2/3/2024 0 Comments Suffer in silence quote![]() The reason? Because your protest of said indignity is a painful reminder of their own buffoonery. ![]() You are branded as ignorant, ungrateful, insolent, and most importantly messy. In fact, they don’t even refer to it as defiance. So of course, when you, a fresh-faced, but spirited newcomer challenge these conventions that greatness entails you swallowing abuse or suffering whole-theft in this case-this old seasoned pro can’t help but get indignant and ornery about your defiance. And in doing so, they asininely assumed that they would either be rewarded later (either by the wrongdoer or some other entity entirely) or that their silent suffering would somehow grant them greater character, indomitable strength, or infinite wisdom. They so asininely assumed that their own ideas and creations were of such little value that there was absolutely no point in fighting tooth and nail for them. They so asininely assumed that they had no other recourse BUT to shut the fuck up and take it. Why? Because they so asininely assumed that they were supposed to suffer that gross indignity. But instead of fearing what will happen to you or them when you speak out about it, they actually and legitimately get upset. Under this category, when it comes to media and life in general really, these people understand that a gross wrong has been committed. This is otherwise known as “right-of-passage” syndrome. But what I ultimately cannot stand is an “I went through it silently, so you should go through it silently too because it’s only fair” motherfucker. I cut those who fall into the previous category a lot of slack because I too used to fear retribution and blacklisting. The flip-side of this expectation to suffer in silence is “right-of-passage” syndrome. But this fear ultimately becomes problematic and selfish when you project it on “others” and to expect them to stay silent as well just so no one “rocks the boat” or the precious ivory tower you’ve locked yourself into in order to avoid the realities of a cruel business and world. These are real possibilities after all and legitimate fears. The reality is that many fear retribution and blacklisting from outlets like I-D - which would have far-reaching consequences like monetary loss. With this being the case, logic dictates that one would call out the obvious wrong to prevent it from happening over and over again like a fucked up lighting round of Groundhog Day. Ultimately they know that the practice is not only immoral but purposely exploitative and isolating in a way that demands to be called out. Ultimately, in this case, people know that stealing from poor Black and Brown creatives like I-D did this week is wrong. The most obvious reason people encourage silence when obviously bad things happen is because of the projection of their own culpability and cowardice. In any business, like digital media or even show business, concern-trolling about silent suffering often stems from cowardice. Well, there’s a number of reasons people expect you to shut the fuck up when it comes to injustice, but I have some very specific theories. That said, this brouhaha bears the question: what is it with this fixation on silent suffering? Which is funny because you’d think theft would be more damning, but I digress. So essentially, we were expected to suffer injustice in silence because doing otherwise is deemed messy, unprofessional, and career-damaging. The “shutting about about it” came about when other “creative”, writers, and editors began concern-trolling freelance writers at-large, mocking us with calls to protect ourselves with NDAs, make our own platforms to avoid theft, or worse, keep our “industry beef” of the timeline to avoid “mess”. I’m always going to have a problem with theft and related wrongdoing, of course, but there’s something particularly maddening about being expected to shut up about it. Or why I’m writing about this to begin with. With that being case, you’re probably wondering why this particular case is noteworthy. I’ll spare you the gory details, but let’s just say that while I-D has a history of this, they are not the first, they definitely won’t be the last, and that pitch and article theft is rampant in the freelance world. And was subsequently expected to be gracious about it. This week, Madam Hurston’s quote about not being silent or else people will say you enjoyed the bullshit became relevant when a beloved colleague of mine had a very specific pitch stolen by the outlet I-D. I either live my life like a Nina Simone quote, a Zora Neale Hurston quote, or a Rihanna quote. I have three settings when it comes to how I live my life.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |