves, and jumping them takes work.

 

But it's work that has to be done. I don't have to try to grow from this. But I want to. So I must.

 

Anyway. This weekend, my Maine friend is celebrating her birthday. I was invited out, but the toxic people people with toxic traits are going to be there including the EDO and DO. Frankly I can handle the EDO - it's a karaoke thing and he doesn't have the guts to get up and belt something out, so he'll just sit and try to look lonely and pathetic to get people to talk to him - but the DO being there brings me up short, as she is prone to bullshit and I'm not interested in putting myself in whatever sticky situation she's going to manufacture this time.

 

Tonight will be open mat. Tomorrow will be striking open mat. (barely more than bareknuckle, but way less painful than dealing with the DP. ). Sunday I'm getting together with my family to celebrate my little brother's birthday.

 

Pheeew. Busy times are mine.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

1 hour ago, Kishi said:

 

My headspace is... touchy right now. I've gone from being sad to something that's part cold indifference and part flashpoint anger

Have you made peace with the idea that you are allowed to feel indifference and allowed to have anger near the surface? Cause it's totally ok to feel that way. It will be far easier to be kind if you start by being kind to yourself and not force your return to baseline before you're ready to be at baseline.

[Kishi]

1 hour ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Have you made peace with the idea that you are allowed to feel indifference and allowed to have anger near the surface? Cause it's totally ok to feel that way. It will be far easier to be kind if you start by being kind to yourself and not force your return to baseline before you're ready to be at baseline.

 

Actually? Yeah. I'm willing to accept that this is where I am now. I think if there's anything that bothers me about it it's that it doesn't feel that far off from my regular baseline, and it's like, "Oh, wow," you know?

[Kishi]

Phaw, what a past few days, eh? Hope it's been good to y'all. Let's catch up.

 

Friday was open mat. I went and saw and doggone if the others aren't getting better right along with me. Means I have to pick up a thing or two and start thinking a couple moves deeper, but that's what growth is in this art I think. I'm getting better at escaping arm bars, though, which is really neat to be able to see and pull off, although my highest percentage escape so far also appears to be the highest risk. Oh well. No risk, no reward.

 

I also elected to go ahead and do strength work that night as there was a fight night at the Kyokushin place on Saturday and I knew I wasn't going to be fit to do extra work after that. Friday night involved the dip progression and it worked, but the placement of my body is so different from what I'm used to that I lost a bunch of reps. I'm not particularly distressed by that, but it's something to note and be aware of.

 

Given what I'm asking my body to do right now in terms of martial arts, I might have to regress a couple things as far as the strength work and Q&D go. I'm specifically worried about doing push ups and dips; I'm thinking at this point I'm going to have go back to banded support for push ups on Q&D and regress the dips further back to just a top position hold for time. Reason being that I keep hearing in my head that old saw about how "if you can't do it slow, you shouldn't do it fast," and there's a marked disparity in that I'm doing box push ups for strength and full push ups for power, and both of these in similar rep ranges. I suspect there's a pathology there.

 

Saturday, I went out to Fight Night. I got lit up pretty hard, but I was able to tough it out and towards the end I was giving about as good as I was getting. I definitely slept on some people I shouldn't have. Shame on me. Really, really want to go back to kickboxing now, although I'm pleased to report that my takedowns were good and I had way more clinch game than the opponents did, even conceding to their ruleset.

 

I may be covered in bruises now, but it was still less painful than going to deal with the DP.

 

Sunday, I went out to breakfast with my folks and my brother to celebrate his birthday. Managed to find Hashimoto's-suitable options which weren't really vegan friendly, but there's a reason I'm mostly meatless.  Went out and hit the mats again afterward. Had some truly dickish rolls from the blue belts including a new guy who's an old student of my coach's and had something to prove, but. It's not like I was particularly hurt beyond my pride. One good thing: all the other white belts got wrist-locked by the blues and I was the only one who was able to stuff them when they tried. Go me.

