Behind Enemy Lines
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I don't think I quite buy that, Colin - if Dallas is the best example you have. If a culture is so fragile that a soap opera about spoiled rich people is going to cause so much social chaos, is there anything Hollywood could produce that woudl be safe? Obviously, that culture has problems that far transcend such simple analysis. I think as long as we strive to convince ourselves that Hollywood, or some other equally high profile U.S. institution, is the culprit, the true causes will go unaddressed. "There's a slew of slip 'twixt cup and lip"
Stan Shannon wrote: If a culture is so fragile that a soap opera about spoiled rich people is going to cause so much social chaos, is there anything Hollywood could produce that woudl be safe? Some cultures are very fragile, especially when transfered to modern times. The US exports an incredible amount of culture via Hollywood, and is obviously the largest producer of such culture in the world. Consider the producers of the world "Nike" or "Coke" commercials, multi-millions of dollars have been spent on market and social analysis, hundreds of psycologists involved and seemingly unlimited money to invest in creating the commercials. Now a culture only has the Quran and dogma to hold back those forces. What chance does it have? Stan Shannon wrote: the true causes will go unaddressed. It confuses me what you mean by that. Regardz Colin J Davies
Sonork ID 100.9197:Colin
More about me :-)
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Basically it comes down to jealousy. Mexicans and Canadians have sparsely populated lands as well and they haven't accomplished very much except copying us. The rest of the world is quite bad. Although we had slavery, we didn't have genocide like in Germany or Aparthid in Africa. After a poor performance in London in 1899, Steinitz went insane and died a year later on August 12, 1900 at Wards Island, N.Y.
Martin Marvinski wrote: we didn't have genocide like in Germany or Aparthid in Africa. Being a bit history blind are we?. http://www.ngeorgia.com/history/nghisttt.html (opens in new window) And that took me about 30 secs. to find... "It could have been worse, it could have been ME!"
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Basically it comes down to jealousy. Mexicans and Canadians have sparsely populated lands as well and they haven't accomplished very much except copying us. The rest of the world is quite bad. Although we had slavery, we didn't have genocide like in Germany or Aparthid in Africa. After a poor performance in London in 1899, Steinitz went insane and died a year later on August 12, 1900 at Wards Island, N.Y.
Martin Marvinski wrote: The rest of the world is quite bad. Although we had slavery, we didn't have genocide like in Germany or Aparthid in Africa. Yeah right signs White People only have never been in the US, not recently maybe but it's been there. Also the 'testing' of the 2nd A-bomb on Nagasaki could be interpreted as genocide, there is much doubt that this bomb was needed to 'convice' the japanese to surrender. Then again I do not know any country that didn't have some black pages in it's history, but maybe that's because in my opinion 'looking away' is at least half as bad as actively being bad. It's a good thing to know that you have been to the rest of the world (or is your opinion that its bad based on something else, I hope not Hollywood :) )
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I don't think I quite buy that, Colin - if Dallas is the best example you have. If a culture is so fragile that a soap opera about spoiled rich people is going to cause so much social chaos, is there anything Hollywood could produce that woudl be safe? Obviously, that culture has problems that far transcend such simple analysis. I think as long as we strive to convince ourselves that Hollywood, or some other equally high profile U.S. institution, is the culprit, the true causes will go unaddressed. "There's a slew of slip 'twixt cup and lip"
There was a psychological test that I remember reading about. A group were taken in for a day and shown various things, one of which was being with warner brother characters at disney land. They were left for a few months. They (and a control group) were brought back and told to fill in a questionaire. One of the questions was to tick which characters they had seen when they were children at disneyland. A marked number of those who had been exposed to the videos thought they had actually seen the warner brothers characters at disneyland when they were children! The mind is a strange thing. Even though you might believe that you can intelligently judge what information is crap and what is real (and you might be able to do this at the time) it doesn't mean that that information doesn't seep back into the recesses of your mind to for memories that you don't have a context for. Interesting experiment eh? Does make me kind of scared. Just went and searched the web to find referrence of what I just wrote about, and shows that my memory was flawed! (I had incorrect details of the test, but the jist being the same.) Have a look at: http://www.britannica.com/magazine/article?query=causality&id=3&smode=1 http://www.dadi.org/repmemor.htm With humans being so able to be psychologically manipulated, it makes me think that possibly there should be more control of what comes about of Hollywood (and other countries movie studios, of course) and advertising agencies... Have fun, Paul Westcott.
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Basically it comes down to jealousy. Mexicans and Canadians have sparsely populated lands as well and they haven't accomplished very much except copying us. The rest of the world is quite bad. Although we had slavery, we didn't have genocide like in Germany or Aparthid in Africa. After a poor performance in London in 1899, Steinitz went insane and died a year later on August 12, 1900 at Wards Island, N.Y.
