July 24, 2013

While discussing movies...


28 comments:

  1. I don't agree. After Earth was an awful case of nepotism, so of course I was gleeful when it flopped (relatively), because nepotism should never be encouraged. Another awful thing is plagiarism, so when the blatant MIB copy RIPD flopped, I was of course happy.
    If certain trends are not stopped at the box office, good movies don't get produced. It's a zero-sum game.

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    1. And yet, don't you have any more important things to worry about? I love movies as much as the next guy, maybe even more, yet I don't see no reason to waste my time with giggling diabolically over box office bombs, doesn't matter how awful the movie might be or how much I dislike the people involved.

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    2. Holden, what you are suggesting is a logical fallacy called, "Appeal to Worse Problem." Just because there are more important things to think about (there are), Mr. or Ms. Anonymous here can still feel justified in his/her feelings.

      Personally, I don't think that Anonymous used the best examples. I'd rather go with something like the upcoming Ender's Game this November: its author, Orson Scott Card, is a reprehensible human being, so even if it's a quality movie I hope it bombs to send him, and movie studios, a message that the public won't tolerate people who preach violence against homosexuals.

      PS
      And no, I'm not interested in debating the merits of Card, or separating the artist from the art. In short all I'm saying on that is that I have no intention of seeing that movie, and will be pleased if it fails.

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    3. I agree with Anon 11:46; being happy when bad movies fail is not very different than being glad that the free market has driven a company with a bad product or bad practices to fail. The failure will hopefully send a message to other companies to have better products or practices, or in this case make more movies we want to see.

      I'm glad when crappy comics fail because they take up valuable space on the rack and production dollars that could go to better comics or comics I would more like to read. Does that mean I should 'Get a Life'?

      Of course there are more important things than the entertainment we take in. However, I'd think that a comic collector/store owner would be more accepting of people who are passionate about their hobbies and hopeful for their continuing improvement. If you believe that is a 'waste of time' then I would suggest that there are also plenty of people out there who believe that any time collecting comics, going to the movies, watching TV, reading for pleasure, woodworking, knitting, playing a sport, etc is equally wasted. Spend your time and energy on the aspects of your hobbies that you enjoy, and I'll do the same.

      'Get a Life'? Thanks but I've got one already and it keeps me happy. Whether my hobbies or my comments about my hobbies make you happy or 'creeped out' or disappointed with how I choose to spend my time doesn't matter to me at all.

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    4. @Anon at 12:22

      You know, every time I see someone bash card, they can never really give a reason why other than "he follows his religious beliefs that homosexuality is a sin." I mean, they always talk about him like he were some Iranian Mullah publicly hanging gays, but I've never read anything of his that suggests he's anything of the sort. That hardly makes him a horrible human being, and if anything, is a far greater argument for saying that you are a horrible human being for demonizing someone else for no reason other than "they disagree with you."
      And then bringing up a hot topic and then retreating into "I don't want to talk about it" makes you both a hypocrite and a coward.

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    5. @Anon at 12:29

      Card is actively campaigning to deny homosexuals like me the right to marry. He is an aggressor who is demonizing us. "he follows his religious beliefs that homosexuality is a sin" would be ok if he just didn't have gay sex, but he doesn't stop there.

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    6. Anon @ 12:29, even horrible human beings should be treated like human beings, huh? That means you can hate gays as much as your heart desires, but must offer them equal rights. Card actually fights against that, literally through political lobbying, and is a horrible human being for that.

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    7. I'm Anon from 12:22.

      "I don't want to talk about it," uh, that was more that I didn't want to go on a tangent from this comic (too late). But hey, if I'm a hypocrite and a coward, here you go.

      http://www.salon.com/2013/05/07/sci_fi_icon_orson_scott_card_hates_fan_fiction_the_homosexual_agenda_partner/

      A good overview. In particular note that he wanted to keep laws to punish homosexual people (including corporal punishment), and he's advocated violently overthrowing the government to protect strictly heterosexual marriage.

      http://www.nauvoo.com/library/card-hypocrites.html

      His rambles about being against homosexuals.

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    8. So wait… Card is against gay marriage because he's mormon? That's the big deal that makes him a "reprehensible human being"? Seriously?

      I hate to be the one to break it to you, but people are allowed to have their own opinions and also to practice their own religions.

      Deal with it.

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    9. Did you not get "corporal punishment" and "violently overthrowing the government"?

      Card, and anyone else, can say any darned thing they please, religion or not. If Card says it's OK to beat people for being gay and that there should be an armed revolt because people are extending human rights, yeah, I think that's a good time to call him reprehensible.

      By the way, a primer on freedom of speech (since you mention people having their own opinions): Card can say what he likes. Others can call him awful for it. You can tell his critics to shut up, or "Deal with it". That's how freedom of speech works. Everybody is already dealing with it, not by getting over what he says and staying silent, but just being clear that he's morally wrong. Nobody is saying Card, or you, can't talk your fool heads off. Freedom of speech, guy (or girl). Freedom of speech.

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    10. What I didn't get are any first sources that aren't tacky little hit pieces.

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    11. Remember the "former child actor goes bad" thing? That comes from the pressure of being the main family breadwinner at such a young age. Child actors whose parents are already movie stars themselves don't face the same pressure. If the kid role in After Earth *wasn't* cast with nepotism, then it would be setting some other kid up for that kind of pressure.

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    12. "I hate to be the one to break it to you, but people are allowed to have their own opinions and also to practice their own religions."

      Yeah, none of us are acting board members of a political lobby trying to take away his right to be a Mormon. People are also allowed to be gay, and yet he's involved in political lobbying in an attempt to criminalize that.

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    13. Still not seeing any primary sources.

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    14. Bloody Anti Mormons...

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    15. Not another anonymous.7/30/2013 4:02 PM

      Ok. Here goes.

      Religious beliefs are personal. Your religious views are your own and no one else's. Therefore, your religious views should in no way effect the lives of other people.

      You are completely welcome to think being gay is a sin but you don't get to take away ANY rights from gay people, marriage included. Saying that making a law to stop gay marriage is just you practicing your religion is like a Jewish person making a law banning the consumption of pork. It makes no sense that your spiritual beliefs effect anyone but yourself.

      One day, we'll look back at people trying to stop gay marriage the same way we look back at people who used to want segregated schools and no mixed-marriages: with pity and shame.

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    16. Lolno.

      Sorry, but "legalizing" gay marriage is an utterly unworthy cause. It's expanding injustice instead of fighting it. Here's why:

      If your religion recognizes gay marriage, good for you. If it doesn't but you want gay marriage, then pick a different religion. Either way, marriage has always been a religious institution.

      Why should marriage be a political institution as well? Why should any two people receive special legal and tax privileges just because they made some silly vows to each other in front of a priest or minister or witch doctor and witnessed by a bunch of their friends in some tedious ceremony? Why should religions be allowed to grant special political privileges to anyone on this basis? Whatever happened to the separation of church and state?

      Just and good governments deal with people as individuals, not groups or races or classes or married couples. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, should be treated the same and have the same rights and freedoms and responsibilities regardless of whether or not they are male or female or black or white or tall or short or single or married or whatever.

      That's REAL equality.

      In the face of the unjust special treatment government gives to heterosexual married couples the gay marriage movement could have fought to end those unfair and unwarranted privileges. That would have been the right thing to do. But instead they demand those unwarranted privileges for themselves as well. They don't want real justice and equality; they just want their own fat share of injustice and inequality.

      That is not a cause worthy of respect or support.

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    17. First of all, marriage isn't a "religious institution" even if it was before. Pretty sure atheists can get married too. It has been a political institution ever since it became recognized by the government. You can get married by signing a fucking piece of paper in front of a mayor.

      Second, marriage and "special legal and tax privileges" aren't going to suddenly disappear just because you don't like them. Therefore,if everyone "should be treated the same and have the same rights and freedoms" then gay married couples should get the same as OTHER married couples.

      I mean, you want to argue that the tax privilege is stupid and should be removed for all, whatever, but that doesn't change the fact that gay people are not allowed to be married at ALL, tax or no tax, in many places. THAT'S unfair, more unfair than a stupid tax privilege that ANYONE ELSE can take advantage of, whether they do or not.

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  2. This is not directed at anyone in this thread, but I find it odd that many people in the entertainment world demonize Card for his beliefs, yet Roman Polanski is still given awards and people have no problems working with him, even though he raped a 13 year old girl and fled the country.

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    1. Have you found a correlation between Card hate and Polanski love? Or is this just "Card isn't the only scumbag who still gets work." Because if it's the latter, we're aware...

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    2. Jason - er...Woody Allen did NOT rape anyone. He entered a relationship with his stepdaughter. A bit 'ewww' perhaps, but nobody's got an arrest warrant out for Woody Allen last I checked, because he didn't do anything illegal.

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    3. @3:56 Anon: It's not that they both still get work, but that people seem to have a MUCH easier time separating Polanski's personal terribleness from his art. Maybe that's because it's been so long since he raped that girl and fled the country, whereas Card is still spouting his hate.

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  3. On the flip side, I'm saddened when movies that should be big hits don't do as well as they should. Case in point, Pacific Rim. Seriously, what the fuck - more people went and saw Adam Sandler's latest pile of shit than Pacific Rim. It seems like Guillermo del Toro just can't get a break. I just hope that the international box office makes up for its lacklustre US performance.

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    1. Eh, I've had enough CGI cartoons in my movies for this lifetime.

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    2. However, a movie that has a deer pissing on Adam Sandler is definitely worth seeing.

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  4. If Michael Bay makes a new Transformers movie and it bombs I will unashamedly bask in my feelings of schadenfreude.

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  5. I heard September 11th is a big holiday in the Card family: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/mormons-and-paiutes-murder-120-emigrants-at-mountain-meadows

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