Eva's Humanize US Journey
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A couple months ago, I decided to put my student/work life on hold to follow my passions in theater, technology, and teaching empathy. Virtual reality storytelling fell nicely in the intersection of these two decade-long passions, and thus began my journey into exploring VR film, under the umbrella of an important passion project.
I am an American who seeks to understand people from different social, cultural, and political backgrounds who have lived in an environment vastly different from my own.
Before the 2016 election, I took my liberal upbringing for granted - I was ignorant of politics, and never truly understood the extent of social, cultural, and political diversity outside of California.
I was one of those people who viewed Trump’s fight for presidency as a joke - up until the moment the last electoral vote was counted. It wasn’t until I read the first article about the 'silent majority' that I realized how ignorant I had been. Growing up in Los Angeles and San Francisco, I'd been swimming in a sea of liberals. I was never really politically active, and never had the urge to acknowledge or empathize with anyone on the other end of the political spectrum. In hindsight, it is unsurprising that the election results threw me into shock.
Who were America's silent majority, and why were they 'forgotten'? How was it that I, as a self-proclaimed empathy enabler, had almost no empathy for those who voted conservative in this election? With the help of the internet, I began searching for answers.
By the time I finished reading Hillbilly Elegy, conversed with a few trump supporters online, and closed the 50th tab containing political and cultural articles and videos from various different sources, I found myself at a position where I was unable to continue enthusiastically nod my head to liberal arguments. The limited, yet substantial empathy I had newly developed drove me to a gray area where I saw validity, truth, and importance in both sides of the political divide. The notion in my head of what is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ had never been fuzzier.
Thus, I decided to make my first virtual reality film about humanizing the people behind politics. The final product will not be a documentary, albeit the journey through southern red states will be logged through 360 video on my YouTube channel.
My focus is not to find out respective political beliefs and the reasoning behind it; many news sources have already done so. Instead, I want to understand the human behind politics. What is their story? Who were the bullies, and who were the lovers? What is their fun fact, and what’s their favorite sport?
The deepest stories, secrets, and life beliefs lie within stories elicited through empathy and compassion. With at least eighteen years of personal experiences and life stories later, voting humans of America are defined by so much more than just their political stance. From happy celebrations of long-awaited reunions, college acceptances, successful romantic proposals, to stressful adversities of miscarriage, poverty, domestic violence and more, each one of us has a plethora of life experiences that has been shaping our identity every single day.
My power to empathize and exercise acute perception requires me to be physically present with whom I am conversing. I knew that in order to truly listen and understand the people and culture, I’d have to visit these communities in person.
Thus, I reached out to people for introductions, and began planning my itinerary. My current backpacking itinerary includes Oklahoma, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and New York - If you have connections in these states, send me a message or reach out on our website!
All travel expenses, equipment, and sanity are currently financed by *very limited* personal savings. I would love to keep this project going until the final product with your help. My roadtrip journey will end in New York beginning of May, where the creative process kicks into overdrive as I begin creating a one-of-a-kind VR experience aimed at bridging a cultural empathy gap. There, I will be working with a group of creators, artists, entrepreneurs on some really cool projects. Any and all support is appreciated, especially if you've got constructive feedback as this journey progresses!
I am an American who seeks to understand people from different social, cultural, and political backgrounds who have lived in an environment vastly different from my own.
Before the 2016 election, I took my liberal upbringing for granted - I was ignorant of politics, and never truly understood the extent of social, cultural, and political diversity outside of California.
I was one of those people who viewed Trump’s fight for presidency as a joke - up until the moment the last electoral vote was counted. It wasn’t until I read the first article about the 'silent majority' that I realized how ignorant I had been. Growing up in Los Angeles and San Francisco, I'd been swimming in a sea of liberals. I was never really politically active, and never had the urge to acknowledge or empathize with anyone on the other end of the political spectrum. In hindsight, it is unsurprising that the election results threw me into shock.
Who were America's silent majority, and why were they 'forgotten'? How was it that I, as a self-proclaimed empathy enabler, had almost no empathy for those who voted conservative in this election? With the help of the internet, I began searching for answers.
By the time I finished reading Hillbilly Elegy, conversed with a few trump supporters online, and closed the 50th tab containing political and cultural articles and videos from various different sources, I found myself at a position where I was unable to continue enthusiastically nod my head to liberal arguments. The limited, yet substantial empathy I had newly developed drove me to a gray area where I saw validity, truth, and importance in both sides of the political divide. The notion in my head of what is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ had never been fuzzier.
Thus, I decided to make my first virtual reality film about humanizing the people behind politics. The final product will not be a documentary, albeit the journey through southern red states will be logged through 360 video on my YouTube channel.
My focus is not to find out respective political beliefs and the reasoning behind it; many news sources have already done so. Instead, I want to understand the human behind politics. What is their story? Who were the bullies, and who were the lovers? What is their fun fact, and what’s their favorite sport?
The deepest stories, secrets, and life beliefs lie within stories elicited through empathy and compassion. With at least eighteen years of personal experiences and life stories later, voting humans of America are defined by so much more than just their political stance. From happy celebrations of long-awaited reunions, college acceptances, successful romantic proposals, to stressful adversities of miscarriage, poverty, domestic violence and more, each one of us has a plethora of life experiences that has been shaping our identity every single day.
My power to empathize and exercise acute perception requires me to be physically present with whom I am conversing. I knew that in order to truly listen and understand the people and culture, I’d have to visit these communities in person.
Thus, I reached out to people for introductions, and began planning my itinerary. My current backpacking itinerary includes Oklahoma, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and New York - If you have connections in these states, send me a message or reach out on our website!
All travel expenses, equipment, and sanity are currently financed by *very limited* personal savings. I would love to keep this project going until the final product with your help. My roadtrip journey will end in New York beginning of May, where the creative process kicks into overdrive as I begin creating a one-of-a-kind VR experience aimed at bridging a cultural empathy gap. There, I will be working with a group of creators, artists, entrepreneurs on some really cool projects. Any and all support is appreciated, especially if you've got constructive feedback as this journey progresses!
Organizer
Evadora de Zhengia
Organizer
Berkeley, CA