Second Thoughts. Issue no.3

SECOND THOUGHTS

POLITICAL • 1

ISSUE NO.3 APRIL 2021 ISSN 2719-6739

• POLITICAL CHIEF EDITOR: Katarzyna Szyszka CONTENT EDITOR: Jan Ziętara EDITING: Dominika Front Weronika Peek Patrycja Sanecka Maria Sawicka Urszula Świątek PROOFREADING: Katarzyna Szyszka Jan Ziętara

GRAPHIC DESIGN: Katarzyna Kocur Karol Mularczyk ILLUSTRATIONS: Authors respectively Katarzyna Kocur COVER: Editorial Board Katarzyna Kocur

SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT: Dominika Front PUBLISHER: Institute of English Studies Hoża 69 00-691 Warsaw

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The views and opinions expressed throughout our magazine, social media, websites or any medium of information we send out are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy of the Second Thoughts student club. Any content provided by our authors and designers are of their opinion and are not intended to malign anyone else’s opinion or beliefs.

Welcome back to Second Thoughts!

And thank you for coming back to us for more compelling articles. We are very happy to present you with the third issue of our magazine. As always, we want to express our gratitude to everyone who helped in putting this issue together. Authors, editors, graphic designers, proof-readers – it is a pleasure and an honour to work with so many talented, observant and hard-working people. Without your contribution, this periodical would not be the same. A truly heartfelt thank-you goes to the academic supervisor of the Second Thoughts student club, Dr Mirosław Miernik, for his continuous support, mentoring and expertise.

During the past months, we have been taking stock of the first year of our activity, as well as making plans and mapping out new ideas and projects for 2021. But before we get lost in our future designs, we want to look back at the extremely trying and challenging year that was 2020. The coronavirus pandemic in Poland began three months after we started our magazine. Despite the possibility of conducting most editorial stages remotely, it hit us too, impeding every step and discouraging us from making the effort. As a freshly budding magazine, we needed every bit of motivation to push forward and publish the first issue. We experienced the same hardships and moments of disbelief as most people, both individually and as a group.

That is why for this issue, coming out roughly a year after the first lockdown started in Poland, we chose the theme of “New Beginning”. It expresses our belief that after the harsh year that it was, we all need something fresh, exciting, and hopeful.

The articles in the present issue cover social topics connected with our attachment and emotions towards objects and people, cultural matters in media such as comic books, role-playing games, and cinema, as well as political commentary on the current developments.

Wishing for the texts to have a deeper personal dimension, we decided to step back and give the authors carte blanche to experiment. In this issue, we left them with a task to put their ideas on paper both in writing and drawing. Thus, each text was illustrated by its author.

We hope that you will be able to find your own breath of fresh air here, and that you enjoy your reading. Many second thoughts!

Yours truly, The Editorial Board

CONTENT

SOCIAL

CULTURAL

POLITICAL

5

Anna Potoczny Rediscovering the love of things

9

Jakub Kądzielski Be my Only Fan

15

Karolina Kowalska Out-worldly tasks: waging wars and raising babies

21

Natallia Valadzko The sewers are flooding, what do you do?

27

Weronika Peek Masala Dreams

33

Dominika Front Who goes there? – Sasha 3%

39

Piotr Miszczuk Poles apart – why divided Poland should become a Switzerland

4 • SOCIAL POLITICAL

SOCIAL • 5

ANNA POTOCZNY

Rediscovering the love of things On Christmas Eve, 2019, while listening to Olga Tokarczuk’s Nobel Prize acceptance speech, I was prompted to think of... plenty of things, actually.

The insufficiency of individualism. Our mutual interdependence. How Polish must sound to the nonPolish-speaking audience. And, finally, ecological consequences of our attachment to material objects.

I realise that this probably sounds quite counterintuitive – after all, a lot of us are quickly becoming more and more eco-conscious and aware of the fact that consumerism contributes significantly to the increasing pollution of our planet and exhaustion of essential resources. However, the type of materialism (I’ll allow myself to use this word for a reason that will be explained shortly) I’m thinking of is related less to any random billionaire’s attachment to their sixteen yachts; rather, to the story by Hans Christian

6 • SOCIAL

Andersen that Tokarczuk mentions in her speech – the one concerning a teapot. For those who don’t remember (as I certainly didn’t), the teapot in question “had been thrown on the trash heap [and] complained about how cruelly it had been treated by people – as soon as its handle broke off, they had disposed of it. But if they weren’t such demanding perfectionists it still could have been of use to them”.

The author recalls that, as a child, she imagined objects to have little worlds of their own. This kind of tenderness, as well as tenderness towards people and other beings, is easily lost in the rush and stir of the contemporary world.

Putting aside the element of anthropomorphism, the thoughtlessness with which we tend to treat objects has got obvious consequences for the environment. Treating material things as disposable is at least partly responsible for the rubbish piling up on landfills. This, in turn, encourages the debate on how much responsibility lies with corporations and how much with individual consumers. I believe that, rather than becoming hung up on the matter of fault, we should examine the ways of thinking that enable contemporary consumerism and the enormous production of trash.

SOCIAL • 7

rush and stir Interestingly, philosophy does just that – and has been doing it for a few years now.

In her book Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things, political scientist Jane Bennett explores the idea of matter being endowed with certain agency. Her project is aimed at analysing “[h]ow . . . patterns of consumption [would] change if we faced not litter, rubbish, trash, or ‘the recycling’, but an accumulating pile of lively and potentially dangerous matter”. The philosophical current within which Bennett is often placed is called New Materialism and can be linked to environmental issues. One of Bennet’s main claims is that perceiving objects as passive and purely instrumental reinforces the sense of “human hubris” and prevents us from interacting with the world in greener, more sustainable ways. The fact that things are meant to serve us doesn’t mean they don’t outlive us – and, once we conveniently dispose of them, they often influence the environment in harmful, destructive ways.

We live in the world of fast fashion, planned obsolescence, and general availability of almost any type of product imaginable. In this world, there is hardly a place for Andersen’s teapot, whose handle has broken off. Still, one could stop to consider the ethical dimension of consumption, the mechanisms that drive it, and, finally, the love-of-things, which can be very different from the temporary satisfaction derived from shopping. Certain affection towards objects might encourage us to fix what needs fixing or to continue enjoying it, instead of replacing it with something new on the first occasion. I also believe it to be a good starting point for a more environmentally friendly way of living. Much simpler and less littered.

