CuriousCat Archive Page 120 of 202

  1. “I’ve seen things *you people* wouldn’t believe.”

    I feel like Roy’s speech is irrevocably undermined if Deckard is in fact a Replicant as well. On some deeper levels, but also on the surface level of “poor guy just wanted his life story not to disappear and didn’t realize he was talking to someone who had also three hot minutes left to live”

    Am I wrong?

    in response to Idk, how else are we supposed to interpret the unicorn-dream/origami thing?

    Roy ends by saying that when he dies his stories die with him. He knows Deckard won't live forever and probably not many other people would listen to the stories if Deckard shared them. I think what Roy wants is to know his stories will outlive him even briefly, but, more importantly, he wants someone to understand the sadness of that loss. We're all going to die and everything we saw and did will eventually be forgotten, but we can have moments of communion while we're still alive.

    Besides, we know now that, if Deckard is a replicant, he's clearly a Nexus-6 or higher than lives longer.

  2. Best Sonic game?

    in response to Best Mario game?

    Mania

  3. Best 3d Mario?

    in response to Best Mario game?

    I've only played 64 and Odyssey

    gonna go with 64

  4. Why do you hate poor people so much?
    Why do you want to stop them, from getting into the system that made more to enhance the standard of living of basicaly the poorest in society, than any other?

    alright, story time:

    when the recession hit - a recession caused by hypercapitalist business practices/conservative deregulation and eventually ended by liberal public spending - I had to drop out of college. I lived the next three years in Rhode Island - the state with the second worst unemployment rate in the country at the time - with no degree. before my food stamps cleared, my grocery budget was $15 a week. I lived on pancakes and lentil soup. I learned where the Providence food bank was. I dropped to 115 pounds (I'm 5'9"). when I finally got work, it was with Americorps (again, public funding). I lived on poverty wages - comes out to about $4 an hour - and had to get on food stamps again to feed myself.

    during my time in Americorps I did afterschool education with low-income kids, almost all Black or Dominican, who were living in generational poverty rather than the situational poverty I was in. one team took their kids to the children's museum and the staff made them play outside because this group of Black and Latinx kids had "so much energy" compared to their middle class white clientele. I had Haitian kids whose parents couldn't afford to come to America. I had kids whose family members were dying of preventable illness because they couldn't afford health insurance. I remember taking a trip with my partner to New York City and staying in one of their college friends' family apartment on Central Park West, where there's a (Black) employee who pushes your elevator button for you. I remember looking around and thinking "the cost of this apartment could get every single one of my kids out of poverty."

    before the recession was over, I would be on food stamps four times. I had collections agents calling me daily and literally telling me to sell my own blood so I could pay them.

    I, and every single Black and brown kid I worked with, were living in poverty because of capitalism. their schools were shit because of how schools are funded by property taxes. their neighborhoods were dangerous because of how moneyed neighborhoods are favored by developers. their families were dying because of private insurance. their afterschool centers were privatized because public funding dried up and some kids couldn't attend anymore. they were separated from their families because it costs too much to live in this country. and every single thing that helped them and me - from food stamps to Americorps to the buses that got us where we were going since we couldn't afford cars and even the goddamned ROAD THEY DROVE ON - were publicly-funded.

    so, from the absolute bottom of my heart: don't fucking talk to me about poverty.

  5. Best Mario game?

    World

  6. What is art to you?

    art is a form of indirect communication between a creator (or creators) and an audience

    anything that creates this interaction, even unintentionally, is art

  7. What's the most problematic thing you still love?

    I'm not advocating death of the author, but in this specific question, I'm mostly interested in problematic content rather than creator.

    I find, the older I get, the less I enjoy "problematic" media. I've been reading Sluggy Freelance for about 20 years now and there are aspects of that comic that haven't aged well. Definitely some casual gender essentialism. But, like, I wouldn't call it capital-P Problematic, just occasionally disappointing.

    That's about as bad as it gets for me. When even the progressive stuff I genuinely love still has problematic bits that I analyze, stuff with higher concentrations of bullshit are just exhausting.

  8. If someone is deemed a "race traitor" by their white community, does that mean they have lost a portion of their white privilege?

    not unless the entire institutions of education, banking, realty, policing, and employment ALL collectively decide they're a race traitor

    there is a lot more to oppression than your immediate community being crappy to you

  9. Since the pandemic doesn't seem like it's ending any time soon, do you think you might retire the CO-VIDs format, or at least rebrand it (something like "Innuendo Shorts," "Innuendo Quips" "Mini Danskins")

    nah, I'm doing them specifically because of the extenuating circumstances of living under social distancing, so acknowledging that in the series title is sensible

  10. What's the difference between punishment and consequences?

    there are positive consequences, for starters

  11. Are a group of people being represented in media, when typically they haven't been, an improvement of material conditions?

