Raffi Sarkissian
@rsark.bsky.social
queer Armenian, made in L.A., live in VA, teach at CNU
media studies, queer culture, film festivals, awards discourse
media studies, queer culture, film festivals, awards discourse
Pinned
Raffi Sarkissian
@rsark.bsky.social
· Nov 17
A Gaythering Storm
YouTube video by Funny Or Die
www.youtube.com
Hi. Remember those YouTube parodies of that ant-gay "gathering storm" ad from 2009? I wrote about them as a digital adaptation of zaps. Check it out, open access: ijoc.org/index.php/ij...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Phai...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Phai...
Reposted by Raffi Sarkissian
This needs more attention: Zohran SPLIT the straights with Cuomo. ALL of his margin was from LGBTQ+ voters. Every Dem who ever said “we should abandon the transes” needs this shoved down their fucking throat with a ramrod.
November 5, 2025 at 5:39 AM
This needs more attention: Zohran SPLIT the straights with Cuomo. ALL of his margin was from LGBTQ+ voters. Every Dem who ever said “we should abandon the transes” needs this shoved down their fucking throat with a ramrod.
Reposted by Raffi Sarkissian
basically every 2024 truism is dead. Trump did not build a lasting multiracial coalition or turn young men into committed Republicans. You don’t need to cave on trans rights to win. The pundits have nothing left to tell you.
November 5, 2025 at 1:57 PM
basically every 2024 truism is dead. Trump did not build a lasting multiracial coalition or turn young men into committed Republicans. You don’t need to cave on trans rights to win. The pundits have nothing left to tell you.
Reposted by Raffi Sarkissian
just want to remind everyone again that zohran is the one cis candidate i am aware of that had his platform on trans rights written by trans people. i think that matters
Zohran at the rally for trans youth on february 8 ❣️ he was polling single digits.
November 5, 2025 at 3:41 AM
just want to remind everyone again that zohran is the one cis candidate i am aware of that had his platform on trans rights written by trans people. i think that matters
Without an ounce of exaggeration, I spent 30+ hours in a conference room on campus from Friday-Sunday to finish a revision for a research article. 😵💫
Literally just ate, slept, drove to campus/back, wrote, and watched a few SATC episodes after 10+ hour days.
Submitted the damn thing at 11:20 PM. 🥴
Literally just ate, slept, drove to campus/back, wrote, and watched a few SATC episodes after 10+ hour days.
Submitted the damn thing at 11:20 PM. 🥴
November 3, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Without an ounce of exaggeration, I spent 30+ hours in a conference room on campus from Friday-Sunday to finish a revision for a research article. 😵💫
Literally just ate, slept, drove to campus/back, wrote, and watched a few SATC episodes after 10+ hour days.
Submitted the damn thing at 11:20 PM. 🥴
Literally just ate, slept, drove to campus/back, wrote, and watched a few SATC episodes after 10+ hour days.
Submitted the damn thing at 11:20 PM. 🥴
Ok, I actually looked it up--or whatever we called googling that is AI-powered slop.
Apparently the generalized term is vaguebooking.
What?
Apparently the generalized term is vaguebooking.
What?
Came here to post a subskeet (is this really what we're calling this? did we come up with a more general term for a sub-tweet and I missed the memo?).
Wrote the sub-skeet.
Deleted the subskeet.
Please clap.
Wrote the sub-skeet.
Deleted the subskeet.
Please clap.
November 3, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Ok, I actually looked it up--or whatever we called googling that is AI-powered slop.
Apparently the generalized term is vaguebooking.
What?
Apparently the generalized term is vaguebooking.
What?
Came here to post a subskeet (is this really what we're calling this? did we come up with a more general term for a sub-tweet and I missed the memo?).
Wrote the sub-skeet.
Deleted the subskeet.
Please clap.
Wrote the sub-skeet.
Deleted the subskeet.
Please clap.
November 3, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Came here to post a subskeet (is this really what we're calling this? did we come up with a more general term for a sub-tweet and I missed the memo?).
Wrote the sub-skeet.
Deleted the subskeet.
Please clap.
Wrote the sub-skeet.
Deleted the subskeet.
Please clap.
And this is why I always wait till several episodes have aired before starting a new Survivor season. Binging allows for better tracking of tribal inflections.
I shoulda waited one or two more weeks for this season.
I shoulda waited one or two more weeks for this season.
I understand that for #Survivor players and for social gameplay constantly switching tribes can be interesting and dynamic but for viewers who are watching week to week and barely remember contestant names much less what prior tribal arrangements they were in… it’s really disorienting. 🥴
October 31, 2025 at 3:31 AM
And this is why I always wait till several episodes have aired before starting a new Survivor season. Binging allows for better tracking of tribal inflections.
I shoulda waited one or two more weeks for this season.
I shoulda waited one or two more weeks for this season.
