Dopp Juice Archive

I saw TransAmerica at the Bridge Theater in San Francisco last night, and it blew me away. For those who live in a media-free bubble like I usually do, it’s a new movie about a transgendered woman (i.e., male-to-female) who suddenly finds out she has a teenage son. And it’s a really, really good movie. Great writing, great cinematography, great cast, great humanistic depiction of a transgendered life. When the credits rolled, the audience clapped. I haven’t experienced that since Star Wars Episode 1. I’ve noticed a trend these days, though. A number of TV shows and movies that challenge traditional gender and sexuality roles are poking their head into mainstream pop culture, but doing so very carefully. HBO and Showtime now give us Queer as Folk and The L-Word. Brokeback Mountain has stolen the Oscars limelight. A new tv series about polygamy will premier in March. And it’s all very non-offensive. The actress is TransAmerica (Felicity Huffman) is not, as far as I can tell, transgendered. In fact, she’s so female, she’s also a cast member of Desperate Housewives. The L-Word takes place in Los Angeles and features the most Hollywood-esque pretty-girl lesbians I’ve never met. Brokeback Mountain stars the manly Heath Ledger, for goodness sake, and his gay character is ultra-masculine. I think Queer as Folk is the only one depicting queer culture somewhat in-your-face and unapologetically, but they don’t seem to be reaching outside of that culture for a diverse audience, either. I’ve also noticed that these shows and movies aren’t getting seen everywhere. Brokeback Mountain was in every theater in San Francisco, but I couldn’t find it when I visited my parents on the East coast for Christmas. Really, though, these are minor complaints. I want to see the United States be as exposed as possible to all of the different “others” that exist out there. If we need to gasp at sugar-coated lesbians and 100%-passing transgendered characters from our living room sofas in order to get the dialogue started, let’s do it.I grew up in 99% white-anglo-saxon-protestant-upper-middle-class-heterosexual New Hampshire, and I now live in one of the most culturally diverse cities in the world. It feels like my daily life is hosting a constant debate between diversity and sameness. And without asking for the position, I’m becoming the spokeswoman to my family for what life is really like “out there in the rest of the world.” I don’t mind. I like the job. But I’d appreciate a little more support in this endeavor from the mainstream media, thankyouverymuch.

I heard a blind woman talking about the weather today. She said, “It was so beautiful!”Beauty is in much more than the eye of the beholder. It’s also a feeling, an intuition, a sensation, and an experience. We can know beauty with our eyes closed, just as we know when a forced smile isn’t real.I’m intrigued by how the blind experience life. There’s a blind man in my neighborhood whom I’ve observed walking around on several occasions. He’s always smiling. He’s always cheerful. He strikes up conversations with the people sitting next to him on buses. He knows what he needs and asks for it from others, rather than trying to quietly slide through life on his senses. In China, there’s a significant market for blind massage therapists, because their hands know so much more than the hands of someone who relies on sight. I sometimes see a truck around town that says “Mobile Blind Cleaners” on its side… The first time I saw it, I thought, “Wow, that’s great. Employment specifically for the blind.” The second time I saw it, I thought, “Wait, but how do they drive the truck?” And then finally, I realized it was a company that cleans window blinds, and they were suddenly a lot less interesting.

In the coming months, Craiglist will begin charging fees for some of its listings. New York City real estate listings will be the first to get the fees. –Slashdot

I’m sure everyone who read this did a double take. But what defines your place in life is why you stopped to look twice. You had one of these reactions:

• Begin charging fees?! This goes against everything Craigslist stands for in my life! What’s going on here?!
• Begin charging fees?! You idiots, Craigslist has ALWAYS charged fees!

And if you had the second reaction, you’re probably a San Francisco Bay Area resident who has worked at an office that tried to hire people. Those ads cost $75 a pop, and they’re the source of much pain. Did you know that Craigslist is a for profit enterprise? Don’t be fooled by the dot org… anyone can use that domain suffix. And their lovely Victorian house-turned-office-building on 9th and Irving has a bright, happy staff that gets paid. Yes, I’m a Craiglist junkie. I’ve gained a desk, a bookshelf, an apartment, a job, and several graphic designers from them. I’ve even used them to find my soul mate. His name is Craig Newmark. And he doesn’t know it yet, but he’ll be mine someday. But I digress. The kicker to this story (for all you who fell into the first category of double-takers) is that the community BEGGED Craigslist to start charging for ads. Some people take advantage of Craigslist by deleting and resposting their ads several times a day. It moves them to the top of the list. So if you’re apartment hunting, service hunting, or job hunting (in a city that doesn’t currently have to pay to post ads), you see the same handful of ads all day long, every day, pushing the others out of the way. It’s just plain obnoxious. The fee will discourage that behavior. Why do I really care? These days I can identify with Craig-my-soul-mate in this dillemma — how do you keep a community in check when you know imposing limits will anger many of them? The internet is based on freedom and self-regulated anarchism. People get mad when you mess with that. The Writ (that literary community I help manage) is going through a surge of growth and development right now. In the midst of all this, there’s a heated debate about censorship. One community member has been testing the limits, commenting disrespectfully, posing as other members, and generally pissing people off. I said let him be, ignore him, and he’ll get bored, but apparently my plan failed. This has been going on for six months, and cyber books are starting fly at cyber heads. Some sites shut down in these situations. Others try to grin and bear it. And still others impose restrictions. As we see with Craigslist, sometimes a community actually wants restrictions so they can feel some peace… even if it discourages newcomers and limits who can participate. I don’t have any answers on this one yet. I know we need to promote peace and respect, but I really don’t want to inhibit freedoms. To me, online community is about fluid structure, collective mentality, expression, opportunity, freedom, and respect. It’s interesting — I can’t really wrap my brain around any deviation from that concept.Even though I know Craigslist has always charged fees, I’m in the first category of double-takers. This goes against everything Craigslist stands for in my life! What’s going on here?!