I assume that you are pining for flame? Have fun, Paul Westcott.
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Stan Shannon wrote: If a culture is so fragile that a soap opera about spoiled rich people is going to cause so much social chaos, is there anything Hollywood could produce that woudl be safe? Some cultures are very fragile, especially when transfered to modern times. The US exports an incredible amount of culture via Hollywood, and is obviously the largest producer of such culture in the world. Consider the producers of the world "Nike" or "Coke" commercials, multi-millions of dollars have been spent on market and social analysis, hundreds of psycologists involved and seemingly unlimited money to invest in creating the commercials. Now a culture only has the Quran and dogma to hold back those forces. What chance does it have? Stan Shannon wrote: the true causes will go unaddressed. It confuses me what you mean by that. Regardz Colin J Davies
Sonork ID 100.9197:Colin
More about me :-)
Colin Davies wrote: It confuses me what you mean by that. What I mean is the the 'true causes' lie within that culture itself, and are not caused by Hollywood. To suggest that Hollywood is somehow culpable for the disharmony that this society is pervaded by is preposterous. Obviously, you have two groups of people (at least) who wish to lead different life styles. One has latched onto the Dallas model the other feels threated by it. In the abscence of Dallas those differeces would still exist, but would simply take another form. By blaming Hollywood, you are merely addressing the symptom and not the desease. The desease is the desire of some to be free and the desire of others to control and to be controlled. Dallas merely presents a (rather bizarre) picture of freedom and liberty which the one group yearns for, and which the other group is threatened by. Such conflicts are a good thing, not a bad thing. Frankly, it makes me feel somewhat proud... "There's a slew of slip 'twixt cup and lip"
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Maybe it has something to do with musicals. I know I often feel like shooting someone after being forced to watch a musical. What happened after 'Sound Of Music'? :confused: "There's a slew of slip 'twixt cup and lip"
I'd probably feel like that if forced to watch a musical. I can't stand them. Ugh. X| "The laws of nature, the laws of man This volatile paradox will never stand" -Plasticity, Front Line Assembly
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There was a psychological test that I remember reading about. A group were taken in for a day and shown various things, one of which was being with warner brother characters at disney land. They were left for a few months. They (and a control group) were brought back and told to fill in a questionaire. One of the questions was to tick which characters they had seen when they were children at disneyland. A marked number of those who had been exposed to the videos thought they had actually seen the warner brothers characters at disneyland when they were children! The mind is a strange thing. Even though you might believe that you can intelligently judge what information is crap and what is real (and you might be able to do this at the time) it doesn't mean that that information doesn't seep back into the recesses of your mind to for memories that you don't have a context for. Interesting experiment eh? Does make me kind of scared. Just went and searched the web to find referrence of what I just wrote about, and shows that my memory was flawed! (I had incorrect details of the test, but the jist being the same.) Have a look at: http://www.britannica.com/magazine/article?query=causality&id=3&smode=1 http://www.dadi.org/repmemor.htm With humans being so able to be psychologically manipulated, it makes me think that possibly there should be more control of what comes about of Hollywood (and other countries movie studios, of course) and advertising agencies... Have fun, Paul Westcott.
Paul Westcott wrote: With humans being so able to be psychologically manipulated, it makes me think that possibly there should be more control of what comes about of Hollywood (and other countries movie studios, of course) and advertising agencies... Talk about scary... Did you ever stop to consider that the people who are doing these "studies" are the ones who are doing the controlling? That they might just want to empower themselves by leading you to believe that you are a helpless pawn against the massive forces of such institutions as Hollywood? That you must have their help to be defended against all the forces which wish to control you? That ultimately humans are so weak and helpless that only an elite class with the full power of the government behind them can possible save you from all the horrible evil threats you are confronted by? I'll take my chances with Hollywood. Thank you very much all the same... "There's a slew of slip 'twixt cup and lip"
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Canada is the only country on earth that has never done anything wrong in it's whole history! Are you kidding??? They unleashed Celine Dion on the world.:omg:
Hey, I had nothing to do with that. I keep hoping she'll die, or Michael J Fox can go back in time and prevent her parents from meeting, but it hasn't worked so far. "The laws of nature, the laws of man This volatile paradox will never stand" -Plasticity, Front Line Assembly
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Basically it comes down to jealousy. Mexicans and Canadians have sparsely populated lands as well and they haven't accomplished very much except copying us. The rest of the world is quite bad. Although we had slavery, we didn't have genocide like in Germany or Aparthid in Africa. After a poor performance in London in 1899, Steinitz went insane and died a year later on August 12, 1900 at Wards Island, N.Y.