 

Today... sigh. Well, today I'm going to apologize to my Ex for my emotional impulsivity and ask if she still wants to be friends. What will be will be. I keep thinking that I'm preparing myself for consequences every time I think in terms of "If this then that" but if that's really just me setting ultimatums then that shit's gotta stop. So I'll make my apologies and try to live like it matters. The rest will have to shake out as it does.

 

And I guess I'll go back to gaming tonight. A whole bunch of insecure egos and issues, for all that I miss my friends. I honestly don't know if I'm going back because I enjoy it or if I'm going back because of a sense of obligation. But it's what I have in terms of something to go back to.

[Mistr]

I hope things go okay in the conversation with your Ex and with gaming.

 

It sounds like you have your eyes open on the good and bad sides of your friends and the people at your dojos. I hope that hanging out with a bunch of people who have worse problems than you will help you feel better.

[Renate]

2 hours ago, Kishi said:

Today... sigh. Well, today I'm going to apologize to my Ex for my emotional impulsivity and ask if she still wants to be friends. What will be will be. I keep thinking that I'm preparing myself for consequences every time I think in terms of "If this then that" but if that's really just me setting ultimatums then that shit's gotta stop. So I'll make my apologies and try to live like it matters. The rest will have to shake out as it does.

 

I second @Whiteghost 's sentiment

 

& Thought I would give my 2 cents

 

Preparing yourself for the worst is not a bad thing, unless you let it affect your mind set going into whatever interraction. To be a little cheesy, be like water. Water can both crash and flow.

 

It is the difference between being alert and having a trigger finger (Not that I know what it is like to be a military trained person ? ) 

 

And my personal favourite is to just say stuff out loud.. & summarise a lot to make sure everyone is understood and give yourself time to think. (Those are also mediation techniques)

 

So when I am processing something emotional for me that just happened, I say. "Give me a moment. You said nothing wrong but I do not want to react impulsively."

 

Or when I want to stay cool but am failing to do so: "Do not be alarmed by my argumentative tone or tears in my eyes, our friendship/relationship just means a lot to me and it is difficult to control my tone of voice. Let me breathe for a moment."

 

I always feel kinda weak when I say those things, but then I remember if the person in front of me would take advantage of that showing of weakness, he/she is not worth keeping around in the first place.  (I also hate being conceded to just because I am crying or feel upset and say I need space but that's my debater's pride haha)

 

i always thought I should not trust men with hints but in my friendships with women I started just saying things as they are & the ones that give me peace of mind have stayed. The ones that speak with half words but get upset when I cannot read their minds if they are upset because of me, have not. I kind of sound like a major hard ass now but I like to think that communication lines with me are always open. (Unfortunately some people grow up in families or relationships where they are thaught open feedback leads to shunning or screaming. Then I have to communicate a bit more and convince someone they can be open with me.)

 

it is like a deja vu of my childhood when parents would say "YOU KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!" hours or days later and you are clueless.

 

And unfortunately I can be too direct, hurtful at times but you have to call me out... I will react to it and change my behaviour, maybe after some discussion to understand & create understanding. But I can only be at peace around those that are capable of calling me out. BEFORE frustration levels with me hit over 9000 and I get to deal with passive agressive behaviour  ) 

 

good luck with the talk !

[Kishi]

3 hours ago, Mistr said:

I hope things go okay in the conversation with your Ex and with gaming.

 

It sounds like you have your eyes open on the good and bad sides of your friends and the people at your dojos. I hope that hanging out with a bunch of people who have worse problems than you will help you feel better.

 

Haha, maybe. I'm not sure how much patience I have to spare for others today. I suppose we'll find out.

 

2 hours ago, analoggirl said:

Preparing yourself for the worst is not a bad thing, unless you let it affect your mind set going into whatever interraction.

 

Well, for me it does, or it seems to have. If preparing myself for the worst leads to ultimatums and catastrophizing, then something in how I'm preparing myself is in need of correction. I don't quite know what, but if I'm going to be gracious with myself and with her, I need to tell myself for the moment that we're both doing the best we can and whatever happens, I can live with it.

 

2 hours ago, analoggirl said:

So when I am processing something emotional for me that just happened, I say. "Give me a moment. You said nothing wrong but I do not want to react impulsively."