    I mean, how are we defining "material"? Capital? Political representation? Full protection of the law? Greater representation does not necessarily include any of those, but it often correlated with them, and can help in achieving them.

  13. Why aren't there more games about fire fighters or emts

    capitalism

  14. Should we use the term "latinx" or "latino?"

    I'm torn because I like the gender neutrality of latinx but polling among hispanic and latino Americans shows little demand for it.

    I know a lot of trans/NB/ally Latin-Americans who would beg to differ. I use Latinx. Latinx is a very American term, though, mostly for use by English-speakers. It doesn't pluralize well in Spanish grammar and isn't easily-pronounceable in the Spanish language. Native speakers sometimes use Latine in conversation for these reasons. Different tools for different purposes.

  15. I know this is basically asking you to speculate on the question (OP is very welcome to weigh in!), but as a TMBG neophyte, I'm wondering if Flood isn't in there because it's taken for granted that it'd place highly, or because it's viewed as overrated by longtime fans?

    in response to TMBG question: Rank these albums in order from your most to least favorite (maybe talk a little about why): Lincoln, John Henry, Mink Car, The Spine, The Else, Join Us

    I'm assuming asking TMBG fans to rank Flood or Apollo 18 is uninteresting, but OP can clarify.

  16. also, have you seen DARK on netflix? its fucking sick, like one of the best tv shows ever imo

    I got three or four episodes into it a while back, been meaning to pick it back up.

  17. Get old already

    in response to you have big brain

    workin' on it

  18. TMBG question: Rank these albums in order from your most to least favorite (maybe talk a little about why): Lincoln, John Henry, Mink Car, The Spine, The Else, Join Us

    Lincoln
    John Henry
    The Else
    The Spine
    Mink Car
    Join Us

    Lincoln is one of my top 3 albums of all time. John Henry is probably the best of their full band albums. The Else is uneven but has a handful of real bangers. The Spine is also uneven and has fewer bangers, but some good stuff. Mink Car actually has a bunch of good songs but the I don't like that album's *feel*. And Join Us is the only TMBG album I've ever found mostly forgettable.

  19. You + LeftTube + Feminists

    in response to Why do you all remain quiet when someone has proven you all wrong for a comment you all make in the past with regards to social, political issues etc.? I mean at least a simple apology to them would suffice, right? Why stay quiet?

    ah yes, I remember the day with Roosh published the peer-reviewed paper that definitively proved that LeftTube, feminism, and most especially myself were all unquestioningly wrong about everything. he won a Pulitzer.

    obviously we refuse to confirm his findings because the science is too complex for our simple minds.

  20. What do you mean by good scripts? You mean doing something like Robert McKee would always insists? Or go to a route that Charlie Kaufman would make?

    in response to What's the biggest mistake filmmakers make when adapting video games?

    scripts with good writing instead of bad writing

  22. Hbomb makes his own videos? I thought he just sometimes assisted Shannon Strucci.

    in response to Have you yet seen hbomberguy's RWBY video? There was clearly a lot of research about RWBY's production put into it, which he used to strengthen his arguments, and I think it shows how media analysis videos can be greatly improved by doing research, even if it's arguably unnecessary given the relative lightness of the topic.

    I think this is his first

  23. Can you tell me where you are getting the idea that they were willing to surrender? Because from what have read the allies sent out the Potsdam declaration, Japan did not surrender, Allies then dropped the nukes and even after that the senior leadership of the japanese still did not want to surrender it only happened after the emperor personally forced them to.

    in response to If Japan didn't wanna get nuked they shouldn't have gotten into a war. If you are a government your responsibility is to save your citizens lives by ending the war. Dropping the nukes ended the war immediately.

    The US was aware that Japan was willing to offer a conditional surrender, the primary stipulation being that Hirohito would stay Emperor. The US dropped nukes because they wanted surrender to be unconditional.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/five-myths-about-the-atomic-bomb/2015/07/31/32dbc15c-3620-11e5-b673-1df005a0fb28_story.html

  24. you have big brain

    in response to What can we do about them

    just because my brain is big enough to KNOW everything doesn't mean my life has been long enough to LEARN everything

  25. Are human beings innately ignorant assholes to begin with?

    in the sense that very young children are literally ignorant because they haven't learned much yet and haven't fully figured out how model other people's needs in order to navigate them unselfishly, yes, but that's hardly a revelation

    if you mean "are ignorance and cruelty human nature," also yes, but so are kindness, wisdom, and cooperation.

