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ShowingTeeth.txt
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»CL6:--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
»CL0: Showing Teeth Or Why You Need To Have A Spine
»CL6:--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Written by »CL6:Darkhawk »CL5:of »CL6:IRIS
»CL1:This is a follow-up to the two
articles about objectivity predating
it. »CL8:If you got bored reading through
one of those, you should still read
this article, because I want to write
about something that is critically
important if our scene is to feel
alive, »CL1: and which follows from the
conclusions by Wade and I about the
wrong kind of objectivity.
There will certainly be people
disagreeing with me on this, and that
is also why this article might be
interesting at all, differing
opinions tend to be a good way at
kindling some form of passion and
participation. And there I have
already outlined my point. »CL7:The scene
needs controversy, wars, flaming,
arrogant sceners behaving like the
rest were only dirt beneath their
feet, etc. »CL1:The scene is NOT about
being a friendly and meek guy, turning
the other cheek, participating instead
of competing, praising instead of
criticising, and so on. Sure, I will
be a bit one-dimensional in this. Of
course the scene is about friendship
too, and about working together. »CL8:My
point however, is that the scene grows
stale, the blood flows slower, and
well, the scene will start to feel
POINTLESS, if we do not have
arrogance, hate, flaming, in short
controversies, »CL1: which will rekindle
some lost spirit. Rather like the real
world, I could say. You cannot
appreciate peace without war, and all
that, which some regard as pure drivel
and others do not.
In our scene, it is important to feel
alive, to feel like you are part of
something bigger, something that is
alive outside of yourself. Sort of
like a game, where you can see the
other participants can do something,
that will in turn affect you, where
everyone can play their part and
provoke change in others. That is what
it is like to be a part of a vibrant
community. In order for such a
community to be vibrant, to be alive,
we very much need all these terms. The
terms some of you seem to want to
forget or close your eyes to, because
those terms are not 'the scene'. »CL7:Well,
they are, and they have as big a place
as more 'positive' terms, in that they
make sure the scene is an interesting
place to be in. »CL1:Which one can doubt it
is, now and then, when there is
nothing happening, and one can only
read articles written by back clappers
and people telling everyone how well
the scene fares, when they themselves
do not even think it fares well, but
feel they have to state it
nonetheless, or otherwise it will fare
even worse. »CL8:That is not the way;
silence and friendliness like this
will bleed the scene dry, and leech
what spirit there is left. »CL1: True,
everyone will be friendly towards each
other, they will praise the
productions that come out, and they
will say the scene is a great place..
And all the while, they will slowly
feel like they wither away, and their
joy in the scene will go. They are not
doing themselves any favours by trying
to be nice guys, I think.
It is not like friendliness and
aggressiveness cannot coexist, really.
Some sceners seem to think that it is
either one or the other, that if one
says something aggressive, one
destroys enthusiasm and engagement,
but in actuality the scene needs both
to grow and thrive. Friendliness
(helping other sceners, being a nice
guy, praising productions) is needed
as a base, and for maintaining the
scene. Aggressiveness (competition,
saying what one REALLY thinks and
feels, starting wars, being engaged in
the scene) is needed to give the scene
vibrancy, to make it worthwhile and
engaging.
»CL7:I am well aware that there seem to be
two different types of sceners in this
regard. »CL1:Those who thrive on
competition, attacks on their
groups/their views, and on people
saying hard truths and on skilled role
models/idols. »CL7:(The last is not that
usual anymore, but I can safely say we
were many who worshipped Chaos/Sanity
as a minor god back in those days,
because he was very skilled, and
because he knew it and often shared
this with others, hehe).»CL1: And then
there are those, who want 'friendship'
(notice the brackets, because
naturally, the other group wants
friendship too, it is just more of a
focus or term for the second group)
in the scene, to have a happy
playground where everybody is equal
(or at least treat each other
equally), where nobody says anything
critical or aggressive to one another,
where everyone gets on in harmony.
Now, I really hope this rough
generalization is not too true, of
course, people should fall somewhere
in between these two extremes, but I
think there are some important facts
to be learned from this.
