blondie wrote: ↑Wed Aug 07, 2024 5:26 pm
I’ve been thinking about the Redcurves a lot today. Apologies if I repeat anything anyone else has already said - my signal out here in the Welsh wilderness is spotty so it’s hard to keep up with all the forum posts.
The Redcurves have, whether it be through intention or circumstance, become outcasts of society. I know some of us here have experience working with people on the fringes (Richard for example has talked about his efforts). It’s not something I talk about often, for a variety of reasons, but as part of a punk network made up of people including social workers and union reps, who work with people who have found themselves in undesirable situations and want to get out of them but don’t necessarily have the tools… I have learned a lot. About communication and misconceptions and respect.
Why is this relevant? Because people who find themselves outside of mainstream society often have one thing in common - pride.
Referring to them as hillbillies, suggesting they’re cannibals… this all feeds into the propaganda we have already seen. That poem from the trailer alone… Of course their hackles are already going to be raised if they’ve seen how we talk about them. Why would they be polite? They see a bunch of people, pontificating about a life they have no experience of and passing judgement… based on what? The way they talk, the way they dress, and a gruesome nursery rhyme… No wonder they are coming out of the gate strong. They demand respect because how would they expect to get it otherwise? They are already fighting a losing battle.
Mainstream society has a habit of branding groups of people as the “other” and that is something to be feared. The LGBTQIA+ community, immigrants… these groups and more are all fair targets to distract us from the bigger picture. Think of the wise women who were branded as witches. These women lived on the fringes of society (sometimes for reasons as dumb as having too much money without a man to spend it) and were consulted for their knowledge of natural healing methods. Everything was great as long as the potions worked. But if they didn’t (cos with the best will in the world, herbs can’t cure cancer or stop a stillbirth), or if some other tragedy struck… the wise women, the outcasts, the exiled, the “other”, are the easy ones to blame without consequence for the status quo. The witch is dealt with and everyone in the town can go about their business with a clear conscience.
We have no evidence that these are bad people. We see blood on their knives and assume it’s human. WHY?! They curse and drink. So do I. Doesn’t make me a bad person or prone to a cheeky bit of cannibalism or child sacrifice. They suck at technology. Talk to us elder millennials and so do a lot of us and we don’t even have the excuse of living in the woods. They are easy targets to blame for the ills of this world and once again, distract from the real evil.
The Redcurves deserve respect as any person does, until we learn more and then we decide as we go where we stand.
For some this would translate as: treat others as you would want to be treated yourself. No matter how they treat you first.
To others: from each according to their ability, to each according to their need.
Or maybe even: Try a Little Tenderness
