Welcome to the Pock(y)Box. The person behind the tumblr is a queer millennial nerd who likes terrible puns and occasionally makes art n’ sews costumes n’ stuff. There is no theme and I don’t feed trolls.
In 5-10 years we will see a major swing towards religiosity from a lot of people who seem like unlikely candidates now. I’m basing this off a marked increase in left-leaning individuals who are coping with the realities of the times by becoming obsessed with their own personal virtue, even if maintaining it requires inaction and withdrawal from the world at large. To them, it seems better than becoming a bad person by working with imperfect people and pursuing imperfect solutions; it’s not ok to compromise yourself, even if you think it might be better for the community in the short or long term.
If you become convinced the world is too polluted, too compromised, too evil to be negotiated with, it’s only natural that you will eventually be drawn in by the promise of spiritual realms or states where none of that matters anymore. It’s tempting to submit to the narrative of a perfect savior who is coming to fix it all at once. It’s not inherently bad to be religious, but if you’re letting it fill a space in your brain where your own judgment should be, it’s very dangerous.
We need to watch out for those close to us who are falling into this spiral and becoming vulnerable to predatory organizations and individuals. It’s better to have both feet on the ground with the rest of humanity, even if it means you must get your hands dirty sometimes. Do not get bullied into self-monitoring so rigorously that you’re afraid to act, or interact, or speak, or read, or have fun. Stop giving a shit about whether you’re perceived as ideologically pristine yourself and focus on the well-being of your community and other people, whether on a small scale or a large one. It’s the only thing that actually matters in the end.
I feel like we need a refresher on Watsonian vs Doylist perspectives in media analysis. When you have a question about a piece of media - about a potential plot hole or error, about a dubious costuming decision, about a character suddenly acting out of character -
A Watsonian answer is one that positions itself within the fictional world.
A Doylist answer is one that positions itself within the real world.
Meaning: if Watson says something that isn’t true, one explanation is that Watson made a mistake. Another explanation is that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle made a mistake.
Watsonian explanations are implicitly charitable. You are implicitly buying into the notion that there is a good in-world reason for what you’re seeing on screen or on the page. (“The bunny girls in Final Fantasy wear lingerie all the time because they’re from a desert culture!”)
Doylist explanations are pragmatic. You are acknowledging that the fiction is shaped by real-world forces, like the creators’ personal taste, their biases, the pressures they might be under from managers or editors, or the limits of their expertise. (“The bunny girls in Final Fantasy wear lingerie because somebody thought they’d sell more units that way.”)
Watsonian explanations tend to be imaginative but naive. Seeking a Watsonian explanation for a problem within a narrative is inherently pleasure-seeking: you don’t want your suspension of disbelief to be broken, and you’re willing to put in the leg work to prevent it. Looking for a Watsonian answer can make for a fun game! But it can quickly stray into making excuses for lazy or biased storytelling, or cynical and greedy executives.
Doylist explanations are very often accurate, but they’re not much fun. They should supersede efforts to provide a Watsonian explanation where actual harm is being done: “This character is being depicted in a racist way because the creators have a racist bias.’” Or: “The lore changed because management fired all of the writers from last season because they didn’t want to pay then residuals.”
Doylism also runs the risk of becoming trite, when applied to lower stakes discrepancies. Yes, it’s possible that this character acted strangely in this episode because this episode had a different writer, but that isn’t interesting, and it terminates conversation.
I think a lot of conversations about media would go a lot more smoothly, and everyone would have a lot more fun, if people were just clearer about whether they are looking to engage in Watsonian or Doylist analysis. How many arguments could be prevented by just saying, “No, Doylist you’re probably right, but it’s more fun to imagine there’s a Watsonian reason for this, so that’s what I’m doing.” Or, “From a Watsonian POV that explanation makes sense, but I’m going with the Doylist view here because the creator’s intentions leave a bad taste in my mouth that I can’t ignore.”
Idk, just keep those terms in your pocket? And if you start to get mad at somebody for their analysis, take a second to see if what they’re saying makes more sense from the other side of the Watsonian/Doylist divide.
Three kinds of red flags are being thrown up in the responses to this post. 1 and 2 go together so let’s talk about them first:
Preferentially Watsonian thinkers being defensive about Watsonian analysis being called potentially naive
Preferentially Doylist thinkers being defensive about being called potential buzzkills
Both of you have caused unnecessary wank, I guarantee it. Stop, take a deep breath, take a step back, and acknowledge that any analytical lens will have both strengths and pitfalls.
If you prefer the Watsonian approach, and you’ve beefed with somebody telling you to “stop justifying” something or other, you were talking to somebody who was engaging in Doylist analysis, who was trying to tell you that they believed this was an instance when real harm was being done, and that it was inappropriate to keep playing pretend in the current conversation.