8 • SOCIAL POLITICAL

SOCIAL • 9

JAKUB KĄDZIELSKI

Be my Only Fan

Imagine this: you’re a skilled artist looking for a way to share your art with an audience. You’ve tried Facebook, Twitter, and other social media but you’re still not turning a profit. Suddenly, you come across this new platform, where fans can make a simple payment to unlock your various artwork each month. A perfect solution, isn’t it? The only problem: it’s filled with pornography.

OnlyFans.com is a content subscription service website. There, creators can earn money from viewers (“fans”) subscribing to their accounts and paying a monthly fee for their products. It also allows authors to receive funding from one-time tips and a pay-per-view (PPV) feature. Of that, the company retains 20%, with the rest going to the creator.

Simple as that.

The site launched in 2016 and slowly but steadily gained more attention. Now, presumably owing to the ubiquitous social isolation forced by the pandemic, it has become an enormous platform with over 1 million creators and more than 50 million registered users. In early 2019, OnlyFans’ founder, Tim Stockley was quoted in The West Australian saying, "We are currently on-boarding over 3000 new content creators every week." Reportedly, the site has paid out over 2 billion to the creators and has been valued at around $900 million. Needless to say, it is BIG. However, despite its popularity, OnlyFans is a controversial platform. As I have written, the site is filled to the brim with pornographic content.

That is not to say that there are no safe-for-work creators on OnlyFans. Quite the contrary, it hosts numerous musicians, graphic designers, fitness trainers, influencers, and other artists – nonetheless, they remain a minority. Chances are, if you’re logging into the site, you’re looking for some smut.

While there is nothing inherently wrong with pornography and sex-working, malpractice and mishandle often sprout around them. OnlyFans is no exception. If you search through the articles about the site, you will see a number of issues crop up. From the unfair distribution of wealth (33% of earnings from the site go to the top 1% creators, with most accounts taking ‘home’ less than $145 per month) to unlawful practices (cases of false advertising, site capping on how much can a creator earn) or even cases of underage pornography, as was revealed by the BBC Three documentary #Nudes4Sale.

Even if you don’t watch it, chances are you are aware of the gargantuan amount of pornography on the internet. Free pornography at that. Why would

10 • SOCIAL

unlock

anyone pay for a site like OnlyFans, when there is so much of the same free of charge? OnlyFans offers neither more nor better content than its competitors – it has fewer creators, doesn’t support 4K quality, and has restrictions on the type of erotica it offers, which “classic” porno sites do not have.

OnlyFans is so popular because it offers a human connection, or rather an illusion of it. The users of the site create a certain rapport with the creators they support, just like fans with their idols. (It is worth mentioning that OnlyFans community is predominantly heterosexual men paying to watch women, and this text will refer to such typical situation.) Paying on a monthly basis, you can follow the life of a given creator. What she does each week, what she likes, what are her hopes and dreams – you know it all. And if the tip is high enough, you can write personally, or even receive personalized content. If you’re the type of person who lacks human interactions or social skills, this drug was made for you.

And the creators know the game they’re playing.

OnlyFans nailed the dopamine hook of social media and casinos that porn websites did not; the platform works like a gated garden. In the beginning, when you get to OnlyFans, you see only racy descriptions of photos. Once you subscribe, you get to see those photos, though some of them are blurred out. Of course, you can pay extra to unlock them. If you want to go deeper into the gated community you can request personalized content, but you need to tip individually for that. The mechanism of OnlyFans can be compared to the rush you get when someone sends you a text or a Snap, which you can’t open just yet. There’s mystery, you cannot stop thinking about it and it creates anticipation. We can contrast that with X-rated sites, where each mystery is immediately revealed. You see an explicit video with an explicit description and a thumbnail, and if you hover above the thumbnail you can glimpse various moments from the clip. OnlyFans works the other way round: everything is veiled and the only way to remove that veil is to pay. On top of that, the webcam industry (including OnlyFans’ sister site MyFreeCams.com) uses the same techniques as the gambling industry: keno, roulettes and content hidden behind paywalls.

The amount of money needed to win is unclear. It is reminiscent of those game machines you can play in any tourist town, where the next coin could be the one to tip the whole game. Again, the prize in these games is the same as what is available on all

SOCIAL • 11

of the classic porn sites, but it is the mystery and anticipation that drives this seemingly irrational behavior.

However, these practices are not the only thing that makes OnlyFans so successful. It’s the feelings of recognition, intimacy, and community that truly distinguish the site. The cycle begins on Instagram, where OnlyFans’ models post their photos available for everyone. The way these pictures are taken rarely makes the audience feel acknowledged, with models looking away from the camera and the viewer being more of a voyeur. This serves as a gateway to more affectionate photos, which you can find exclusively on OnlyFans. There, you receive recognition, along with content that feels more personal and intimate. Creators often send direct messages, asking users to react to a recent

per fect solu tion

12 • SOCIAL

guaranteed photo shoot or texting “goodnight”/“good morning” messages, in which they claim to be thinking about them. In the photo descriptions on Instagram the words “you” or “us” are rarely used, while on OnlyFans creators use them repeatedly. This type of language creates intimacy. Relationships on OnlyFans mimic relationships in real life (especially long-distance relationships), at least at their face value. Going further down the rabbit hole: fans of a given creator tend to form friend groups of their own. They recognize each other on live chats, ask about personal life or react if they haven’t seen a person in a while.

If the creator doesn’t stream though, the fans can’t meet each other on that day.

But it’s this last bit that makes OnlyFans potentially even more addictive than casinos: it sells guaranteed acceptance. Even if you behave in the most cringy and unattractive way, which usually would get you rejected on dating sites like Tinder or Bumble, you will not get left in the red. Every message gets a response, provided it is paid for or shows a prospect of turning up a profit. On OnlyFans you don’t need to be interesting for people to act interested. And the girls make sure that you will be interested in them, too; they fill their account descriptions with interests reliable to most young men: sports, computer games, comics, anime, and obscure philosophies. The number of women highlighting predominantly male hobbies is through the roof. Now, these women may genuinely hold these interests but they appear more often on OnlyFans than in real life. When talking to such a girl, you don’t need to make her interested in your hobbies or listen to what interests her. The burden of keeping the conversation going is lifted – women on OnlyFans will do it for you. And they will add naked photos to that. For a fee.

