I loved this conversation so much! Big fan of Victim/Andrew for all the reasons you stated.
It's funny because when I originally read Victim last year, I felt it was so timely and now, after this convo, I think it's probably even more relevant, especially considering the online dialogue, US political chaos & much of the good intentions behind diversity, etc, have been eroded. We read it for book club, and legit, everyone loved it and had so much to say. I'm excited about the paperback release and hope more people pick it up. This topic is thought-provoking, and you're the BEST reader! Seeing it through your lens makes me even love the book more. I feel like Victimhood will be a topic of conversation for many years to come...
screaming crying etcetc. i went to a (public) arts high school in a small-ish town in the late 2010s and i wish i was joking when i said so many of my peers talked exactly like Anais in VICTIM. i will never forget the day after the 2016 election when a girl who was born in canada (and lived in the wealthiest gated community in the county) cried because she was convinced she’d be deported. i could not take her seriously after that. a good handful of us did come from broken homes or poverty or food insecurity or exposure to violence, but it was the privileged among us who tried to make personalities out of suffering. i was wholly uninterested in making art about experiencing antisemitism, but i knew it would get applause. i think part of the appeal is getting to feel like a hero; Holocaust fiction is popular because it allows goyim to tell themselves “well *I* would have fought the Nazis”. It’s a kind of activism that doesn’t require action. Dara Horn’s “People Love Dead Jews” explores this really well through the specific lens of antisemitism, but I think it can be applied to any marginalized group that has experienced wide-scale violence or oppression. It’s all an exercise in trying to feel like a Good Person.
YES!!! i am in the illustration/animation scene and i became disillusioned around 2018/2019 with the discussion/portrayal of identity especially within the latine diaspora. when i tried to dig more profoundly at the time into my identity in the way the culture at the time (and even now) defined it, all i found was a trap. we unwittingly trap ourselves into these shrunken boxes where at the end, all we have and are reduced to, are easily digestible symbols of consumption and exploitation of ourselves and our people(especially for the white western gaze)-Like why are so many latine artists and creatives at the fucking artists market selling clay earrings or whatever of hot cheetos, fabuloso, la chancla, platanos, pupusas, tacos, fucking frida kahlo etc etc?
Writing this before I finish but just wanted to get my thoughts down on why Americans are so captured by victimization. I think it’s partially to do with social media but more so that the attention economy makes people believe that the content they consume is reparative in some way..
I think it’s also why the (ordinary everyday) right-wing people are fooled into thinking too much time, money, and attention is given to DEI even if it’s not materially true. And why right wing content is so popular, as people feed into the story that marginalized groups are coddled and given more than they are.
I love what he said about different generations and how they deal with the hardships of life. I totally agree that previous generous were a lot hardier, but at the same time, they bury a lot of their trauma deep deep down and I think there's a lot to be said about how it has affected their children. I think there's a lot of weird shame and confusion in millennials and I'd be interested to see how both our upbringings and socio-economic situations led us to where we are today.
I was having a discussion with a friend about social media. I am curious about your opinion on your relationship with smartphones/social media and our societal relationships with them - you talk about how they’ve warped our sense of connection and are addicting. How do we move forward with phones? Obviously I get a lot out of them (like seeing your content) and don’t want to go cold turkey. But more people are saying we are giving our attention away for free - and that they are so negative for our wellbeing. Is there balance to be found? How do you approach this?
Loved this interview. Self awareness, media realities and cultural commentary all so on target to explain these really complex issues that are constantly on my mind. Thank you. Can’t wait to read Victim.
I loved this conversation so much! Big fan of Victim/Andrew for all the reasons you stated.
It's funny because when I originally read Victim last year, I felt it was so timely and now, after this convo, I think it's probably even more relevant, especially considering the online dialogue, US political chaos & much of the good intentions behind diversity, etc, have been eroded. We read it for book club, and legit, everyone loved it and had so much to say. I'm excited about the paperback release and hope more people pick it up. This topic is thought-provoking, and you're the BEST reader! Seeing it through your lens makes me even love the book more. I feel like Victimhood will be a topic of conversation for many years to come...
screaming crying etcetc. i went to a (public) arts high school in a small-ish town in the late 2010s and i wish i was joking when i said so many of my peers talked exactly like Anais in VICTIM. i will never forget the day after the 2016 election when a girl who was born in canada (and lived in the wealthiest gated community in the county) cried because she was convinced she’d be deported. i could not take her seriously after that. a good handful of us did come from broken homes or poverty or food insecurity or exposure to violence, but it was the privileged among us who tried to make personalities out of suffering. i was wholly uninterested in making art about experiencing antisemitism, but i knew it would get applause. i think part of the appeal is getting to feel like a hero; Holocaust fiction is popular because it allows goyim to tell themselves “well *I* would have fought the Nazis”. It’s a kind of activism that doesn’t require action. Dara Horn’s “People Love Dead Jews” explores this really well through the specific lens of antisemitism, but I think it can be applied to any marginalized group that has experienced wide-scale violence or oppression. It’s all an exercise in trying to feel like a Good Person.
YES!!! i am in the illustration/animation scene and i became disillusioned around 2018/2019 with the discussion/portrayal of identity especially within the latine diaspora. when i tried to dig more profoundly at the time into my identity in the way the culture at the time (and even now) defined it, all i found was a trap. we unwittingly trap ourselves into these shrunken boxes where at the end, all we have and are reduced to, are easily digestible symbols of consumption and exploitation of ourselves and our people(especially for the white western gaze)-Like why are so many latine artists and creatives at the fucking artists market selling clay earrings or whatever of hot cheetos, fabuloso, la chancla, platanos, pupusas, tacos, fucking frida kahlo etc etc?
Writing this before I finish but just wanted to get my thoughts down on why Americans are so captured by victimization. I think it’s partially to do with social media but more so that the attention economy makes people believe that the content they consume is reparative in some way..
I think it’s also why the (ordinary everyday) right-wing people are fooled into thinking too much time, money, and attention is given to DEI even if it’s not materially true. And why right wing content is so popular, as people feed into the story that marginalized groups are coddled and given more than they are.
I love what he said about different generations and how they deal with the hardships of life. I totally agree that previous generous were a lot hardier, but at the same time, they bury a lot of their trauma deep deep down and I think there's a lot to be said about how it has affected their children. I think there's a lot of weird shame and confusion in millennials and I'd be interested to see how both our upbringings and socio-economic situations led us to where we are today.
Really interesting interview! Can't wait to read this book.
Just got this from the library and am excited to read it!
this was a great read and I’m excited to check out this novel. I had just read a post on Substack called the gen z resilience drought https://substack.com/@jordanstacey/note/p-157441617?r=3rzsch&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
as an older zlennial (ew) it’s so interesting seeing both sides
Admire you both so much! This was great.
It’s an excellent book. Did a review myself. https://michaelmohr.substack.com/p/victim
Interesting convo.
I was having a discussion with a friend about social media. I am curious about your opinion on your relationship with smartphones/social media and our societal relationships with them - you talk about how they’ve warped our sense of connection and are addicting. How do we move forward with phones? Obviously I get a lot out of them (like seeing your content) and don’t want to go cold turkey. But more people are saying we are giving our attention away for free - and that they are so negative for our wellbeing. Is there balance to be found? How do you approach this?
Loved this interview. Self awareness, media realities and cultural commentary all so on target to explain these really complex issues that are constantly on my mind. Thank you. Can’t wait to read Victim.