  27. Why do you all remain quiet when someone has proven you all wrong for a comment you all make in the past with regards to social, political issues etc.?

    I mean at least a simple apology to them would suffice, right? Why stay quiet?

    "you all" meaning whom?

  28. TMBG question: Who do you think is the better vocalist, John F or John L? Follow-up question: who's your favorite member of the Band of Dans and why is it Marty Beller?

    aw, don't make me choose between my boyz

  29. What's the biggest mistake filmmakers make when adapting video games?

    I think they should try writing good scripts instead of bad ones, but that's just my opinion.

  30. Where do you stand on the Hamilton Discourse (tm)? Personally, I like it a lot.

    I still haven't seen it so I have no dog in this fight.

  31. What can we do about them

    in response to deepfakes scare me

    not sure why I'd have an answer to that question!

  33. Thoughts on Wolf Of Wall Street?

    it's fine, but it's not really ~CiNeMa~

  34. Have you yet seen hbomberguy's RWBY video? There was clearly a lot of research about RWBY's production put into it, which he used to strengthen his arguments, and I think it shows how media analysis videos can be greatly improved by doing research, even if it's arguably unnecessary given the relative lightness of the topic.

    in response to advice for becoming a video essayist without any formal education and simply the drive to talk alot about shit no one cares about? do i have anything interesting to say? whats yr research process like?

    of course I watched Hbomb's RWBY video

    not sure every media analysis video needs to be a 2.5 hour epic, but it's pretty tasty sometimes food

  35. I mean, from what I’ve read of them, their social justice takes seem to cover social justice as it relates to class issues. Dunno if that’s good or bad, but it is something I’ve noticed.

    in response to Out of curiosity, what are some of your criticisms of Jacobin?

    you can talk about the intersection of race and class without saying utterly dipshit things about race

    it is, in fact, possible not to be racist

  36. If Japan didn't wanna get nuked they shouldn't have gotten into a war. If you are a government your responsibility is to save your citizens lives by ending the war. Dropping the nukes ended the war immediately.

    ah, yes, you consented to having a weapon dropped on you that didn't exist when you joined the war

    also Japan was already willing to surrender

  37. advice for becoming a video essayist without any formal education and simply the drive to talk alot about shit no one cares about? do i have anything interesting to say? whats yr research process like?

    What constitutes "no formal education"? You mean you didn't study video production or writing? Or you mean you didn't go to college? Not that either should prevent you from making videos, just wondering how to tailor my advice. :)

    If you have thoughts that are interesting *to you*, then you have something interesting to say. Your audience will decide if it's interesting to them. You can't control their reaction, so you should probably focus on what makes it interesting *to you*. When I make a video, I try to think, if someone had already made this video, and I were coming to it as an audience member, what would make me appreciate it the most?

    Research varies from video to video. For overtly political stuff, I tend to do a lot of reading beforehand, because it's very important not to misrepresent subjects. There's a mix of books and articles I'm reading about the specific subject I want to talk about, and reading more broadly about politics and seeing if they spark video ideas. I think it's good to do some "pure research" like that, just explore relevant topics, so you're getting new ideas in addition to fleshing out the ideas you already have.

    But, for videos about, like, games or movies, it's far more opinion-oriented, and research is less critical. With CO-VIDs especially, I'm trying to just work with thoughts I already have rather than studying the heck out of everything and turning each idea into a big production. But, for some meatier subjects, I like to use a video as an excuse to just immerse myself in a subject I find interesting. I used the Fury Road video as an excuse to read a ton of essays on action movies, as well as watch a hell of a lot of them. The video on adventure games and genre was an excuse to read a whole mess of genre theory. The curse of being my own boss is I always vaguely feel like I should be working, and, whether or not this is true, it often seems like I don't have enough time to explore all my interests. So, sometimes, I decide to make a video about a random interest because it justifies the time spend delving into it. And then I get to make a video about something I love and share it with other people!

