sjatib 5,174 Posted February 29, 2020 imperial colonists invading a continent and committing genocide, then STILL not recognizing rights of surviving indigenous people on that continent, is NOT "suffering humanity inflicts upon itself." it's an orchestrated attack by one group over another. I see what youre saying about using language creatively to describe a variety of things, but it's not an emotional argument here. indigenous people are currently under attack by neo-colonial governments. indigenous women, girls, and two spirit people regularly go missing or get murdered with no acknowledgement or justice. neo-colonial governments still reject the sovereignty of indigenous nations and encroach upon their ancestral lands to further corrupt the natural landbase for economic gain, contributing to actual sickness and death of the people who live there as well as climate catastrophe. it's not about how someone feels. it's literally a life or death issue for indigenous people who have been sidelined and ignored when theyre not getting disappeared, kidnapped, re-educated, or killed, for multiple centuries now. i think this is the point thats getting missed by people who have all their material needs met and are able to benefit from governments and societies built by colonialism and genocide. it's easy to miss just how much is at stake, how dire these issues are, when they don't directly affect someone, or even if someone is able to benefit from this history of colonialism. so it's absolutely not the same thing, not a fair metaphor, and simply not okay for Lana to use these loaded comparisons to refer to her emotional state. indigenous people are STILL HERE. against all past and continuing attacks by colonists, indigenous people still exist and are fighting for their rights and sovereignty, even though they get slapped down, arrested, jailed, sanctioned, attacked, murdered, tortured, etc every single time. this is a triumphant testament to how the spirit of the Earth can never be defeated. if Lana wants to acknowledge the strength of these people and use her platform to fight on their behalf, great. otherwise, she is literally profiting off colonialism and the destruction of native lifestyles in America, then using terms derived from and referencing this history to make points about her first world problems. it's disgusting. I sometimes wonder what kind of social environment is she surrounded by that she doesn't seem to get this kind of necessary criticism or develop true awareness about the social topics she tries to talk about. I'm sure her intentions are good, but her perspective about topics that go beyond her inner world always end up showing themselves clumsy and uninformed. Anyway, I think that she's very slowly enriching her point of view on some matters. Remember how bigot some of her lyrics and declarations have been along the early stages of her career. Not that we should give her an award for thinking twice before writing or saying stuff, but I hope that time -and the aim to amplify her knowledge if she has it, of course- will help her to visualize things from a broader, more inclusive and critical perspective. 6 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Foxglove 2,266 Posted February 29, 2020 Do you even know what poetry is... art has the potential to actually have meaning, not just some vapid aesthetic divorced from any substance. this kind of empty, pretty art is actually pretty new in the grand scheme, only coming to the forefront of the art world with mass production and digital distribution allowing today's capitalist class to focus solely on marketing it to as many people as possible and making money off of it, not spreading any sort of message or having any real cultural impact. even Lana's supposed idols were creating music and poetry with power and meaning, like Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, and Leonard Cohen. the Beat poetry era that Lana has referenced throughout her work, and from which she seems to borrow a lot of her aesthetic, was extremely political, about exploring issues impacting the human condition, rejecting economic exploitation and materialism, fighting against institutional conformity and conservative ideals and authoritarian bullshit, exploring spirituality (all spirituality, even Lana's half assed white witch shit, is derived from indigenous beliefs), finding sexual liberation, fighting actual colonization.. not that there aren't always problems to be discussed when it comes to art, but that's what makes the whole art world so interesting and impactful. actual critique and analysis ab what someone's art means or what impact it has is how an audience participates in the artistic process. open yer mind Honestly sometimes I feel that we overestimate her. I don’t think she’s as smart as I thought she was... I agree that the use of ‘resist’ and ‘colonized’ in the same context like that is highly offensive even though I believe in the freedom of word use in poetry. If she were speaking clearly about how depression is violently colonizing her and killing her and taking all that makes her her, that would have maybe sounded more