Organizer mythology
Christianity is part of who I am culturally, but there's another massive body of thought in which I participate: my subculture! Geekdom!
I haven't roleplayed in more than six months, by the way, and my sci-fi reading has dropped off to almost nothing, and--oh actually I read Vampire Hunter D last month. I'm not completely apostate.
Anyway. I mobilize symbols and narrative fragments from geek culture as much as I use Christianity. And it occurred to me that I haven't explained what being a union organizer means to me in those terms, aside from an occasional joke that I used CHA as my dump stat and it sure comes in handy in these political stories instead of dungeon crawls. Union organizing isn't about being a superhero, either. You don't get superpowers and you never get to save anyone. It's about this:
(For those of you without access to YouTube or audio or whatever, that is Legolas before Helm's Deep telling Aragorn that Rohan is doomed, and Aragorn exclaiming that he shall die as one of them.)
You have some skills, you have some contacts, maybe if you're very lucky there's someone out there finding cavalry for you--Legolas is right, Helm's Deep isn't winnable, and all that keeps Aragorn from fulfilling his promise is Gandalf turning up with Eomer--but you're probably going to lose. You're probably going to lose your job and people will think you're an idiot and the people who back you the most are also going to get hurt and shamed. And if you're lucky it's only that one snobby background character. But whatever. You shall die as one of them, because you're there and no one else is, and because of this:
(Aragorn saying Gondor will help, and Theoden demanding where Gondor was when his son died.)
Because big unions, the various groups and their leadership that should be fighting for low-wage workers, are mostly not there, or are off fighting on some distant front you can't get to and have only maybe heard of, and probably not winning there either. If you want to redeem the honor of the word "union," you have to make that pledge personally. I really like Aragorn's development, by-the-by. This moment when Theoden spits on his faith in the honor of his people and Aragorn is man enough to face that truth and fight back. That's awesome. Also, the movies do something really cool that the books don't: Aragorn doesn't gain the allegiance of the army of ghosts until he accepts despair and responsibility for loss, seeing the black-sailed ships that will ravage his country. Once he accepts powerlessness and learns to grieve, then he is worthy of power.
And what is the work of organizing like? Well, it's supposed to be like this:
(Ride out with me!)
But usually Theoden says, "I'm sorry, I'm just so tired, and I have to think about my grades." The bit Gandalf does earlier, waking Theoden to awareness of his own strength--THAT takes some doing. I wish I had that trick.
Guilty secret: I frequently watch the Battle of Helm's Deep without watching any of the rest of the movie(s). I know this thing came out when I was a sophomore in college, but it feels like my childhood. I guess I read The Two Towers several times in middle and high school.
I'm going to leave this last clip--for why bother, for why not just work and take it--why fight?
(Those without swords can still die upon them.)
I haven't roleplayed in more than six months, by the way, and my sci-fi reading has dropped off to almost nothing, and--oh actually I read Vampire Hunter D last month. I'm not completely apostate.
Anyway. I mobilize symbols and narrative fragments from geek culture as much as I use Christianity. And it occurred to me that I haven't explained what being a union organizer means to me in those terms, aside from an occasional joke that I used CHA as my dump stat and it sure comes in handy in these political stories instead of dungeon crawls. Union organizing isn't about being a superhero, either. You don't get superpowers and you never get to save anyone. It's about this:
Click to view(For those of you without access to YouTube or audio or whatever, that is Legolas before Helm's Deep telling Aragorn that Rohan is doomed, and Aragorn exclaiming that he shall die as one of them.)
You have some skills, you have some contacts, maybe if you're very lucky there's someone out there finding cavalry for you--Legolas is right, Helm's Deep isn't winnable, and all that keeps Aragorn from fulfilling his promise is Gandalf turning up with Eomer--but you're probably going to lose. You're probably going to lose your job and people will think you're an idiot and the people who back you the most are also going to get hurt and shamed. And if you're lucky it's only that one snobby background character. But whatever. You shall die as one of them, because you're there and no one else is, and because of this:
(Aragorn saying Gondor will help, and Theoden demanding where Gondor was when his son died.)
Because big unions, the various groups and their leadership that should be fighting for low-wage workers, are mostly not there, or are off fighting on some distant front you can't get to and have only maybe heard of, and probably not winning there either. If you want to redeem the honor of the word "union," you have to make that pledge personally. I really like Aragorn's development, by-the-by. This moment when Theoden spits on his faith in the honor of his people and Aragorn is man enough to face that truth and fight back. That's awesome. Also, the movies do something really cool that the books don't: Aragorn doesn't gain the allegiance of the army of ghosts until he accepts despair and responsibility for loss, seeing the black-sailed ships that will ravage his country. Once he accepts powerlessness and learns to grieve, then he is worthy of power.
And what is the work of organizing like? Well, it's supposed to be like this:
(Ride out with me!)
But usually Theoden says, "I'm sorry, I'm just so tired, and I have to think about my grades." The bit Gandalf does earlier, waking Theoden to awareness of his own strength--THAT takes some doing. I wish I had that trick.
Guilty secret: I frequently watch the Battle of Helm's Deep without watching any of the rest of the movie(s). I know this thing came out when I was a sophomore in college, but it feels like my childhood. I guess I read The Two Towers several times in middle and high school.
I'm going to leave this last clip--for why bother, for why not just work and take it--why fight?
(Those without swords can still die upon them.)