  38. One I've heard countered more than expressed is that they (AOC in particular) didn't endorse Cori Bush in the primaries (the counter being that they got some real concessions lately from the incumbent, and politically needed to show some good will).

    in response to I see a lot of people argue that the Squad can't be counted on because they are being corrupted by the pervasive culture of corporatism in Congress. Do you feel there is any credence to this argument?

    Being part of the system means making concessions to it; if you aren't making concessions, you can't accomplish anything. This is why it's important to balance allies within the system with work done independent of it.

    The Squad are never going to be perfect, but, compared with most politicians, they are far, far more sympathetic to our causes and we can work with them better than most anyone else.

    We need to stop heroizing politicians and expecting them to do the work for us. They are not saviors, nor are they your friends. They are, at best, tools.

  39. I saw an accidentally leftist tweet where people were saying basically "all megacorps are marxist, it's time to abolish megacorps." How do we convince these people to follow through on an extremely marxist thing without making them think they're marxist

    tell them it'll own the libs

  42. deepfakes scare me

    they should

  43. I see a lot of people argue that the Squad can't be counted on because they are being corrupted by the pervasive culture of corporatism in Congress. Do you feel there is any credence to this argument?

    I mean, my stance is, as ever, "never ever ever under any circumstances trust a politician," but are these folks citing any specific ways The Squad has let them down?

  44. jacobin, the intercept, Some More News, Jim Sterling, occasionally the New York Times but be extremely skeptical of what they say

    actually be skeptical in general. to a healthy degree.

    in response to What news outlets do you recommend I get my information from?

    Jacobin has problems, but they also do some really good stuff.

  48. Ever read The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien? If so, what did you think?

    I think I read a segment of it in a writing class? Don't remember much.

  50. Are you proud of who you are and what you've become?

    Sometimes.

  51. "to change someone's belief about a thing they've got their feelings mixed up in, they've got to have either trust, respect, or deference."

    Considering this, do you think parasocial relationships can be good if they lead the viewers to trust a YouTuber who is making factual and moral arguments, and therefore be more open to accepting those arguments than they would be otherwise?

    in response to Why is debating with someone online so frequently ineffective at changing their mind?

    I said as much in How to Radicalize a Normie. One of the benefits of YouTube is you can talk to *a lot* of people at once instead of trying to change minds one at a time. The downside is, even as you might be deradicalizing some people, you might be exposing others to reactionary rhetoric they were better off not hearing, boosting the attention and legitimacy of the very people you're trying to debunk, and you'll never have numbers on how big those two populations are.

  52. Any interesting / particular reason for the name change to your most recent video?

    I knew "adventure games about jesus" would probably get more clicks, but didn't want to blow the surprise, so I ultimately decided I'd put it up with a name that doesn't give things away for the first week and then swap it out. Views bumped up almost immediately, though by less than I'd hoped.

  53. Thoughts on Zero Dark Thirty? I've heard that it's a lot more balanced and nuanced than what the Discourse suggested.

    I haven't watched it all the way through, it was kind of dark and glowery.

  54. Well then, should you judge people based on where they draw that line?

    in response to Okay then. To what extent should a person be horrible to where you should stop giving money to them? Because while you DID consider buying Ion Fury, I imagine none of us are going to be buying a Ubisoft game anytime soon. So where’s the line?

    Depends on where they draw it. For most things, I'm pretty flexible on where the line is drawn, so long as they draw it somewhere. But if I hear someone praising Mel Gibson in The Year of Our Lord Two Thousand and Twenty I'ma give them the side-eye.

  55. Are movie reviews free marketing?

    All discourse is attention, and attention can function as marketing, but not all reviews are *good* marketing.

  56. For the purposes of having it in writing, could you summarize what “angry jack” means?

    Angry Jack is "the belligerent and dangerous asshole some of us become when we feel our conception of ourselves as moral human beings is threatened."

  57. What's so frustrating is I see so many people on Tumblr/Twitter dumping on those shows (AT and LoK) for having 'fake representation' and it's all because of capitalist cowards - the creatives really wanted the rep but the execs at CN/Nick kept saying "no, it won't play in China/Russia" or some other excuse. We were extremely lucky to get as much rep in SU as we did.

    in response to Best lgbt representation in a children's show?

    Yes, agreed. When we criticize them for not going further, we need to point our criticisms at studios, not creators.

  58. What's your favorite movie that made you feel the worst?

    in response to What's your favorite feel good movie?