SOCIAL • 13

In that regard, OnlyFans offers something more than standard porn websites ever could. When talking to a girl you don’t need to fear rejection, even if you show her the most awkward, insecure side of yourself. For a couple of bucks, you can have a relationship that feels like a genuine bond. If porn offers arousal and orgasm, OnlyFans offers guaranteed acceptance. On top of that, your ‘girlfriend’ is crazy about sex, sends nudes and likes the things you like.

It is not a particularly healthy mechanism, in which we can swap cash for a simulation of a relationship. I believe it’s much more rewarding to look for genuine bonds in real life, even if that means risking rejection and/or hurting. It is that risk that helps us grow and change as individuals. If we just aim at safe, constant gratification, we’re missing out. So next time, let’s try spending that hard-earned cash on something that makes one grow, or swapping that online date for a real-life conversation with another person. Who knows, they may even become your only fan.

acceptance

14 • CULTURAL POLITICAL • COMIC BOOKS

CULTURAL • COMIC BOOKS • 15

KAROLINA KOWALSKA

Out-worldly tasks: waging wars and raising babies

The sound of a speeding bullet piercing through the air is soon followed by a violent thud as a silhouette lands on the ground. Their cape floats gently in the wind as the figure stands up to reveal a striking symbol on their chest. This iconic image of superheroes presents them as unattainable gods, sent to protect the innocent and punish the guilty. The majority of comic book readers rarely ask themselves if Superman experiences work problems or whether Batman struggles with parenting – superheroes are conventionally above petty human struggles. However, that is not the case in Mister Miracle (2017) by Tom King, which recycles the original comic book about this character, written in the 70s by Jack Kirby. Using various themes and devices depicting daily life, the author steps away from standard comic book themes and presents a story that readers can relate to – domestic themes are intertwined with superhero canon in order to elicit a personal connection in the reader and humanize the god-like characters of the DC Universe.

A superhero, as a representative of the comic book genre and thus a character performing super-heroics, can be defined based on three main principles – their mission, powers, and identity, otherwise known as MPI (introduced by Peter Coogan).

The author defines his MPI structure in the following terms: the mission must serve the public; superpowers are the iconic attributes that distinguish superheroes from ordinary heroes; last but not least, superhero identity is defined as encompassing the character’s codename, costume, and civilian secret identity.

Following Coogan’s definition of a superhero, it is easy to define the issue of “superheroics” – all the actions performed and elements associated with a given character that fit the MPI structure of defining a superhero. On the other hand, “daily routine”

16 • CULTURAL • COMIC BOOKS and “domesticity” can be easily summarized as the opposite of super-heroics – the tasks that an average human being performs on a daily basis as well as events typically associated with them, such as going to work, starting a family, etc.

The main idea that separates Mister Miracle from other contemporary comic books is the bending and shifting of the standards and clichés of the superhero genre. What strikes the reader most is the discrepancy between performing out-worldly tasks such as waging an intergalactic war and raising a newborn baby.

Throughout the book, the main character – Scott Free (known by his superhero persona, Mister Miracle) struggles with mental health issues (the book opens on his failed suicide attempt), dealing with grief after the death of his beloved mentor, and co-parenting his first child, all the while staying “professionally” active. These everyday issues interwoven with classic superhero tropes make the character something more than just another unattainable superhero ideal.

They make him relatable.

The major departures from typical comic book narratives presented in Mister Miracle are those contrasting public and private spheres of life. Throughout their history, spanning nearly 80 years, comic books have unfortunately often fallen prey to the notion of confining their male heroes to public duty (professional super-heroism, politics), while their female counterparts are often doomed to eventually end up leaning into the more private sphere of life, often despite sharing the same abilities as their male colleagues. That worldview is understandable, given the socio-cultural context of the 30s when the superhero genre was born. Today, however, the public and personal spheres are more intertwined, gender roles become blurred, and interpersonal relationships between men and women tend to be more cooperative in nature. This exact view of the changing world is reflected in Mister Miracle.

Scott and his wife, Barda, are both professionally active superheroes. They are also new parents.

The importance of family, or rather the lack of

thereof, is arguably the crucial superhero trope of all time. It is often the death of a family member that pushes the characters to pursue their superhero identity, most usually that of a guardian figure in the hero’s life: parents, older relatives, mentors. However, superhero narratives rarely tackle the problem of the hero’s own parenthood, and although Mister Miracle does rely on the dead mentor trope (although, some might argue that it somewhat subverts it – I will explain that further on), the main story point is the struggle of two people trying to raise a child while maintaining their professional lives.

Scott and Barda take turns taking care of their newborn son and waging a bloody war on their home planet. Not only does the comedic montage depicting that struggle mirror the real, though much more down-to-earth situations millions of working parents face these days, but it also emphasizes the partnership Scott and Barda have achieved in their marriage.

With Scott never once batting an eye at being the one to stay home, the issue of super-heroic masculinity arises. Aside from taking on roles commonly recognized as feminine – being confined to t he pr ivate sphere, taking care of children, etc. – and sometimes even stereotypically feminine character traits (Barda’s active role in killing their childhood abuser, while Scott stands by paralyzed by his emotional response), Mister Miracle’s protagonist is visually distinct from the typical hyper-masculine superhero form.

His slender silhouette and, compared to Barda’s impressively muscular and tall build, small frame distinguish him from the well-established canon of superhero beauty. Mister Miracle’s appearance and willingness to step out of the confines of actions typically associated with masculinity make him a relatable, fleshed-out character in a world where masculinity becomes more versatile.

As previously mentioned, the trope of an absent mentor figure is explored in Mister Miracle as well, yet the death of the mentor does not become the necessary trigger for the protagonist to embark on

CULTURAL • COMIC BOOKS • 17

18 • CULTURAL • COMIC BOOKS

superan adventure. In comic book narratives, a father figure helps the hero understand his manhood and prompts him to take action. King portrays a griefstricken son who, being unable to accept his mentor’s death, still believes his guardian to be alive – Scott regularly engages in verbal conversations with the deceased. It is very easy to relate to that picture. The grief after the death of a loved one often pushes those left behind into irrational states of blurred memories and the feeling of abandonment. People deny the death of a family member while continuing to seek their guidance, oftentimes refusing to part with the deceased’s earthly belongings, especially if the passing occurred in tragic circumstances.