 

Or when I want to stay cool but am failing to do so: "Do not be alarmed by my argumentative tone or tears in my eyes, our friendship/relationship just means a lot to me and it is difficult to control my tone of voice. Let me breathe for a moment."

 

 Ah, well. If only I'd thought to do that when I was in the moment. Maybe things would have been different.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

5 hours ago, Kishi said:

Today... sigh. Well, today I'm going to apologize to my Ex for my emotional impulsivity and ask if she still wants to be friends. What will be will be. I keep thinking that I'm preparing myself for consequences every time I think in terms of "If this then that" but if that's really just me setting ultimatums then that shit's gotta stop. So I'll make my apologies and try to live like it matters. The rest will have to shake out as it does.

May I suggest to you that apologies are for things we do, and not for things with which we struggle? In other words, it may be more fruitful to apologize for what you did as a result of emotional impulsivity than to apologize for the impulsivity itself.

[Kishi]

5 minutes ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

May I suggest to you that apologies are for things we do, and not for things with which we struggle? In other words, it may be more fruitful to apologize for what you did as a result of emotional impulsivity than to apologize for the impulsivity itself.

 

Fair point, and it's ultimately what I wound up trying to do. Haven't heard back yet. Not going to read anything into it.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

7 minutes ago, Kishi said:

 

Fair point, and it's ultimately what I wound up trying to do. Haven't heard back yet. Not going to read anything into it.

Remember, what you said and how it was interpreted are semi-independent variables. A poorly worded apology can be accepted and a well-worded apology can be rejected based on a lot of different variables. As you try not to read into a lack of response, try not to read into any response you might end up getting.

[Renate]

11 hours ago, Kishi said:

Well, for me it does, or it seems to have. If preparing myself for the worst leads to ultimatums and catastrophizing, then something in how I'm preparing myself is in need of correction. I don't quite know what, but if I'm going to be gracious with myself and with her, I need to tell myself for the moment that we're both doing the best we can and whatever happens, I can live with it.

For most people it does. I have met a couple of supercool people that are naturally good at being a mediator / wise but most need to learn it. It sucks that learning means falling with your face forward, but doing that *yet again* does not mean you are not progressing. 

 

Most things that are human/learned behaviour get worse before they get better. You are doing well. When you are broken down, you can see the pieces clearer at one point then when everyhting is going well. Clean up what you do not need, build up what you do.

 

I will end my pep talk with the fact that  everything is easier to say than to do. Happy to follow along.

[Kishi]

So! How'd it wind up going yesterday?

 

Well, nowhere near as bad as I thought. I let slip that the Ex and I broke up and when I got there everyone was super chill. They put a lot of their better parts forward and I was in a place where I could receive that kindness. The game went extremely well - they let me pick out the campaign and we wound up on a cliffhanger, with all of us having made good decisions and got the chance to roll and use a lot of different skills. Probably one of the better ones we've done in a while.

 

Afterward, went home and did Q&D. Put myself back on bands for push ups and I'm pleased to report that my shoulder seemed to like that. Shadowrolled afterward. Even my glute seems to be doing okay.

 

The only thing that hasn't happened is I haven't heard back from the Ex yet, but I had the fortune of reading a blog post which pointed out that even if an apology isn't accepted or heard, there's not a lot that can or should be done except to live in such a way that it manifests in your life going forward. That seems true to me. And that's what I'm trying to do, and even got the chance to try to do last night - I observed in myself at one point an attempt to push a friend into performative wellness and instead of doing that I managed to make a space for her to talk about some things that were bothering her.

 

Relatively low-stakes, but. Gotta start somewhere.

 

Today will be...? Um. Should be martial tomfoolery and strength work. Sweet. Let's get it, then.

[sarakingdom]

Well done on the level-up. Seriously. Neither being able to observe oneself with perspective nor choosing to act differently is easy.

