Forum - View topicHey, Answerman! [2010-02-19]
|
Goto page Previous 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 Next Note: this is the discussion thread for this article |
| Author | Message | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
egoist
 Posts: 7762 |
|
|||||||||
I wouldn't be so sure about that, for some reason. He does have a valid point after all. "Control the world" is perhaps a bad way to put it. All depends whether it was meant as full or partial control, and in this case I could assume that it was meant as full, since one would usually write "partially" unless "full" is the actual intent. However, I wouldn't consider this full control. Other countries certainly play on America's hands, but just like a live puppet, they could move out of that hand if it was convenient to do so. So, I'd say that control over something, or something playing your control game for convenience are different things. But this is all pointless anyway. Even this off-topic post. |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
|
|||||||||
And that's partly why the American political system (along with its education system, health system and legal system) are all broken.
That's what Americans like to tell themselves. The reasons for war were many, but the safety and prosperity of the people of Iraq and Afghanistan were not among them.
Dude, obviously you didn't read my post properly. Like I said before, China has nuclear silos that are completely invulnerable to external attack. In any nuclear war between the two countries, even if America fired first and took the Chinese completely by surprise the Yanks would still lose all of their major cities and military bases. If the American navy attacked China or Russia or even Brazil, it would be blown to pieces before it could ever get within striking distance of the target country. America's ground forces are ill-equipped, completely over-stretched, and still vulnerable to aircraft. Speaking of aircraft, you are right in that the American airforce has a huge advantage over its enemies. In a conventional fight the airforce would probably be able to win against any opponent, although the losses would be high. But it is powerless to stop a nuclear-armed nation from escalating the war to a nuclear one. And then the power of the airforce becomes a non-issue.
Like I'd really believe anything that a crappy and biased libertarian think-tank would say. They supported 43's healthcare policies, and look where healthcare in America is now. Besides, it is an almost universally accepted fact that an open healthcare system gives out better health outcomes for a smaller amount of expenditure as a proportion of GDP. The only people who claim otherwise are doing it purely on ideological grounds or for reasons of self-interest.
Ha hah, very funny. As an American myself I do not relish the position that my country finds itself in. But I'm hardly going to stick my head in the sand and just pretend that all these problems aren't happening. Enjoy your bliss. |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
penguintruth
 Posts: 8467 Location: Penguinopolis |
|
|||||||||
|
Anime News Network: Your home for political discourse and pseudo-iconoclasts!
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
Sven Viking
Posts: 1039 |
|
|||||||||
Yeah, I came to say this, too. They were suitably bizarre for the rather bizarre style of the entire series. |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
Covnam
 Posts: 3698 |
|
|||||||||
|
I definitely agree about the organization of The Anime Network on Demand. I'm sure I'm just being anal about it as well, but the shows are never sorted well. I think part of the problem is the categories. What also gets me is the "rating" that they put at the beginning of the show. They're never right and I think they've just started putting the same MA rating on all their shows. For example, Alice Academy (Gakuen Alice): TVMA, contains V (violence), AC (adult content), SC (sexual content), Skimpy Clothes, Extreme Jiggling, Nose Bleeding. Pretty clear to anyone who has watched any episode of this show how off that is.
I imagine someone must use the ratings, so TAN just shoots themselves in the foot by not being accurate. |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
ikillchicken
 Posts: 7272 Location: Vancouver |
|
|||||||||
You're contradicting yourself though. You insist that we shouldn't judge it by today's standards but then you also insist that it is still relevant today. So which is it? If you want to say that it was a significant movie with a major impact then fine. I wouldn't deny that. It doesn't mean it was actually all that good though. If you're going to claim that it still stands on it's own today though...well then explain why. Aside from your unsupported claim that it's message is still relevant you've offered nothing to explain your view. Last edited by ikillchicken on Sun Feb 21, 2010 9:39 am; edited 1 time in total |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
gingi789
 Posts: 56 |
|
|||||||||
|
Anime, guys, anime.....i thought this was ANN not Huffingtonpost.
