Hey animals! Before I begin this half info post, I'll share with you the new item. Whew, two nonmember den items in a row!
"Egyptian" rug, "Egyptian" cat... "Egyptian" this, "Egyptian" that...
Regardless of how pretty the virtual rug is, what if someone had no concept at all of Egypt? Or at least, didn't have a very good teacher and saw Egypt as more of a concept than a real place? What if this was the first thing they saw, the first opinions stored into their head? You'll understand me as I go through this post.
If someone– a child, in this case –had only the vaguest understanding of Egyptian history and culture, they would look at all of these items and come to believe Egypt isn't known for much else aside ornate decoration. This understanding comes with say, the typical caricature medias paint of Cleopatra, as an overly-romanticised, possibly dehumanized light-skinned halloween costume idea. This is of course not true in the least. This is not Egypt.
The problems I have with AJHQ with this new item-theme are that they show the outside of Egypt– the media-influenced side we all tend to see in those really bad movies. The gold. The ornate outer shell of cat statues and gold scarabs, that while aesthetically beautiful is given no background.
AJHQ doesn't talk about the meanings behind these items, the history of them and the Ancient Egyptian people. Being an educational site, I'm honestly surprised. What's so bad about giving much needed background?
I know AJHQ may have made one post on the Daily Explorer– but let's face it, no one reads the Daily Explorer except for AJ bloggers looking for screenshots. Use a more accessible means to talk about it, like the Jamaa Journal.
It really all boils down to this: you can't show a culture's aesthetic without the culture. Even though it's an old one, today we know much more than is given with these items. There's really no point in shutting it out.
Besides, I'd like to learn more about Ancient Egypt!
See you all in Jamaa! :)
~Doomy
I really agree.
ReplyDeleteIt's like when they released all of those Halloween, Easter, and Christmas items. Some people don't celebrate these holidays. Which is absolutely fine. I mean, AJHQ does have the right to put holiday stuff in their game. But they make the ENTIRE GAME revolve around those holidays. The people who don't celebrate Christmas must have felt really left out when the Jamaalidays came to Animal Jam. And Night-of-the-Phantoms. Aaaaaaand Easter.
Also, AJHQ can be big... hypocrites. Like, they ban Jammers because of online dating in the game, but they have heart-eyed smiley faces that your avatar can use! Why would they make heart-eyed emotes when that's against their rules? And Valentines Day parties with flowers and chocolates?! Seriously?
I totally agree with both 2fangwolf and you (Doomy). It wouldn't hurt for AJ to make their "educational" site, a bit more EDUCATIONAL.
ReplyDelete~wolfiepaws~