Akira: Huh? Privacy? Um… I guess… if you’re private, that means you hide everything about yourself? So it’s kind of like that?
don’t take it personally, babe, it just ain’t your story is a “full length visual novel about the erosion of privacy, gay drama, young sexuality, and the perils of modern online life for a high school literature class” (1). Set in a private school in 2027, you take on the role of teacher John Rook as he tries to find his way and to engage students, while competing for their attention with the computers at which they constantly stare.
This post is going to be a jumble of references and spoilers, so I strongly recommend you go and download the game to play. It’ll take a few hours for one playthrough, and the language/content is maybe too crude for some people’s tastes, but it’s totally worth it.
Don’t worry. I’ll wait.
Kay, you did it? How was it? Do you have a favourite character? Which choices did you make? What did you think of nanasi when she showed up? I still can’t figure out the name choice, which is weird, ’cause like, there are so many references throughout the game, and — wait, I’m off track. Moving right along, in alphabetical order for convenience…
Anonymous
Kendall and Akira request that they be allowed to present their final project as this metanarrative group project thing being narrated by “anonymous”. Especially considering the game has you sporadically check “12channel” posts, I found their presentation pretty engaging and surprisingly astute considering it was essentially a slur of spoilers, lols, and sentence fragments. From my limited exposure to 4chan, 8chan, and other such message boards, I have to say that this game did a decent job of recreating my impression of these real world counterparts: there’s some great stuff, but you have to sift through a lot of noise to find it. To me, these components really helped to emphasize the themes of [a]social behaviour and community present throughout don’t take it personally.
Anonymity is, of course, a broad and complex topic in online communities. Some argue it’s an essential right, allowing for open communication and essential protest; some argue it’s the bane of the internet, specifically for encouraging anti-social and/or aggressive behaviour. And, of course, the dynamic and ill-defined group, Anonymous, is credited with a variety of online activities, from charity to vigilantism to hacktivism. Anonymous is something of a peculiarity to the current era; at least, off the top of my head, I can’t call to mind any group throughout history that bears much resemblance to their size, capacity, lack of defined membership, or diverse agenda.
I found it interesting to imagine online anonymity in 2027. Anonymity seems to be increasingly difficult to ensure, especially as interconnected and copy-based design of online activity does not lend itself well to anonymous activity.
Digital Shinigami
Shinigami as depicted in Full Moon wo Sagashite (2)
Shinigami – death gods, or death spirits – are fairly common in anime and other Japanese pop culture. There are many different interpretation of shinigami, even within Japanese folklore.
Akira asks at one point if John has read Digital Shinigami, a sci-fi story published by Akira’s grandmother. The story is described as handling many themes from John’s course; specifically, it looks at shinigami dealing with modern technology.
Shinigami as depicted in Bleach (3)
I’m insufficiently versed in Japanese lore to address the idea of digital shinigami directly. I can, however, comment on two works of real-world fiction that seem to have similar themes. In Pixel Pixies, by Charles de Lint, several fae have moved onto a bookstore’s website. They’ve managed to occupy this space much as they would any other environment. To these fae, cyberspace and physical space are just different environments. If I recall correctly, de Lint’s Spirits in the Wires has a similar theme, but I sadly don’t recall that work as well.
In Neil Gaiman’s American Gods, the old gods (think Odin, Anansi, Ēostre…) face off against an upcoming, modern set of gods; gods of internet, media, and the stock market. The idea is that godly power is driven by belief, so new gods are rising and overshadowing the old gods due to the obsessive and compulsive belief people have in these new forces. Whereas the pixies in de Lint’s story occupy a space people have created, people in Gaiman’s story will new beings into existence through the ways they interact with modern technologies and myths.
All in all, it definitely leaves me wondering how shinigami would adjust to our digital age.
Heo Nanseolheon
Heo Nanseolheon (1563-1589) is mentioned in passing on a 12channel thread discussing “general bondage”. Her story is an interesting one.