 

[Mistr]

30 minutes ago, Kishi said:

The only thing that hasn't happened is I haven't heard back from the Ex yet, but I had the fortune of reading a blog post which pointed out that even if an apology isn't accepted or heard, there's not a lot that can or should be done except to live in such a way that it manifests in your life going forward. That seems true to me. And that's what I'm trying to do, and even got the chance to try to do last night - I observed in myself at one point an attempt to push a friend into performative wellness and instead of doing that I managed to make a space for her to talk about some things that were bothering her.

 

Relatively low-stakes, but. Gotta start somewhere.

 

Good for you putting your new skills into practice. This reminds me of when you started giving drive-by compliments when you worked at Panera. Low-stakes is the best place to start.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

46 minutes ago, Kishi said:

I observed in myself at one point an attempt to push a friend into performative wellness and instead of doing that I managed to make a space for her to talk about some things that were bothering her.

I think you will find that one of the most important interpersonal skills of all. Traditionally it is especially important for romantic relationships. I present to you the parable of the nail.

 

I don't know the intent behind the video. I do know it's a good way to present the importance of listening. Some people may or may not want a solution. Some people may or may not want sympathy. In my experience, it's always good to start with sympathy. If a solution is desired, it will be asked for. If a solution is not desired, offering one will not help. And yet other people may only be willing to hear a solution after knowing that you hear and understand them.

[Kishi]

1 hour ago, sarakingdom said:

Well done on the level-up. Seriously. Neither being able to observe oneself with perspective nor choosing to act differently is easy.

 

 

1 hour ago, Mistr said:

 

Good for you putting your new skills into practice. This reminds me of when you started giving drive-by compliments when you worked at Panera. Low-stakes is the best place to start.

 

Thanks, y'all.

 

1 hour ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

I think you will find that one of the most important interpersonal skills of all. Traditionally it is especially important for romantic relationships. I present to you the parable of the nail.

 

I don't know the intent behind the video. I do know it's a good way to present the importance of listening. Some people may or may not want a solution. Some people may or may not want sympathy. In my experience, it's always good to start with sympathy. If a solution is desired, it will be asked for. If a solution is not desired, offering one will not help. And yet other people may only be willing to hear a solution after knowing that you hear and understand them.

 

Right. And it's not just about trying to signal that you're open or receptive to listening to problems - there's a necessary step where you have to pay attention and be willing to ask questions and engage rather than just assuming the other person's in a place where they feel they can talk about it. That's not something I understood very well prior to all this. I don't think I do now either, but the fact that I can see it now puts me a bit further along in my growth than I was before.

[Kishi]

So! The plan last night was martial arts and strength work!

 

That did not happen. There was a bunch of traffic which I'm going to attribute to the holiday, as there really weren't any wrecks on my side that I can recall and I don't know what else to attribute it to. But it held me up to the point that I was late enough not to make it. Booooo.

 

So instead, I decided to give myself a break and run some necessary errands.

 

I did wind up doing my strength work, though. Wound up massively regressing my pike presses - found a way to making a super high platform and then managed to limit my ROM. Also found ways to do my box push ups so I was using more chest than shoulder, which may have contributed as well. Did a bunch of kettlebell swings afterward and that was that. On the whole, this is probably the right thing to do. I'm frustrated that I'm gonna kiss my gainz goodbye, but I know they're there to be gained and I can get them back; the trick, then, will be doing so without compromising my shoulders and other joints to do it.

 

Anyway. More rest and such tonight. I should be seeing my friends, but I'm not quite sure what with the holiday being up tomorrow, you know? Oh well. I'll run with it.

[Kishi]

Welp. The Ex got back to me. Said she accepted my apology and "wished me well." And that's all she said. I don't think I'm reading too deeply into it to conclude that it sounds like she wants me at a distance.

 

Which... honestly? I'm actually kind of cool with. I'll admit, it's tried to play merry havoc with a lot of my old scripts where I demonize myself and tell myself that there's something uniquely ugly in me because everyone else gets to be mean and make mistakes but I do it once and it's game over, man, because look what happened... but to be honest? It just doesn't ring true to me in the same way it used to.

