Late thoughts on MammothFAIL and looking in from afar

[marrael]

I know I'm late, but it wasn't that I wasn't paying attention. It's just that I couldn't see it as just a storm in the SF/F teacup, and I found that hard to talk about, then to post in public. A lot of people had a piece to say about MammothFAIL as SF/F fans. My piece about MammothFAIL is as a non-Caucasian non-American who sees MammothFAIL as a

Comments

[jolantru]

Clarion must have been fantastic. Wished I were there. But I didn't study in the US - Australian university. And yes, many people seem surprised that we have all the amenities of the First World.

Hey, I am married to a Peranakan myself. :)

As for Mammothfail, I just wish Americans can see the whole world as it is.

[marrael]

Clarion was great. Of course it was, for me. I got a husband out of it, lol.

America's blinkers I can understand, I just wish they'd stop assuming certain things about the outside. The worst experiences I've had is when you want to correct a mistaken view on someone's part, and they keep thinking you're lying.

[jolantru]

*grin* Attending workshops have its perks. ;)

Oh definitely about the assuming certain things about the outside. As I always tell my General Paper students, don't make assumptions because you make ASSes out of yourselves. Mmm, I think part of Racefail and Mammothfail is due to that kind of blinkered thinking. You want to correct mistaken views, they think you are lying or making it up or worse. Well, hello, other worlds exist too. I don't think I have had encountered problems like that in Australia, though I remember this guy asking me about eating rice: "Do you eat rice? Is it like a staple for you?" I was like "WTF?" Another one was the usage of the chopsticks. :P

[rsheslin]

I remember, back in '93, hanging out with friends in Yugoslavia. One of them asked me if America distributed foreign films dubbed or subtitled. I felt weird explaining that, for the most part, Hollywood just remade the entire movie.

[marrael]

Yep. And for some reason I can't figure out, they have to remake TV serials (not reality shows) from the UK as well. From the UK! I imagine boardroom meetings with executives going: "We can't show American viewers British actors! They don't speak the same English!"

[demonsismondo]

So, yes, countries with brown and yellow people can also have electricity, trains, books, and computers. English is frequently spoken and understood. I know this is obvious to everyone reading this by now, but I've lived and traveled enough in the US to have run into many Americans who seemed genuinely shocked by this.

As a teenager I knew a Malaysian who spent his summers in the U.S. He got his host's sister believing that Malaysians lived in trees. He was just teasing her, but she found the idea absolutely credible and was sure he was telling the truth.

I've never really tried to capitalize on that sort of ignorance during my infrequent American visits. Maybe I should, it might be amusing.

[elfwreck]

This post has been included in a Linkspam roundup.

[marrael]

Cool! Thanks. :)

Gaping Holes

[pixelfish]

Here, via Linkspam