The nature of Scott’s mentor’s death is absurdly down-to-earth – he lost his short battle with lung cancer caused by his lifelong smoking. This is not

and p

CULTURAL • COMIC BOOKS • 19

-villains the way heroes leave this world – they die gloriously on a battlefield, protecting the innocent, instead of being bed-bound, struggling to catch their breath.

Similarly to the issue of masculinity, Mister Miracle explores unconventional takes on femininity.

As mentioned before, Barda is not a typical superheroine; the depiction of this character is a separate matter of its own. Her visual representation is possibly the most striking feature contrasting her with other female superheroes. Barda is much taller than her husband, her body is muscular and covered with countless scars, and her costume acts as a protective armor covering every inch of her body, including the massive helmet on her head.

This practical, modest, outward appearance directly contrasts the sexualization of female forms comic books are widely known for. As correctly summed up by the legendary comic book author Alan Moore, superheroines must look almost artificial – “totally plastic and smooth . . . [with] long eyelashes, little tiny mouth[s] . . . no character”. Barda’s rough, almost brutish impression is a realistic depiction of what a woman who trained all her life and is frequently engaged in physical combat would look like – this can be illustrated by the real-life examples of MMA fighters or female soldiers. Not only does this realism allow for the reader to stop and think: “this is a person I could potentially meet on the street”, but it also contrasts the typical comic book image of scantily-clad superheroines with a fighter who chooses practicality and safety over aesthetics.

In the examples provided above, an interesting pattern of relatability arises. At this point, it is important to stress why readers and comic book fans would even appreciate this device. It is possible to say that seeing your heroes struggle with the same daily problems as regular people is somewhat inspiring. If the all-powerful hero can tackle both super-villains AND personal problems, then should the latter pose any threat to me?

Hero-worship and relatability allow comic book narratives for a level of familiarity, representing the broader moral conduct of the Western society – love, justice, and equality. Naturally, some may argue that these are not universal values, or that mirroring our world in terms of a black and white struggle between good and evil is just too simple.

Nevertheless, superhero narratives provide sufficient content for self-identification.

Similarly, the issue of representation is another valid factor contributing to making Mister Miracle a relatable superhero. In making the character of Scott Free a gentle, kind man of a slender stature and unresolved childhood trauma, the authors present the hero of the 21st century – a hero accessible to anyone no matter their gender, race or identity. By introducing the themes of daily routine, work-life balance, and the struggles of parenthood, King creates a vibrant, relatable world, in which, even though real, the Justice League, acting as fantastic, wish-fulfilling gods, seems just as far away and unattainable as it is in our world.

personal problems

20 • CULTURAL POLITICAL • RPG

CULTURAL • RPG • 21

NATALLIA VALADZKO

Tabletop role-playing games have been regaining popularity in the last decade as the game design industry, be it video games or tabletop, has been growing and diversifying to keep up with the times.

When you think of a tabletop role-playing game (TRPG), you may imagine a game of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) in a basement in the 1980s.

However, this nostalgia might have been the spark that ushered Dungeons & Dragons back into the spotlight. What’s more, it was brought back rebranded. In 2014, the 5th edition of D&D was released, and in 2015, a gameplay show Critical Role made a debut, all of which contributes to what some call “a Dungeons & Dragons renaissance”.

Let’s mention here that there are dozens of decent game systems that can cater to large audiences and propel good storytelling in a myriad of settings and genres: from science fiction, cyberpunk, and high fantasy to a present-day slice of life. Different game systems like D&D, FATE, Warhammer, Call of Cthulhu, and indie one-page TRPGs offer different experiences, and one of the main reasons is the difference in game mechanics that function as a skeleton or a vehicle for storytelling. I suppose it is safe to say that the success of a game lies in the perfect balance and interconnectedness of game mechanics, storytelling, and the engagement that comes from the players embodied in real life.

I would like to take a closer look at Dimension 20 as a case study to see how game mechanics can enhance storytelling and by maintaining a certain connection with the real world make the stakes feel real. Dimension 20 (D20) is a tabletop RPG comedy show that uses D&D system to tell stories set in a magical version of New York, the fantastical land of Solace, or the realm of Calorum — a realm

22 • CULTURAL • RPG made of six food-themed lands. It goes against the stereotype of D&D being a male-dominated dungeon crawls and hours of mindless combat. Instead, the game adapts the traditional system to explore various settings, genre conventions, narrative tones and freely explore the themes of gender, sexuality, class relations, violence, found family, gentrification, or a police state, to name just a few.

Dungeons & Dragons employs a d20 system, named after the 20-sided die which is central to the core mechanics of many actions in the game, alongside the 12-, 8-, 6-, and 4-sided dice. Rolling dice is a way to determine how well or how poorly you perform in combat or in various skill checks. While a player has the freedom to choose their character’s strengths and weaknesses during the character creation phase, dice introduce the element of chance and act as an allround equalizer. Let’s say you want to squeeze through a narrow opening – you have to make an athletics roll. And if your dice roll is low, most likely it would mean that you failed. Narratively it would translate into you eating too much in the morning, suddenly seeing a spider, or wherever the imagination of a player might take them. Rolling a 20 or a 1 on the die signifies an automatic success or failure, wondrous performance or a miserable flop.

To illustrate, rolling a natural (without modifiers) 20 in combat would double your damage, while rolling a natural 1 might land the dagger aimed at your opponent into your own foot. The narrative, dice, and reallife level of consequences find their place in one of the key episodes of a D20’s campaign, where even with all the skills and modifiers, a character was unknowingly walking into a sure death trap. However, they roll a natural 20, and it was truly the only – quite incomprehensible – way they miraculously survived.

Such are the consequences of the collaboration with “math rocks”.

Combat in D&D is a special part of the game, as all the characters enter in an initiative order that allows them to act only in their turn each round.

