>thinking that white privilege (if it's even real) somehow means that a poor white man somehow has more privilege than a rich black man
Saying shit like this makes it pretty clear you've never actually heard anyone talk about the concept of privilege except from people already triggered over it.
I can believe in all those completely and still be a normal guy. It's possible to hold strong beliefs about things and not sperg out about them every waking moment, user.
Okay, to cover the basics first, the man is far from as influential as he’s made out to be. A large amount of his work is basically the same Gothic Horror and suspense that had been around since the early 19th century. Consider Poe’s Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar as a Lovecraftian tale decades before Lovecraft’s birth. Also take into account the works of Bierce(Who invented Carcosa) and Chambers(Who took Carcosa and wrote Hastur into King in Yellow) who were doing psychological and supernatural horror before Lovecraft was even born. He ultimately brought little to the table, yet is given endless plaudits as “inspiring” modern horror. In reality, he perpetuated it into an era that saw a greater number of pulp readers. Even if his stuff wasn’t the most well selling, it made it more common. The man’s the McDonald’s of horror whose work is mostly known because the Cthulu mythos is in the public domain and been reprinting a million times.
The thing is, he’s barely responsible for even that. He did invent Cthulu, but the mythos around it was actually done by a large number of people who wrote into the universe and published anthologies after his death. Huge chunks of what people now attribute to Lovecraft come from August Derleth and others. He is a man whose influence has been blown far beyond what it deserves to be.
That’s just part of why I find Lovecraft annoying. The biggest part is that the central crux to his horror. The only thing that makes him a little different from any number of gothic and supernatural horror authors is that Lovecraft’s horror relies on that maddening impact of realizing insignificance against an uncaring universe.
Body horror, psychological horror, loss of control, helplessness in the face of the dark unknown, suspense and dread are all staples of horror that predate Lovecraft. He did not invent these things. Lovecraftian Eldritch Horror relies chiefly on the idea that mankind finding out they are tiny in the face of an uncaring universe and against things bigger than themselves is maddening. It will make people lose their minds to find out the truth that there are things that don’t give a flying fuck about you, and will step on you, or worse should they even notice you.
That is the most 19th-20th century optimist zeitgeist/privileged upper class white boy horror that has even been written.
Lovecraft was from an era, and from a place in society, that thought their insight and culture would conquer all, was the pinnacle. Consider the works of Wells and Verne. The Frank Reade dime novels. 19th century science and culture and human potential was boundless and everything was going to be learned and surmounted and all those strange “dark” places in the world, undersea and in space would soon be understood and explored by daring men with very English names. Lovecraft’s work requires this attitude of boundless potential mastery to be felt to its fullest. That’s why his work is oft imitated, but not reproduced. We have a society that has seen Holocaust. We have lived with a cold war. Seen injustice and true callous behavior in the past and still see it in the present. Existential philosophy kicks Lovecraft’s horror to the curb and laughs in the face of its monsters. The concept of us being nothing in the face of everything is the subject of prog rock songs. It’s hardly radical anymore to think we are naught but motes in a scouring breeze of time and turbulence.
Once a person comes to grips with the idea they aren’t part of or are the most important thing in the universe, Cthulu and Dagon are nothing more than just another kaiju.
Oh look, a failed lit student. Doesn't the Fry-O-Lator need cleaning?
They've tried to ban Stormtroopers from a Star Wars gathering. Look at this fucking shit.
This is why those people should be relentlessly mocked.
American "Free speech"
>you've never actually heard anyone talk about the concept of privilege except from people already triggered over it.
Have you talked to anyone besides your friends? Race is always place above social class, your skin color is the first and only thing people base privilege off of. It's more of a liberal idea that social class begets privilege, it's been extremely obvious in tons of SJW circles that white privilege is the strongest privilege in society. Yet, ironically, completely ignoring their own privilege.
Alright, as long as your aware of these things. But like a moderate muslim; I don't mind the fact you're muslim, but I don't want you trying to shove shariah law into everything.
I despise the pro-censorship and regressive ideas of the SJW left, and just being passively ok with things like censorship and ranking people's worth based on their skin color is still a bad thing.
I'm a liberal, but I don't identify as a Democrat because of all the regressive stuff I have to tow along with that title regardless, even if I try and just cherry pick the stuff I like.
not really, according to one letter by his wife he was an ''adequately excellent lover''.
Shouldn't you be fucking your cousin right about now?