I try very, very hard not to go all free culture, free/libre software, and fandom-oldbie-get-off-my-lawn on people.
I am suspending this policy for the next few minutes.
Why is anyone surprised that Tumblr banned porn?
Look, Tumblr is a platform owned by big, faceless corporations. Every other corporate social network bans porn. They aren’t all good at it, and often the terms of banning are foolish (Honestly, “female presenting nipples”?), but they all do the same thing.
THIS HAS LITERALLY HAPPENED BEFORE.
When LiveJournal was shitty to fandom—way back during Strikethrough—people left in droves. And then went to Tumblr, another corporately-owned platform. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice…?
But that’s not all. Several times, Fanfiction.net has banned erotica (and then backtracked, and then purged again, ad infinitum). That’s because it’s owned by a random dude who can pick to host whatever he wants, and sometimes what he wants is cleaner than others.
That’s why fans founded other sites, and then eventually the AO3, which isn’t run by a single person and can’t just be fucked with because someone is having a kinda prudish ~moment~.
The only way to be sure our fanworks won’t be taken down is to own the servers.
I get it. It’s not easy. Not everyone is able to do things themselves. It’s a privilege to have the time and money to figure out things like how to run a Mastodon instance, or (insert whatever other free culture thing here). And that sucks! It sucks a lot. It means that rich white people can afford to fuck with free/libre culture, while the rest of everyone is like, “well, since we can’t spend a lot of time dicking with building our own, guess we have to accept the thing corporations are making for us and feeding us for fake-free.” And that really does suck.
But the world is not fair. Corporations do not care about you. If we want to have nice things, we have to make them ourselves, for our own communities.And people?
You know, this scene is so powerful to me that sometimes I forget that not everyone who watches it will understand its significance, or will have seen Casablanca. So, because this scene means so much to me, I hope it’s okay if I take a minute to explain what’s going on here for anyone who’s feeling left out.
Casablanca takes place in, well, Casablanca, the largest city in (neutral) Morocco in 1941, at Rick’s American Cafe (Rick is Humphrey Bogart’s character you see there). In 1941, America was also still neutral, and Rick’s establishment is open to everyone: Nazi German officials, officials from Vichy (occupied) France, and refugees from all across Europe desperate to escape the German war engine. A neutral cafe in a netural country is probably the only place you’d have seen a cross-section like this in 1941, only six months after the fall of France.
So, the scene opens with Rick arguing with Laszlo, who is a Czech Resistance fighter fleeing from the Nazis (if you’re wondering what they’re arguing about: Rick has illegal transit papers which would allow Laszlo and his wife, Ilsa, to escape to America, so he could continue raising support against the Germans. Rick refuses to sell because he’s in love with Laszlo’s wife). They’re interrupted by that cadre of German officers singing Die Wacht am Rhein: a German patriotic hymn which was adopted with great verve by the Nazi regime, and which is particularly steeped in anti-French history. This depresses the hell out of everybody at the club, and infuriates Laszlo, who storms downstairs and orders the house band to play La Marseillaise: the national anthem of France.
Wait, but when I say “it’s the national anthem of France,” I don’t want you to think of your national anthem, okay? Wherever you’re from. Because France’s anthem isn’t talking about some glorious long-ago battle, or France’s beautiful hills and countrysides. La Marseillaise is FUCKING BRUTAL. Here’s a translation of what they’re singing:
Arise, children of the Fatherland! The day of glory has arrived! Against us, tyranny raises its bloody banner. Do you hear, in the countryside, the roar of those ferocious soldiers? They’re coming to your land to cut the throats of your women and children!
To arms, citizens! Form your battalions! Let’s march, let’s march! Let their impure blood water our fields!
BRUTAL, like I said. DEFIANT, in these circumstances. And the entire cafe stands up and sings it passionately, drowning out the Germans. The Germans who are, in 1941, still terrifyingly ascendant, and seemingly invincible.
“Vive la France! Vive la France!” the crowd cries when it’s over. France has already been defeated, the German war machine roars on, and the people still refuse to give up hope.
But here’s the real kicker, for me: Casablanca came out in 1942. None of this was ‘history’ to the people who first saw it. Real refugees from the Nazis, afraid for their lives, watched this movie and took heart. These were current events when this aired. Victory over Germany was still far from certain. The hope it gave to people then was as desperately needed as it has been at any time in history.