Over-relying on the expectations from combat-heavy games or stereotypical depictions of D&D from the previous century, one might see only the “kill or be killed” approach. However, it can be much more

CULTURAL • RPG • 23 elegant, nuanced, and enjoyable: combat resolution may be hiding or running away. We should bear in mind that “fighting” does not inherently make a narrative better: there is always dialogue, trickery or good old running away. Often following game or narrative conventions might put us in a box and turn our characters into mere cardboard cutouts without any depth.

There are incredible non-violent uses of the combat mode possible in D&D, and D20 makes the best out of the infinite amount of creativity put into campaign or battle map development. What can constitute combat? It might be a time-sensitive situation where a character’s strength lies not in the amount of damage they deal but in their skills, game economy, time management, and blessing of the dice rolls. Think about pulling off a heist in a limited amount of time while having to react to obstacles arising in real time, or clearing a number of magical subway cars filled with puzzles and beasts while trying to get to the conductor’s booth to stop the train from going off the rails.

To elaborate, a battle map does not have to be a flat surface with neatly arranged enemies.

Dimension 20 delivers model battle sets, whose difficult terrain and obstacles may turn into opportunities in the hands of skilled storytellers.

You can try saving an NPC from the Rat King in the sewers of NYC with different ground levels, while water is slowly filling in. You have to move around to make it to the higher ground in time – otherwise, you are in danger of drowning or being killed by sewer alligators. Also, you may find yourself at a party in a three-story house with a swimming pool and a terrace when you are suddenly ambushed by a wizard and their henchmen. Inside this multidimensional terrain, the party is spread out among “villains” and “civilians”. One must take advantage of the space and different movement options: dashing to safety, flying, or teleportation. Yet, it also creates infinite opportunities for the players to use the surroundings to their advantage.

An appealing link between a TRPG and life is that you can use game mechanics to depict a character’s

24 • CULTURAL • RPG change and mirror their growth. One beautiful example of this is changing a character’s class or subclass mid-campaign. In D&D, during character creation, you choose a class of a Wizard, a Monk, a Paladin, a Rogue, etc. which defines your abilities later. Yet who said you cannot change it as the in-game world influences you in profound ways?

Dimension 20 shows how a sword Fighter with a pirate dad after reflecting on masculinity and violence becomes instead a spell-casting Bard with the motto “I dance now”. In addition, unlike combat-oriented games, where one tries to strategically exploit the game mechanics to stack damage, role-playing games rely heavily on interpersonal interaction. The consequences of such interactions are of huge importance. A nonplayer character (NPC) you befriend may become your greatest ally – on the other hand, getting carried away with fighting games’ conventions and going on a killing spree may land you in a tight spot later on. When choosing violence, you’d better be prepared to face the consequences. Nobody is invincible. Not even a Level 17 Barbarian with an enchanted battle axe.

A truly astounding use of game mechanics that allows one not to lose the connection with a complex reality of life is the panic attack mechanic and the addiction recovery system implemented in Dimension 20’s campaigns. Mental health is real and tangible even in fictional universes, and so it finds its representation in how characters react to triggers or find ways to cope with a debilitating panic attack. If we use mechanics to resolve interpersonal violence, why wouldn’t we have one dealing with addiction and recovery? D20 took time and energy to give the situation gravitas while also depicting it as a struggle. In short, a character in recovery starts with a Sobriety Die that will represent the amount of stress their sobriety is currently under, whether from within or without. As the Sobriety Die size grows (from d4 to d20), so does their progress in recovery. The desired tone is that we should not depict relapse as a “choice”, narrative or otherwise. The characters are trying their best but sometimes they fail.

In a world where the struggle is generally handled by rolling dice, it may be more responsible and accurate to portray a character’s relationship with addiction and recovery in the same way.

throwing the Sobriety Die

CULTURAL • RPG • 25 Stories often mimic life, but when it comes to TRPG stories, there is one crucial difference – random chance just doesn't exist in other types of fiction.

The storyteller might be omniscient and in complete control. In a story, the hero just seems to be in danger, but the storyteller knows they are going to make it till the end. Dimension 20 is a comedic show, and all of the seasons are mostly “player-death-free”.

And yet, its fifth season, A Crown of Candy, set in a food-inspired realm, was hailed a “consequences season”, as there are no easy solutions, resurrections or miraculous deus ex machina. Chancellor Lapin Cadbury was receiving his power from Sugar-Plum Fairy in exchange for favours, and he was following her second set of instructions when in an act of sacrifice he met his dramatic demise. His last words, "But I never gave her the third wish" translate into “I am not done yet, I still have a role to play in the story” – but the dice take the character away.

We are often exposed to fictional narratives where the hero defeats the BBEG – the big bad evil guy – and goes against all the odds; or to games where you can always go back to the save point and start again, and again, and again. It might feel unnatural to sense a character slip through the narrative cracks and out of your control, but the dice are ruthless. You are forced to realize you are not fine just because you are the main character; whoever is in trouble is, indeed, in trouble. Perhaps a really good D&D game hides in the interplay of gaming, narratives, and real-life elements that engage, make you care and, above all, make it fun.

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CULTURAL • CINEMA • 27

WERONIKA PEEK

Masala Dreams

Hollywood built its legend on a simple premise: it is undefeated. For years it has maintained its popularity and unprecedented significance within the film industry – and it’s all about to change. This title is currently challenged by cinematic colossuses all around the globe. Asian cinema comes forth, with China being the second biggest market, followed by the Japanese and the Indian. The 2020 Oscar for Parasite was a solid proof of this shift.

Way before that, though, foreign cultures functioned in American cinema more in the form of symbols. American filmmakers have long been known to be fascinated by “exotic” cinematography, which often caused periods of growing interest in certain cultures. One of such fads was a renewed interest in Chinese wuxia – fiction connected to martial arts – at the beginning of the 21st century.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was an overnight

sensation which inspired the Americans to recreate that style themselves. This peculiar mix of Chinese (more generally, Asian) and American elements gave birth to such classics as Kill Bill or Kung Fu Panda.

However, the brief enchantment faded away, and American cinema went back to business as usual.

Meanwhile, far from the flying daggers and hidden dragons, another industry was slowly raising its head. It coined its name in the 70s from the cinematic centre of the country – Bombay – and Hollywood itself. It, too, would soon become an object of American curiosity. Even so, at its very beginning, Bollywood was not the vivid spectacle we may see nowadays – its history is mostly hardship, struggle, and escapism.