Ask yourself: could they be right? Should you take a moment to acknowledge a Doylist perspective here? Should you maybe just start your own conversation elsewhere?
If you prefer the Doylist approach, and you’ve beefed with somebody telling you to “just let them have fun,” you were talking to somebody who was trying to engage in Watsonian analysis, who felt that you were intruding into a ‘play space’ with a cynical and nitpicky point of view from which nobody would benefit, as no real harm was being done.
Ask yourself: could they be right? Should you take a moment to acknowledge that 'this show is bad’ does not mean anyone is being hurt, and either switch to a play perspective, or start your own conversation elsewhere?
Like, Doylists are not big meanies. Watsonians are not stupid babies. Everybody should be doing some of both. Just not at the same time, at each other.
The third red flag I keep seeing is people confusing Doylist analysis with just thinking that the real world context of a piece of media is interesting. Guys, these terms are for addressing problems. Plot holes, oversights, bad shots, lazy writing. Of course the Matrix is more interesting if you know that the Wachowski sisters are trans and were pre-transition when they made it, that’s literally the context of the movie’s existence. That has nothing to do with what we’re talking about, and if you think “Doylism” is any reference to the real world in any conversation about media at all, you are way, way out to sea.
People straight up do not realize that part of the reason manufacturing is not returning to the United States in massive waves is because we have things like âOSHAâ and âenvironmental lawsâ and âminimum wages.â
Itâs not even just about fair wages. Itâs literally about the fact that you canât dump industrial waste in a river here anymore.
Our cheap goods are so cheap because South American and Asians environments are being destroyed so you can buy a $40 pair of shoes every 3 months.
Cutting granite countertops has lead to a rapid increase in silicosis in the lungs out in California. All the working men and women in my family have died from pulmonary fibrosis. They were carpet layers, Post office workers, floor tilers. Staying safe in manufacturing jobs is annoying but also very, very expensive. Real manufacturing factories belch smoke and dust and grime that causes asthma and birth defects in surrounding communities. Everyone wants their manufacturing jobs back until they realize their kids are living directly under the Asthma Plant.
There will come a time when the workers in these countries rise up and demand better and things will start to even out, but if you want to honestly âdo your part,â you gotta stop buying cheap shit for no reason.
Not every event needs to be celebrate with a baseball cap or a coozie or a t shirt or a keychain. Not every wall in the house has to have a picture or a cute phrase on it. The knickknacks are killing people.
GIVEAWAY: SUPPORTING REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT IN THE NAME OF SPITE
A college football podcast I enjoy runs a charitable drive every year for New American Pathways, a Georgia refugee resettlement charity one of the hosts used to work for. Since all their listeners are sports fans, they came up with a fun gimmick:
Donate money in the name of your favorite team, to compete with other teams.
Naturally this gets a lot of action! People donate to show fans of their hated rivals that theyâre the BEST, they donate specific numbers to commemorate notable game scores or player jersey numbers, they talk so much shit, itâs fun.
There are also some fictional schools that have developed into their own entities, and this is where my pitch comes in. Because in addition to silly things like Night Ham University and Make Spencer Eat Cheese, we haveâŚ
Our beloved PTKU Blue Sharks came in FOURTH PLACE last year, raising $46,626 for refugee resettlement! The grand total was over a million dollars!
Now, of course, New American Pathways has had basically all its federal funding cut, and thereâs no prospect of its being restored any time soon. And itâs more important than ever to show the world that we believe in protecting trans kids.
I know times are tough and apt to get tougher. Which is why Iâm adding an incentive.
If you send me a donation receipt (personal info redacted) in the name of Protect Trans Kids University between now and Friday, April 18th at midnight EDT, I will enter you into a drawing for YOUR VERY OWN BLAHAJ THAT I WILL BUY AND SEND TO YOU.
Questions:
Is there an FAQ about what all this is? Yes, it is here.
Do I have to donate to PTKU? Yes, because I want them to beat Michigan this year. Of course you can donate to whatever you want, but I wonât enter you into the drawing. I figure like 80% of you have zero sports interest so it should be fine.
What if IKEA US doesnât ship to my location? IKEA shipping is weird. If I canât figure out how to get a shark to you directly, I will send you the appropriate amount of money for you to buy one from an IKEA in your country. You will need to have Venmo, Paypal, or CashApp for this option.
What if I donât want to give you my address? Same thing, weâll work it out.
Is there a minimum donation amount? I think the website minimum is a dollar. There is no minimum for the drawing.
When will the drawing take place? Saturday 4/19.
Where should I send the receipt? cumaeansibyl@gmail.com.
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