I
was not super excited when
I heard that Marvel was
making a new Spider-Man
movie. For a
little while, I
was
holding
out hope that
Donald Glover
would be cast as the titular role,
but when I found out that Tom
Holland, a pretty average looking
white boy (no offense) had been
cast, I mostly lost interest.
Recently I got in an argument
with my uncle, who is totally in
favor of casting Tom Holland,
about the relevance of a new
Spider-Man movie.
For my uncle, this new reboot
meant a chance to finally get
the Spider-Man of his childhood
right. For my uncle, Spider-Man
held quite a bit of significance
— as he grew up in real life,
so did Spidey in the comics he
was reading. All of the teenage
drama
that
my
uncle
went
through, Spider-Man also went
through, and he was able to
share in Spidey’s ups and downs.
In this way, it was almost as if
my uncle had a companion who
he grew up with, someone who
could reflect the struggles he,
as a teenage boy with a single
mom, underwent. I’m sure that it
means a lot to my uncle that his
childhood companion is finally
getting a movie where he wasn’t
cast as a handsome adult man
but as an awkward and scrawny,
and therefore more relatable,
teenager.
I
was
touched
by
my
uncle’s
explanation,
but
to
me, this movie still remained
unnecessary. I couldn’t shake the
spiteful feeling that white, cis,
heterosexual men already had
enough movies that explained,
organized and made relevant
their experiences. To be honest,
I was a little jealous. While the
stories of white women are just
beginning to be told, and the
stories of persons of color, trans
people and people who identify
as LGBTQ are still considered
refreshing, Hollywood decided
to make another movie about a
straight white boy going through
puberty. It doesn’t make me
upset that they made another
Spider-Man movie, it makes me
upset that they made a third
reboot of the life and times of
Peter Parker while the stories of
Kamala Khan, Natasha Romanoff
and many others are still waiting
for their Hollywood treatment.
But why is this important? I
mean, why does it really matter
whether or not we see the same
stories over and over again, or
if we get to see some diversity
in major movie productions?
In
her
documentary
Miss
Representation, Jennifer Siebel
Newsom states, “You can’t be
what you can’t see,” and I think
that this quote does a good job
of explaining why diversity is
important in film. For example, in
my mind it was understood that if
a man was yelling at a woman, the
woman always just had to wait
until it was over — she couldn’t
fight back or tell him to calm
down — until I watched “Thelma
and Louise.” I didn’t grow up in
a household where there were a
lot of men yelling at women, so I
must have learned this standard
from the macho-man movies that
my family used to watch. But
then, one family movie night, we
watched “Thelma and Louise”
and one scene in particular stuck
with me. In this scene, Thelma
is confronted by her boyfriend
Jimmy, who demands to know
why he was asked to wire her
money (SPOILER ALERT: it’s
because Louise and Thelma are
on the run for murdering a guy).
She says that she won’t tell him,
and he throws the typical film
alpha male fit — throwing stuff
around the room and swearing.
Louise responds by saying, “You
start this shit, I’m out of here,”
and heads toward the door. It
was an important and defining
moment in my childhood because
it taught me that, as a woman,
I could stand up for myself in
the face of angry men. But it
happened when I was about
13 — I didn’t grow up believing
that I could show my strength
in the face of men. All the other
female-led movies I had watched
up until that point had been
pseudo-feminist
romances
or
princess movies. Young people of
all identities should be able to see
themselves reflected on screen
in roles that are empowering and
authoritative.
Just to be clear: I’m definitely
not opposed to the new Spider-
Man
movie.
Honestly,
I’m
probably going to go see and
will most likely enjoy it (I’m
a sucker for both teen movies
and superhero movies). And
I’m really glad that a movie
is finally getting the Spider-
Man universe right, according
to my uncle. But after this
movie has been made, I hope
that Hollywood starts making
more movies that validate the
experience of non-cis, -white,
-straight, -heterosexual men.
I hope that we start viewing
franchises
as
a
chance
to
increase diversity. Mostly, I
just hope that we start seeing
stories from new points of view.
—Elena Hubbell can be reached
at elepearl@umich.edu.
5
OPINION
Thursday, July 21, 2016
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Inspiring movies for all
“goals” rolled off my teacher’s
tongue, I knew what my goal
was: to look out for and care
for others. Afterward, when
we shared our goals amongst
some of our peers, I read my
goal aloud to a trusted friend.
Immediately,
she
made
a
face, telling me my goal was
supposed to be about myself.
And in retrospect, she was
right. While wanting to help
people is always important, you
should save an important place
in your life for yourself.
As a young kid who was
taught that I should always
look out for the needs of others,
anything
that
seemed
even
remotely about helping oneself
above others I looked down
on. Self-care wasn’t something
I really ever thought about. I
strove for this perfect person
who did everything for others,
disregarding how it may affect
me, and I know now, that won’t
serve anyone in the long run.
Self-care is not synonymous
with being selfish. It doesn’t
mean that you are a slacker,
you don’t care for others or
want everything to revolve
around you. It means that while
you work your hardest to help
others,
you
also
remember
that your health and wellbeing
matter. It doesn’t need to be one
or the other — helping others or
focusing on yourself.
Take time to practice self-
care. It’s important.
Anna Polumbo-Levy can be
reached at annapl@umich.edu.
ANNA
POLUMBO-
LEVY
Prioritizing self-care
A
few days ago, a close
friend from school came
to visit me, and I wanted
to
show
her
where
I
worked.
Walking
toward
the
office, I got
tense. I started to feel self-
conscious, like if I went into
work and my coworkers and
supervisors saw me there with
my friend, they would question
why I took time off. And as these
thoughts swam around in my
head, I began to feel nervous,
bad, guilty — even anxious.
I should be there helping or
doing something else important
if I’m not at the office. As we
approached the door to my office,
I almost wanted to scream out:
“Stop! Let’s not bother them,
why don’t I show you campus
instead?”
As I walked into the office, I
wasn’t greeted with glares and
judgmental stares (completely a
product of my own imagination)
but
instead
smiles,
and
I
remembered the workshop we’d
had at work a few weeks back.
The lawyers had arranged for
a psychologist to come into the
office to answer our questions
and advise us on how to speak
with traumatized clients. Part
way through the workshop, after
giving us tips about the best ways
to communicate with clients, she
switched the conversation to us.
How do we keep from getting
burnt out? How do we separate
work from our lives at home?
Almost immediately, one lawyer
said, “You can’t help anyone else
before you help yourself.”And
while a younger version of myself
wouldn’t have understood, and
maybe even thought it seemed
selfish, it was a relief to hear this.
As I think about it now, I realize
how important this idea was to
hold on to.
After a long day at work,
you’re tired and feel spent. When
someone asks you for a favor,
though, your first reaction is
to jump to help. But it’s alright,
even necessary, to take a moment
and decide: Can I do this now?
It is OK to take a break, to ask
for a break, to need a break. We
need to practice self-care above
all else, because if we don’t, how
much help will we be to others?
This has taken me a long time to
realize, and I still need to remind
myself of this every day when I’m
hard on myself for not working
that extra hour or for taking that
extra day or not volunteering to
help someone because I had to
be somewhere else. And not only
will we better help others, but we
need to realize that our health,
simply because it’s our health, is
important.
Before I go further, I want to
acknowledge that for many it is
not so simple to just “take a break”
because they need to work, or
those they care for have no one
else. And while I do write from
a place of privilege, being able
to set strong limits in my place
of work and have other support
systems, I believe there are ways
for anyone to practice self-care,
big and small. Even if it is taking
a five-minute walk, having an
extra cookie or breathing deeply
for a minute, it is well worth it
and too important to ignore.
We are taught to be selfless,
give without expecting anything
in return; otherwise, we are
often told we are selfish. And
there is no question that those
who give their lives to help others
should
receive
high
praises
for their work. But while it is
very important we realize our
privileges and that we have a duty
to help those in need in the ways
we can, it is also equally crucial
to remember how important your
own health and wellbeing are.
In fact, it may even give you the
strength and the ability to help
others even more than you might
have if you didn’t practice self-
care. We must include self-care
as an important aspect of our
lives.
The first (and only time) I
listened to the safety video on an
airplane, I thought it was weird
they told you to put your oxygen
mask on before helping others. I
said to myself that I’d be selfless
and brave and help someone
before myself. Of course you
should help your child or sister
or friend before yourself. In fact,
I asked my mom when I was
younger why they wanted us to
do that. Isn’t that selfish? She
explained that it was because you
would be better suited to help
others. Even though it makes
sense now, it didn’t then.
Then in freshman year of high
school, we were asked to make
goals for ourselves. As soon as
ELENA
HUBBELL