The first cheap-thrill Indian films started in small, independent studios. Their initial success was inhibited in the 1930s by the Great Depression,

28 • CULTURAL • CINEMA the fight for independence, and, later, World War II. On top of that, in 1947 British India was divided into India and Pakistan. It came out that the longcherished independence carried a huge refugee crisis and an escalation of violence. Several films tackled social issues that arose from the Partition. However, the most prominent genre became melodramas and musicals, which allowed the viewers to escape the horrid reality.

In the 1950s and 60s, Bollywood reached its Golden Age, producing mostly epic films. Indian producers most probably borrowed the format from classic Hollywood musicals: the films were over three hours long, had an intermission in the middle, and usually consisted of several songs. Of course, each of them was star-studded. Nowadays, Madhubala, Dev Anand and Dilip Kumar are just a few of the names in India that hold as much prestige as Marilyn Monroe, Gregory Peck, or James Dean. It was also the time Indian cinematography started gaining recognition overseas. Mother India, released in 1957, was its first nomination to the Academy Award Best

escape the horrid Foreign Language Film – and it lost by only one vote!

After another decade screens hosted a variety of genres. Though musical romance was still holding the crown, the screenwriter duo Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar introduced crime films to the scene, with Deewar being the pioneer in the genre.

The abundance of themes and tropes resulted in what we call today a masala film, which intertwines romance, action, melodrama, and comedy. The name comes from masala, a combination of spices, and masala films are just as rich in their plot and content.

They often mix different landscapes, especially in musical numbers, as well as costumes, music, and general design.

The delightful chaos of the 70s and 80s resulted in the outburst of creative energy in the 1990s.

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reality

The filmmakers found masala films to be the perfect recipe for blockbusters. Films as Main Pyar Kiya, Hum Aapke Hain Koun, or Kuch Kuch Hota Hai were watched all around the world and the pretty decent earnings of the Bollywood industry quickly surpassed every expectation. One of the reasons for that was the strong diaspora. The NRIs (NonResident Indians) and Desi subcultures in the US or the UK now had the possibility to see their native culture and traditions in the films easily available in video rental shops.

Many of the films from the era capture the conflict NRIs experienced themselves: the clash of cultures. One of the examples is the smash hit Kabhi Khushi, Kabhie Gham. Rahoul, a son of a business magnate, decides to marry Anjali, a girl from a poorer background. Disowned by his father, he moves to London, suffering the consequences of his decision.

We can see a clear territorial distinction between the modern and the traditional. London is a safe space for Rahoul and Anjali, but they constantly highlight it is not their home – Delhi is – a home that banished them for not sticking to tradition. In the end, these two worlds are connected when the whole family reunites in London. Perhaps tradition and modernity are not so irreconcilable.

This international context turned out to be attractive for many viewers outside India. True, not all cultures experience such an extent of expatriation, but most of them can relate to motives as simple as the choice between “then” and “now” or the need to break away from tradition. Except that, foreign audiences were crazy about ten-minute-long musical numbers, saris, vermillion, and the camp style Bollywood could offer. Because of that, the 21st century saw a great spike in the foreign interest in Indian productions. It inspired Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge, episodes of several TV shows, including The Simpsons or The Office, as well as a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber called Bombay Dreams. And even though the audiences loved finding exotic themes in the media they knew, the curious marriage of the two cultures quickly transpired to be a bad idea.

Bollywood has long been known to borrow themes from the American cinema... and sometimes whole pictures. What started as an innocent restaging of some motifs or scenes (like the famous Matrix scene recreated in Main Hoon Na), developed into copying entire films. Kadhalar Dinam is, in fact, You’ve Got Mail, Baazigar is no different than A Kiss Before Dying, and The Truth About Cats &

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Dogs found its equivalent in Mujhse Dosti Karoge!.

Several complaints have been filed and sometimes the American side would win (as happened with Banda Yeh Bindaas Hai/My Cousin Vinny). Even so, it is important to note most of the American films copied by Bollywood are themselves remakes, just like You’ve Got Mail is a reworked version of The Shop Around the Corner, and The Truth About Cats and Dogs was based on the classic story of Cyrano de Bergerac. In that case, Indian films do not copy exact shots, movements, or dialogues, but the plot itself. And if it is okay to provide a modern American reinterpretation of the text, why be so bitter about its cultural reinterpretation?

The answer is quite simple: Americans cannot copy Bollywood as well as Indians copy Hollywood.

Bollywood screenwriters usually take time to make the story sensible on their own cultural ground. The characters’ own desires are not enough for them to take action, as they are always bound by a greater necessity, usually an oath or maintaining peace in the family. An unsolvable problem may be resolved with the help of deities, who never appear in person, but often pull the strings.

In American cinema, such understanding of duty and religion is almost obsolete. If there is anything sacred, it is staying true to oneself and one’s own needs. Deities exist occasionally, as beings that can be called upon, but rarely interfere. Consequently, Indian culture in American films may be strongly misunderstood. It could be best depicted with Slumdog Millionaire, which won the Academy Award Best Picture in 2009. The film was released at the peak of Bollywood’s popularity in the United States.

It tells the story of Jamal, an Indian boy coming from the slums, who goes on to win the grand prize on the Indian equivalent of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. Slumdog was received very warmly in the US and the UK, but India did not share their sentiment. The film was a topic of much discussion.

The critics pointed out that the main character speaks British English despite growing up in slums and that the Indian landscapes are chosen from a set of very safe, stereotypical scenes, already known to foreign audiences. In other words, it was a typical American feel-good story wrapped in the idea of Indian culture.

Surely, Bol ly wood f i lms themselves often create an equally fake reality. The characters live in lavish mansions and their main concerns entail love and status.

It may be justifiable as escapism is still the very heart of that cinema.

It doesn’t change the fact that the Bollywood we know now is far removed from the Bollywood that stemmed from the hardship of the Partition. Over the years the industry started to brim with nepotism, sexism, and privilege – or perhaps these phenomena became more apparent.

Some films, like Om Shanti Om or Salaam Bombay, tackle the topic of such inequalities. Unfortunately, they often address those issues in a quite shallow way, not presenting the full picture.

