Naismith
Charter Member
Betcha no-one comes up with a funny for Taft.
View attachment 67940
View attachment 67940
-
Please see the most recent updates in the "Where did the .com name go?" thread. Posts number 16 and 17.
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
- Thread starter Eoraptor1
- Start date
Please remember what you’re about to read is my personal experience. I do not know everything there is to know, and I am not claiming to be a voice from a bush that burns yet is not consumed. I’m also a bit of an a**hole, so keep that in mind as well.
I wasn’t actually talking about show-biz there, cheezy. What I’m trying to say - while obeying forum rules - is that on my travels I’ve encountered a lot of people with a scripted view of American history. Whether or not this comes from their education, their families, their cultural backgrounds, I couldn’t say definitively, but what I can say is that when confronted with what someone like an Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, or Thomas Jefferson actually wrote, the reaction can be quite hostile. That is my borderline misanthropic, Brother Cavil view of human nature. People tend to commit to a narrative, and once invested in it, they will defend it against anything as prosaic as factual evidence, even if this involves undermining the idea of factual evidence. Here’s another word for you to Google: deconstruction.
Before I became ill I used to deliver the occasional lecture. For instance, the more I learn about George Washington, the more interesting he seems to me, and the more regrettable it seems to me that he continues to be presented as a walking block of marble, but as I wrote in my long review of Red Tails, I’ve encountered a great many people who do NOT want their history to have facets; IMO they want a Morality Play leading in a strictly linear fashion to the self-evidence of their own contemporary views. Anything else is a path to evil. Therefore when I point out that in his own correspondence, General and then President Washington made reference to "the worthless classes" - meaning of less material worth, I can guarantee someone will accuse me of fermenting "class warfare". This is nothing, however, to the hostility I can generate by invoking Washington’s farewell address, especially his warnings about the toxicity of partisanship. For that, I could expect at least one personal attack. Now, these are Washington’s own words I’m talking about. This address can be found and read in many places online, and it is prescient. IMO Washington kicks hell out of Nostromdamus. Interestingly, Washington, warns about the dangers of partisanship, while Eisenhower, the penultimate manager of military resources of the 20[SUP]th[/SUP] Century, warns about the influence of the Military-Industrial complex.
Now, this sort of environment invites satire. I mentioned Gulliver’s Travels. The unabridged edition is much different than the children’s book most people are used to. If you know a bit about the time period, or especially if you can find an annotated edition, it’s clear that Swift is not only writing about Lilliputians, he’s writing about Parliament. Star Trek fans know "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" was about race, and "Patterns of Force" was about fascism. It Gene Roddenberry’s way a sliding in his social commentary between phaser battles. His previous forays into "topical" television had been unsuccessful, because predictably, as soon as audiences felt they were being preached to, they tuned out. This kind of thing can get bent out of proportion. I’ve read commentary about the original 1956 Invasion of the Body Snatchers that says its really about fear of Communist expansion, or fear of McCarthyism. The screenwriter, Daniel Mainwaring, actor Kevin McCarthy, and the writer of the book upon which the film was based, Jack Finney, all said the movie was about the alien pod people taking over the world.
You’ve read the book (I have this old fashioned notion that someone who’s read a book knows more about it than someone who hasn’t) so you’ll understand what I’m about to say next. You and I probably agree that it was intended by the author first and foremost as an entertainment, but there was also a central question/critique running through the text, namely: can the United States endure as a nation committed to (literally, in this case) sucking the life out of the many to benefit the select few? Put in those terms, there are many people who would see that as a political statement, and an insulting one at that. My mother’s side of my family is from South Carolina, and I can tell you there are plenty of people there who’ll tell you the war was about anything but slavery; that it was a courageous, manly struggle for self-determination, and to fight off Yankee invaders. These peoples’ ancestors fought in the war at very great cost, so you’ll hear things like it was fought to keep the South from becoming an economic colony of the North, and the people who say that will mean it. So yes, given all that, I fully expect more examinations of history from the vampire and zombie points of view. IMO, Wuthering Heights would benefit greatly from a pack of werewolves on the heath. Teddy Roosevelt: Zombie Whacker will get made, and I’ll probably go see it.
