''Why play the stock role of ‘The Evil Dean’ in a collegiate comedy when there are so many other options? ''
Because the pay is good. Not to mention the fringe benefits. 2018-04-21 14:30 GMT-04:00 visionarydata <visionaryd...@protonmail.com>: > Official Visionary Data Communique Regarding Events Surrounding > Massachusetts College of Art and Design’s Treatment of Professor Saul Levine > > In an effort to speak the language of our current antagonists and be > better understood herein, we’ll utilize that so blandly Obamian turn of > phrase, LET’S BE CLEAR: Our publication, Boston Film Thing’s initial beef > with the Harvard Film Archive was with regards to the glaringly low > percentage of female filmmakers in its programmed schedule. We raised > questions and provided statistics to point out this lack in the best way we > knew how. We didn’t necessarily expect a response from such an illustrious > institution to our small publication. That said we do feel that some > response or general dialogue with or without our involvement would have > been productive. We fully acknowledge that there are things we may have > missed or gotten wrong and welcome push back and civil debate. Apparently, > and despite the lack of response to that issue the HFA has in fact been > paying attention to us, perhaps more than seems healthy or normal for an > organization affiliated with the powerful hedge fund known as Harvard > University. Some of us have known all along what Harvard and the new model > of neo-liberal universities and adjacent institutions are all about at > their core. Some of us had to go within and walk such hallowed halls to > finally notice the stench. As a result, we fled the elitist incubators of > the literal destroyers of worlds long ago. That said, no organization is a > monolith and attending screenings at the otherwise lovely HFA has been a > highlight of our time in this at times culturally frustrating city. Boston > Film Things has from its inception enthusiastically promoted events at HFA > to its readership. We recognize that sometimes the prettiest flowers grow > in excrement. > > LET’S BE CLEAR: What the fug happened between Boston Film Things and the > Harvard Film Archive? Perhaps we ‘fugged’ up? We said ‘fug’. HFA got mad. > U mad, bro? U seem mad. We have been told that the Harvard University > Police have opened an investigation into our activities for aiming the word > ‘fug’ at members of Mass Art’s film faculty and at a provost whose > maneuverings against our friend Professor Saul Levine - who has nothing to > do with the creation of this statement - have angered us greatly. Yes, ‘we > mad’, but when we mad, we admit it, bro. When we’re mad, like much of > humanity, we cuss. As a result, HFA has officially accused us of ‘hate > speech’ and ‘incitement to violence’ for our use of the word ‘fug’ and for > clearly hyperbolic and humorous reference to a Situationist motto: ‘Destroy > all bourgeois institutions. Under the sidewalk is the beach!!’ Firstly, > let’s all try and be more aware of our counter cultural history. Secondly, > one can etymologize ‘fug’ with a quick online search and yes the word has a > sadly hateful, misogynistic history. However, outside of the academy, > that’s not how words work. Unlike the word’s literal historical meaning, > the agreed upon vernacular use of ‘fug’ is inarguably neutered to the point > of having lost almost all meaning except ‘I am mad or otherwise emotional > right now and wish to emphasize that feeling’ or, of course, to signify > sexual intercourse, and increasingly, any manner of non-sexual engagement. > To pretend otherwise and claim such great offense is so disingenuous that > it’s almost awe inspiring, even for the academy, even for Harvard. As for > questions about the latter meaning, please, rest assured none of us have or > have ever had the slightest desire to engage in sexual relations of any > kind with our newfound adversaries (we hold fast to the notion that sex > should be fun). HFA knows darned tootin’ well what we meant and perhaps if > given a chance, we’d have apologized for being momentarily impolite. > > LET’S BE CLEAR: We see the recent actions of Mass Art and HFA as > illustrative of a tendency of what has been broadly termed the > ‘professional managerial class’. When a member of the professional > managerial class gets mad it doesn’t look like it does when the rest of us > get mad. They don’t cuss like we do. They don’t talk with their hands > like we do. That would be too ‘ethnic’. They certainly don’t seem to want > dialogue like we do. That would require self-examination, which is not a > particularly useful habit for gaining and maintaining power in this most > narcissistic epoch. When the professional managerial class gets ruffled, > ties in a twist, they fall back on whatever ad hoc, arbitrary jumble of > ‘policies’ they can and then cower behind desks and the physical threat of > security guards (who they no doubt secretly disdain and who no doubt > privately snicker in turn at their white collared colleagues' frail > sensitivities) to avoid engaging with ideas. To do otherwise would be far > too educational and thus dangerous to them. And then, of course, when we > get justifiably mad, raise our voices or show a human emotional trait > beyond cool detachment, they’ve got us trapped and are eager to twist our > words and actions against us with the help of over zealous` speech and > behavior codes applied at will. They hide cynically behind false claims of > linguistic and expressive breeches of social justice decorum as a weapon to > punish the sometimes difficult, challenging eccentricity in their midst. > That’s what they did to Professor Saul Levine initially and that’s what > they’re pulling on us now. This disgusts us to no end. If our collective > anonymity appears to be more cowering, we implore you to reflect on the > evident vindictiveness of the powers we’re up against and empathize with > our practical need to ‘work in this town again’. That a mere enthusiastic > disagreement here however profanely expressed, should prompt that concern > in us is testament to the proven pettiness of our detractors thus far. > Since the buzz phrases ‘cyber-bullying’ and ‘hate speech’ have already been > (mis)taken here - appropriated really - allow us to state that we will not > be surprised or impressed if we are met with a ‘gas-lighting’ at the very > least for what we are saying herein. Surely we must not be ‘well’ to see > things this way. > > LET’S BE CLEAR: We’re not here to make the society pages or engage in > bourgeoisie parlor games to smugly determine who is ‘in’ or ‘out’ for using > the ‘wrong’ words. We’re here for art. We’re vigilant as ‘fug’ and have a > lot of time and patience. And, we’d like you to know this: if you keep > pretending that your monocle is popping out, someone is eventually going to > shatter it. But, please don’t be mad, that’s merely a clumsy metaphor, not > a ‘threat’, bro. > > LET’S BE CLEAR: We are not without empathy for those caught up in the > harmful systemic momentum of their institutions of employ and the myriad > pressures they must face as a result. Furthermore, pride and defense of > one’s colleagues, friends and loved ones at all costs is something we are > ‘guilty’ of as well. We certainly have no wholesale objection to Title IX > and related equality and diversity policies both governmental and internal > with regards to their overall intentions to protect the marginalized and > oppressed. We do however object to bureacratic overreach in executing such > otherwise necessary statutes and policies, as the results are so often > completely antithetical to the intended outcomes. Why play the stock role > of ‘The Evil Dean’ in a collegiate comedy when there are so many other > options? That said we still welcome the possibility of an open public > dialogue about the issues at play here. Thank you. > > With love, > Visionary Data > > > Sent with ProtonMail <https://protonmail.com> Secure Email. > > > _______________________________________________ > FrameWorks mailing list > FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com > https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks > >
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