Karate Kid ruined the world

[Captain Utopia]

And those were amongst the same kids who decades later whined that "explaining midichlorians" was one of the worst things about Episode I.

And - again - they're wrong.  The worst thing about Episode 1 wasn't the midichlorians bullshit, or even JarJar Binks.

It was that. fucking. kid.

I know.  But that point I was aiming for was that it was that in my circle of friends and acquaintances, the thing they seemed most shook by, was that that the religious/mystic nature of The Force had been demystified.  I remember this clearly as I was the only one in that group who really had no problem with it.

But even googling it a few minutes ago, it's still a common complaint.  I guess if you remove the supernatural element, you remove the possibility that they could be that undiscovered hero waiting patiently inside an unremarkable nobody.

And that passive "it'll happen to me, one day, somehow" attitude is one thing which The Karate Kid and so many movies to this day, pump out to a receptive audience.

[Doktor Howl]

you know the worst thing about the gungans was that they were actually a pretty cool design.  it was just their choice of voice/accent that made them suck ass....
honestly lucas should redub the gungan voices to not suck, in the same way that he added effects to 4,5,6 to improve ruin them...

Fixed.

ruin?
i thought the effects were good. different strokes...
but i'm not a star wars purist.  i think they could be improved.  i think he did improve them.
i also like the idea of layered media.  i think more people should pick up movies and layer new shit onto them to make them different/better. 

It was mostly just the Jabba's palace scene which pissed me off massively. Oh my god. I can't even think about it without gritting my teeth. Hate hate hate.

What, you didn't like the roles the women got to play, or you didn't like the fabulous music...or perhaps it was the dialogue and fine acting skills?

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

you know the worst thing about the gungans was that they were actually a pretty cool design.  it was just their choice of voice/accent that made them suck ass....
honestly lucas should redub the gungan voices to not suck, in the same way that he added effects to 4,5,6 to improve ruin them...

Fixed.

ruin?
i thought the effects were good. different strokes...
but i'm not a star wars purist.  i think they could be improved.  i think he did improve them.
i also like the idea of layered media.  i think more people should pick up movies and layer new shit onto them to make them different/better. 

It was mostly just the Jabba's palace scene which pissed me off massively. Oh my god. I can't even think about it without gritting my teeth. Hate hate hate.

What, you didn't like the roles the women got to play, or you didn't like the fabulous music...or perhaps it was the dialogue and fine acting skills?

It was the band. And the dancers. Oh my god. OH MY GOD. What made them think THAT was a good idea?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BogbtlJs1rI

I don't even REMEMBER the original version, presumably because it wasn't injurious to my sensibilities.

[Elder Iptuous]

ohshi...
yea, i repressed that scene i guess...
i was just thinking about the creatures outside the cantina and whatnot...
yeah, the band scene sucked dung balls.  especially the little fuzzy ball guy. god that was lame.

[Iason Ouabache]

You know, it's not often that I think a blogger captures the essence of what's eating Western humanity, but in this case David Wong seems to have nailed it.

http://www.johndiesattheend.com/updates/?p=1071

Accomplishing worthwhile things isn't just a little harder than people think; it's ten or twenty times harder. Like losing weight. You make yourself miserable for six months and find yourself down a whopping four pounds. Let yourself go at a single all-you-can-eat buffet and you've gained it all back.So, people bail on diets. Not just because they're harder than they expected, but because they're so much harder it seems unfair, almost criminally unjust. You can't shake the bitter thought that, "This amount of effort should result in me looking like a panty model."

And it applies to everything. America is full of frustrated, broken, baffled people because so many of us think, "If I work this hard, this many hours a week, I should have (a great job, a nice house, a nice car, etc). I don't have that thing, therefore something has corrupted the system and kept me from getting what I deserve, and that something must be (my wife, my boss, the government, illegal immigrants etc)."

""Kids, you tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is...never try." - Homer J. Simpson

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

ohshi...
yea, i repressed that scene i guess...
i was just thinking about the creatures outside the cantina and whatnot...
yeah, the band scene sucked dung balls.  especially the little fuzzy ball guy. god that was lame.

The brain cringes from it.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Want some unnecessary s/w cantena related cringe, try Bea Arthur's 'rapey hole in the head alien guy' in the Star Wars Holiday Special. . . yow.

Oh fuck yes.

I tried to watch the whole special once, but failed.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

i bet my stepdaughter 3$ that she would not sit through the whole thing. she did, but she was so traumatized, she never did ask for the money. 

[Salty]

you know the worst thing about the gungans was that they were actually a pretty cool design.  it was just their choice of voice/accent that made them suck ass....
honestly lucas should redub the gungan voices to not suck, in the same way that he added effects to 4,5,6 to improve ruin them...

Fixed.

ruin?
i thought the effects were good. different strokes...
but i'm not a star wars purist.  i think they could be improved.  i think he did improve them.
i also like the idea of layered media.  i think more people should pick up movies and layer new shit onto them to make them different/better. 

It was mostly just the Jabba's palace scene which pissed me off massively. Oh my god. I can't even think about it without gritting my teeth. Hate hate hate.

What, you didn't like the roles the women got to play, or you didn't like the fabulous music...or perhaps it was the dialogue and fine acting skills?

It was the band. And the dancers. Oh my god. OH MY GOD. What made them think THAT was a good idea?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BogbtlJs1rI

I don't even REMEMBER the original version, presumably because it wasn't injurious to my sensibilities.

Dear Sweet CHRIST?! Did that actually HAPPEN?
Did people pay money for that? DID PEOPLE GET PAID TO CREATE IT?