JAMES
PS Thank you for the link. I love Toronto. Lots of beautiful women milling about. If I ever get kicked out of the US, I intend to move there.
cheezyflier
Charter Member
wow! thank you for that! i agree on much of your post. some of it, i must admit speaks of things i lack information on.
however - coincidence maybe? i recently posted a very similar description of the civil war on a canadian discussion board where the confederates were compared to the quebecers who have talked of secession. when i corrected them, and gave historical details to support my p.o.v,
it really raised the ire in some people. i invited them to show me where i misstated something, or where i had lied or twisted the facts. i was greeted with personal insults, but no rebuttals. i was told my "history lesson was was completely fabricated, even though i gave sources.
go figure.
however - coincidence maybe? i recently posted a very similar description of the civil war on a canadian discussion board where the confederates were compared to the quebecers who have talked of secession. when i corrected them, and gave historical details to support my p.o.v,
it really raised the ire in some people. i invited them to show me where i misstated something, or where i had lied or twisted the facts. i was greeted with personal insults, but no rebuttals. i was told my "history lesson was was completely fabricated, even though i gave sources.
go figure.
wow! thank you for that! i agree on much of your post. some of it, i must admit speaks of things i lack information on.
however - coincidence maybe? i recently posted a very similar description of the civil war on a canadian discussion board where the confederates were compared to the quebecers who have talked of secession. when i corrected them, and gave historical details to support my p.o.v,
it really raised the ire in some people. i invited them to show me where i misstated something, or where i had lied or twisted the facts. i was greeted with personal insults, but no rebuttals. i was told my "history lesson was was completely fabricated, even though i gave sources.
go figure.
I live right across the bridge from Canada, and grew up watching a lot of Canadian media, so I've heard of Les Quebecois before. We followed that whole secessionist surge through the news. Is it true that English road signs are illegal in Quebec, or have I been listening to propaganda? BTW: I used to be an A-level French student. I find the sound of Romance languages very pleasing to my ear. I just got the La Reine Margot DVD, starring Isabell Adajni, in the mail this month from Amazon.com.
JAMES
Not sure about road signs, but I know most signage requires French to be larger than any English on the sign. Many years ago during the Parti Quebecoise "reign", a lawyer friend had a bar over on the quebec side and had a sign in English only. He received a visit from the "language police" informing him that all signs had to be bilingual. Well, the very next day, he put up his new sign. English and Arabic. Lawyers, sheesh......
hubbabubba
Charter Member
Funny how a thread about a vampire killer president can sway...
When my father was born in the late 30's, 1/3 of Canadians were French-speaking. Now that he's dead, a bit less than 1 out of 5 is. So much for equality...
Last thing; I'm a "sovereignist", not a "separatist". The difference is, again, in the perspective; I want to build a country, not destroy one.
French signs only are mandatory. I hope that you catch the nuance.
That law is still in effect under the "reign" of a federalist party BTW. I must agree that having to legislate for simple respect is humiliating.
When my father was born in the late 30's, 1/3 of Canadians were French-speaking. Now that he's dead, a bit less than 1 out of 5 is. So much for equality...
Last thing; I'm a "sovereignist", not a "separatist". The difference is, again, in the perspective; I want to build a country, not destroy one.
So? Did anyone actually go see this movie?
Judging by the box office results, I'm guessing not many did.
I still haven't seen it, and I fully intended to. I was very surprised at the novel; I expected something along the lines of a Bruce Campbell movie, but it had serious ideas in it. I've stopped arguing this point with people who haven't read the book. I've been so wrapped up in family business I haven't had my joystick plugged in for more than a month at the least. I own CFS2, CFS3, and FSX. I won't get to see Spiderman this week either.
Everyone have a safe 4th,
JAMES