August 2012
The Cosplayer is Always Right
- (Our Japanese restaurant is near a school that annually hosts an anime convention. So, it’s fairly common to have cosplayers among our customers at the time of the con. The owner is okay with it as long as they don’t annoy the other customers. On this day, we seat twelve cosplayers and, later, I seat three young customers near them.)
- Young Customer #1: “What is this? Why are those guys costumed?”
- Me: “Oh, there’s a large anime convention ongoing at the local school. It’s rather common to see them at the times of the gathering.”
- Young Customer #1: *chuckles* “Yeah, what a bunch of dorks.”
- Young Customer #2: “Total nerds.”
- (Since there are no other free tables and they didn’t pre-order a table, they sit near the cosplayers while mocking them under their breath. In the meantime, a cosplayer of Pikachu is talking somewhat loudly on his phone.)
- Young Customer #2: *waves at me* “Hey, you! Tell those dorks to shut up!”
- Halo Cosplayer: “Oh, I’m sorry, sir.” *to ‘Pikachu’* “Dude, not so loud. You’re bothering people.”
- Pikachu Cosplayer: “What? Oh, sorry to bother you guys.” *starts talking again, but much quieter*
- Young Customer #3: “Yeah, that’s right. Shut up, you virgin nerd!”
- Young Customer #1: “Go back to the library, virgins!”
- (At this point, I warn the owner about the behavior of the younger customers. He immediately goes to their table.)
- Owner: “What seems to be the problem?”
- Young Customer #1: “It’s not our fault. Those nerds started to insult us! We’re not going to stay here and do nothing!”
- Owner: “My staff told me the contrary, actually.”
- Young Customer #3: “What?! That b***h waitress is lying!”
- Owner: “Sir, I won’t allow you to insult my staff or customers. Those cosplayers were extremely polite and quiet during their meals, unlike you. If someone must be thrown out, it’s you.”
- (In the blink of an eye, one of the young customers gets up and tries to grab the owner. However, to our surprise, one of the cosplayers playing Batman grabs him by the hair, slams him on the table and holds him still.)
- Young Customer #1: “OW! That f***ing hurts! Who the f*** do you think you are, you motherf***er?!”
- Batman Cosplayer: *in a raspy tone* “I am vengeance. I am the night. I am… Batman.”
- (The two other customers begin to yell, but quickly shut up when all the cosplayers get up and surround them, showing that most of them are clearly larger than them. The mall security arrests the bad customers, and the cosplayers leave after apologizing for the trouble. However, it’s not before we snap a picture with them. Now, we frequently joke about that time when Batman, Pikachu and Master Chief saved the restaurant!)
The history of the "Two Wolves/Two Dogs" story.
I have been receiving many messages questioning my statement that the “Two Wolves” story is not Cherokee, nor is it Native American/First Nations in origin. In response to my credibility being questioned, I have done some fairly extensive research that will conclusively prove that this story does not originate from any Native American legend.
This story seems to have begun in 1978 when a early form of it was written by the Evangelical Christian Minister Billy Graham in his book, “The Holy Spirit: Activating God’s Power in Your Life.” This version of the story can be found in Chapter 7: The Christian’s Inner Struggle on Page 92 and it is as follows:
“AN ESKIMO FISHERMAN came to town every Saturday afternoon. He always brought his two dogs with him. One was white and the other was black. He had taught them to fight on command. Every Saturday afternoon in the town square the people would gather and these two dogs would fight and the fisherman would take bets. On one Saturday the black dog would win; another Saturday, the white dog would win - but the fisherman always won! His friends began to ask him how he did it. He said, “I starve one and feed the other. The one I feed always wins because he is stronger.”
Billy Graham continues by explaining the story. I will now provide a few excerpts to show the connection between this story and the later versions as well of how it’s grounded in Christianity. “This story about the two dogs is apt because it tells us something about the inner warfare that comes into the life of a person who is born again. We have two natures within us, both struggling for mastery. Which one will dominate us? It depends on which one we feed.” (Page 92)
Continuing forward in time, we find that the story has been published in a 1997 book written by Eliot Rosen and Ellen Burstyn titled, “Experiencing the Soul: Before Birth, During Life, After Death.” This version of the story is on page 15.
