What a fitting name for this blog post, especially considering we'll be viewing that film by Mr. D.W. Griffith (a man you love to hate, whilst struggling to admire him as a filmaker).

Today on my way to Marletto's a mere 20 mins ago, I was walking along thinking what I would blog about when I got back to the dorms. Mostly about good things, as I was in a fairly good mood, after watching some romantic, inspiring (if not realistic) movies on TBS (like A Walk to Remember, Serendipity, and You've Got Mail).

Unfortunately after I sat down with my food, I became otherwise inspired to come blog for a different reason.

At a nearby table there were a few guys and a couple girls, laughing, quoting Team America. Don't get me wrong, I liked the movie, and don't have problems with other people liking it as long as it's within context of the film. Which pokes humor at America thinking its the shit, and trying to take over the world. Of course, there are alot of extremely prejudice remarks and actions taking place, but it is also extremely satirical, and meant to be over-done, for humors sake. The problem is when people take movies like these seriously, and find humor in them while believing the side of the story being told is in the right.

Reasons why people (women in particular) can laugh at movies like Anchorman is because when there is a character making a blunt statement refering to women having small brains and being inferior to men, it serves a comical purpose, with everyone being fully aware that this pro-male mentality is in fact making fun of that same mentality that used to be primarily dominant (and still is sometimes). Its not funny for someone to be laughing and thinking "Omg, that's SO true!!"

Which sadly is pretty much what this group of people were doing, only throwing around the words 'muslim' and 'Arab' loosely (and interchangeably, I might add, which of course only irked me more) and talking about what they should do to f-ing Arabs, and how in-humane muslims are and always have been for thousands of years with their faith, and how Britain should have dealt with them long ago before America had to get involved. Basically they were just spewing a ton of bullshit and I was literally losing my appetite each second I sat there. Finally I had to get up and leave without having finished my dinner as I was that nauseated with their language and behavior.

Perhaps 'intolerance' isn't the right word to use for this blogpost after all. There was a great article in the Journal (Webster's paper) in May by a student telling people NOT to tolerate her. Don't "tolerate" because its something you have to do to be accepted by society, or to make you look like a better person and more understanding.

(a little from the article)

"We tolerate things we may not like for various reasons. We put up with it, endure it and tolerate it because we have to, not because it is how we truly feel.

Tolerance is a way to ignore things and avoid conflict. Don't tolerate something you may not understand. Learn about it and choose whether to accept it or not. There is a distinct difference between tolerance and acceptance. People who claim to be tolerant are inherently implying something is wrong. Tolerance is based on a type of loathing detest, a fear to fully accept someone and let them into your life. It is an ignorance that says, "I may not like it or understand, but I can put up with it."

A guy I dated in high school gave me a T-shirt that read "celebrate diversity." I was so excited when he gave me that shirt because he was showing me that he loved me for all that I was. He was celebrating a whole rather than tolerating a part. I was wearing that shirt during the Spring Break service trip to New Orleans and someone came up to me to tell me they liked my shirt. We started talking about truly celebrating diversity and not just using the word "diversity" as a public relations ploy.

The person explained how he didn't want to be tolerated, but celebrated. In many ways, tolerance is teaching and supporting ignorance in different areas. We should strive for acceptance and a celebration of differences rather than tolerance. I do need to acknowledge the value of tolerance as a stepping stone along the way to acceptance, but it should merely be a brief - not final -resting place as it is often used.

Accept me or don't. Condemn me to hell or support me in life. Take a stand. Get informed and have an opinion. Don't just tolerate something different than you, celebrate and accept it for the uniqueness it may add to your life."

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