On the 25th of May, four police officers arrested George Floyd on suspicion of forgery; one officer in particular applied pressure to his neck for eight long minutes, ignoring pleas of “I can’t breath,” until he died. This was murder, and this was racism, and in the week since America has erupted into protests and riots as their President continues to villify people of colour and encourage police brutality.
I’m not American; I’m a white dude from the UK with no experience of being treated differently for my appearance or identity. But I know life, and I know love, and the murder of George Floyd sits heavy in my gut. To have your life taken away from you from someone who doesn’t even know you, who makes assumptions based on the colour of your skin… I know that we as humans are so much more as individuals than certain people’s prejudices allow them to see. I know that George Floyd is not the only person of colour to be murdered by a figure of authority. I know that I don’t disagree with the protests and the outrage. And I know that Donald Trump is one of the worst human beings to ever be in a position of power.
I typically preach peace and nonviolence, and I’m not about to start baying for blood now. But this entire situation has had me thinking about these beliefs. Pure pacifism won’t solve a problem as systemic and ingrained as the prejudicial evil in the hearts of powerful white men. And yet, every day these riots go by I watch with gritted teeth, knowing that more protestors are being hurt, knowing that some individuals are taking advantage of the chaos for their own ends, knowing that it’s never as simple as Good Vs Evil. Ultimately, I don’t have answers. I do believe that putting these four officers behind bars will restore some semblance of justice, but I don’t for one second believe it will solve anything or undo what’s been done. It just fuckin’ sucks.
More domestically, we’ve also had hypocrisy from our government regarding lockdown measures, and the rich thinking the rules don’t apply to them because they’re special. But you know what? I really don’t want to get bogged down in all the shitty details of May. It sucks, it bums me out, it doesn’t surprise me in the least, and you don’t need paragraphs from me on why Dominic Cummings was wrong, because if you have two brains cells, you already know.
Personally, then, my month has consisted of Star Wars. No, seriously, that’s pretty accurate. From finally catching up to and finishing the phenomenal Clone Wars series, to dipping my toes into Star Wars: The Old Republic for the first time, to trawling through the lore by way of videos and Wookiepedia articles, this has been the most obsessed I’ve ever been with a Galaxy Far, Far Away. And I’m loving every moment of it. I’ve always been a Star Wars fan, and I’ve consumed external media and lore before, but never to this degree, never with such fervour. I’m currently on the final season of Rebels, and after that I’m going to be at a bit of a loss. I’ll probably watch Rogue One, then the Original Trilogy, then the Sequel Trilogy from there. Get the most out of my Disney Plus, eh? Future plans also include playing through all the class stories in SWTOR – the Jedi Knight story was a full 30 hour experience, and there’s 8 of these things, plus expansions and zone stories – and trying my hand at Jedi: Fallen Order, which I’m receiving for my birthday later this month. I’m all in, baby.
Other than Star Wars, though? Well, if such a world must exist, the usual – work, and otherwise, staying at home. Making the usual array of video content and getting back into livestreaming (again), rediscovering my love of the Tony Hawk games, enjoying the new Elder Scrolls Online expansion, relying on podcasts to keep me sane, all that good stuff. Now, let’s take a peek at what was occurring in 2019 this month.
Speaking of picking up a new obsession, this was the week that I truly embraced the world of comics, and let go of my ambitions of reading through the Marvel comic universe chronologically. It’s also cost me £70 when I forgot to turn off auto-renew earlier this month (I believe it was less as an offer last year), but luckily the fine folks at Marvel’s customer support were quick to reimburse me. I will miss having a world of comics at my fingertips, but I got huge value out of my year of Marvel Unlimited and read through hundreds of comics I had interest in. My attention is simply elsewhere, for now.
The final season of Game of Thrones was in full swing, and so was internet outrage over the drop in the quality of the narrative. I remain stalwart in my belief that nuance exists, and that while the last two seasons undeniably had issues, they were still some fucking good telly.
Annnnd the finale.
And that, future Kristian, is where you were a year ago today. Awestruck and reverent about events which never really happened. How very you.
I mean…. the Clone Wars finale still makes me tear up whenever I watch those last two scenes, so you’re not wrong, past Kristian.
I, er, inspired myself when reading this back. This an entry I’ll return to many times in the future, I expect. Not to toot my own horn, or anything, but I really lay out my negative thought processes in a revealing and constructive way. I hope this helps anybody even half as much as it helps me.
Perpetually Perturbed 