poetic and adequate. But the whole poem seems silly and not up to a word like this i agree, i think this is a really good point. the word is so loaded with meaning, with such an intense and violent context in reality - not just a make believe world of fantasy and imagery that Lana seems to live in - that to include this theme in her silly poem is just way off the mark. i think lana's poetry is cute, but it's not like, hard hitting literature with a deep impact. many/most good artists use their work to draw attention to issues regarding the human condition, and in today's world, the plight of indigenous people is a huge deal. there has been a ton of poetry about important issues, referencing colonization etc, that actually makes a point about what's going on with those issues. Lana makes no attempt to do that. I sometimes wonder what kind of social environment is she surrounded by that she doesn't seem to get this kind of necessary criticism or develop true awareness about the social topics she tries to talk about. I'm sure her intentions are good, but her perspective about topics that go beyond her inner world always end up showing themselves clumsy and uninformed. Anyway, I think that she's very slowly enriching her point of view on some matters. Remember how bigot some of her lyrics and declarations have been along the early stages of her career. Not that we should give her an award for thinking twice before writing or saying stuff, but I hope that time -and the aim to amplify her knowledge if she has it, of course- will help her to visualize things from a broader, more inclusive and critical perspective. what i dont understand is why she seems to really want to involve herself in larger issues but then misses the mark so bad. im 100% in support of someone trying to educate themselves ab important issues, or creating art about anything they want. but it's weird to see her play at this "radical politics theme" without having any sort of actual radical politics, or really any substantial understanding of the topics she brings up. she does seem to be stuck in a bit of a bubble 6 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
daphnedinkley 13,746 Posted February 29, 2020 i think just the sheer use of the word "colonise" from a rich white lady who famously appropriated a native american headdress in one of her all time most famous videos, who has said things like "he's a good cop " about her policeman boyfie and has previously stated (although she went on to redact it) "feminism doesn't interest me because i'm more interested in space or whatever lol" is..... questionable at best, tonedeaf and a display of insensitivity and ignorance most likely, possibly rather racist at worst. do i believe lana had bad intentions with her use of the word and her borrowing of this imagery? absolutely not. do i think she should've just avoided it overall? good lord yes. the poem itself is not nuanced and well-explained enough to really pull off the metaphor. even if it was, many people would still have an issue with it, and that's absolutely fine. colonisation is a very big topic right now (when is it not though?) and although i live in the uk (so i'm not very well versed in native american history, plus i'm stupid) i can see the native community in the US and other countries are absolutely going thru it right now and they're doing an incredible job at drawing attention to their often overlooked issues in real life, on the internet, on television and podcasts, and many other platforms. the current social climate doesn't really allow for ignorance towards this and certainly doesn't allow for the borrowing of such loaded, heavy words. poetry is all about metaphors and interpretations, sure, but this was bound to be a headache from the beginning so lana really should've used her best judgement and avoided it. 8 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nevada darling 541 Posted February 29, 2020 what i dont understand is why she seems to really want to involve herself in larger issues but then misses the mark so bad. im 100% in support of someone trying to educate themselves ab important issues, or creating art about anything they want. but it's weird to see her play at this "radical politics theme" without having any sort of actual radical politics, or really any substantial understanding of the topics she brings up. she does seem to be stuck in a bit of a bubble I've always assumed it's purely because of her adoration/glorification of the '60s. I think she just wants to come across as being "political" in a similar way that she feels like artists of that time were being (i.e. only writing/displaying vaguely political things in her art but not doing much actual work or research, I guess). 4 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coney Island King 26,122 Posted February 29, 2020 Oh I'm sorry, it's probably just easier for you to ignore these issues and keep stanning a rich white woman who pretends to care about shit she doesn't even try to understand. Sorry reality is too inconvenient for you to acknowledge. :/ Alexa, stream God Bless America And All The Beautiful Women In It Except The Stolen Sisters Because I'm Too Far Removed To Care. #StayFakeWoke Lol guuurl, i literally said nothing, no idea why you’re sending this meltdown my way. 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Foxglove 2,266 Posted February 29, 2020 Lol guuurl, i literally said nothing, no idea why you’re sending this meltdown my way. Oof, coming thru with a Taylor gif? I'll disregard, thx! 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lustforlife 19,008 Posted February 29, 2020 enough. she can compete with Britney who have the worst insta 0 Quote Lust For Dead Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
