We talk a lot about consent, and that’s a good thing. We talk a lot about autonomy, and that’s a good thing. We talk a lot about privacy, and that’s a good thing.
But we talk mostly about all of that in respect to sex, and relationships, and it’s important to remember this applies to other things, too.
If someone says, “don’t tell anyone I got this new job,” and you then tell people, you’ve violated their consent, their privacy, and their autonomy.
If a friend says, “I don’t like it when people touch my hair,” and you keep touching their hair, you have violated their consent, their autonomy, and their privacy.
If a coworker asks you not to tease them about their new boyfriend, even if it seems like gentle and friendly fun to you, and you do it, you’ve violated their consent, their autonomy, and their privacy.
People remember these things, and they hurt. Not as much as sexual assault, obviously. But those small violations of your wishes, those instances of disrespect, still hurt, and they can add up.
Consent doesn’t just apply to sex. Respect the wishes of others.
Um, can I please get every neighborhood kid and animal to come walk across my driveway? Can I get a cat to just run around on there? This flock of ducks did such an amazing job!
I was 18 months old when my parents built their house. After pouring the concrete slab for the foundation, my father, world’s most sentimental man, carried me down into the hole so he could preserve a single imprint of my little baby foot in the house he was building for me to grow up in.
Naturally, I wriggled loose, so what is actually preserved for posterity in my parents’ basement floor is my mad dash through this glorious new mud pit, followed by my father’s footprints in hot pursuit, a visible scuffle where the fugitive was captured, and then my father’s prints returning to the ladder.
I hope some future archeologist finds your parent’s basement floor because they’re going to lie down on the ground and cry about it.
For anyone who has any questions about ‘aren’t the statistics bloated because there are more school children than cops?’ (oh yeah I saw those) Let me tell you the answer of what the number of shot children in school should look like:
(Image description: A blank graphing template.)
None. NO children should be shot in schools. There’s your answer.
Why do cops get shot on the job? Because they signed up to enforce the law and sometimes that requires dealing with dangerous people allowed to have mass murder machines.
A child cannot CHOOSE to go to school until they are like 15 in some states. But adults CAN choose to fill out an application for a job they WANT. Do not equate the life of a vulnerable child to that of a grown adult making adult choices.
I think that the prevalence of charming side characters points to something that Dracula adaptations often miss: This is ultimately a story about humanity being good.
The book is absolutely chock full of examples of people being good to each other: from the Romanian woman who gave Jonathan - a complete stranger - a rosary to keep him safe, to the suitors being good friends even after they realize they all proposed to the same woman, to the unnamed second mate taking watch when everyone is exhausted, to Mina talking to a lonely old man, to the people of Whitby preparing a funeral for the unnamed Captain of the Demeter and trying to befriend the dog.
When it comes down to it, this is about people banding together and helping each other. I find that adaptations often go very light on that aspect in favor of focusing on the charisma of the monster or the push and pull between Van Helsing and the Count. But the background of people caring about each other is very necessary to the story of the monster who feeds on them.
man but i love max caulfield, as a character and specifically as a protagonist.
throughout the game, she’s characterized with an air of altruism. she’s an ‘everyday hero’, reaches out and tries to help everyone she meets, empathetic to a degree where she genuinely feels for the discarded objects at the junkyard. she’s shy and kind of awkward but her heart is in the right place, and ultimately, if you choose to, she can make friends with just about everybody.
here’s the thing: as the player, you don’t think about the ramifications of your actions in real-world terms. when you play legend of zelda, you don’t think twice before breaking into people’s houses, smashing their vases and stealing the rupees within. it’s just how the game works. when you play life is strange, you don’t think twice before sifting through people’s belongings and fishing for information they’re reluctant to give. it’s a point and click game! of course you should find out as much as you can. if a character asks you a question you don’t know the answer to, of course you’ll rewind until you get it right, because you want the rewards of succeeding. if you have the option to expose intimate details about a character against their will, and then rewind so they don’t know how you found out and assume you’re just attentive– of course you’ll do that, too.
but max, as a person, is the one committing all these actions. and what really makes it so special in my eyes is that she’s called out for it. the people around her repeatedly referring to her nosiness is one thing, but the scene that really clinches it is in the dream sequence, where nightmare-max flat out tells her: you don’t care about doing the right thing. you’re not some selfless martyr. you abused your power to get people to like you because you know they never would otherwise.
and it’s true. max is quiet, mousy, keeps mostly to herself. she writes in her journal that she never found her niche in seattle, and only makes one offhanded mention of a couple kids she hung out with there. at blackwell, she doesn’t even know her next-door dormmate’s last name. she’s friendly with warren, and with kate, and that’s about it. and even with kate, their bond would’ve never been strong enough to save her unless max had used her powers.
at the end of the game, max can be liked and respected by just about everybody around her, because she exploits her powers to do so. she milks people for information, she lies, she abuses her powers for petty things like getting back at victoria, or getting to fly brooke’s cool drone, or spilling frank’s beans on the floor. her powers make her braver, more sensitive, and more likable to those around her. and it’s something you as a player wouldn’t even find unusual, until the game specifically addresses it in the text, saying: hey, these aren’t just your actions as a player. this is the kind of person max is.
and that’s such great, smart writing. i love that they don’t shy away from making her selfish and flawed, alongside her heroism. at the end of the day she’s still an insecure teen who wants to be liked, and that’s what makes her so real. boy, i love max caulfield!
