Towards the
end of class on Monday, we started to discuss Blaine and the ways he interacts
with Ifemelu during the beginning of their relationship. I feel like Blaine’s
actions are common among political youth and the millennial generation today. A
lot of people nowadays are in some sort of politically charged contest about
who is the most ‘woke’. There is always this push for people to be constantly
aware of all political issues and to be constantly trying to tell others how
they are right about every issue. Blaine is not an exception to this; he is
constantly trying to interfere with Ifemelu’s blog and is always telling her
what she is doing wrong. On page 386, after she deletes a post on her blog that
she changed based on his opinion, he tells her, “Remember people are not
reading you as entertainment, they’re reading you as cultural commentary.” He
then continues to call her ‘lazy’ because she refuses to get overly detailed in
specific government policy in her work. This extremely academic type of writing
only creates a disconnect between the author and the reader.
The book then continues to explain how Blaine typically uses the word lazy on page 387, “He used that word, ‘lazy’, often, for his students who did not hand in work on time, black celebrities who were not politically active, ideas that did not match his own.” It is specifically pointed out that he calls people lazy just for not using their time to make large political statements. This does not make a person lazy at all, they are just making a conscious choice to not get involved in those sorts of issues. There are so many people with the same sentiment as Blaine in the present time. If a person
does not want to be constantly on top of soap box, they are then labeled lazy or incompetent. Again, it is a contest in many ways, this creates a toxic atmosphere for people in a setting that involves general political discussion. If people don’t join in or have the same exact opinion as everyone else, they get attacked just for wanting to stay out of it. This is the experience that Ifemelu often has when she is with Blaine. Also, on page 387, she talks about how she wrote a blog post about two books she enjoys and Blaine then states that, “They don’t push the boundaries.” Everyone apparently needs to have a political agenda or be as controversial as possible. Otherwise, they are not worth our time, right?
I feel strongly in agreement with your point about how people are expected to be completely in the know of every political issue. Even as an activist, I become frustrated by the culture of the "problematic", which expects people to know exactly which companies to buy from, which people to like, and which causes to support (which you *must* back up with facts at all times). Any lack of this knowledge which leads you to err--buy from a wrong company, etc-- can lead to public attacks and outrage.
ReplyDeleteI feel that Ifemelu observes this concept throughout the book, with the understanding that political activism is important, but confusion as to why. In one blog post, she discusses why blacks in America should react in an offended way if people say certain things, even though she's not offended by it. Blaine is bewildered by her letting a woman touch her hair, because she isn't bothered by it.
I feel that as a theme throughout this book, and also in America, there is a sense that doing the wrong thing should be punished. Of course racist actions are wrong. But I also find myself frustrated that the immediate reaction of most people seems to be anger, rather than an attempt to educate the person who has "done wrong." Put simply, if we helped to educate instead of mock or antagonize, I think a lot more minds would be changed.
While I personally agree to your points, in the novel itself, I think these sorts of political antagonisms crop up from either Ifemelu and/or the narrator. From the start when Ifemelu makes her posts about the white guy with dreads versus the white man who adopted black children, she is (albeit in a much less aggressive and disgusting way than Blaine does) making the same comparisons of virtue (4-5). For me, this begins to complicate the discussion of measuring "wokeness". While I really find it gross and detestable in Blaine, for Ifemelu it seems to be less egregious but still wrong to me. It would be better to use these bloggable moments as a means to teach others about what sort of issues one sees in a particular society, yet can you really expect someone to stop everything to constantly explain exactly why something may not be the "wokest"? My distinctions may only be due to character differences in the novel, but I feel as if they give a keen insight into these sorts of issues.
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