Wow.

That's pretty much all I can say about this week's readings, especially the Henry Jenkins chapters. I've been attached to Jenkins since I took CTCS 191, and I keep forgetting that he's an anime fan. Although, as a fan of Japanese anime and manga (cartoons and comic books) myself, I would never apply "otaku" to myself. I don't know whether he doesn't understand what that word really means, or whether he really considers himself an otaku. Of course, there's always the third possibility, that process of whitewashing or "deodorizing" which would render the word harmless. For those of you who don't know, "otaku" is a Japanese word which refers to a level of fandom which most Americans would consider obsession bordering on that which drives people to stalk celebrities. Maybe I would have applied that term to myself had I not gone beyond a fascination with anime to study Japanese language and culture. And I am glad that I did begin studying it. There's much more to anime and manga than what meets the eye of the casual observer. Anyone who's seen Pokemon, Dragon Ball Z, or Naruto on Cartoon Network could tell you that Japanese characters have disfigured bodies: faces with huge eyes and expressions which rely on water drops and blue lines. Maybe they would also tell you that they have too much violence and inexplicably indestructible bodies. I wouldn't deny that. I'd just like to add that there are moral ambiguities which are glaringly absent from American cartoons for children. Well, that and the fact that the characters deal with many more of life's problems than how to share a doll with a friend. If you still have some time left at the University, I would recommend taking Ellen Seiter's course on Japanese Anime to find out more.

On another note, I believe I revealed to a few of you that I am an aspiring writer. Not a writer of fan-fictions like those mentioned by Jenkins, but of my own fictional worlds. To be perfectly honest, I have always found it easier to create my own fiction than to try fitting it into the worlds created by other people. At present, I can only think of one instance in 1st grade when my teacher forced all of us to write fictional stories based on a book we read in class. Mine turned out to be near-plagerism (a substitution of color and the much quicker realization by the human characters — I couldn't stand the obliviousness of the adults). I almost wish that I could act within the fictional worlds created by Rowling and my personal favorite author, Nix. These are unforgettable worlds of such rich description (and are thus hard to create); they are so much fun to live in for a few hours or days or however long it takes you to read or how long you can read.

Ultimately, I'm glad that around the time I started reading Harry Potter my dad was beginning to adopt the "discernment" approach to media with subject matter that was at odds with Christian teaching (at least on the surface). When Sabrina the Teenage Witch used to be on TV, that was a no-no whenever dad was around because she was a witch. Forget the fact that she was facing high school issues or trying to use her magic for good, nope, she was a witch and that made her evil. Personally, I am an advocate of discernment over sheltering, for many of the reasons Jenkins covered.