God I love this scene.
not only did refugees see this movie, real refugees made this movie. most of the european cast members wound up in hollywood after fleeing the nazis and wound up.
paul heinreid, who played laszlo the resistance leader, was a famous austrian actor; he was so anti-hitler that he was named anenemy of the reich.ugarte, the petty thief who stole the illegal transit papers laszlo and victor are arguing about? was played by peter lorre, a jewish refugee. carl, the head waiter? played by s.z. sakall, a hungarian-jewwhose three sisters died in the holocaust.
even the main nazi character was played by a german refugee: conrad veidt, who starred in one of the first sympathetic films about gay men and who fled the nazis with his jewish wife.
there’s one person in this scene that deserves special mention. did you notice the woman at the bar, on the verge of tears as she belts out la marseillaise? she’s yvonne, rick’s ex-girlfriend in the film. in real life, the actress’s name is madeleine lebeau and she basically lived the plot of this film: she and her jewish husband fled paris ahead of the germans in 1940. her husband, macel dalio, is also in the film, playing the guy working the roulette table. after they occupied paris, the nazis used his face on posters to represent a “typical jew.” madeleine and marcel managed to get to lisbon (the goal of all the characters in casablanca), and boarded a ship to the americas… but then they were stranded for two months when it turned out their visa papers were forgeries. they eventually entered the US after securing temporary canadian visas. marcel dalio’s entire family died in concentration camps.
go back and rewatch the clip. watch madeleine lebeau’s face.
casablanca is a classic, full of classic acting performances. but in this moment, madeleine lebeau isn’t acting. this isn’t yvonne the jilted lover onscreen. this is madeleine lebeau, singing “la marseillaise” after she and her husband fled france for their lives. this is a real-life refugee, her real agony and loss and hope and resilience, preserved in the midst of one of the greatest films of all time.
Technically CT but I’ve lived in Virginia and downstate Illinois and mostly I’ve lived in Cambridge and I don’t want to talk about CT ever.
Brooklyn or Manhattan?
Manhattan! I guess? Brooklyn seems nice too. Idk gang. Whenever I go to NYC I get too stressed out about trying to make plans with people to even enjoy my time there.
Subway or uber?
Subway. And then Lyft.
What music are you into right now?
Janelle Monae, H.E.R., Khruangbin, Hyolyn.
What’s a day in the life of kfan?
Shower, eat, make sure the kids are eating something & aware of where they’re supposed to be that day, then walk across the bridge to Boston, write for an hour, than work, then walk back, then make dinner, do the dishes, then watch a show, then go to bed, then read a chapter, then sleep.
What’s your go-to outfit?
Adidas sneakers, Calvin Klein underwear, Uniqlo jeans, Target t-shirt
What are your fave products?
SEE ABOVE. For not clothing things I like: Scrivener for writing, Etymotic for earbuds, Polar for seltzer.
What is your favorite thing to do in the city?
Just leave the house and start walking and wander around and see what I see.
How do you relax?
Watching many many TV shows online.
What’s one long-term goal of yours?
Idk! Do I have long-term goals? Just stay alive and write books and try not to be terrible, I guess.
How has 2018 treated you so far?
OK. Better than an extremely lot of people.
Congratulations on finishing No More Selfies, can you tell me a little about what’s going on with that?
Thank you yes I recently posted the final chapter of No More Selfies, the novel I’ve been writing serially for the past year and a half. It was a very fun experience and the feedback has been great and I’m very excited to be done with it so I can work on the next book.
Saw you in Ostrich Hammer video, how was that experience?
That was like 10 years ago! It kind of holds up though. It was fun. It was a nice experience. I’m glad I did it and I wish I had more opportunities to act like an idiot on camera.
What’s the first piece of media you consume every day?
Peach. Or Instagram sometimes.
Name a writer or publication you disagree with but still read.
I can’t think of anything specific. I mean I guess still occasionally read Twitter and Facebook even though I vehemently disagree with the entire premise of both sites.
Who is the person who has most influenced the way you think?
My life partner RoRo who is extremely smart.
When was the last time you changed your mind about something?
I change my mind about everything all the time. There is not a lot on this planet that I have very strongly held opinions about.
What’s your worst intellectual habit?
I’m so irritated about this question I can’t even figure out an answer! What’s an intellectual habit even? I tried googling it but there wasn’t a Wikipedia page called List of Intellectual Habits.
What inspires you to learn?
I wouldn’t say I’m inspired to do it, I would just say I’m open to it. Do I like to learn new things? Yes. Do I want to read books about everything? No.
What do you need to believe in order to get through the day?
I love this series because it’s writers talking about books which is a favorite subject. But here’s the thing: I have been really hating reading so far this year. Books are just: not interesting to me. It’s like eating sand. These interviews are always all BOOKS BOOK BOOKS HEART EYES EMOJI but that’s not how I feel lately so here you go. Book depression, yay.
What books are currently on your nightstand?
