Zomg! For some reason, I didn't realize you were that young cps!

I had to look it up - the movie came out in 2004, late high school for me. Which was a golden time when I didn't know what Objectivism was. Imagine that - a youth uncorrupted by such toxic philosophy.

So not that young.

I wonder why Disney/pixar never made a second one...

Well their stated reason, last I heard, was that they wanted to keep their focus on original stories rather than milking cash cows. That said, they've turned out three Toy Stories, two Cars' (Carses?), and there's a sequel to Finding Nemo in the works.

So... idunno.

Wow thanks for ruining that movie I saw once when I was a kid for me, bro.

Zomg! For some reason, I didn't realize you were that young cps!

At least once a day I get hit with these reminders that "Wow, I'm pretty **** old.."

(I saw Star Wars - the first one- in the theater. Not a 'revival' showing...)

wow.

:: gives nod of deference to Adeptus-B ::

Wow thanks for ruining that movie I saw once when I was a kid for me, bro.

Zomg! For some reason, I didn't realize you were that young cps!

At least once a day I get hit with these reminders that "Wow, I'm pretty **** old.."

(I saw Star Wars - the first one- in the theater. Not a 'revival' showing...)

Same here. I think my latest reminder was when I was talking with a co-worker about the band Living Color and realized that 'Cult of Personality' came out around a quarter century ago. : (

Wow thanks for ruining that movie I saw once when I was a kid for me, bro.

Zomg! For some reason, I didn't realize you were that young cps!

At least once a day I get hit with these reminders that "Wow, I'm pretty **** old.."

(I saw Star Wars - the first one- in the theater. Not a 'revival' showing...)

****, I was still two years in the making at that point.

I think my latest reminder was when I was talking with a co-worker about the band Living Color and realized that 'Cult of Personality' came out around a quarter century ago. : (

Yeah, I was listening to my CD (yes, us geezers still listen to CDs) of Licensed To Ill the other day, and noticed the 1986 copyright. I made the mistake of doing the math, and it really knocked the wind out of me...

If it makes you feel any better adeptusb, it sounds like we're about the same age! *Goes looking for walker.*

The worst yet for me was about a month ago at Bojangles when the girl at the counter rang me up for a senior discount.

To be fair, The Incredibles is kind of subtly a celebration of Objectivism and depending on your thoughts on that, the movie's intended message IS wrong.

Wow thanks for ruining that movie I saw once when I was a kid for me, bro.

Think about it man. The superhumans of the world being unfairly forced to hide their true abilities because the weaker humans are obviously just afraid and jealous of how great they are. Who is Mr. Incredible?

If it helps, Star Wars is an obvious analogue to the, at the time, contemporary viet nam war. You have a huge empire wielding a terrible super weapon and massacring civilians and burning homes down that also happens to be racist to aliens and those who are different. They get defeated by a bunch of Rebels using guerrilla tactics who aren't afraid to kill bystanders in their greater quest to stop the evil empire.

Flash forward and you have the poorly received prequels which, if you continue with the analogy, are all about how incompetent and petty and short sighted the greatest generation actually was and how through their single-minded attempts to destroy what they saw as a greater evil ended up directly contributing to the creation through war of a massive military empire that oppresses and subjugated millions.

70s Star Wars was beloved because the cultural zeitgeist was leftist. 2000s star was was hating because it was about all of our glitz and glam and technological progress being a sham and just hiding the fact that the people in charge and being honored are really just a bunch of jerks and incompetents.

I look forward to seeing if the new star wars continues with the leftist leanings of the current films.

the new star wars

*snort*

It's an Abrams movie. It won't have any political leanings - just action and lensflares, like the Trek remakes.

I mean, we've already seen they redesigned the X-Wings and the Stormtroopers just for the heck of it. If people think the Prequels were really that bad, they're going to have a field day with these ones.

Everything is political. Nothing exists in a vacuum.

Idunno. I think I'd rather have action and lensflares than another incoherent mess.

Everything is political.

Except politics

The worst yet for me was about a month ago at Bojangles when the girl at the counter rang me up for a senior discount.

Ouch! You win...

It's an Abrams movie. It won't have any political leanings - just action and lensflares, like the Trek remakes.

The Trek reboots (I seem to be the only person on Earth who didn't like them) did have 'political' leanings: rampant pessimism, which is exactly the opposite of what Gene Roddenberry founded Trek upon, i.e. optimism for the future.

Ouch! You win...

*sigh* I don't feel like a winner. Can we go back to discussing the ins and outs of pretending to be genocidal space fascists? It's far less bleak.

Everything is political. Nothing exists in a vacuum.

I suppose that depends on how much you want to interpret into something.

The Trek reboots (I seem to be the only person on Earth who didn't like them) did have 'political' leanings: rampant pessimism, which is exactly the opposite of what Gene Roddenberry founded Trek upon, i.e. optimism for the future.

Honestly, I just considered that a byproduct of the weird story they were going for. Barring the slim possibility that they were just too deep for me, I did not perceive any kind of actual message from those movies, as they were much too focused on jumping from one visually impressive action sequence to another to gloss over obvious plot holes and cheesy acting. And I think "political leanings" are not accidental, they actually attempt to convey something.

