Some of my friends were actually surprised that Kick-Ass didn't bother me more than my minor complaints about the movie, and that I sorta liked it, and saw it twice.
Given my history with my dad and so on.
In a way, I saw the entire Big Daddy/Hit-Girl section of the story some kind of dark funhouse mirror of the world Kick-Ass thought he was trying to live in. Like, he figured "why weren't people super-heroes?" and then he finds out there are other super-heroes.
They're just enormously fucked up revenge-obsessed nutcases and they fuck up the people around them.
I thought that was sort of interesting.
The thing is, for me - and I don't mean to harp - it's not really saying anything about anything with any analogues in the real world. Alan Moore has kind of disowned his work on The Killing Joke with the observation that, paraphrasing, "pointing out that Batman and the Joker are dark mirror images of each other is pointless bollocks, because they are not like anyone or anything that has ever lived." It's like telling a story whose passionately-held central thesis is that Orcs are brown, not green.
I felt that Kick-Ass the comic and the movie were getting close to that territory. What's the point, exactly, of showing us that comics aren't real? We know that. If it had said something authentic-feeling about the needs that comic and superheroes speak to - about the desires that they fulfill - that might have been something.
Speaking of people "discovering" new tactics in SC2
That would be funny to be one of the first few people in the beta, playing some of the first games
All of the sudden these flying transports carrying giant robots make their way into your base
And you :shock:
Nocturne on
0
Podlyyou unzipped me! it's all coming back! i don't like it!Registered Userregular
edited May 2010
here it is, EM
Oh yeah! Did I tell you guys that a few days ago, the digital, synthetic world hacked my analog, acoustic world?
It's true! A washing machine at a laundry mat was hacked and started sampling itself at an almost perfect bit rate, to such an extent that it even sampled itself down an octave and the sample stretched out half time. It was amazing!
I decided to look over my posts in the previous thread, and I came to the conclusion that I over-reacted to what Feral said and took things he said in pretty much the worst way possible without giving him the benefit of the doubt.
Which was unfair, and as it turns out as he explained himself further, the wrong impression to take. I'm someone who complains when people over-react to what I say and assume I'm saying things far more heinous than what I actually said, so it was downright unfair of me to essentially do the same thing to Feral.
I'm still not interested in having that conversation (for reasons not the least of which is that I am obviously touchy about it!) but I'm going to take a moment to apologize to Feral for being a dick when it was completely unwarranted.
I decided to look over my posts in the previous thread, and I came to the conclusion that I over-reacted to what Feral said and took things he said in pretty much the worst way possible without giving him the benefit of the doubt.
Which was unfair, and as it turns out as he explained himself further, the wrong impression to take. I'm someone who complains when people over-react to what I say and assume I'm saying things far more heinous than what I actually said, so it was downright unfair of me to essentially do the same thing to Feral.
I'm still not interested in having that conversation (for reasons not the least of which is that I am obviously touchy about it!) but I'm going to take a moment to apologize to Feral for being a dick when it was completely unwarranted.
That is all.
Thanks, man.
Feral on
every person who doesn't like an acquired taste always seems to think everyone who likes it is faking it. it should be an official fallacy.
Some of my friends were actually surprised that Kick-Ass didn't bother me more than my minor complaints about the movie, and that I sorta liked it, and saw it twice.
Given my history with my dad and so on.
In a way, I saw the entire Big Daddy/Hit-Girl section of the story some kind of dark funhouse mirror of the world Kick-Ass thought he was trying to live in. Like, he figured "why weren't people super-heroes?" and then he finds out there are other super-heroes.
They're just enormously fucked up revenge-obsessed nutcases and they fuck up the people around them.
I thought that was sort of interesting.
The thing is, for me - and I don't mean to harp - it's not really saying anything about anything with any analogues in the real world. Alan Moore has kind of disowned his work on The Killing Joke with the observation that, paraphrasing, "pointing out that Batman and the Joker are dark mirror images of each other is pointless bollocks, because they are not like anyone or anything that has ever lived." It's like telling a story whose passionately-held central thesis is that Orcs are brown, not green.
I felt that Kick-Ass the comic and the movie were getting close to that territory. What's the point, exactly, of showing us that comics aren't real? We know that. If it had said something authentic-feeling about the needs that comic and superheroes speak to - about the desires that they fulfill - that might have been something.