In an attempt to get out of my reading rut I got a bunch of paperbook mysteries & romances recently. So I have It Takes a Coven by Carol Perry, Flight from Death by Yasmine Galenorn, and Lending a Paw by Laurie Cass. Also if nightstand is a metaphor I have Dorthy by Shaun Allen, and No Capes by Lizzie Siebert on my phone and I read them before bed. AND I just got my copy of Amy Spalding’s The Summer of Jordi Perez, which I read last year and loved but it just came out and I’m going to read it again.
What’s the last great book you read?
Probably The Stranger in the Woods by Michael Finkel. He just parked his car by the side of the road and walked into the woods and didn’t come out for 20 years! I’m so jealous.
What influences your decisions about which books to read? Word of mouth, reviews, a trusted friend?
The cover, or is it by someone I like, or has someone I like mentioned it.
What’s the most interesting thing you learned from a book recently?
Hammerhead by Nina MacLaughlin had all kinds of interesting things about carpentry in it. I will not apply any of it to my life but it was very interesting!
Which classic novel did you recently read for the first time?
Grace & the Fever by Zan Romanoff.
Whose writing today most inspires you?
Zan’s. Megan Abbott. Alissa Nutting. Pilot Viruet. Marie Howe. Eli Goldstone. Chrissy Teigen. Ann Leckie.
What kinds of books bring you the most reading pleasure these days?
Nothing! That’s the problem. I’ve been forcing myself to read whatever, or reread old books I used to love, but idk. Nothing.
Which genres do you avoid?
Self help. Business.
How do you like to read? Paper or electronic? One book at a time or several simultaneously? Morning or night?
Book or ebook are fine. I usually read a few chapters of a few different books before bed.
What book might people be surprised to find on your shelves?
No one’s going to be surprised about shit on my shelves. But you may be taken aback by the fact that they are in no way organized. There’s just books on shelves, with no alphabetization or organizational schema. So it’s really difficult to find a particular book when you want one. Like I wanted to tell you about my most favorite book of all time, which is a self-published book of southern salad recipes that my mother-in-law found at a tag sale in Illinois and gave to me. It’s so fun to read. You’d love it. I wish I could show you! But I can’t find it. Come over and help me look.
Earliest memory of the Internet: The computer lab at JMU, 1996-ish? My roommate David showing me what “the internet” was and how to access it. I very specifically remember Webcrawler being the first site he showed me - a site that you use to search for the things you want to see! But what do you search for? I literally couldn’t think of anything I wanted to see.
OR! Actually, now that I’m writing this. The school library earlier that year. I was asking a librarian for help with some research I was doing and she took me back to her office and sat me down and excitedly showed me this thing called Gopher, and how it could help me. I just nodded along, no idea what she was describing to me or how it was better than just looking up a book and then reading that book. I’m so turned on about it now, I wish I’d understood what was happening in the moment.
If the Internet didn’t exist: I think my writing would be very boring. I mean not to say it isn’t anyway. But the me in the universe without the internet, without all the information and subcultures that it allowed me to easily access, is still trying to write stuff that emulates what he was reading in ~literary journals and hating every second of it.
Essential app: Peach and that’s all I’ll say about that.
Must-follow on Twitter: literally no one, Twitter is awful, stop looking at it
Favorite social network: 🍑
The Web would be better if: It was a public utility and there were better regulations around data tracking & collection. And if Facebook & Twitter went away.
The Internet in five years: One nation under Amazon.
What’s the next project you want to tackle? I’m not sure! I extremely need to finish my current project, No More Selfies before I think about it too much. But I’m thinking about a spin-off of Kim Kardashian: #BreakTheGame involving some popular side characters, it could be really fun palate cleanser.
What would you be do doing if the Internet didn’t exist? Reading books and playing video games but probably not writing as much.
The weirdest storyline you’ve ever written: I don’t think any of them are that weird, in the grand scheme of things. Definitely I’ve gotten the most “WTF are you thinking?” comments from Kim Kardashian: Trapped in Her Own Game but people who manage to get past the first chapter seem to love it.
How is social media changing how you interact with fans? In some way it’s great, the accessibility and immediacy of it. I love the interactions with people who read and respond to my work, even if it isn’t always positive. But in some ways the accessibility makes it a little less meaningful. I got a very nice email recently from a reader who later became a kind of a friend, and… remember getting emails? Remember liking something you read enough to stop what you were doing and actually compose your thoughts into sentences about it, instead of RTing or faving something? I have to admit I miss those interactions a little bit.
What was the most unexpected or surprising response to one of your projects? I start every project with exactly zero expectations so in some ways just the fact that I’m still here after 20 years, posting my random ideas on the internet for people to read and tell their friends about, is mind-blowing to me.