I understand that for #Survivor players and for social gameplay constantly switching tribes can be interesting and dynamic but for viewers who are watching week to week and barely remember contestant names much less what prior tribal arrangements they were in… it’s really disorienting. 🥴
October 31, 2025 at 3:30 AM
I understand that for #Survivor players and for social gameplay constantly switching tribes can be interesting and dynamic but for viewers who are watching week to week and barely remember contestant names much less what prior tribal arrangements they were in… it’s really disorienting. 🥴
Reposted by Raffi Sarkissian
Citing a Trump executive order banning "gender ideology," the VA is withholding coverage and treatment for male veterans with breast cancer, an increasing condition among veterans exposed to toxic chemicals during service. 100 male veterans a year are diagnosed with breast cancer.
Citing Trump Order on “Biological Truth,” VA Makes It Harder for Male Veterans With Breast Cancer to Get Coverage
A Department of Veterans Affairs memo obtained by ProPublica erects new roadblocks to care for veterans with the rare but deadly cancer. The agency cites no new science but relies on an executive orde...
www.propublica.org
October 30, 2025 at 12:21 AM
Citing a Trump executive order banning "gender ideology," the VA is withholding coverage and treatment for male veterans with breast cancer, an increasing condition among veterans exposed to toxic chemicals during service. 100 male veterans a year are diagnosed with breast cancer.
AFTER THE HUNT commits the cardinal cinematic sin of being so fucking boring.
How you waste the combined talents of Roberts, Garfield, Edebiri, Sevigny, and Stuhlbarg is beyond me.
How you waste the combined talents of Roberts, Garfield, Edebiri, Sevigny, and Stuhlbarg is beyond me.
October 19, 2025 at 2:01 AM
AFTER THE HUNT commits the cardinal cinematic sin of being so fucking boring.
How you waste the combined talents of Roberts, Garfield, Edebiri, Sevigny, and Stuhlbarg is beyond me.
How you waste the combined talents of Roberts, Garfield, Edebiri, Sevigny, and Stuhlbarg is beyond me.
Protesting those in power is the most quintessentially American thing you can do.
Literally why America was formed.
Literally why America was formed.
Barrasso on No Kings: "They have this big 'I Hate America' rally this Saturday in Washington where you have all these far-left activists groups coming to protest the president and the administration."
October 16, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Protesting those in power is the most quintessentially American thing you can do.
Literally why America was formed.
Literally why America was formed.
Reposted by Raffi Sarkissian
Reposted by Raffi Sarkissian
Columbia canceled my class on race and media, but I'm teaching the people anyway.
Oct. 5 is the *last day* to register for my online live + recorded classes on Race, Media & International Affairs!
We have more than 500 students enrolled. Let's gooo!
www.resistancesummerschool.com/fall-2025-re...
Oct. 5 is the *last day* to register for my online live + recorded classes on Race, Media & International Affairs!
We have more than 500 students enrolled. Let's gooo!
www.resistancesummerschool.com/fall-2025-re...
Fall Registration for Race, Media & International Affairs with Karen Attiah — Resistance Study Series
A virtual, seven week beginner and intermediate course on the history of race, mass media, and the modern world order.
www.resistancesummerschool.com
October 4, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Columbia canceled my class on race and media, but I'm teaching the people anyway.
Oct. 5 is the *last day* to register for my online live + recorded classes on Race, Media & International Affairs!
We have more than 500 students enrolled. Let's gooo!
www.resistancesummerschool.com/fall-2025-re...
Oct. 5 is the *last day* to register for my online live + recorded classes on Race, Media & International Affairs!
We have more than 500 students enrolled. Let's gooo!
www.resistancesummerschool.com/fall-2025-re...
On my Survivor binge (season 34) and nothing made me gasp in more sheer pleasure this season than seeing Aubrey show up to her first tribal as jury member in FULL ON glorious 80s soap Queen/Polly Draper drag.
October 2, 2025 at 9:40 PM
On my Survivor binge (season 34) and nothing made me gasp in more sheer pleasure this season than seeing Aubrey show up to her first tribal as jury member in FULL ON glorious 80s soap Queen/Polly Draper drag.
Reposted by Raffi Sarkissian
There is a fairly big Virginia-based film festival that starts in 17 days... and there is yet no schedule or list of films. How do people live like this?
September 30, 2025 at 4:32 PM
There is a fairly big Virginia-based film festival that starts in 17 days... and there is yet no schedule or list of films. How do people live like this?
Reposted by Raffi Sarkissian
“I can’t believe this is happ-“
Lol omg please shut up and start believing already, how many more ‘reasons why’ do you lot need?
Lol omg please shut up and start believing already, how many more ‘reasons why’ do you lot need?
September 30, 2025 at 2:49 PM
“I can’t believe this is happ-“
Lol omg please shut up and start believing already, how many more ‘reasons why’ do you lot need?
Lol omg please shut up and start believing already, how many more ‘reasons why’ do you lot need?