CULTURAL • CINEMA • 31

musical numbers The pandemic continues to wreak havoc in the world. It feels so easy to barricade yourself at home with Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, or Sridevi. Maybe in those dark, uncertain times Bollywood brings back hope. There is song, dance, passionate love and violent revenge, and a whole other world. A world we’ll never understand.

vermillion

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POLITICAL • 33

DOMINIKA FRONT

Who goes there?

– Sasha 3% It all started with Tikhanovskaya. She has been predominantly recognised as the legitimate president of Belarus. To the extent that she, as the tradition dictates, delivered a presidential New Year’s message on December 31, 2020, and published it on YouTube.

Alexander Lukashenko did the very same thing – on All-National Television. It was a true battle of words to win over listeners.

A closer look at personal pronouns can shed more light on the message they conveyed. In Belarusian there exists an implied subject, so this text spotlights only those moments when they were explicitly stated.

Lukashenko’s speech consisted of 595 words in total, out of which the pronoun we was used 21 times.

Additionally, us appeared 7 times, our 11 times, and no I was uttered. On the contrary, Tikhanovskaya’s speech comprised 700 words. We appeared 25 times; us was to be found 6 times, while our – 9. I appeared only once.

We, as well as us and our, is usually employed to highlight the unity with the addressee(s). Precisely in such a way did Lukashenko and Tikhanovskaya use these pronouns in their New Year’s addresses. For instance, in the sentence: “We have clearly realized what we have and what we can lose irretrievably”, Lukashenka put emphasis on some shared thoughts and realisations. Sometime later, he said: “It means that we do not stand still. The world has changed.

So have we. Our transformations are an elaborate and well-considered evolution”. Our and we here do not refer to the readers/listeners but to the country as a whole territory, thus, drawing attention to the inseparable relationship between the land that changes, and its inhabitants.

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we The pronouns mentioned above can also serve as a means of exclusion. This became visible when Lukashenka said: “You know that some of us, having faced the challenges of the leap year, want Belarus the way it was one year before. [...] All of us, who see the world differently, should realize that our common value is our land in the center of Europe”.

It would be very naïve to think that this is just an innocent statement. What strikes one immediately is the feeling of an authoritarian, intolerant way of reassuring the citizens that no disagreeing voices will be tolerated.

At the beginning of her speech, Tikhanovskaya said: “2020 was a year when we, Belarusians, united”, and then goes on listing why, starting each sentence with “we united in X” (where X is the name of the month). The sense of all-encompassing national identity was present not only because of semantics, but also because of this recurring phrase. And when the politician said: “And the new year will bring us back home – to a free Belarus”, one could easily read this as a biting remark towards Lukashenko, hinting that under his rule, Belarus is not a free country. At the same time, comparing free Belarus to home presents the opposition’s leader as a part of this home.

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya spoke solely in Belarusian, while Alexander Lukashenko delivered the whole speech in Russian, except for one phrase – “людзьмі звацца” (Eng.: to be called human), which was in Belarusian. It is a quote from Yanka Kupala’s poem entitled А хто там ідзе? (Eng. And say who goes there?): “И если мы хотим ‘людзьмі звацца’, мы это сделаем!” Since it was lost in the official English translation, here is a more accurate translation of the whole poem, so as to give a broader perspective.

us

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And, Say, Who Goes There?

And, say, who goes there? And, say, who goes there?

In such a mighty throng assembled, O declare?

Byelorussians!

And what do those lean shoulders bear as load, Those hands stained dark with blood, those feet bast-sandal shod?

All their grievance!

And to what place do they this grievance bear, And whither do they take it to declare?

To the whole world!

And who schooled them thus, many million strong, Bear their grievance forth, roused them from slumbers long?

Want and suffering!

And what is it, then, for which so long they pined, Scorned throughout the years, they, the deaf, the blind?

To be called human! (trans. Natallia Valadzko)

our

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Kupala to Belarusians is like Szymborska to Poles or Pound to Americans – he is regarded as one of the greatest Belarusian poets of the 20th century. As his work makes up a substantial part of the contemporary national legacy, the quote should be recognised on the spot. What is more, the Belarusian language is perceived as more personal and more appealing.

The text portrays a group of Belarusians who are miserable and the only thing they desire is “to be called human”. Sure, one can say that in the bloody aftermath of the peaceful protests, it might be a promise for improving the police’s behaviour.

On the other hand, personal liberties are being trampled in Belarus every day – it ranks as the 43rd country with the most severe human rights violations, according to the 2020 Human Rights and Rule of Law Index. Wouldn’t it be more logical then to assume that “the last dictator in Europe” made a scornful remark by quoting that fragment?

Unsettlingly enough, Tikhanovskaya refers to the exact same text. She quoted two lines from the poem – the first and the last one. While, in the beginning, the lyrical I of Kupala’s poem poses a rhetorical question to describe the group very generally, Tikhanovskaya did the opposite thing. She tried to enumerate as many representatives of distinct social groups as possible. It was to show that the nation consists of groups that are at times poles apart, and yet, unite under a common goal – building a free Belarus.

Lastly, Alexander Lukashenko had a national flag pin on his jacket’s left lapel.

There was a flag to his left, which occupied approximately one-fourth of the frame.

Using symbols is an easy and straightforward way of identification with which the symbols represent – in this case, the whole nation. Tikhanovskaya did the same.

Nevertheless, she chose a different flag. The politician decided to employ a historical flag which was used at first from 1918 to 1951 and then between 1991 and 1995. It consists of three horizontal stripes – white-red-white. Since then, it has been a national symbol

this home

POLITICAL • 37 of the opposition to Lukashenko’s regime. Thus, as a way of identifying with the anti-Lukashenko movement, she wore a white shirt and a red jacket, while a Christmas tree with white-red-white baubles could be easily spotted. Her choice was far more direct, striking, and immediate than Lukashenko’s.

Both politicians benefited from the rhetorical tactics of political discourse and used them to their advantage, building bridges between themselves and their targeted audiences. Those weren’t simply speeches – they were powerful political statements, an opportunity to identify with the nation. What is the nation to them though? After 26 years, Lukashenko is very predictable – if you’re not against him, that speech is for you. Tikhanovskaya’s decision to issue her speech shows that she feels and identifies as the country’s legitimate leader.