EDIT: also what Dyna said :^:
Eh, what I took from the movie (have never read the comic) was that it asked the question of "Why aren't real people trying to be superheroes?" and the answer to that is "Because it's fucked up, unhealthy, stupid, and denotes mental illness".
Maybe not a message that needs sending? Seems pretty much akin to saying "You don't play in traffic because..." but nonetheless it seemed interesting because it approached that question from two different angles.
One was Kick-Ass himself, whose answer to that question was "because normal people will get stabbed and get their ass kicked and will be way over their head quickly, and while they'll get famous on the internet rather quickly as soon as they tangle with real criminals they're fucked"
The other was Hit-Girl and Big Daddy, which was "because fucked up, psychotically obsessed people would not be the sort you'd want as super-heroes anyway, and they'd screw up the lives of everyone attached to them"
That was what I took from it.
Of course, some of that is shot in the foot by the sequel-bait ending, but then the comic ended that way too and Mark Millar loves money.
pony i would also like an apology for how you totally dissed me in front of all our friends at the lakers game the other night
that shit was whack
And Pony I would like an apology for that time I made it to the bus stop but the bus driver was too bitchy and drove off just as I got there rather even though he totally saw me. You had nothing to do with it, but I've been waiting for someone to apologize for that. Now apologize, goddammit!
Ultimately, people who have super-powers become super-heroes because they feel their power obligates them. Peter Parker's whole "power/responsibility" thing. Superman is Superman because he has the power to be, and he feels that power obligates him to be.
People without super-powers who become super-heroes, in the real world or in comic books, are pretty much crazy and have extremely fucked up and often self-absorbed motives.
Pony on
0
JacobkoshGamble a stamp.I can show you how to be a real man!Moderatormod
The other was Hit-Girl and Big Daddy, which was "because fucked up, psychotically obsessed people would not be the sort you'd want as super-heroes anyway, and they'd screw up the lives of everyone attached to them"
I guess part of the thing was that they seemed wildly out of place in a movie that was going for at least a sort of Hollywood quasi-realism. A 40-year-old father and his eight-year-old kid doing all that crazy John Woo shit felt like it threw a wrench in the verisimilitude and knowing Millar as I do it's hard not to find myself going "why is that there? Because it belongs or because he really, really likes his ultraviolence?"
I really liked Kick-Ass's own story, though, although the
"oh no, she thinks I'm gay! What a disaster!"
stuff made me kind of uncomfortable, as I was seeing it with my gay friend. :P But it was good natured, humane stuff on the whole and just kind of pointed up the (to me) needless ugliness of the second half.
Jacob, your response to the movie seems to be "I couldn't stomach the over-the-top violence, because it was meant to communicate a message I already know: that for a real person, trying to be a superhero would be a sign of mental illness."
Considering that the same criticism could be levied against Watchmen... given that Watchmen carries the same message and is also excessively violent... well, how would you contrast the two?
Feral on
every person who doesn't like an acquired taste always seems to think everyone who likes it is faking it. it should be an official fallacy.
Having a small head cold sucks when people from the Prefecture are coming to watch classes, including one of mine >.<
Hah, open classes are terribly annoying.
Over here there is a lot of stress and build up and practicing lessons and then the administrators watch the class for 5 minutes and leave.
Although one of my classes is getting videotaped this week apparently.
I'm supposed to be videotaped by my company like once a year for review, I think. Maybe twice but they do it once, I forget.
But yeah, there's stress and build-up here too. Like the big demo class my English teacher will be giving in November this year. Which I need to do, too. >.<
Cokebotle on
工事中
0
ThomamelasOnly one man can kill this many Russians. Bring his guitar to me! Registered Userregular
edited May 2010
Wee, I get home and what is waiting for me? A pan of fudge brownies.
get busyModerator, ClubPA Mod Emeritus
Posts
then i go home
and watch heroes season 3
The thing is, for me - and I don't mean to harp - it's not really saying anything about anything with any analogues in the real world. Alan Moore has kind of disowned his work on The Killing Joke with the observation that, paraphrasing, "pointing out that Batman and the Joker are dark mirror images of each other is pointless bollocks, because they are not like anyone or anything that has ever lived." It's like telling a story whose passionately-held central thesis is that Orcs are brown, not green.
