My family are mostly Democrat voting liberals and I identified as one for years. When I was in 5th grade I spent more time with my Fox News-watching grandparents and became a Republican for like a year or 2 and became an apolitical lib for a while. From like 2015-2019 I was a Bernie bro who had some objectively shit takes. The biggest 180 I did was probably on the sex trade. I used to be for it as a horny teen like “huh? Did someone say SeX?? Well it’s all ConSeNsUAL so why cockblock someone from getting some PuSsY?” Obviously now I realize that’s a disgusting sentiment and that most people in the industry are not happy and would rather do anything else. Just because a few are happy with their line of work, it doesn’t make it right to force so many others into a position where they feel abused and humiliated or threatened. “Legitimacy of industry” in terms of prostitution always means lining the pockets of abusive pimps (physical or anything else) who will use the opportunity to get rich and usually fund illegal markets (source: Look at Nevada). Enough about me, what topics have become more clear to yall after becoming a communist? I could probably list a few others but I’m interested in seeing what yall say.

  • Adhriva@lemmygrad.ml
    21·
    10 months ago

    There have been a couple of times my worldview has collapsed, and I took better/more accurate positions afterward.

    1. That I was male, with a considerable amount of low-key sexism and not-so-low-key queerphobia thrown in. That was a hell of a shakeup, and probably responsible for the spark that started the rest.
    2. I was raised an evangelical bible thumper and oooohhh boy, does that carry some hefty baggage—ranging from Isreal being -THE- holy land, Evolution is a lie, and those godless, evil queer commies have it coming. So much cringe. Karma is not without a sense of humor.
    3. Was a right-wing Libertarian, very interested in military theory, military history, and was offered full scholarships to military colleges type. Was, unfortunately, definitely on the proto-fascist track politically. Although it did result in reading my first book on any kind of communist thinking in the form of SOVIET MILITARY STRATEGY by Vasiliĭ Sokolovskiĭ.
    4. The Hollywood, mainstream Western storytelling methods are the best/key/correct/fundamentals of the craft. This happened around the time I started becoming a communist. With all the liberal assumptions modern storytelling makes/requires, I had to re-evaluate and relearn my career craft completely. This is the only one I openly talk about because it can be presented as a safe topic in all circles, isn’t as cringe to admit to, and ML Narrative Theory is unfortunately not touched on that much—especially here in the West. And I believe it’s one of our great weaknesses because we have little to challenge the subtle and constant torrent Hollywood and mainstream entertainment douses us with. This is a shame because storytelling is humanity’s evolved mechanism for sharing our experiences navigating life—we should have this tool in our toolbox. Maybe I should post some lecture/essay posts on narrative theory, how it relates and connects to ML theories, and how it breaks away from Hollywood’s simplistic formulas…
    • davel [he/him]@lemmygrad.mlEnglish
      11·
      10 months ago

      There isn’t a whole lot of Atlanticist liberal film or TV that I can stomach anymore. Novels don’t require the capital that the visual narrative arts do, so there are stories to be found there.

    • Jusog@lemmygrad.ml
      11·
      10 months ago

      I am a 5th year Animation student, currently working on my group’s and mine second 3d animation short so far. It’s anti-capitalist in its message, but I rly wonder how the storytelling could be different in a marxist direction. Obv we weren’t exactly taught to create communist films (tho we got at least one communist teacher.) Either way, I’ll take anything you can give me o.O

      • redtea@lemmygrad.ml
        10·
        10 months ago

        Would the work of Bertolt Brecht be of any use to you? I’m unsure of the overlap but it seems that a Marxist approach to theatre/drama could be helpful?

        • Jusog@lemmygrad.ml
          5·
          10 months ago

          Yoo totally! Thx for the suggestion, I’ll make sure to look into him. Any specific work you’d have in mind?

          • redtea@lemmygrad.ml
            8·
            10 months ago

            Brecht on Theatre seems to be the go-to place to start.

            There’s a summary here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zwmvd2p/revision/1 but lol:

            In 1941 Brecht became resident in the USA but returned to Europe in 1947 after appearing before the House Un-American Activities Committee. Ostensibly against communism, this committee also targeted intellectuals.

            Yeah, communist intellectuals mf!!

            That’s a testament to how well regarded he is. He’s so important for Western canon that they can’t forget him but they want to carve away his Marxism. Familiar story. Be careful about what you read about Brecht. I can’t recall how much of a Marxist he actually was. It’s been a long time since I looked through On Theatre and when I read it I wasn’t a Marxist and didn’t notice that he was one but I was oblivious to that kind of thing back then.