“A Native American Elder once described his own inner struggles in this manner: “Inside of me there are two dogs. One of the dogs is mean and evil. The other dog is good. The mean dog fights the good dog all the time.” When asked which dog wins, he reflected for a moment and replied, “The one I feed the most.” (Page 15)
Now I’ll move on to films. I found two films which either reference or re-tell the story in a shortened form. The first film that I’ve located is the 2003 movie “The Missing” which is set in 1885 New Mexico and features Apache characters. Starring in the movie are: Tommy Lee Jones, Cate Blanchett and Evan Rachel Wood. It was directed by Ron Howard and was based on a 1995 novel by Thomas Eidson. The screen play was written by Ken Kaufman. The story as told in the movie is as follows:
“Inside you are two dogs. One is evil, the other is good. The mean dog fights the good dog all the time.” “Which one wins?” “I don’t know. Whichever one I feed the most.”
The next film that I found a reference to the Two Wolves story in the 2007 film, “Pathfinder.” IMDb describes the plot as: “A viking boy is left behind after his clan battles a Native American tribe. Raised within the tribe, he ultimately becomes their savior in a fight against the Norsemen.” Starring in the movie are: Karl Urban, Clancy Brown and Moon Bloodgood. The director is Marcus Nispel and the writers are Laeta Kalogridis (2007 screenplay) and Nils Gaup (1987 screenplay). The story told in the movie is as follows:
Starfire: “There are two wolves fighting in each man’s heart. One is love, the other is hate.”
Ghost: “Which one wins?”
Starfire: “The one you feed the most.”
I’d like to now invite you to discuss the implication of the origin of this story, beginning with Billy Graham and evolving to it’s current form. For those of you who are indigenous people, I would especially like to ask that you help me to touch on the concept of race, whether or not this story is an example of Cultural Appropriation. I’d also like to point out that the black wolf/dog is evil and the white wolf/dog is considered to be good. Please re-blog this post if you found it important, educational or interesting.
References:
Amazon Search Inside “The Holy Spirit: Activating God’s Power in Your Life” by Billy Graham, Page 92.
Amazon Search Inside “Experiencing the Soul: Before Birth, During Life, After Death” by Eliot Rosen and Ellen Burstyn, Page 15.
IMBd “Memorable Quotes for Pathfinder, 2007”Script-o-Rama “Script of The Missing, 2003”
See Also:
Wiki Answers - “Who wrote Two Wolves words of an old Cherokee Indian?”
I'm a trans man who dislikes the tumblr social justice "trans* community". Here's a list of some of the things they say that I dislike and why
“But if you reject me based on my genitals that’s cisse-
People have preferences when it comes to genitalia of partners. That’s life, being rejected sucks but someone is not oppressing you by not being attracted to you. You come across an entitled baby by shaming someone for lacking in attraction to you. Stop crying about it, move on.
“Die cis scu-
Does that phrase really solve anything? The first time people learn of the word “Cis” should not be after the word die. The phrase accomplishes nothing. Telling people to die is not ok. Justified anger or not. That phrase is the worse idea anyone can come up with. You’re not going to get anyone’s respect by telling them to die.
“Sex is a social constr-
Anatomical sex is not a social construct. Sex is something that exists in nature, human females and males have different biological characteristics, that is reality. We evolved this way for the purpose of reproduction. (Ofcourse some people are born who don’t fit into the sex categories as neatly as others but that doesn’t negate the existence of biological sex). Can we please put the sex social construct argument to a rest. It wont suddenly exist the more you say it.
“OMG not only women menstruate some men have va-
I’ve seen this too many times. People derailing a post that has nothing to do with trans people and then making it about trans people. Trans people make less than 2% of the human population. Nobody is going to mention us every single time they talk about something. Seeing a post that says “girls have boobs” and feeling the need to mention how not all girls have boobs, is pointless, it accomplishes nothing and is honestly just plain annoying to see. Want to fight for trans rights? Well, instead derailing posts about women and abortions to add your two cents about how some people who aren’t women have abortions too, why don’t you instead focus on issues like trans people being forced to be sterilised in other parts of the world? Or the fact that trans people are raped and killed for simply existing in some other places? Or that some can be rejected jobs or housing just because they are trans? Focus your time on issues that actually matter instead of wasting time on tumblr derailing posts that have nothing to do with us and being a pain in the ass.
