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Devil'sAdvocate
11-28-2017, 09:12 PM
Films, TV, popular music, and mass media as a whole are primarily just mindless entertainment, as they've been since their earliest origins - if they weren't, they wouldn't sell to millions of people to begin with. And the majority of "critics" are just sales pitchmen who have no depth of knowledge and understanding of their subject matter, and are just using 'big words' to write pseudo-intellectual advertisements under the guise of 'critical reviews'.

Why would anyone trust an overweight, balding, man-child (or woman-child) on the internet who writes "critical reviews" of movies to understand anything about "plot" or "character" development to begin with, when it's obvious that their emotional intelligence became stunted at around age 11? (Or worse yet, trust their opinions on political issues).


There isn't a single film, TV show, or popular song I've heard in my life which has ever struck me as profoundly as deeper literature I've read, the authors of which, most have never heard has heard of. Even films which are given "Oscars" or shows given "Emmies" are primarily just mindless action or drama and the awards are really just 'participation' awards with the primary aim of enhancing sales.

This is why "geeking out" is ultimately pointless, it's a vice, not a virtue - just about arguing over the most insignificant details possible as if they were life or death issues, or using TL;DR essays full of fluffy words to try to locate "depth" in things which the author was too ADHD to have cared about to begin with. It's the equivalent of tween girls talking about horoscopes in an issue of Teen Vogue, nothing more than a guilty pleasure devoid of any substance.

That doesn't mean it's "wrong", but profound? It's as "profound" as beating as beating one off in the guy's locker room.

Standing Wolf
11-28-2017, 10:34 PM
Films, TV, popular music, and mass media as a whole are primarily just mindless entertainment, as they've been since their earliest origins - if they weren't, they wouldn't sell to millions of people to begin with. And the majority of "critics" are just sales pitchmen who have no depth of knowledge and understanding of their subject matter, and are just using 'big words' to write pseudo-intellectual advertisements under the guise of 'critical reviews'.

Why would anyone trust an overweight, balding, man-child (or woman-child) on the internet who writes "critical reviews" of movies to understand anything about "plot" or "character" development to begin with, when it's obvious that their emotional intelligence became stunted at around age 11? (Or worse yet, trust their opinions on political issues).


There isn't a single film, TV show, or popular song I've heard in my life which has ever struck me as profoundly as deeper literature I've read, the authors of which, most have never heard has heard of. Even films which are given "Oscars" or shows given "Emmies" are primarily just mindless action or drama and the awards are really just 'participation' awards with the primary aim of enhancing sales.

This is why "geeking out" is ultimately pointless, it's a vice, not a virtue - just about arguing over the most insignificant details possible as if they were life or death issues, or using TL;DR essays full of fluffy words to try to locate "depth" in things which the author was too ADHD to have cared about to begin with. It's the equivalent of tween girls talking about horoscopes in an issue of Teen Vogue, nothing more than a guilty pleasure devoid of any substance.

That doesn't mean it's "wrong", but profound? It's as "profound" as beating as beating one off in the guy's locker room.


Are you done?

Good. Clean up after yourself and leave now.

Thank you.

resister
11-28-2017, 10:37 PM
Are you done?

Good. Clean up after yourself and leave now.

Thank you.

Really? :rollseyes:

Standing Wolf
11-28-2017, 11:11 PM
Really? :rollseyes:

People who go into forums that are designed specifically for those interested in certain topics - in the case of this one, popular entertainment - just to rag on those who share that interest are trolls and worse than trolls. R, I think most of us are fascinated by your stories and photos about fossil-hunting, but what would you think if someone came in in the middle of one of your threads and started ridiculing you for "digging in the dirt for stupid bones", etc.? It is bad faith in spades to do something like that.

Humans have been fascinated by stories about other people having adventures for as long as language has existed. Gilgamesh, Odysseus, The Icelandic Eddas, Beowulf, the various pantheons of gods, demi-gods and heroes - you find them in the Classics section now, but in their day they were Star Wars and the Marvel Universe and the Walking Dead and then some. Most of the "geeks", nerds and fanboys that I know are extraordinarily well-read and literate people. Just as the most jaded foodie may sometimes just want a street corner hot dog or some fast food French fries, an equivalent situation exists with books, films and entertainment generally.

I know a professor of Literature at a local university who works part-time in a comic store; he has been buying and reading comics for more than forty years and possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of superheroes. Several of the smartest people I know, educated professionals, spend an inordinate amount of time reading, discussing and debating about the adventures of a certain fictional Nineteenth Century English consulting detective, whose exploits first appeared in a popular magazine of the time.

Movies, comics, television shows, popular fiction - they have the power to bring diverse individuals - regardless of age, background, education, race, or anything else - together in appreciating a good story well told. This sub-forum of the board serves a very useful purpose. Those with sticks up their butts have plenty of other places to hang out.

resister
11-28-2017, 11:26 PM
People who go into forums that are designed specifically for those interested in certain topics - in the case of this one, popular entertainment - just to rag on those who share that interest are trolls and worse than trolls. R, I think most of us are fascinated by your stories and photos about fossil-hunting, but what would you think if someone came in in the middle of one of your threads and started ridiculing you for "digging in the dirt for stupid bones", etc.? It is bad faith in spades to do something like that.

Humans have been fascinated by stories about other people having adventures for as long as language has existed. Gilgamesh, Odysseus, The Icelandic Eddas, Beowulf, the various pantheons of gods, demi-gods and heroes - you find them in the Classics section now, but in their day they were Star Wars and the Marvel Universe and the Walking Dead and then some. Most of the "geeks", nerds and fanboys that I know are extraordinarily well-read and literate people. Just as the most jaded foodie may sometimes just want a street corner hot dog or some fast food French fries, an equivalent situation exists with books, films and entertainment generally.

I know a professor of Literature at a local university who works part-time in a comic store; he has been buying and reading comics for more than forty years and possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of superheroes. Several of the smartest people I know, educated professionals, spend an inordinate amount of time reading, discussing and debating about the adventures of a certain fictional Nineteenth Century English consulting detective, whose exploits first appeared in a popular magazine of the time.

Movies, comics, television shows, popular fiction - they have the power to bring diverse individuals - regardless of age, background, education, race, or anything else - together in appreciating a good story well told. This sub-forum of the board serves a very useful purpose. Those with sticks up their butts have plenty of other places to hang out.
I did not connect the "geeking out" part. To be honest, I thought it was slang for "tweeking" AKA, up for days, cranking. Meth.

But, to be fair he posted his own thread and thoughts.

Standing Wolf
11-28-2017, 11:29 PM
I did not connect the "geeking out" part. To be honest, I thought it was slang for "tweeking" AKA, up for days, cranking. Meth.

I think originally "geeking out" would have involved biting the head off a live chicken. :grin:

Devil'sAdvocate
11-29-2017, 12:50 AM
People who go into forums that are designed specifically for those interested in certain topics - in the case of this one, popular entertainment - just to rag on those who share that interest are trolls and worse than trolls. R, I think most of us are fascinated by your stories and photos about fossil-hunting, but what would you think if someone came in in the middle of one of your threads and started ridiculing you for "digging in the dirt for stupid bones", etc.? It is bad faith in spades to do something like that.

Humans have been fascinated by stories about other people having adventures for as long as language has existed. Gilgamesh, Odysseus, The Icelandic Eddas, Beowulf, the various pantheons of gods, demi-gods and heroes - you find them in the Classics section now, but in their day they were Star Wars and the Marvel Universe and the Walking Dead and then some. Most of the "geeks", nerds and fanboys that I know are extraordinarily well-read and literate people. Just as the most jaded foodie may sometimes just want a street corner hot dog or some fast food French fries, an equivalent situation exists with books, films and entertainment generally.

I know a professor of Literature at a local university who works part-time in a comic store; he has been buying and reading comics for more than forty years and possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of superheroes. Several of the smartest people I know, educated professionals, spend an inordinate amount of time reading, discussing and debating about the adventures of a certain fictional Nineteenth Century English consulting detective, whose exploits first appeared in a popular magazine of the time.

Movies, comics, television shows, popular fiction - they have the power to bring diverse individuals - regardless of age, background, education, race, or anything else - together in appreciating a good story well told. This sub-forum of the board serves a very useful purpose. Those with sticks up their butts have plenty of other places to hang out.
"Geeking out" doesn't imply well-read, it just implies unhealthy and disproportionately obsessive, or to "fandom" what an Islamic fundamentalist is to religion.

And what you wrote above argues my point, people have been into various stories of different kinds for most of history, so that begs the question why any obsessive 'fandom' disproportionately devoted to a specific franchise, character, genre, etc would need to exist (e.x. I see nothing "objective" about Star Wars that warrants such a disproportionate level of fandom compared other films of similar subject matter and quality).

In a way, that jives with my thoughts about their being parallels between fandom, and other forms of religious or ideological extremism, to the point that "fandom" may even just be a modern psychological surrogate for what religious fanaticism once served.

Devil'sAdvocate
11-29-2017, 01:10 AM
I did not connect the "geeking out" part. To be honest, I thought it was slang for "tweeking" AKA, up for days, cranking. Meth.

But, to be fair he posted his own thread and thoughts.
I was geeking out about the purpose of "geeking out"... :laugh:

resister
11-29-2017, 01:14 AM
I was geeking out about the purpose of "geeking out"... :laugh:
OK, kk Kay! *insert little john, here* :)

The Xl
11-29-2017, 01:28 AM
Everything in life is ultimately pointless.

Devil'sAdvocate
11-29-2017, 01:36 AM
Everything in life is ultimately pointless.
Every "thing" is, once one realizes that "things" are a construct and don't exist outside mental illusions, then they can embrace that which isn't pointless.

Standing Wolf
11-29-2017, 02:05 AM
In a way, that jives with my thoughts about their being parallels between fandom, and other forms of religious or ideological extremism, to the point that "fandom" may even just be a modern psychological surrogate for what religious fanaticism once served.

It's true, but not only fanaticism - simple and sincere devotion, as well, and even observance. (I know individuals for whom various Comic Conventions are an annual pilgrimage.) And sports fandom, for many, fills the same niche.

Captdon
11-29-2017, 01:11 PM
"Geeking out" doesn't imply well-read, it just implies unhealthy and disproportionately obsessive, or to "fandom" what an Islamic fundamentalist is to religion.

And what you wrote above argues my point, people have been into various stories of different kinds for most of history, so that begs the question why any obsessive 'fandom' disproportionately devoted to a specific franchise, character, genre, etc would need to exist (e.x. I see nothing "objective" about Star Wars that warrants such a disproportionate level of fandom compared other films of similar subject matter and quality).

In a way, that jives with my thoughts about their being parallels between fandom, and other forms of religious or ideological extremism, to the point that "fandom" may even just be a modern psychological surrogate for what religious fanaticism once served.

You have to take into consideration one of the oldest thoughts in mankind's history. Each to their own.

Chris
11-29-2017, 02:47 PM
Everything in life is ultimately pointless.

^^Self-annihilating sentence. :D

Kacper
11-29-2017, 07:28 PM
Films, TV, popular music, and mass media as a whole are primarily just mindless entertainment, as they've been since their earliest origins - if they weren't, they wouldn't sell to millions of people to begin with. And the majority of "critics" are just sales pitchmen who have no depth of knowledge and understanding of their subject matter, and are just using 'big words' to write pseudo-intellectual advertisements under the guise of 'critical reviews'.

Why would anyone trust an overweight, balding, man-child (or woman-child) on the internet who writes "critical reviews" of movies to understand anything about "plot" or "character" development to begin with, when it's obvious that their emotional intelligence became stunted at around age 11? (Or worse yet, trust their opinions on political issues).


There isn't a single film, TV show, or popular song I've heard in my life which has ever struck me as profoundly as deeper literature I've read, the authors of which, most have never heard has heard of. Even films which are given "Oscars" or shows given "Emmies" are primarily just mindless action or drama and the awards are really just 'participation' awards with the primary aim of enhancing sales.

This is why "geeking out" is ultimately pointless, it's a vice, not a virtue - just about arguing over the most insignificant details possible as if they were life or death issues, or using TL;DR essays full of fluffy words to try to locate "depth" in things which the author was too ADHD to have cared about to begin with. It's the equivalent of tween girls talking about horoscopes in an issue of Teen Vogue, nothing more than a guilty pleasure devoid of any substance.

That doesn't mean it's "wrong", but profound? It's as "profound" as beating as beating one off in the guy's locker room.


1) Magazines, etc demand writers use New Journalism which in my mind is largely masturbatory anyway for the writer. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Journalism )

2) A buddy of mind is a journalist who writes a lot of what offends you across numerous sites/publications. I have constantly berated him for never giving anything a bad review. He deflects with, "Well there is so much good stuff out there, there is no reason for me to spend my time on the bad stuff." That is code for, "If I write a bad review, the studio/record label/management company will pull my access to their talent and then I won't have a job because I won't have any celebrities that people want to read about to write about; I won't be getting free trips to do interviews; and people will stop flooding me with free screeners to watch and CD's to listen to."