Understanding the Folly of the Westallen Vs Snowbarry Warzone

OK, so I'm in the midst of trying to untangle myself from a serious addiction - The new "The Flash" TV show on the CW network. It's a serious one and I must say I am no stranger to addictions so I know when an addiction has grown to astronomical proportions. I really hate it when I become so addicted to a TV show that it seems to demand my every waking thought. I prefer it when I can control what takes precedence in my minds thought processes. It started off so innocently and now that the show is on hiatus I find myself going through withdrawal symptoms. It's crazy! One of the ways I cope with these "withdrawal symptoms" is by going onto any social media site, reading any article and watching any video or interview that has anything to do with the "The Flash" and that includes the worst of the worst fan made reviews of the show.

That being said, while I was crazily searching for these  "Flash" related entertainments, I stumbled on to some heavily toxic warzones. These warzones were based on the two leading women on the show and their fictional romantic involvement with the lead actor. Sigh! May I take a moment before I go on? Sigh!

This has been done countless times over the years with fans segregating themselves into teams as they ship two characters romantically. The first time I heard about it was during the "Twilight"trilogy - a teen movie saga based on books I neither understood or with which I never had any tolerance. Team this and team that. Urgh! The whole thing became a movement from which no living being could escape except you were a hermit in the mountains somewhere without running water or electricity. Even if you NEVER watched a single clip or read a single paragraph in the book, you were all too aware of the premise of the movies and their "ship" wars.

So here I was, watching, listening, reading and absorbing the ridiculous battles between what is now prominently known as the "Westallen" shippers and the "Snowbarry" shippers. "West" as in the character "Iris West" played by the beautiful Candice Patton and "Snow" as in the character "Caitlyn Snow" played by the adorable Danielle Panabaker. Then you have, of course, the talented and noteworthy actor - Grant Gustin - who fills the role of "Barry Allen" aka "The Flash". Call me old fashioned (I am not a teenager) but I do yearn for the good old days when we could just watch a show and enjoy it for what it is ... A SHOW!!! An entertaining, good-time-having, relaxation inducing, but also very fictional SHOW!

What is the definition of a show? Let's see!
Definition for Show: "A public performance that is intended to entertain people". Miriam-Webster.com

What is fiction? Definition of fiction: "Written stories about people and events that are NOT REAL". Miriam-Webster.com

Having said all this I am not oblivious to the fact that there is some measure of racial tension due to the fact that the character "Iris West" who was written as a caucasian woman in the comic book series, is now written as a black woman for the TV adaptation. This is not the first time shipping wars turned beyond ugly due to racial tension. Cases in point - the TV shows "Jane by Design" with Lulu and Jane, "Twisted" with Jo and Lacey, "Greys Anatomy" with Stephanie and April. Anyone with common sense could see that the teams were divided by race. This added a new dynamic to the shipping wars because it meant that you were only on a certain team or ship because you could relate to the the character of your preferred race. It really makes me sad when I see division among women of all ages and backgrounds because of race. Diversity is something to be celebrated. Unless you get your fix off of name calling and being sadistically mean, shame on you! All of you. I truly feel ashamed and sorry for all involved.

I get it! The show is exciting and addicting and entrancing, so much so that you cannot help but be engrossed. If I can get engrossed without hating some fictional character to the point where I want her off the show (people please, she's an actress doing what the directors told her to do and if you feel that strongly, it means she's doing an amazing job) or hate her followers to the point where I have to demean them in anyway possible then I am sure you can too.

Some advice for the guilty and the culprits who have stubbled on to my blog. Relax, Breathe and Enjoy. This is something to ENJOY. Celebrate the diversity before you and exercise some self-control. Stop getting so emotional. It's silly to allow something, that is meant to entertain and relax you, to do the complete opposite. Take thee or four steps back and rationally look at the situation from a distance so that you can see the whole picture. Don't give power to one awful commenter by refusing to take note of all the other beautiful comments about your chosen ship. Lastly, forget about the war and let us bring some measure of rational peace to something that has gone completely overboard. Remember it is just a SHOW. E n j o y!

Interracial Relationships Part 1

My cousin and his fiance!

As mentioned in my post on "'Dear White People'- the movie", I'd like to continue my ongoing discussion on racial issues by taking this opportunity to touch on yet another
hard-to-swallow subject - Interracial relationships/romances. I say it's a hard to swallow subject because while some people like the idea of an IR and others are indifferent to it, there are those who are absolutely against it. The question I ask now is WHY? Why are they against it? The reasons can be varied. But can these reasons be taken seriously? After all, everyone is entitled to their opinion...right?

In my view Interracial love is a beautiful thing. It is one of the few things that helps to alleviate tension between the races. One might disagree that it can do this because when two people of different races come together in a non platonic way, their families and friends sometimes have strong objections and even strangers on the street tend to add to the discomfort with disapproving looks and remarks. If people weren't so hung up on their own insecurities and if they weren't so afraid of the little differences between us all, the people of the human race, they would see that IR's help to banish the prejudices that may arise due to skin colour and allow people to love each other in spite of their differences.

Here are some global reasons I've heard being given for objecting Interracial Relationships:

• When you date or marry outside your race you are practicing hate against your own race.
• IR's destroy the black family/white family/hispanic family, etc.
• The few black men who are educated and have good jobs get stolen by white women.
• Black women only go with white men and vice versa so that their children can have lighter complexion and better textured hair (good hair).
• Men of other races marry white women so they can hold them up as trophy wives.
• An actual quote - "According to the laws of the bible no race mixing. It doesn't mean you hate other races, just don't marry into them."

Ok, for the record I object to every one of those reasons. That last one actually left me a little more than annoyed. It made me really angry because I've read the bible cover to cover and I have never seen anything that indicated that one race shouldn't marry another. Regardless of what your beliefs are you cannot deny that we all belong to the human race. When I look at a person who is the product of an interracial union I see exotic beauty impossible to deny.

Recently I found videos of the popular series "What Would You Do" from the abc network that tackles racial issues all the time, among other things. These videos, however dealt the specific issue of IR's. Watch the videos and let me know how they affect you in the comments section.

At the end of the day LOVE is the ultimate reason why people get married, whether those relationships are interracial or not. Sometimes a person isn't dating outside their race because of preference or because they want good hair for their kids. Most times it isn't even deliberate. People fall in love unexpectedly, life happens that way. Who you choose to marry should be your business, not your parents, not your friends, not your neighbours and certainly not the stranger on the street. So I ask the question why do people date and marry outside their race? It doesn't matter because at the end of it all, it's their life not yours. Let's all agree to let love have the last say.