Lou Reed Of The Velvet Underground, 1974.

if you’re a new tumblr user from tiktok or IG or something and only like posts and dont reblog them yeah people will think you’re a bot and block you but you will also make this website actively worse. they want “algorithmic” users like you, served recommended posts through likes, not people who just follow each other and respond to the direct chronological feed. there is a reason this website is still better than the rest, even with all its problems, do not ruin this

Really funny how we went from “reblogging a mutual’s post to support small business” to “investing in this post” like the general sentiment is the same, if more mischievous, but somehow our mutuals became corporations instead of small businesses

Hi

With the current news about the antisemitic fuckhead known as Kanye West trending, I have been seeing people say "death of the author" in response to if it's alright to continue listening to his music

Let me be brutally clear: death of the author does not mean what you think it means

"Death Of The Author" specifically is in reference to the theory that a creator can not put meaning behind work, but instead only create something through THEIR EXPERIENCES AND BIASES (this is important) and let the audience put meaning onto it themselves, because art is subjective.

So when you create something, you are putting pieces of yourself into the work you create, since humans are silly creatures who tend to think within the scope of their own life and experiences. He has put pieces of his rotten way of thinking into everything he has touched, and unfortunately he makes money off every single click or stream of his music. When you support his music, even the old stuff, you are literally giving money to the things he's saying. Past and present.

Death Of The Author is NOT

Enjoying things regardless of who made them

Ignoring the implications within a creative work simply because you like it and do not want to feel bad about liking it

Completely disregarding entire communities of people who's very existences are at risk just so you don't have to acknowledge your own inner problems such as racism, ableism, homophobia, etc

"But Weems," I hear you cry, "Kanye wasn't saying these things when he made this music!"

No you're right, he wasn't always mentally unstable and quite literally spewing Nazi rhetoric openly, but for the past decade, he's been getting to this point and he ABSOLUTELY has been showing signs of megalomaniac tendencies ("I told you who I am! A God!").

Again, if you're giving him any attention right now through his music, you're literally paying him to continue to act like this. Even if you pirate it or have had it for awhile, that includes you types before you say "but what about-"

Honestly I don't think his music is even worth potentially labeling yourself a Nazi-sympathizer.

And now you know what "Death Of The Author" means and why it does not apply.

So start correcting people and shutting down the idea that we can still consume products or creative works made by people who want to commit genocide when their bigotry is literally engraved into the work they've put out.

Support your local Jewish and Romani creators.

Have a nice day

there is something so cool about the prefix dis- in words. dispassionate. disillusioned. disuse. dis- doesnt just mean an absence, it means the essence of the word has been leeched out. your passion has been sucked dry. your blissful ignorance has been torn away. the object is forgotten somewhere knowing the joy of being loved and used and the shame of becoming unneeded even more so.

"isnt bullying recognized as a form of abuse" the thing is, like, not broadly, societally speaking... i mean think of all the posts u see regularly that are like, "bring back bullying" etc. "everyone needs to get bullied a little it builds character." can u imagine people making these statements broadly about abuse? bring back abuse? abuse builds character? nah and that is because people do not think of bullying as abuse, they do not think of it as traumatic and i actually think this is in large part because it is seen as an issue that only affects children (not even true) and people still broadly feel that children's feelings and experiences do not matter

Lost followers after reblogging that whole thing about JKR being radicalized over the years, and that disturbs me.

Like if you think saying that people can be radicalized and manipulated into hate is somehow justifying it, yikes. And if you think that people are somehow just good or evil and that you are not at risk of buying into propaganda, have I got some very red flag news about that!

Idk if its because I am an older Millennial maybe (most who unfollowed were younger) but I watched a ton of that generation slide from one of the most progressive to the far right before my every eyes. Hell, my dad fought alongside his black friends in the Detroit race riots and now he watches Fox News 24/7 and talks about the border wall. Yet still claims he could never be racist because of how he used to be. He doesn’t even realize what he has become.

JKR isn’t a deluded old woman or innately evil, but in fact THE prime example of how well-meaning ignorance and privilege can be weaponized and encouraged down a pipeline, until it turns into a force of hate, and should be a cautionary tale about why educating and being open about these issues are necessary. Because there are those out there who will use those divisions and ignorance to their own ends. And just digging in our heels and saying “that could never be me!” is the very thing that puts you more at risk. I’ve lost so many loved ones down that pipeline and it is more slippery than most realize.

Stay alert, stay compassionate, stay humble, and make sure you move through life guided by reason rather than reaction. I love y’all and don’t want to see your passion twisted to get used against the world.

Reposting this because I’m seeing people not having realized this is a thing.

FTF will be available for free in the US after the west coast slot finishes airing. If you don’t have cable you can watch it on YT for free

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It's so important to remember that tumblr is bad. Has been bad. And will likely remain bad for the foreseeable future. And that is vital to our survival. If Tumblr was a good website that worked, it would get turned into a corporate hellscape like every other site. It's so important that Tumblr is broken and poorly run and impossible to effectively navigate. It's all that's keeping us safe.

i wanna see exactly what tumblr think of this, so:

(i know nobody likes being told this, but please reblog if you vote! this needs a pretty big and diverse sample size to get good data)

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(Source)

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