On trashing Miyazaki....i think he's way off base. Admittedly, i've never seen Nausica, but Princess Mononoke? Spirited Away? Those are classics, and there are good reasons that movies that have been around a decade (a little more for Princess Mononoke, a little less for Spirited Away) are still talked about; people thought they were good. Ashitaka (Mononoke main character) doesn't live in a fantasy world; if anything you could say that he's an impartial observer of humanity encroaching upon nature. He doesn't fight for any one side; in all, he fights to keep the peace between the two (the forest and the people), and at the end, he chooses to stay with the people. Ashitaka is asking the people of Irontown to do things differently-not stop all together. Princess Mononoke does not say, in simple black and white terms, that people are evil and the forest is good-if that were the case, then it wouldn't have Lady Eboshi caring for lepers-because that's not what a typically evil person would do. Combine that with good storytelling (because the director is responsible for how the story gets told), and you have a fairly easily accessible anime movie that both young and older people can appreciate. That is where Miyazaki really shows that he is a master at what he does. It is very rare that people can find a movie (an anime movie, no less) that both children and adults can enjoy. As a side note-Miyazaki's a director, so what should be criticized, if anything, is his ability to tell a clear and coherent story, with engaging characters and a memorable plot-not the messages or themes in his movies. Another thing that makes him a genius is that his films can appeal to people who aren't into anime. That applied with Princess Mononoke to a lesser extent, and Spirited Away to a greater one. Granted, Ponyo had problems, but we're judging him on the whole of his work, not just one movie. And i fail to see the enviornmentalist message in Kiki's Delivery Service and Porco Rosso. And frankly, before Spirited Away, how many anime films won academy awards? |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
Prede
 Posts: 388 |
|
|||||||||
Just because his terrible films appeal to people who don't like anime (many who apparently don't have good tatest) does not mean they are good. Good for the industry...not good films. Afro Samurai is pretty good at appealing to the mainstream, but that's a terrible show. I feel you have look hard for the really good stuff, which is a real shame. I wish some of the masterpeices were more well known, but very rarely does a real peice of art become popular. Kino's Journey is a great example, that's a masterpeice on every level yet it sold terribly. I sure wish more people were into shows like that... |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
Keonyn
 Subscriber Posts: 5567 Location: Coon Rapids, MN |
|
|||||||||
|
Just a reminder, this is an anime forum and this is an article relating to anime. There's some room for conversations to flex in the talkback threads so long as they can link to the articles topic, but let's try not to turn the thread in to an all out political discussion, because that is not what this thread or article are for.
Thanks. |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
sunflower
 Posts: 1080 |
|
|||||||||
|
I'll be the lone voice sticking up for Legendz. Mind you, I've not read the manga, just watched about 20 episodes of the anime. But I have to say it's one of the funniest anime I've ever seen. It's a pretty funny satire of American children, schooling and games, all while poking fun at itself and anime cliches. I realize humor is in the eye of the beholder, but I'm surprised more people don't enjoy this one.
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
Sven Viking
Posts: 1039 |
|
|||||||||
Good thing he didn't say they were good just because of that, then. Also, while Afro Samurai has achieved some mainstream success, it's a long way from having "universal appeal". It was aimed at a specific, limited US demographic, and was successful there (though to be honest I'd wonder if something like Samurai Champloo would have been just as popular with the same level of marketing). Many of Miyizaki's films, on the other hand, seem to be appreciated by the vast majority of people who see them, in most or all demographics, worldwide. Love Kino's Journey, by the way (though it does tread a fine line between "too pretentious" and "just pretentious enough"). |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
|
|||||||||
|
Keonyn, thanks for being nice even though you didn't have to. I genuinely appreciate that.
How in the ugly yet beautiful world is Kino's Journey in any way pretentious? That was a left-field comment of yours, if you know what I mean. |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
Wooga
 Posts: 916 Location: Tucson |
|
|||||||||
Coming from someone who just finished the Legendz manga, they are very different. It's played with a completely straight face. The character from the anime makes a one-panel cameo but thats it. I can see why the reviewer didn't like it. The first volume is a rather cliched, blatantly obvious commercial for a digimon-like franchise.
Yeah I found it more thought-provoking than pretentious as well. |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
Sven Viking
Posts: 1039 |
|
|||||||||
I guess this is an example of art being subjective -- some people I've recommended it to have considered it too pretentious and given up. I disagree, of course. It's been a while since I saw it, but iirc it related to things such as long black&white freeze-frames, or blank screens, with voices reciting philosophical prose in a slow monotone. The difference between this and your normal pretentious art-house film is that Kino's Journey actually backs it up most of the time, hence my love for it. Edit: You may be misunderstanding my comment. It was hyperbole. I meant that the series (narrowly) avoids true pretentiousness. It just sort of dallies with it on occasion. |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
PetrifiedJello
Posts: 3782 |
|
|||||||||
The remark wasn't intended to be funny. Your post contained some serious inaccuracies within it, and I just found them to be way over the top to be considered "problems". I found it fascinating the discussions in this particular thread went from Miyazaki to the woes/problems of the world. Zac asked you a valid question a while ago, and you've yet to address this. I wanted to read your response before I ripped apart all your inaccuracies. Otherwise, it would have been pointless to do so as you'd simply dismiss them with a "meh... whatever" type of reply. And do note, dtm42, you're speaking to another American who definitely voices his opinions through contacting our political representatives. I don't call this bliss. I simply have come to accept the fact our voices are pointless now as things will continue regardless of the consequences. It is these very reasons why I bury my head into anime, giving me the freedom of having to worry about all this crap. Yes, I've seen political messages in anime, but those can be limited to the scope of the series, not the world. |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group