Reposted by Raffi Sarkissian
“People simply disappeared, always during the night. Your name was removed from the registers, every record of everything you had ever done was wiped out, and your one-time existence was denied and then forgotten. You were abolished, annihilated: vaporized was the usual word.“
-1984, Orwell
-1984, Orwell
More than 1800 detainees are missing after the closure of Alligator Alcatraz. Their families and lawyers can’t find them and they’ve vanished from the ICE database. Feels like this should be a much bigger story www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...
Hundreds of Alligator Alcatraz detainees drop off the grid after leaving site
As of the end of August, the whereabouts of two-thirds of more than 1,800 men detained at Alligator Alcatraz during the month of July could not be determined by the Miami Herald.
www.miamiherald.com
September 23, 2025 at 6:12 PM
“People simply disappeared, always during the night. Your name was removed from the registers, every record of everything you had ever done was wiped out, and your one-time existence was denied and then forgotten. You were abolished, annihilated: vaporized was the usual word.“
-1984, Orwell
-1984, Orwell
Reposted by Raffi Sarkissian
i have to say, as a trans journalist who has covered the "trans debate" for about a decade now, there is no daylight between how the trump administration and conservatives lie about tylenol and autism and how they've lied about youth trans care.
September 23, 2025 at 12:32 PM
i have to say, as a trans journalist who has covered the "trans debate" for about a decade now, there is no daylight between how the trump administration and conservatives lie about tylenol and autism and how they've lied about youth trans care.
Can there be an absolutely worse decision than to time this announcement TODAY?
BREAKING — Notices for the Disney+ price increase went out at noon ET today, confirming my scoop from last night. Details: www.vulture.com/article/disn...
September 23, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Can there be an absolutely worse decision than to time this announcement TODAY?
Reposted by Raffi Sarkissian
Disney has backed down, but there's no evidence that Sinclair or Nexstar have learned their lesson.
If you haven't already done so, check the links in the thread below for stations in your area. Find the advertisers and let them know you're boycotting them until they remove ads from these stations.
If you haven't already done so, check the links in the thread below for stations in your area. Find the advertisers and let them know you're boycotting them until they remove ads from these stations.
Luckily, Sinclair has a helpful database of all their stations, so you can see if they're operating in your area and respond accordingly.
sbgi.net/tv-stations/
sbgi.net/tv-stations/
September 22, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Disney has backed down, but there's no evidence that Sinclair or Nexstar have learned their lesson.
If you haven't already done so, check the links in the thread below for stations in your area. Find the advertisers and let them know you're boycotting them until they remove ads from these stations.
If you haven't already done so, check the links in the thread below for stations in your area. Find the advertisers and let them know you're boycotting them until they remove ads from these stations.
Reposted by Raffi Sarkissian
As new media mediate our world, we are “subject to algorithmic manipulation.” “Appropriate algorithms,” can “automatically remove ‘noise’” like political dissent, undesirable people or characteristics, locate the edges of ideologies, and change their proportions. In short, *we* become programmable.
September 21, 2025 at 8:38 PM
As new media mediate our world, we are “subject to algorithmic manipulation.” “Appropriate algorithms,” can “automatically remove ‘noise’” like political dissent, undesirable people or characteristics, locate the edges of ideologies, and change their proportions. In short, *we* become programmable.
Reposted by Raffi Sarkissian
The lesson of history is that tyrants cannot be appeased.
Appeasement only feeds their insatiable hunger for power.
Tyrants prey on people who feel unsafe and vulnerable.
But without mass submission, a tyrant is powerless.
Appeasement only feeds their insatiable hunger for power.
Tyrants prey on people who feel unsafe and vulnerable.
But without mass submission, a tyrant is powerless.
September 20, 2025 at 11:00 PM
The lesson of history is that tyrants cannot be appeased.
Appeasement only feeds their insatiable hunger for power.
Tyrants prey on people who feel unsafe and vulnerable.
But without mass submission, a tyrant is powerless.
Appeasement only feeds their insatiable hunger for power.
Tyrants prey on people who feel unsafe and vulnerable.
But without mass submission, a tyrant is powerless.
Reposted by Raffi Sarkissian
A totalitarian movement must never achieve its goals, as that would eliminate the need for the movement itself. Even in victory, new enemies must be created in order to justify further cruelty and domination.
A grim reminder: these people will never be satisfied. There’s no point at which they will say “we’ve won, let’s enjoy life.” They will always be looking for someone else to punish, to revile, to dehumanize. They’re empty without that.
September 18, 2025 at 4:39 AM
A totalitarian movement must never achieve its goals, as that would eliminate the need for the movement itself. Even in victory, new enemies must be created in order to justify further cruelty and domination.
Welp
Oh I'm sure it's only finances related.
I'm sure that soon enough only court jesters like Fallon will be "financially viable."
I'm sure that soon enough only court jesters like Fallon will be "financially viable."
News: CBS is canceling Stephen Colbert. variety.com/2025/tv/news...
September 17, 2025 at 11:28 PM
Welp