A “bad idea” is a subjective term

When our Features Editor Cameron first pitched “The Grimace Issue”, it’s fair to say I had a few questions. Phrases such as “Why?” and “What if we don’t?” were some of the first that came to mind. Though I thought it was just another weird joke, Cameron kept bringing it back up and insisting that it be a reality. In the beginning I outright vetoed the idea, but at some point I just let go and let it happen. Honestly, I think deep down I wanted to see where he would go with it. I can’t say I expected anything with this issue, and it is probably good I haven’t because whatever I would have this wouldn’t be it. I would also like to take a moment to apologize for Lachlan Mitchell’s grimace quiz as after reading it I’m not sure I can ever feel clean again. However, if I had to read it so do you (so I guess I am not actually that sorry). 

But I think the biggest reason this issue went ahead, is because of something Kii Smalls, the editor of Wellington University Victoria University’s Salient said to me.

During the break I got to meet up with him, and ask him about Salient’s ‘controversial’ BLXCK issue. The issue dear reader, was about the concept of black – any interpretation of the concept and all the associations that come with it. It was all very meta. I’ll be frank, I found the issue a bit out of left field, a bit vague, and a little pretentious. 

So when I met up with my colleague, my burning question was: “What the hell was up with the BLXCK issue?”

Kii however, was calm and gave me an easy response: “What did it mean to you? How did it make you feel?”

Of all responses I was not expecting that. One so simple, yet full of so much meaning.

And like a lime scooter on the footpath it hit me: I have been running Craccum so wrong all semester. While I have been treating it as an exercise of content creation that invokes a minor nose snort, I have been overlooking my opportunity to transcend cheap laughs and really connect with ideas that matter. The legacy of Craccum is a complicated one but we can really create some shining moments if we are willing to put the work in.

Inspired by the bravery of our friends at Salient we have finally chosen our time to discuss something that important to us here at the Craccum office. The story of Grimace had rarely been told in such detail, connected to the feelings of the youth today. The abstract of Grimace is so far reaching – salient, if you will – that it is our duty to bring it to the forefront of student’s minds.