 

Truth is, we're both doing the best we can and it sounds like she's decided the best thing for her is distance. I can respect that. I suspect that future socializing will be fraught and awkward, but there'll be plenty of time for that when it comes. In the meantime, I get to work on my growth. Yay.

[Mistr]

You are showing again that you have leveled up in your relationships. I am proud of you.

 

I remember a long time ago a friend told me that the scenario where two people meet -> like each other -> spend time together -> discover that things are not quite right -> decide not to spend time together -> stay on speaking terms  is a successful relationship. I was flabergasted. I believed at the time that by definition, a successful relationship meant staying together.

 

I understand now that there are plenty of unsuccessful relationships where the people have stayed together, and it is a win to deal honestly with someone and make the choices that are right for you.

 

You regressed your strength work to make your joints happier. You tried a relationship and found some things to work on. One hurts your muscles, the other hurts your brain. You have plans to make both better with more work. All good. ?

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

1 hour ago, Kishi said:

It just doesn't ring true to me in the same way it used to.

AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

This is so awesome! I am very happy to read this.

[Kishi]

On ‎11‎/‎27‎/‎2019 at 12:59 PM, Mistr said:

You are showing again that you have leveled up in your relationships. I am proud of you.

 

I remember a long time ago a friend told me that the scenario where two people meet -> like each other -> spend time together -> discover that things are not quite right -> decide not to spend time together -> stay on speaking terms  is a successful relationship. I was flabergasted. I believed at the time that by definition, a successful relationship meant staying together.

 

I understand now that there are plenty of unsuccessful relationships where the people have stayed together, and it is a win to deal honestly with someone and make the choices that are right for you.

 

You regressed your strength work to make your joints happier. You tried a relationship and found some things to work on. One hurts your muscles, the other hurts your brain. You have plans to make both better with more work. All good. ?

 

On ‎11‎/‎27‎/‎2019 at 2:07 PM, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

This is so awesome! I am very happy to read this.

 

Thanks, y'all.  I got farther to go, but I couldn't/wouldn't have got this far without the help of you and everyone here. I'm grateful.

 

*

 

Well! It's been about a week. Hope y'all been all right.

 

Wednesday, my sci-fi friend was in! So I went to see him. Had the opportunity to show growth and be kind when I found out that my friend had a difficult situation he had to deal with. The short version of it is that he and his wife have been trying to conceive a child, and the window finally closed on that; he'd put a lot of stock in the idea of him being a father and with this no longer being possible for him biologically, he was feeling kind of cut-off and adrift and lost. And instead of bowing to my initial urge to be positive and encouraging, I quashed it and tried to show empathy for he and his wife both. It seemed to result in something better than what my initial urges would have yielded.

 

So after talking for a while and cooking food, we wound up watching Joker. (we have our ways). Joker is essentially an Elseworlds sort of story that attempts to provide an origin story for the Clown Prince of Crime. It's very much in the vein of Taxi Driver in terms of being about an alienated loner with a tenuous grip on reality making very questionable decisions; the difference being, one is trying to be good, and the other no longer cares.

 

The film itself has courted some controversy as a leaked script apparently made it look like MRA propaganda or something like that; in fact, nothing could be further from the truth. If anything, the movie is about the consequences of systemic failure and a lack of empathy; it's actually a rather left-wing film for an American piece and watching the critics try to review-bomb the thing into oblivion has actually been rather interesting in terms of commentariat trying to tell the proletariat what is and isn't good art and what should and shouldn't be patronized. (although, to be fair, other recent films dealing in such ideas like Snowpiercer and Parasite were incredibly well-received with the latter being released around the same time as Joker, so take this class paranoia with a grain of salt).

 

Anyway. I liked it. It's a deeply uncomfortable film by design, but I think it's worth watching.

 

Thursday was T-Day. I did Q&D and then went off to join my family and friends in giving thanks. It was wonderfully low-key.

 

Friday was a Black day, but I didn't indulge. Instead I rested for a while before going off to open mat. Open mat was a good time, and I was glad to have it, but not particularly notable.