YUNGATA 14,955 Posted March 1, 2020 I remember her mentioning something about profits from the poetry book going towards a native american organisation/charity, which imo makes the inclusion of words like resist and colonise even more offensive... like appropriating those very circumstantially specific words in this kind of context is certainly a look™ Sis really doesn't know much huh. 13 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
annedauphine 36,030 Posted March 1, 2020 how can I drink her lyrics like it's the blood of christ and hate her poetry this much 9 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lustforlife 19,008 Posted March 1, 2020 release this trash book and move on already 6 Quote Lust For Dead Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
slang 1,533 Posted March 1, 2020 I've always assumed it's purely because of her adoration/glorification of the '60s. I think she just wants to come across as being "political" in a similar way that she feels like artists of that time were being (i.e. only writing/displaying vaguely political things in her art but not doing much actual work or research, I guess). I don't think she's ever postured herself as "woke" or "political", I mean unless expressing anxieties about world events is "political" (i.e., I'm not sure how people use the term). I'll also observe the one song I can think of where she would seem to be talking about wokeness and responsibility (Change): Lately, I've been thinkin' it's just someone else's job to careWho am I to sympathize when no one gave a damn? I've been thinkin' it's just someone else's job to care Who am I to wanna try? But These are very odd thoughts for any political song, so I don't consider the song political as such. I mean you might think that after the "But" she's going to run for office or something, but that's not the way the lyrics evolve, imo. I'm not trying to denigrate the song; it's just an honest expression of something that people will either like or not. 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amadeus 11,334 Posted March 1, 2020 i think one of the reasons why she decided to sneak a bit of "political wokeness" into her work is because people twitter, the internet, her own stans have been constantly trolling and pulling a taylor swift on her pretending that she's some alt-right trumpist. she even blocked someone because they kept tweeting that edited trump hat pic to her 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
slang 1,533 Posted March 1, 2020 Does anybody know if the horizontal line with the downward arrow perpendicularly traversing it (seen on the page and in between what many people are taking to be two stanzas of the same "poem") actually has a meaning. I was hoping it would be something like "stop this idea here; start a new idea below". I mean idk, that's why I'm asking, but it does seem relevant to ask, if part of the criticism of the "poem" is she's using a really horrendous problem reference to compare to a really frivolous interpersonal one. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wilde_child 490 Posted March 1, 2020 Jesus Christ, why all this over-analysing after some poetry she posted? Some of you are nurturing hate towards her like it feeds you. I wouldn't be on a fan forum just to judge every move an artist makes. Her intention is not to insult native americans, calling her racist is too much. I can't take this anymore. 11 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
YUNGATA 14,955 Posted March 2, 2020 Jesus Christ, why all this over-analysing after some poetry she posted? Some of you are nurturing hate towards her like it feeds you. I wouldn't be on a fan forum just to judge every move an artist makes. Her intention is not to insult native americans, calling her racist is too much. I can't take this anymore. You make it sound like lanaboards is a hostage situation for you 11 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Foxglove 2,266 Posted March 2, 2020 Jesus Christ, why all this over-analysing after some poetry she posted? Some of you are nurturing hate towards her like it feeds you. I wouldn't be on a fan forum just to judge every move an artist makes. Her intention is not to insult native americans, calling her racist is too much. I can't take this anymore. Allllllright now seems like a good time to remind the more ignorant stans here (Wilde Childe) that intention does not outweigh impact. Tf are good intentions worth? 5 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites