When I was little, anime based on classic novels were very popular in the mornings. I remember being seven years old and crying over the ending of The Dog of Flanders. We all related to the lives and struggles of the characters very well (for a while there were even Princess Sarah memes going around). You know what I never did, though?
Not notice race.
I did notice it–quite well, in fact. I noticed because what I was viewing did not in any way “fit” with the life around me. Later, when I started reading those books, I noticed very well that they didn’t eat the kind of food I ate, that their family dynamics aren’t the same as mine, and the things they wanted out of life in no way resembled my own. This kind of mental adjustment was normal for me. It didn’t stop me from being able to connect with those characters, but I’ve found that there is always a “learning curve” when it comes to reading a book written by someone from a place I’ve never encountered before (which is really most of the time, for obvious reasons).
In essence, I am always learning. I enjoyed Lucy Maude Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables series so much because these were about people unlike me; mundane, rural Canada was anything but boring. Charles Dickens, Mark Twain (I remember not quite understanding how Tom could TALK BACK to his Aunt Polly like that), Jack London, Rudyard Kipling, Louisa May Alcott…I pay attention to everything in order to learn how the worlds in these stories worked, which always, always include race. Later, when I started reading fantasy, I encountered the same thing.
Lately, Netflix added a bunch of Filipino movies to their roster. You may have noticed it fucking up your algorithms, because hey, Filipino diaspora are a passionate bunch. My household has been marathoning them almost every day the past few weeks. And while I have gripes about the structure and storytelling with many of these films (including the one hour crying sessions during the third act), it feels…refreshing to be able to turn your brain off. To be able to “understand” the rules before the movie rolls in so you can just focus on the characters and the plot, to know exactly what’s going on in terms of family dynamics and why this is wrong or made people angry. It feels amazing to not have to think so much about my entertainment.
You see, not having to deal with a learning curve all the time is a privilege. Not feeling that initial disconnect is a privilege. Not being able to notice race is a privilege.
To people who don’t have to worry about this, it doesn’t seem like a big deal. But to those who do…this is why.