Heo is a notable Korean poet. She wrote during a time when woman were usually not educated, but she was supported by her family and managed to impress quite a few people with her first poem, “Inscriptions on the Ridge Pole of the White Jade Pavilion in the Gwanghan Palace” (Gwanghanjeon Baegongnu Sangryangmun), which she wrote at the age of eight. She was married off at 15, and proceeded to have an unhappy marriage where she spent much of her time with her unamiable mother-in-law, who did not approve of her education. Heo died at the age of 27, not long after several of her family members – including a beloved brother – had passed (4).
Heo well deserves to be the subject of media and academic focus. For the sake of this blog, I’d like to focus on what her story seems to highlight about education and culture.
Heo was taught to read and write; this unusual education (for the times) opened up a world to her (or, opened her to the world), but was also contributed to suffering she experienced, specifically the disapproval of her mother-in-law. We librarians frequently talk about literacy, a concept rooted in knowledge of reading and writing, but which has expanded to include information and technology literacies. don’t take it personally regularly refers back to how students and teachers use technology in their life; it is presumed, and occasionally demonstrated, how these tools are used for asocial or harassing behaviour, but the worst behaviour still happens offline where it can’t be documented or monitored as easily. Taylor seems to explicitly use this to her advantage; her online commentary is often sassy or passive aggressive, whereas her worst beahaviour is reported as happening offline. Taylor displays a remarkable level of knowledge of how to navigate online social media: she messages multiple people to get the sympathy/support she desires, and she reveals no significant personal details about herself. Her monologue in John’s office after being reprimanded for bullying seems to most distinctly perform the egocentrism people so often associate with “kids these days”, particularly those who are active on social media; and yet, I found it hard not to not sympathize with Taylor. Many other students made disparaging remarks about each other, and were even openly cruel towards Taylor; however, since Taylor often appeared to be the instigator, she did not receive sufficient social support or guidance in order to better navigate her social circle. Much like Heo, Taylor demonstrated a certain mastery of a given literacy, but she did not have the social support necessary to complement it.
Heo’s story also highlights socio-cultural themes seen throughout don’t take it personally. Heo was Korean, and Ms. Yamazaki remarks at one point that “things were different in Japan”; these are both East Asian cultures known to be more collectivist than Western society. It would be over-simplistic to suggest that part of the Western world’s tensions around social media and social technologies is our individualistic tendencies, and yet… that’s exactly what I want to suggest. It’s easy, speaking from a Western perspective, to romanticize, glorify, or just plain misrepresent collectivist society, so please bear with me on this. My point is that the idea of a private sphere is more [problematically] entrenched in Western society, and that more collectivist societies might have more practice at regulating public and social behaviour in pursuit of a healthy group dynamic. Heo suffered greatly from being denied positive social support, and her death followed the deaths of several family members; people are social animals, and this social impetus is part of what defines us and our behaviour, even in online environments.
Neuromancer
John: So what are you saying, then? Nothing’s really changed at all since then? “Things aren’t different; things are things.” Is that it…?Ms. Yamazaki: Oh, you know, that was actually my favourite book at his age.
The quote John references is from William Gibson’s Neuromancer. Neuromancer is one of those books that has sat on my to-read list for ages now, so I can’t say too much about it; still, even only knowing the synopsis, there seems to be at least one significant parallel.
The main character in Neuromancer, Henry Dorsett Case, is described as a once successful man who is now trying to recover from a significant downfall in his life. Henry has been disconnected from the matrix, and goes on to relearn how to navigate a virtual world in exchange for a cure. John is a twice divorced computer-scientist-turned-teacher who is learning to navigate a new virtual world; one which he is both a part of and yet removed from. John explains at one point that he was going through high school when Facebook started up, but he “never really saw the point”. The degree of public sharing, technological mediation, and surveillance which he observes and participates in is completely new territory to him.
I’ll just have to read the flippin’ book to see if the parallel holds, and if Henry’s journey can highlight anything about John’s own search for a cure.
The takeaway message I’m still struggling with
Ms. Yamazaki: Things are different, of course; there’s no sense of privacy. It’s a silly, outdated concept, that feels so… unsocial? Does that sound right, Akira? …
I think your fundamental misunderstanding, John, is mistaking privacy for control of your personal boundaries. … We always assumed it was just binary. There’s things you keep to yourself, and things you have public, and the two don’t mix. That’s kind of stupid, though, isn’t it? What’s wrong with his generation assuming that knowing more about someone is always a good thing? What’s wrong with controlling your image? [Akira] understands that; far more than I ever will, in fact. You’re not thinking in… terms of degrees, maybe? It’s not as though discrimination doesn’t exist. You can still hide things, or show things only selectively. You just don’t hide everything by default.
This lengthy block quote is from Akira’s mother, after she comes in to speak to John Rook. Ms. Yamazaki is surprised by how John speaks about privacy, and Akira seems confused by the very concept. I find her use of the term unsocial particularly telling:
- unsocial: not seeking the company of others; causing annoyance and disapproval in others
- antisocial: contrary to the laws and customs of society; devoid of or antagonistic to sociable instincts or practices
- asocial: avoiding social interaction; inconsiderate of or hostile to others
There has been a lot of debate around what the default settings on social media should be, particularly sites such as Facebook. I have often heard the argument that the defaults should be set to private, both to respect the end-user and so that it’s not only the technologically savvy who can protect their privacy and content. I’ve never heard the inverse argument phrased; that it shouldn’t only be the technologically savvy who can share their content more publicly. Although I still personally belief that privacy and content is insufficiently respected in many online environments, I do wonder if the conversation is overly focused on protecting the individual and refusing to discuss how to promote a healthy group.
We’re already seeing the impact of surveillant technologies and social media in the classroom. Valerie Steeves describes a few telling examples: a music teacher awarded for “innovative use” of technology for monitoring their students via cameras in the classroom, concerns around how easy plagiarism and cheating seem to become in an interconnected environment, and a [neoliberal] shift from monitoring students’ activities for signs of abuse or harassment to monitoring to anticipate potential access of “bad” materials (5). Part of what is so telling about the situation Love explores in don’t take it personally is how plausible and accessible the situation seems. When Ms. Yamazaki complains to John that he isn’t doing enough to curtail the bullying Akira is experiencing, it’s a very realistic complaint and one that seems to justify the monitoring the school allows. And yet, we’re reminded several times throughout the game that the online interactions do not have the whole story, and John even remarks on the impossibility of keeping up with the students online activity, let alone accurately interpret it and apply it (6).
I’m left wondering if we’re already living in the future which don’t take it personally describes. And, if so, how far deep the rabbit hole will we be by 2027?
References
(1) Love, Christine (CC April 2011). don’t take it personally, babe, it just ain’t your story. Retrieved from http://scoutshonour.com/donttakeitpersonallybabeitjustaintyourstory/
(2) Full Moon wo Sagashite (image). Retreived from http://nd01.jxs.cz/113/298/14d69c1a73_43193308_o2.jpg
(3) Bleach (image) Retrieved from http://www.gatto999.it/images/stories/Anime%20Manga%20Cartoon/Bleach%20-%20primo.jpg
(4) Yun Suh-young (August 23, 2015). Remnants of a talented ‘orchid’. The Korea Times. Retrieved from https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/culture/2015/10/317_185391.html
(5) Steeves, Valerie (2010). Online Surveillance in Canadian Schools, in Schools Under Surveilance: Cultures of Control in Public Education ed. Monahan & Torres.
(6) Poster, Mark (1996). Databases as Discourse, or, Electronic
Interpellations in Surveillance, Computers and Privacy.
University of Minnesota Press: 175-190.
Kirschenblatt, Matthew (June 17, 2013). This Love and This Hate Ain’t Completely My Story: The Possible World of Christine Love. Mythic Bios [blog]. Retrieved from https://matthewkirshenblatt.wordpress.com/2013/06/17/this-love-and-this-hate-aint-completely-my-story-the-possible-world-of-christine-love/
Lapenta, Gry Hasselbalch and Jørgensen, Rikke Frank (March 2015). Youth, privacy and online media: Framing the right to privacy in public policy-making. First Monday, 20, 3-2, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.5210/fm.v20i3.5568
Tricky (April 17, 2011). Digital: A Love Story [Review]. Jay Is Games. Retrieved from http://jayisgames.com/review/digital-a-love-story.php
kirstyn seanor 