Vid: Shake It Out

[mresundance]

Shake it Out by mresundance
Song and Artist: "Shake it Out" by The Manchester Orchestra
Primary Source: The New World
Length: 04:42
Summary: "I felt the Lord begin / to peel off all my skin." An allegory.
Contains/Warnings: Vidder chooses not to disclose.
Crossposts: Tumblr
Betas: ladymajavader, echan, and lola who all helped shape and strengthen this vid tremendously. Thank you!

For the 2012 Vividcon Challenge Theme, "Transformation".

Anonymous comments are enabled! I encourage people to comment honestly. I would love to discuss this vid.

Please use the mediafire links before the permanent link.

Permanent link (right-click save): 103 MB wmv

103 MB wmv @ mediafire
48 MB wmv @ mediafire

https://vimeo.com/44082326

Password: pocahontas

Also on Youtube: http://youtu.be/T5wvRupIorU

Lyrics

Shake it out, shake it out
God,
I need another, and another, and another, and another --
I can feel it now
I felt the Lord in my father's house.

And I could see, I could see
Standing we were seventeen -- make it clean --
I am the living ghost of what you need
I am everything eternally

God, just speak.

'Cuz I'm done being done with the funeral,
At least for now.
Are you tired of being alone, are you tired of being alone?

Shake it out, shake it out
God, I need another and another for the other wasn't wanted
And I heard it out
I felt the Lord in my father's house.

And I can see, I can see
Standing you were seventeen, make it clean
I am the living ghost of what you need
I am everything hypocrisy
Can't you see?

'Cuz I'm done being done with the funeral,
At least for now.
Are you tired of being alone, are you tired of being alone?

I felt the Lord begin
(I swear, I'll never go)
To peel off all my skin
(Don't stop, don't nothing, don't ever, no)
I felt the weight within
(I swore, I swore you'd go)
Reveal the bigger mess
(That you don't know)
That you'll never fix.

Notes

Quick nod to obsessive24, who gave me her blessing to use a song she had already used, basically. Oh I know, songs are free game anymore, but I always like to be polite.

Also a further nod to lolachrome, who has gone above and beyond the normal call of duty, first in her excellent beta advice, second, in reading over my notes and providing input and advice there as well. She rocks.

I have enclosed the notes in a PDF document file. It's rather long (~2,300 words), but it explains some of the ideas that went into this vid. It also explores some of the process of making the vid.

ETA. Removed the link to the PDF. If you are dying to read it for some reason, message me or comment here with a way I can contact you and I'll send you the link.

The shortparts version of the notes:

1. This is an allegory. It might work better if you think John Smith = Europeans, Matoaka (Pocahontas) = Native Americans.

2. Like an allegory, this narrative greatly simplifies very complex ideas. It is one of the unfortunate limits of both the choice to use allegory, and the structure of a vid itself. I have only five minutes to make a coherent point of some kind.

3. The target audience for this vid is white European Americans. Mainly because, I don't necessarily think Native Americans are the people who need to "hear" this message. They heard it, unfortunately, loud and clear, ages ago.

4. I am a white dude and this vid, despite my best efforts, remains a European perspective on colonization in the Americas.

5. Because the vid is a European perspective on colonization, and is targeted at European Americans, the primary goal is simply to provoke. I wanted the vid to provoke a reaction, and to provoke discussion about a topic which is too often glossed over, or actively ignored, in American culture.

So that's it. Comments and critiques of any kind are lovely.

Comments

[mresundance]

Clever you!

I do not know Andrea Smith's Conquest, alas, but I am sort of glad I don't just reading your summary *shudder*. I mean, I appreciate that perspective, of course, but sometimes it gets to be too much when reading it as well, if that makes sense.

I have been questioning how the vid might work differently outside the context of VVC or of a largely white fan community––wondering whether how its restaging of the narrative of genocide runs the risk of becoming tragedy porn, of telling us that death and loss are the only stories we need to know about those on the receiving end of European colonization.

Those are some really good points. It could very well run the risk of being tragedy porn and I am not sure how to counteract in the vid itself. My natural instinct is to insist that if anyone finds this pornographic and indulgent on that level, then uhm, I might be more worried about that viewer than the vid. Because imagery of genocide and dismembered human beings is something I would generally assume to be disturbing to most people. If it is not, yeaaaah. Which is not to dismiss your point. Just sayin'.

And the death and loss aspects, that is a valid point too. And a valid concern. I can't answer or elaborate on it specifically, except to say that the making of the vid was more about a need to rip off the metaphoric emotional band-aid off, and me just saying "Okay, I've had enough of these shitty white guilt narratives, here is what really happened, just deal with it for once". This doesn't, to my mind, exclude other narratives. This is just one of many.

But yeah, Indigenous futurism would be cool. But what about the indigenous present? This discussion has made me realize I've been in error in assuming that the genocide thing outweighs other experiences in modern Native American life. When I think on modern Native American authors and artists, I see a lot of them do write about their present, and towards their future (Sherman Alexie, especially). I actually teach Alexie in all of my courses, and I think I will start asking my students questions about how he deals with the past, present and future, and how that runs counter to white narratives about Native People (usually always anchored to the past). So yay for the thinky thoughts.

And now you have me thinking it would be nice to do a sister vid for this vid, like a sequel focusing on that indigenous present and future, and celebrating that.

And you shouldn't encourage me, because of reasons. :P