»CL7:First off, they remind me a lot of
liberalistic vs. socialistic idealism,
these two views, and the second view
also reminds me a lot about the
layman's definition of heaven. »CL1:Myself,
I would rather spend time in hell,
than in that heaven. It would be the
epitome of mediocrity, of 'happy'
indifference and apathy (not the
group, hehe), and there would be no
meaning to life, beyond the 'be nice'
& 'all are equal'. This is really too
simple a worldview. All are certainly
NOT equal (I am only talking about the
scene here, to save myself from more
general attacks later on), and if we
were to be (only) nice to each other,
there would be no point in drawing
breath. »CL8:I rather like arrogant sceners
for example, IF they have something in
which to put their arrogance. It gives
them character. »CL1:Of course, if the same
sceners unconstructively slag off a
not-so-skilled scener, that is REALLY
cheap too. They should concentrate on
competition and flaming their peers,
and not those not as skilled. So, a
balance in everything, and most people
should not really slag off Magic, due
to this logic (hehe, I am so cruel),
since it is unworthy of them. No, bear
in mind, that while I really want to
provoke strife and serious
competition, I want to provoke it
between groups and people that are at
approx. the same level. Those 'below'
oneself should be helped and
encouraged, while those 'above'
oneself should be respected, revered
if you will (ok, maybe 'reverence' was
something we had as 12-14 year old
boys, in the presence of groups like
Anarchy, Phenomena or Sanity, we might
be too old and set in our ways to
revere much anymore). »CL7:This is the way
to go. I think reducing the scene to
'all are equal' is bleeding all the
colours and nuances out of it, and
ironically, destroying that very same
thing one wants to nurture, namely the
scenish spirit. »CL1:I am sure the people
who more or less openly preach or
practice a more 'friendly/egalitarian'
scene as a worthy goal (Adonis,
Punisher and Ghandy come to mind,
editor wise) honestly think that the
opposite will destroy the scene in the
long run. The truth as I see it
however, is that lack of both things
will destroy the motivation we have
for the scene. »CL8:A scene without
aggressiveness will be colourless,
static and , well, undead (living
death, hehe) for the sceners in it,
while a scene without friendship and
care for others would be hectic,
devoid of values and for me, as
equally dead as the opposite.»CL1:
But really, this article was written
to oppose the view that some editors
and people seem to be having, that we
should all just be friends and behave
somewhat quietly, in order not to
provoke anyone and make bad
impressions. »CL7:It seems like one cannot
say what one thinks anymore, without
being thought less of. »CL1: It is not as
much WHAT you say, but THAT you say
something negative/harsh/aggressive.
Some people seem to think the scene
is so fragile, that we should spare
the poor sceners from criticism and
harsh remarks, otherwise the scene
will break. Heh, if that is the case,
then we might as well get it over with
now, and break it. »CL6:But of course, this
is not the case, and in actuality,
showing some teeth, proving that you
have a spine, voicing your opinions,»CL1:
competing more aggressively can infact
invigorate the scene, can make it feel
more alive for those affected. Editor
wise, I know this holds true for
writers such as Sane, Wade and myself
at least, and probably that old polish
provocateur Azzaro too.
»CL8:Another thing, in this vein, which is
a bit sad, is all this misplaced
optimism some people want us to have.»CL1:
We need to be gentle with the sceners,
to focus on the good things, to
proclaim the scene alive and kicking.
Again, the philosophy behind this
seems to be that the sceners are too
fragile to hear the truth of this,
so we might as well spare them (and,
by psychic repression, ourselves) from
it. This is all wrong, all we will
succeed in doing is to delude
ourselves, and try to paint a wrong
picture, that will make people loose
faith in the scene all the more. We
need to be truthful, to dare voice our
opinions, and to dare attack those we
feel like attacking, one way or
another. We also need to be nasty when
the situation warrants it, and we
should feel confident enough in
ourselves to behave in a self-assured
way, arrogant if we dare and feel it
is appropriate. »CL7:It will make other
people react to this, it will affect
and change other people, and it will
mostly only affect them for the
better, as long as we moderate all
this with the needed respect and
friendliness.»CL1: We will only succeed in
choking the scene, if we think it too
fragile for our true opinions and
ideas.
Ohh, and just to be clear, I do NOT
think the scene is in a terrible
state, it is doing better than some
years ago at least, but when I say
this, I am truthful, and I think some
people who say the same (or say even
more optimistic things) are trying to
convince both themselves and others of
this. But the important thing is not
what state the scene is 'really' in,
but rather what we make of it.
»CL7:I hope this article will make both
kinds of people (and the vast
majority, who fall in between these
two) see the nuances in this, and the
importance and shortcomings of both
Mr. friendly scener,»CL1: as well as
Mr. Chaos (in both meanings of the
word). If not, you are all pathetic
lamers, naturally.