Honestly, I just considered that a byproduct of the weird story they were going for. Barring the slim possibility that they were just too deep for me, I did not perceive any kind of actual message from those movies, as they were much too focused on jumping from one visually impressive action sequence to another to gloss over obvious plot holes and cheesy acting. And I think "political leanings" are not accidental, they actually attempt to convey something.

Yeah, sometimes a deliberate lack of a message becomes a message itself. The extreme example is Tim Burton's awful Planet of the Apes remake. The studio insisted that it "not be about anything", so the anti-racism message of the original was stripped out. The accidental result of this was to create a pro -racism message: "If there is another group of people different from you, you really need to keep them out of power or you will be screwed!"

But Abram's pessimistic take on Trek seems to me to be a conscious effort to 'modernize' the franchise by injecting it with one of the defining elements of 'today': cynicism.

The extreme example is Tim Burton's awful Planet of the Apes remake. The studio insisted that it "not be about anything", so the anti-racism message of the original was stripped out. The accidental result of this was to create a pro -racism message: "If there is another group of people different from you, you really need to keep them out of power or you will be screwed!"

Hmm, an interesting notion...

But Abram's pessimistic take on Trek seems to me to be a conscious effort to 'modernize' the franchise by injecting it with one of the defining elements of 'today': cynicism.

I could agree on that, but I'd say this is more a cultural thing rather than political. The creation of movies often seems to follow a certain tone that depends on the current era, at least when you distill it down to specific genres. Though it could be argued that there is always potential for an accidental overlap by sheer proximity - but here we get into the area of interpretations.

As far as I can see, today's movies exert a notable lack of messages (and your comment regarding the studio instructions for the Ape remake is reinforcing my suspicion), and as a result usually come across as less inspired or "tame", though this is partially my bias talking as I've just come to expect "more" from certain genres. Nowadays, stuff seems to mostly focus entirely on entertainment, which becomes evident when you look at how popular so-called "reality" TV and casting shows have become. As if the production has shifted from making stories to just producing fun .

Or am I overthinking it when I perceive that as a trend?

Nowadays, stuff seems to mostly focus entirely on entertainment, which becomes evident when you look at how popular so-called "reality" TV and casting shows have become. As if the production has shifted from making stories to just producing fun .

Or am I overthinking it when I perceive that as a trend?

No, you're absolutely correct with regard to the effect of this trend; but I believe that the primary cause is simply that these kinds of shows are relatively inexpensive to produce (all you really need is a camera operator and somebody desperate for 15 minutes of fame).

No, you're absolutely correct with regard to the effect of this trend; but I believe that the primary cause is simply that these kinds of shows are relatively inexpensive to produce (all you really need is a camera operator and somebody desperate for 15 minutes of fame).

Hmm. Some sort of vicious cycle of lower expectations -> cheaper production -> lower expectations -> cheaper production .. then? What you're saying makes sense, I'm just surprised (or rather, a bit disappointed) that stuff like Jersey Shore or American Idol (and similar programs in other countries) have become so popular. Especially as the cynic in me perceives their popularity to be at least partially based on the human emotion of schadenfreude, where people watch those shows so they can laugh at the contestants, or be "entertained" by whatever tests they have to force themselves through.

It feels like ye olde Roman Gladiators again, except with microphones instead of swords.

"Ave, citizen! Those who are about to make themselves look like a fool salute you!"

Give it 10-20 more years and we'll have an actual Running Man show.

Especially as the cynic in me perceives their popularity to be at least partially based on the human emotion of schadenfreude, where people watch those shows so they can laugh at the contestants, or be "entertained" by whatever tests they have to force themselves through.

Oh, that's absolutely a factor as well; in fact that's the other half of the equation...

Cheap to produce + high viewership = why bother trying to make quality content.

It feels like ye olde Roman Gladiators again, except with microphones instead of swords.

"Ave, citizen! Those who are about to make themselves look like a fool salute you!"

Give it 10-20 more years and we'll have an actual Running Man show.

"Hello, myn name is Steve-o and this Gladiator Pit Fight."

Running man or Smash TV . Actually I could grow to like that last one. (Compete for toasters!)

Especially as the cynic in me perceives their popularity to be at least partially based on the human emotion of schadenfreude, where people watch those shows so they can laugh at the contestants, or be "entertained" by whatever tests they have to force themselves through.

Oh, that's absolutely a factor as well; in fact that's the other half of the equation...

Cheap to produce + high viewership = why bother trying to make quality content.

"Who needs quality when you got love and madness?" - Ed Wood.

Ok Ed didn't actualy say that. But he should have.

I love those so bad-it's good B movies from the 50's and 70's. (And i don't even need the MST3K crew.)

But today they can't even make some enjoyable low grade B movies anymore!

"Who needs quality when you got love and madness?" - Ed Wood.

Now that you mention love and madness, I feel somewhat hypocritical due to my adoration for Japanese gameshows.

But come on ... who doesn't laugh at stuff like Human Tetris !