Thanks for posting that. However, if it was in response to my post mentioning I have misgivings about the term ‘micro-aggression’, I believe the examples given in the film are of unconscious or conscious prejudice and misconceived beliefs, or in some instances even mere rudeness, and I wouldn’t ever suggest that to be regularly on the receiving end of cumulative casual prejudice and stereotyping (including ‘positive’ stereotyping) is not unpleasant, limiting, exhausting, and deserving of our attention and efforts to prevent it. It’s just the term ‘micro-aggression’ I dislike because I believe it implies or is often understood to imply intent to hurt, which may actually be absent. The fact that somebody is hurt by someone else’s words or actions does not of itself imply the hurt was intended, and I think the term can therefore itself be categorising and divisive and misguidedly judgemental of the person apparently acting in this way, which is helpful to nobody.
+1
Someone wise once said, "I´m responsible only for the words I utter, not for how you choose to interpret them". I.e., our personal interpretation of someone´s words reveals more about us and how we choose to interpret them about than the actual content of the message. We read an intention where often there is none behind it - because we all have filters, biases, taboos and caveats, our own, and, as adult, mature thinking people, I believe that how each of us chooses to react to any given message is very much our choice. In other words, I can be triggered or offended by someone´s words, but also choose not to be bloody-minded by presupposing that person went out of his/her way to offend me on purpose. Most of the time there is no offense meant - and therefore, none given
Be it out of personal or inherited trauma, or other subjective reasons, there are a lot of false assumptions nowadays that often lead to unfair projections ("I feel hurt by something I see/hear, so therefore of course you acted in bad faith and your intent was to deliberately cause me offense"). It´s a little bit like some people who go, "If you actually cared for me, you´d just simply KNOW what I wanted from you without me having to tell you explicitly, so this shows you´re a mean selfish insensitive person". It´s simply impossible for anybody to know everything, foresee everything, and take into account everybody´s feelings, as desirable as that kind of omniscience might be.
By way of analogy, and to fit the above into a purse discussion: I would definitely pass on a python purse, a lizard wallet and a pony-fur backpack, and their sight does sadden me - but I would not think anybody who makes them, sells them, buys them, or uses them is a bad, ignorant or uncaring person who means to be rude or offensive (yes, I´m leaving out another can of worms re: exotics breeding for fashion.... for another day).
Almost post-modern anything tended to suck.