When you're thinking of posting something as stupid as this would you mind just taking some more medication instead? Thanks. :suss: "The duke had a mind that ticked like a clock and, like a clock, it regularly went cuckoo." -- (Terry Pratchett, Wyrd Sisters)
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Paul Westcott wrote: With humans being so able to be psychologically manipulated, it makes me think that possibly there should be more control of what comes about of Hollywood (and other countries movie studios, of course) and advertising agencies... Talk about scary... Did you ever stop to consider that the people who are doing these "studies" are the ones who are doing the controlling? That they might just want to empower themselves by leading you to believe that you are a helpless pawn against the massive forces of such institutions as Hollywood? That you must have their help to be defended against all the forces which wish to control you? That ultimately humans are so weak and helpless that only an elite class with the full power of the government behind them can possible save you from all the horrible evil threats you are confronted by? I'll take my chances with Hollywood. Thank you very much all the same... "There's a slew of slip 'twixt cup and lip"
Stan Shannon wrote: Did you ever stop to consider that the people who are doing these "studies" are the ones who are doing the controlling? I think I would prefer to trust science than Nike... Stan Shannon wrote: That they might just want to empower themselves by leading you to believe that you are a helpless pawn against the massive forces of such institutions as Hollywood That was not their intention; I was the one that made that connection. Stan Shannon wrote: That you must have their help to be defended against all the forces which wish to control you? Quite possibly. Stan Shannon wrote: That ultimately humans are so weak and helpless that only an elite class with the full power of the government behind them can possible save you from all the horrible evil threats you are confronted by? I find this more of an ideal situation that the current one that is being given to us by capitalism, where the elite have only money money money as their motivation. Corporations and using psychology to influence all kinds of buying decissions. Why don't have an ethics committee which stops them? And yes, unfortunatly humans are week. (As an example, look at the percentage who consume antidepressants.) Have fun, Paul Westcott.
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Stan Shannon wrote: Did you ever stop to consider that the people who are doing these "studies" are the ones who are doing the controlling? I think I would prefer to trust science than Nike... Stan Shannon wrote: That they might just want to empower themselves by leading you to believe that you are a helpless pawn against the massive forces of such institutions as Hollywood That was not their intention; I was the one that made that connection. Stan Shannon wrote: That you must have their help to be defended against all the forces which wish to control you? Quite possibly. Stan Shannon wrote: That ultimately humans are so weak and helpless that only an elite class with the full power of the government behind them can possible save you from all the horrible evil threats you are confronted by? I find this more of an ideal situation that the current one that is being given to us by capitalism, where the elite have only money money money as their motivation. Corporations and using psychology to influence all kinds of buying decissions. Why don't have an ethics committee which stops them? And yes, unfortunatly humans are week. (As an example, look at the percentage who consume antidepressants.) Have fun, Paul Westcott.
Paul Westcott wrote: I think I would prefer to trust science than Nike... Nike is absolutely trustworthy. They have one goal - to make a profit. I understand that and I trust that they will do whatever it takes to accomplish that. What's not to trust? Science is trustworthy as long as it is science. However, most of these researchers approach their subject with a pre-concieved opinion and "discover" (i.e. invent) evidence to support it. Most "scientist" in the humanities have deeply rooted political agendas and their "research" is simply a means of affirming that agenda. I don't trust those guys as far as I could throw them. Paul Westcott wrote: That was not their intention; I was the one that made that connection. You did not make that connection in an intellectual vacume. You have been educated to believe it. Paul Westcott wrote: Quite possibly. Speak for yourself. I don't. Paul Westcott wrote: I find this more of an ideal situation that the current one that is being given to us by capitalism, where the elite have only money money money as their motivation. Corporations and using psychology to influence all kinds of buying decissions. Why don't have an ethics committee which stops them? Money is a much more innocuous motivation than is political power or military glory. That is why capitalism is a good thing. People who would otherwise try to acquire control by traditional means simply do so by selling me something I need or want. I hardly feel threatened if they try nefarious pschological tricks to get me to spend my money. I would rather buy something I don't really need than to be told what I need by the government, which ultimately is what you are suggesting. Paul Westcott wrote: And yes, unfortunatly humans are week. (As an example, look at the percentage who consume antidepressants.) Well, if that is true, than the weak can just die. I will not empower government to "protect" me from things I am perfectly able to deal with on my own simply because others are not able or willing to stand on their own two feet. "There's a slew of slip 'twixt cup and lip"
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Canada is the only country on earth that has never done anything wrong in it's whole history! Are you kidding??? They unleashed Celine Dion on the world.:omg: