RKane wrote:
Anyways, I have long stood firm in believing that nothing in a movie/book/whatever should have an affect on the person watching it, and anything they do...
Then why bother reading?
Entertainment. To learn. Pass the time. Not to have an immediately violent belief change.
Budphrey wrote:
MDaunt wrote:
RKane wrote:
Anyways, I have long stood firm in believing that nothing in a movie/book/whatever should have an affect on the person watching it, and anything they do...
Then why bother reading?
Or for that matter, why bother writing?
When I was 17 I read God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, then on a friend's recommendation I read The Fountainhead immediately afterward. What followed was one of the most dissociative states I have ever experienced (and I'm probably lucky in that respect). It was a rude awakening to see how two human beings — presumably having experienced roughly the same benefits and hazards that come with participation in American society — could have such widely divergent, albeit deeply held, positions on compassion, empathy and responsibility. It is obvious both authors really intended for their works to affect and influence many people, and each one drew on considerable powers of expression and storytelling toward that end.
Where I think I come to agreement with RKane (and Arthur, for that matter) is the idea that you have to be vigilant as a consumer of any product, entertainment included, and beware letting its effect override your good judgment and your connection with reality. But if you put up a complete stone wall and don't even consider letting yourself be touched by someone's different viewpoint, you're cutting off some of your humanity.
Thanks for the response. I may have either misstated or overstated my point, because two seperate people seem to have taken issue with it. I certainly don't think you outright stonewall other's believes and not engage in dialogue. My only real point was that I absolutely abhor the attitude that "violent movies/games/books/music made him do it" is seriously considered. It's one thing to engage in a dialogue, it's another to read about someone getting killed and then go on a spree. That rests with the person. As my boys Penn and Teller once pointed out, the highest death toll at any school attack in American history involved an adult (not a child) using bombs and dynamite (not guns) in the 1920s (no violent video games in those days). Although I feel the strongest argument against any such nonsense is, for example: Millions of people play GTA. A couple do violent acts, and maybe one or two blame the game. That's what I call statistically insignificant.
RKane wrote:My only real point was that I absolutely abhor the attitude that "violent movies/games/books/music made him do it" is seriously considered.
Fair enough. I'm generally in agreement with that as well, at least when it comes to personal responsibility. The larger factor of mass media's societal effect is a lot harder to pin down, and frankly my feeling is that people tend to choose entertainments that reinforce the inclinations or opinions they already have. The main antidote for that is for individuals to face their own strengths and frailties honestly and guard against letting, say, some moral echo-chamber message or wish-fulfillment fantasy carry them away. Which was the most valuable take-away I saw in Arthur's article. You'll notice he prescribed growing up, not taking TBBT off the air.
RKane wrote:You'll notice he prescribed growing up, not taking TBBT off the air.
The phrase "to grow up" is abused in today's society almost as much as the word "evolve".
There are two types of adults who are "immature". Those young adults who have not yet reached their long-term balance of impulses and self-control, and those who have some persistent condition that makes them different from "mature" people. Moreover, growing up is not an unambiguously positive process; it involves, by definition, some loss of creativity, flexibility, and ability to learn new things. An implication that adults are inherently better than children and adolescents is a rather arrogant and only sometimes justified form of ageism.
RKane wrote:You'll notice he prescribed growing up, not taking TBBT off the air.
The phrase "to grow up" is abused in today's society almost as much as the word "evolve".
There are two types of adults who are "immature". Those young adults who have not yet reached their long-term balance of impulses and self-control, and those who have some persistent condition that makes them different from "mature" people. Moreover, growing up is not an unambiguously positive process; it involves, by definition, some loss of creativity, flexibility, and ability to learn new things. An implication that adults are inherently better than children and adolescents is a rather arrogant and only sometimes justified form of ageism.
I think it's fairly clear from context that asking someone to 'grow up' requests them to give over their immature illusions in favor of a (hopefully) more sociable reality. It is a figure of speech and as such does not actually implore someone to mature within the space of a conversation. Implying that using the term means you consider adulthood universally positive is a red herring.
That said, I think what people consider 'mature' is fluid. Instead of petty playground squabbles some adults engage in oversharing and petty PTA posturing; 'immature' is in the eye of the beholder.
Fleeboy wrote:Returning to the originial topic (if only briefly) ...
Jeopardy!, on its Facebook page, is promoting Arthur's return to the show Monday.
The comments thread contains at least one spoiler. You might want to avoid reading it.
Now it's two spoilers . . . because one of our old friends makes a c-y-b-e-r-i-a-l point of saying, "Hey, when XXXXX said, 'YYYYYYYY,' that was a big spoiler!"
Rex
Sadly, the "c-y-b-e-r-I-a-l one" infests the Bobby Magic Radio chat and Facebook page now. It's a great site to get a broad variety of hit songs from the past (unlike FM and Sirius) and I turn off the message functions so I don't have to see him. Currently, he is annoying the site members by saying when a celebrity dies that [they] were on that day's episode of Celebrity Bucket Kickers.
P.S. Alietr, did you set up this board so that the word comes out as "normal"? That's classic.
The cy beer e al one actually posted in this thread, yet, management didnt see it. Throwback Thursday