I felt that Kick-Ass the comic and the movie were getting close to that territory. What's the point, exactly, of showing us that comics aren't real? We know that. If it had said something authentic-feeling about the needs that comic and superheroes speak to - about the desires that they fulfill - that might have been something.
EDIT: also what Dyna said :^:
I see how it is.
That would be funny to be one of the first few people in the beta, playing some of the first games
All of the sudden these flying transports carrying giant robots make their way into your base
And you :shock:
Which was unfair, and as it turns out as he explained himself further, the wrong impression to take. I'm someone who complains when people over-react to what I say and assume I'm saying things far more heinous than what I actually said, so it was downright unfair of me to essentially do the same thing to Feral.
I'm still not interested in having that conversation (for reasons not the least of which is that I am obviously touchy about it!) but I'm going to take a moment to apologize to Feral for being a dick when it was completely unwarranted.
That is all.
Oh wait.
No I don't.
Thanks, man.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
it's going to be a rough couple of nights
oh no
that shit was whack
you don't deserve apologies, organ
just a twenty on the dresser
Eh, what I took from the movie (have never read the comic) was that it asked the question of "Why aren't real people trying to be superheroes?" and the answer to that is "Because it's fucked up, unhealthy, stupid, and denotes mental illness".
Maybe not a message that needs sending? Seems pretty much akin to saying "You don't play in traffic because..." but nonetheless it seemed interesting because it approached that question from two different angles.
One was Kick-Ass himself, whose answer to that question was "because normal people will get stabbed and get their ass kicked and will be way over their head quickly, and while they'll get famous on the internet rather quickly as soon as they tangle with real criminals they're fucked"
The other was Hit-Girl and Big Daddy, which was "because fucked up, psychotically obsessed people would not be the sort you'd want as super-heroes anyway, and they'd screw up the lives of everyone attached to them"
That was what I took from it.
Of course, some of that is shot in the foot by the sequel-bait ending, but then the comic ended that way too and Mark Millar loves money.
People without super-powers who become super-heroes, in the real world or in comic books, are pretty much crazy and have extremely fucked up and often self-absorbed motives.
I guess part of the thing was that they seemed wildly out of place in a movie that was going for at least a sort of Hollywood quasi-realism. A 40-year-old father and his eight-year-old kid doing all that crazy John Woo shit felt like it threw a wrench in the verisimilitude and knowing Millar as I do it's hard not to find myself going "why is that there? Because it belongs or because he really, really likes his ultraviolence?"
I really liked Kick-Ass's own story, though, although the
stuff made me kind of uncomfortable, as I was seeing it with my gay friend. :P But it was good natured, humane stuff on the whole and just kind of pointed up the (to me) needless ugliness of the second half.
How's it going, [chat]?
Nice.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
Looks like a screenshot from Iron Man 2.
But I love me some Watchmen.
Jacob, your response to the movie seems to be "I couldn't stomach the over-the-top violence, because it was meant to communicate a message I already know: that for a real person, trying to be a superhero would be a sign of mental illness."
Considering that the same criticism could be levied against Watchmen... given that Watchmen carries the same message and is also excessively violent... well, how would you contrast the two?
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
Also, planes with a built-in deck are strange and potentially suck.
Red Son is pretty awesome, but a lot of his shit comes across like Garth Ennis' various "I HATE SUPERHEROES" bullshit.
Hah, open classes are terribly annoying.
Over here there is a lot of stress and build up and practicing lessons and then the administrators watch the class for 5 minutes and leave.
Although one of my classes is getting videotaped this week apparently.
PSN: Corbius
I now understand myself better
I mean, who travels somewhere by plane, gets there, then decide "screw it, I'm gonna stay in the plane and have a drink on the runway."
I'm supposed to be videotaped by my company like once a year for review, I think. Maybe twice but they do it once, I forget.
But yeah, there's stress and build-up here too. Like the big demo class my English teacher will be giving in November this year. Which I need to do, too. >.<
It's Monday man... isn't it a little early?
Pulp Furniture!
what happened with the whole getting fired thing? have you in fact been fired? was it a joke or what?