[Shibboleet The Annihilator]

You know, it's not often that I think a blogger captures the essence of what's eating Western humanity, but in this case David Wong seems to have nailed it.

http://www.johndiesattheend.com/updates/?p=1071

Accomplishing worthwhile things isn't just a little harder than people think; it's ten or twenty times harder. Like losing weight. You make yourself miserable for six months and find yourself down a whopping four pounds. Let yourself go at a single all-you-can-eat buffet and you've gained it all back.So, people bail on diets. Not just because they're harder than they expected, but because they're so much harder it seems unfair, almost criminally unjust. You can't shake the bitter thought that, "This amount of effort should result in me looking like a panty model."

And it applies to everything. America is full of frustrated, broken, baffled people because so many of us think, "If I work this hard, this many hours a week, I should have (a great job, a nice house, a nice car, etc). I don't have that thing, therefore something has corrupted the system and kept me from getting what I deserve, and that something must be (my wife, my boss, the government, illegal immigrants etc)."

David Wong is my favorite writer who is not dead. Monkeysphere was fucking brilliant; if you haven't read it, give it a read.

We ought to see if we can get Wong interested in these forums. It's a bit of a long shot but you can bet your ass he'd have worthwhile posts.

[Kai]

You know, it's not often that I think a blogger captures the essence of what's eating Western humanity, but in this case David Wong seems to have nailed it.

http://www.johndiesattheend.com/updates/?p=1071

Accomplishing worthwhile things isn't just a little harder than people think; it's ten or twenty times harder. Like losing weight. You make yourself miserable for six months and find yourself down a whopping four pounds. Let yourself go at a single all-you-can-eat buffet and you've gained it all back.So, people bail on diets. Not just because they're harder than they expected, but because they're so much harder it seems unfair, almost criminally unjust. You can't shake the bitter thought that, "This amount of effort should result in me looking like a panty model."

And it applies to everything. America is full of frustrated, broken, baffled people because so many of us think, "If I work this hard, this many hours a week, I should have (a great job, a nice house, a nice car, etc). I don't have that thing, therefore something has corrupted the system and kept me from getting what I deserve, and that something must be (my wife, my boss, the government, illegal immigrants etc)."

How do you begin to combat it?

Cheap products which don't work very well but which make you feel good, consistently outsell those which require more time/money/effort.

It's like every decision is reduced to the simplest possible context - as long as it has four tires, we don't even bother to kick them.

You combat it by realizing that the universe doesn't operate under the idea of fairness, that attainment is much much harder than previously thought (and anyone who tells you otherwise hasn't done it), and it just means that much more effort to get there. Replacing what /should/ be with what /is/, is the way to do it. 

Example:

"I should be able to loose weight, I've tried hard enough."

No, you haven't, and there isn't a council of fairness for biology. You have to actually do the large amounts of exercise, and extensively and permanently change your diet for you to get anywhere. Your body is not the special olympics, or one of those high school classrooms where the teacher says, "I think you've tried hard enough, so I'll pass you". Justice is a human concept which Nature does not adhere.

[Salty]

You know, it's not often that I think a blogger captures the essence of what's eating Western humanity, but in this case David Wong seems to have nailed it.

http://www.johndiesattheend.com/updates/?p=1071

Accomplishing worthwhile things isn't just a little harder than people think; it's ten or twenty times harder. Like losing weight. You make yourself miserable for six months and find yourself down a whopping four pounds. Let yourself go at a single all-you-can-eat buffet and you've gained it all back.So, people bail on diets. Not just because they're harder than they expected, but because they're so much harder it seems unfair, almost criminally unjust. You can't shake the bitter thought that, "This amount of effort should result in me looking like a panty model."

And it applies to everything. America is full of frustrated, broken, baffled people because so many of us think, "If I work this hard, this many hours a week, I should have (a great job, a nice house, a nice car, etc). I don't have that thing, therefore something has corrupted the system and kept me from getting what I deserve, and that something must be (my wife, my boss, the government, illegal immigrants etc)."

How do you begin to combat it?

Cheap products which don't work very well but which make you feel good, consistently outsell those which require more time/money/effort.

It's like every decision is reduced to the simplest possible context - as long as it has four tires, we don't even bother to kick them.

You combat it by realizing that the universe doesn't operate under the idea of fairness, that attainment is much much harder than previously thought (and anyone who tells you otherwise hasn't done it), and it just means that much more effort to get there. Replacing what /should/ be with what /is/, is the way to do it. 

Example:

"I should be able to loose weight, I've tried hard enough."

No, you haven't, and there isn't a council of fairness for biology. You have to actually do the large amounts of exercise, and extensively and permanently change your diet for you to get anywhere. Your body is not the special olympics, or one of those high school classrooms where the teacher says, "I think you've tried hard enough, so I'll pass you". Justice is a human concept which Nature does not adhere.

It's not just weight either. Much of the time chronic pain in the musculoskeletal-system is due to poor development of underused and rarely considered muscle groups. Tightness develops in one area, hardening and conforming to a new way of functioning while the opposing area slackens and then atrophies. The fibers of the muscles change shape and consistency and lose their pliable elastic functionality.

Then these muscles that are so far removed from their natural state are asked to perform functions they haven't been doing with any kind of regularity, but our mind remains convinced that they ought to. "Sudden" problems ensue, and with no solid base of functionality and consistency to return to other than the warped state developed over years of somatic ignorance they become a nuisance at best, debilitating conditions at worst. 

Of course, these anatomical components are fully capable of (and indeed are "designed" for) complete permeability, and can be reshaped to suit one's individual needs and demands.

But man, you've gotta stretch them, and tear them apart with repetitive weight and consistently supply them with new raw material to build with.

Getting people to do that is more difficult than pulling teeth because they have to choose to do it themselves every day over many, many days.

So much effort. Screw that. Right?