2020 saw a plethora of problems, unplanned situations, and straight-up catastrophes. Among all these turbulences, the presidential elections in Belarus took place on August 9. The incumbent Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, sought his sixth

term in office, since 1994. His primary opponent was Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, a non-partisan politician. On June 25, Radio Free Europe wrote: “[a] popular meme has spread in Belarus, responding to an opinion poll showing President Alyaksandr Lukashenka [sic] has just 3 percent support. Graffiti reading ‘Sasha 3%’ was sprayed on walls, prompting an angry reaction from Lukashenka himself”. Ahead of presidential elections in August dozens of opposition activists, including prominent opposition leaders, were arrested. One would think that the sentiments could not have changed drastically in a month and a half. However, as it can be read on the Belarusian government website, Lukashenko scored 80.1%, while Tikhanovskaya got only 10.12%. After the results had been announced, Tikhanovskaya the latter rejected the outcome and protests broke out throughout the country. There have been reports of citizens being severely injured, some having been run over by police vans; some have been killed.

With the beginning of Spring, the riots are very much likely to continue.

Szymborska Kupala Pound

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POLITICAL • 39

PIOTR MISZCZUK

Poles apart – why divided Poland should become a Switzerland

Poland is on the brink of an implosion. The inner conflict seems beyond control, and the country is sliding into a state of decay. Political clashes and the ensuing hostility in the public sphere leave Poles with an unenviable choice between voting either for those who pamper the self-proclaimed intelligentsia or those who, yet again, fail to cut the cord with the overbearing Catholic Church. But maybe there is a remedy that can help escape the rift and bridge the abyss between the self-righteous and the condescending?

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East-West axis First, we have to break down the very roots of the inner feud pervading Poland. It dates back to the times following the Third Partition in 1795 when the Western part of the country was under Prussian rule, the southern one was governed by Austria, and the East was under the Russian tsars.

After two long centuries marred in statelessness, Poland finally regained a stable independence in the late 1980s, but the partition-imposed division is still too visible well into the 21st century. The conservative post-Russian East and the similarly marked by a nationalistic streak post-Austrian South-East tend to be subject to distinctly different election results, a much smaller GDP per capita and, more astoundingly, a sparser railway network, less access to sanitation facilities, as well as higher rates of alcoholism and domestic violence. Meanwhile, the West of Poland appears to be its polar opposite.

The discrepancy stems from the gap between the occupied areas – being in its industrial and agricultural heyday, the Prussian part was much more affluent than the oddly latitude-supporting Austrian and the backward Russian ones. Years went by and even though some parts of present-day Poland have managed to escape the Eastern poverty trap, still almost every statistic has its spatial dimension stretched on the East-West axis.

Encouraged by those disparities, some Poles claim the country should be halved to stop the dialogue from tailing off further. Radical as it is, breaking up might be our last hope both to prevent Poland from falling apart and to avert the everlasting

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condoning of politicians after each term. Throughout the years, various parties have tabled numerous ideas to pander to the electorate. From liquidating the Senate, through single-member constituencies, to setting up a big tent – one can say that Polish politicians have already tried it all. Maybe in lieu of bringing such cosmetic changes, we should push through a more seismic reform that would eventually put an end to Poland’s political turf wars.

If temporary turbulence within the political system is something we are willing to accept as a necessary evil, then the solution might be closer than we would expect – it is the empowerment of the local government. Lacking the leeway to act independently, regional authorities fail to cater necessary services to their dwellers and struggle to sustain efficacious public transport or adequate education facilities, to name but a few most burning issues. Were the local governments to be granted more responsibilities and more funding, perhaps the quality of life of those living in the Polish hinterlands would see some real improvement.

With no other cards left to play, decentralisation or, in other words, localisation is undoubtedly worth a shot. In 2019, a group of top Polish scholars and social activists launched the Social Contract Incubator, which aims at introducing far-reaching reforms in the Polish political system. As a non-partisan body, they look to quash the winner-takes-all mechanism in Polish elections. Allocating power between more actors will, in their opinion, guarantee a continuous and steady socioeconomic development in all regions. The Social Contract Incubator’s proposals are chiefly driven by placing the citizen in the middle of the political discourse. Some ideas have already been mooted in the aspects of migration, education, and social welfare.

Critics nonetheless argue that the experts involved in the undertaking have put a lot of effort in vain – with Polish politics fed on atavistic spite there’s little or no room for such technical rearrangements.

However, I strongly believe it’s about time we grappled with the growing divide.

Decentralisation must come to the fore, as it might potentially bring closure to the ongoing limbo, once and for all. To succeed, a power shift away from the heartland has to take place. It should commence with widening the scope of local governments’ authority, while limiting central power, and it has to be accompanied by a huge stream of money that will allow effective task fulfilment. Economic and financial factors

42 • POLITICAL will certainly have to be coupled with sea changes in the administration and law.

Once it all plays out, it might stop MPs from taking decisions out of their wheelhouse.

There’s a path lying ahead for Poland, and it generally consists in changing from what professor John Loughlin referred to as a “centralized unitary state” to a “regional unitary state”. This would translate into the local authorities having an impact on the national law, e.g., by supplanting the Senate with an institution structurally akin to the House of Commons, which would comprise regional and local leaders. Perhaps over time, Poland would be ready to follow in Switzerland’s footsteps and become a fullyfledged federal country – a country whose head of state is non-existent to the layman.

Switzerland, deemed a true symbol of decentralisation, is at the forefront of all localisation rankings. However crippled by populist policies, including the recent Islamophobic ban on face veils, the Swiss decentralised economy and the locallygoverned higher education both made it globally. But it’s not only Switzerland that Poland can draw on; other states such as Germany, Finland, or Denmark also stepped onto a successful decentralisation path long ago. Their stories are lessons to learn for Poland, even though in our country’s case the road to empowering the local authorities is bumpy and fraught with peril. Yet, it seems that at present we don’t have much to lose. We can only trust that giving power to local political activists will enable Poland to drag its democracy indices up, and thus the country will start passing the freedom tests it’s been flunking for too long now.

passing the freedom test

^ Anna Potoczny

^ Jakub Kądzielski

^ Karolina Kowalska

^ Natallia Valadzko

^ Weronika Peek

^ Dominika Front

^ Piotr Miszczuk

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