Tall Girl, Short Stories

Okay, everyone. Over the past few days I have developed extremely strong feelings about Junot Diaz's story "Aurora" and now y'all can read them in no particular order. Also, many pop culture references are included in this post because it is largely a rant and I'm not editing them out because that would feel inauthentic. The essence of my point is this: It's a love story. A shitty love story, but a love story. 1. The "romance" genre never ever tells stories about healthy relationships. Or, okay, that's definitely not true but the really iconic stories that are known first and foremost as love stories are not healthy. Romeo and Juliet ? Impulsive kids who are infatuated with each other, don't listen to their parents, and die. Not healthy. The Notebook ? The only reason she goes on a date with him in the first place is because he threatens to kill himself and they fight ALL THE TIME. Titanic ? Okay actually Jack was pretty much the Perfect M

James Baldwin's "Previous Condition" covers a lot of ground. Peter, the protagonist, operates as an artist who rejects black culture and influence but is constantly shut out of white opportunities. His resentment of his racial community is interesting for a lot of reasons, as are his interactions with his white "minority" friends. Peter lives in New York City in the 1940s, a time when black success in the arts was thriving and evolving through jazz. But Peter's a stage actor, a field which often relies more on looking the part than having the talent for it. Peter's existence seems founded in anger, at one point saying "I resented praise and I resented pity," and it seems like there's truly no way for him to feel at ease. It makes sense. As an actor, it would be frustrating to be constantly told that he had the talent but not the skin for success. It would be frustrating to never have a positive black role model, but always be reminded of