 

Saturday, my Charleston friend was in town, so we went out to breakfast together. This was where I saw how I'd grown for sure. My sci-fi friend is a mutual between us, so we all got together. The sci-fi friend mentioned his troubles, and the Charleston friend immediately went to try to solve them; no space for empathy at all. Not that he was being a bad guy; he was just doing the best he could. All the same, it was interesting to see.

 

Strength work followed, wasn't bad. Decided to trade in finishers for rehab work on my shoulder; did a single light TGU on each side which left my shoulder feeling really good. It's also kind of annoying in that I find myself missing loaded carry work because that's a good no-to-low impact finisher that doesn't really hurt anything, but I just don't have the space to make it work like I want to... unless... hm...

 

Sunday, we went and gamed. This time we tried to solve our problems with brains rather than brawn and we essentially managed to get a plan to come together. Freaking finally. Of course, we're not out of the woods yet on this, so tune in next time to see if we bollocks this up. Sunday was also notable in that going to BJJ that night, we were told that the program might be closing down as the school's failing to make its overhead costs and manong is debating between moving us to Cary/Apex and replacing BJJ with another program whose teachers are willing to pay/bring their students with them. There's no animosity in it one way or the other, which was a welcome relief, but it definitely gave me shades of a year ago when K-sensei got dropped.

 

So with the prospect of this potentially being our last night here, we studied leg locks and then rolled like it was going out of style. I had a great night, actually; wound up tapping every other white belt on the mat.

 

Also, if the BJJ program gets dropped, then I'm out. I have no reason to stay here and pay cost on this school if I'm not getting anything from it. I could put those funds instead toward the MMA place I go to now. And apparently my Coach is willing to continue teaching; we'll just wind up doing "garage jiujutsu" as opposed to school stuff. Fortunately, he takes payment in beer.

 

Anyway, today. Today should be gaming and Q&D. We'll see what the day holds.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

1 hour ago, Kishi said:

The film itself has courted some controversy as a leaked script apparently made it look like MRA propaganda or something like that; in fact, nothing could be further from the truth. If anything, the movie is about the consequences of systemic failure and a lack of empathy; it's actually a rather left-wing film for an American piece and watching the critics try to review-bomb the thing into oblivion has actually been rather interesting in terms of commentariat trying to tell the proletariat what is and isn't good art and what should and shouldn't be patronized. (although, to be fair, other recent films dealing in such ideas like Snowpiercer and Parasite were incredibly well-received with the latter being released around the same time as Joker, so take this class paranoia with a grain of salt).

 

I like the word Commentariat. One thing to remember about movie critics, regardless of any agenda they may or may not have, independent of their position on the snooty spectrum, is they see a ton of movies every year. That alone is enough to change anyone's taste. When seeing movies and talking about them is your job, it changes the way you see movies. The general public does not see nearly as many movies a year as a professional critic, nor do we get make a living based on our ability to write about those movies. 

 

That does not make any of what you said untrue, just something to consider. 

[Kishi]

1 hour ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

I like the word Commentariat. One thing to remember about movie critics, regardless of any agenda they may or may not have, independent of their position on the snooty spectrum, is they see a ton of movies every year. That alone is enough to change anyone's taste. When seeing movies and talking about them is your job, it changes the way you see movies. The general public does not see nearly as many movies a year as a professional critic, nor do we get make a living based on our ability to write about those movies. 

 

That does not make any of what you said untrue, just something to consider. 

 

Honestly, adding "tariat" to anything just makes it sound cool.

 

Anyway, that's fair. You know me well enough to know I'm pretty well-steeped in leftist propaganda, and that stuff has expressed some skepticism over what triggers "moral panics" and "outrage." I'm not quite sure how much I buy it, because on the one hand it's tempting to see a systemic rejection of left wing ideas, but OTOH the analyses I've read/watched haven't really taken the other films I mentioned into account and I feel like that's a potential gap in the analysis. Film critics ostensibly judge the craft of a thing and how it explores its themes rather than the themes themselves, but then again if something is judged poorly that has the effect of drawing people away and this in turn hurts the exposure of the themes and ideas of the film.

 

There's really a lot to think about if one tries to be honest about it.