    Grave of the Fireflies for inconsolable grief, Margaret for fucking me up with little catharsis

  59. (different anon) I haven't seen either of these, but apparently "Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts" and "She-ra and the Princesses of Power" both have openly gay characters.

    in response to Best lgbt representation in a children's show?

    yeah, you can get away with shit on Netflix you can't on broadcast TV

  60. Do healthy people need therapy?

    the hell is a "healthy person"?

  61. What news outlets do you recommend I get my information from?

    I have no idea, please tell me if you find a good one

  63. I'm not united-statesian so to me "this house backs the blue" sounds like they are democrats. Does it actually mean something else?

    in response to is it worth it to try and elucidate people on leftist causes who are clearly conservative? i get the urge whenever i see some fuckin "this house backs the blue" sign in someones yard to append a second sign that just says "WHY?" or slip a zine under their door or some shit. should i just slash their tires? is their any point in trying to change minds? in one way there is theory enough people who feel the same way to facilitate change but somehow i still want to try and appeal to the better nature of those who are publicly opposed already. maybe thats jsut "talking to angry jack" idk

    "the blue" in this context means the cops

  64. What's your favorite feel good movie?

    Spirited Away

  65. Wouldn't this answer imply that you saw the USSR as genuinely communist and not just state capitalism?

    in response to Was Gorbachev a well-mentioned reformer or a traitor to communism ideals?

    Not at all, but Gorbachev was in a position to push the country towards its own communist ideals and away from Stalinism rather than Westernizing. They were better off than they were under Stalin, no doubt, but "be more like the US" wasn't the only option, and many in the USSR still genuinely believed in communism.

  66. Best lgbt representation in a children's show?

    I'm not up on kids shows, but it seems like Steven Universe is one of the only ones with actual *representation*, as opposed to a single kiss or implied relationship in the very last episode a la Adventure Time or Legend of Korra. If there are more kids shows with out LGBT characters, I'd love to know about them!

  67. Did you keep re-reading it because you liked it the first time, because you already liked Delany or something else?

    in response to What's the hardest book you've read?

    the opening chapters are just *really* dense and hard to get through

  68. What do you think of the concept of open borders, free migration to the US, by poor people from other countries?

    free migration for only poor people isn't really "open borders" but, sure, sounds fine enough

  69. how to lower horny levels in the long term

    have you tried anxiety?

  70. Why is debating with someone online so frequently ineffective at changing their mind?

    because we mistakenly think all belief is formed from the ground up, that we are presented with facts and derive beliefs from them. but we are raised in a culture and absorb the beliefs around us at a young age, well before we are presented with any facts. and there is a part in everyone's gut that wants to believe that the right thing to do is whatever they're already doing. the more attached a person is to a belief, the harder is to change it with facts alone. core beliefs don't change all at once, they change with time. it's a process.

    to change someone's belief about a thing they've got their feelings mixed up in, they've got to have either trust, respect, or deference. people change when they want to or when they have to. neither apply to a Twitter argument with a stranger.

  71. (Different anon) Why can’t you try if it’s yes to 1 and no to 2 and 3?

    in response to is it worth it to try and elucidate people on leftist causes who are clearly conservative? i get the urge whenever i see some fuckin "this house backs the blue" sign in someones yard to append a second sign that just says "WHY?" or slip a zine under their door or some shit. should i just slash their tires? is their any point in trying to change minds? in one way there is theory enough people who feel the same way to facilitate change but somehow i still want to try and appeal to the better nature of those who are publicly opposed already. maybe thats jsut "talking to angry jack" idk

    a "yes" to any one is fine, just saying a "no" to all three is an uphill battle

  72. is it worth it to try and elucidate people on leftist causes who are clearly conservative? i get the urge whenever i see some fuckin "this house backs the blue" sign in someones yard to append a second sign that just says "WHY?" or slip a zine under their door or some shit. should i just slash their tires? is their any point in trying to change minds? in one way there is theory enough people who feel the same way to facilitate change but somehow i still want to try and appeal to the better nature of those who are publicly opposed already. maybe thats jsut "talking to angry jack" idk

    the first three questions to ask before trying to change someone's mind are:

    1) does this person know me personally?
    2) does this person respect or admire me?
    3) do I have authority over this person?

    if the answer to all three is "no," you can still try, but I'd resist the urge to spend very much time on it as your odds are low

  73. I just want to say that I really like your work and am continuously impressed with what you manage to do :)

    aw shucks!

  74. Do you like jazz

    don't listen to a lot of straight jazz but I like stuff with a jazz influence

  75. How can I matter?

    you already do

Anon commented:
Ian replied: