The Light Show on Full Blast
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| Photo by Josh Hild on Unsplash |
At the end of the movie Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers faces off against former mentor Yon-Rogg and all his henchmen. She smashes the crap out of Yon-Rogg's ship and his allies and chases him down to the group.
We then get this gem:
It is no secret that I have been long obsessed with the French language. Over the past 3 years, I have clocked 52,522 XP on the Duolingo site (as of this writing). And counting. My grasp of the language has undoubtedly strengthened - for one thing, I was able to revise the more difficult concepts I learned back in school. For another, I was able to learn new concepts and expand my vocabulary, to the point where I can almost instinctively tell how to phrase complex sentences.
There's still a long way to go as far as the B2, or even the B1 certification is concerned, but I'm getting there, in between other exams and work-life balance and personal crises.
And I'm reminded of the first time I started using Duolingo. I was exhilarated by the app (Full disclosure: I still am), and couldn't help but share my emotions with everyone I spoke to, and especially with the 'friend' who had introduced me to the app.
"It doesn't count," I remember him saying. "It doesn't count if you already know the language." He was implicitly trying to maintain his own superiority, in this as in all other fields, by handicapping those he perceived as his opponents by any means possible. By saying that what he did on the app counted because he was starting with zero knowledge, whereas I already knew the subject I was studying. Unfortunately for him, it was also often very obvious that he would drop a fad as soon as he saw other people getting better at it than him.
The cognitive dissonance is... interesting, to put it mildly. That people like Yon-Rogg and my friend, - and Caster Semenya's competitors - think that they get to lay down the rules of fair play, and that said fair play is typically defined by "whatever it takes to put me in the first place." That they will start yelling "cheater-cheater" as soon as they see someone moving past them using whatever tools they have at their disposal. That they will never point out their own natural advantages as long as it serves their purpose of self-glorification.
We then get this gem:
Yon Rogg: I’m so proud of you. You’ve come a long way since I found you that day by the lake. But can you keep your emotions in check long enough to take me on? Or will it get the better of you, as always? I always told, you’ll be ready, the day you can knock me down as yourself. This is that moment. This is that moment, Vers! Turn off the light show, and prove, prove to me, you can beat me with…I could hardly believe he had the audacity to repeat his bullshit from the beginning of the movie, where he consistently beats her during their sparring sessions while telling her she's not allowed to use her superpowers to fight back. But he did attempt the greatest gaslighting of the galaxy and was amply rewarded.
[Carol uses her photon blast on him and blasts him away]
Carol Danvers: I have nothing to prove to you.
[she offers him her hand, Yon-Rogg takes it, and Carol drags him off]
It is no secret that I have been long obsessed with the French language. Over the past 3 years, I have clocked 52,522 XP on the Duolingo site (as of this writing). And counting. My grasp of the language has undoubtedly strengthened - for one thing, I was able to revise the more difficult concepts I learned back in school. For another, I was able to learn new concepts and expand my vocabulary, to the point where I can almost instinctively tell how to phrase complex sentences.
There's still a long way to go as far as the B2, or even the B1 certification is concerned, but I'm getting there, in between other exams and work-life balance and personal crises.
And I'm reminded of the first time I started using Duolingo. I was exhilarated by the app (Full disclosure: I still am), and couldn't help but share my emotions with everyone I spoke to, and especially with the 'friend' who had introduced me to the app.
"It doesn't count," I remember him saying. "It doesn't count if you already know the language." He was implicitly trying to maintain his own superiority, in this as in all other fields, by handicapping those he perceived as his opponents by any means possible. By saying that what he did on the app counted because he was starting with zero knowledge, whereas I already knew the subject I was studying. Unfortunately for him, it was also often very obvious that he would drop a fad as soon as he saw other people getting better at it than him.
The cognitive dissonance is... interesting, to put it mildly. That people like Yon-Rogg and my friend, - and Caster Semenya's competitors - think that they get to lay down the rules of fair play, and that said fair play is typically defined by "whatever it takes to put me in the first place." That they will start yelling "cheater-cheater" as soon as they see someone moving past them using whatever tools they have at their disposal. That they will never point out their own natural advantages as long as it serves their purpose of self-glorification.
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