Topic: The TV Show Thread

@Th3solution @RogerRoger It usually depends for me, like Tom Cruise for example isn’t really hurting anyone through his nuttiness and we all know that Scientology preys on these sort of people. Someone like Kevin Spacey though, I do tend to avoid his movies now. I probably miss out on some great movies in the process but just the sight of his face kinda takes me out of the movie and would only distract me.

@nessisonett Oh, absolutely agreed; it's one thing to consider "celebrity culture" and another to know of abusive criminal behaviour. I keep wanting to re-watch Superman Returns, because I really like the film, but every time I reach for it I remember that Kevin Spacey plays Lex Luthor. And then I remember that it was directed by Bryan Singer. And then I just feel wrong for owning a copy.

@nessisonett I think Scientology does hurt people due to the way it operates. There are plenty of accounts from ex members, press who've received statements and threats and documentary filmmakers that describe situations like that. I am not sure if we are allowed to discuss it here though because it would fall under discrimination against religion within the community rules. I don't disagree with the rules here necessarily but I think in the real world that any religions perceived immunity to criticism is unwarranted.

@RogerRoger superman returns is so good though! I think Bryan Singer has directed too many of my favourite films (X-Men) for me to not watch them every now and then. I don't like him as a person but I do like his films. Similarly I dislike Kevin Spacey, but he is a damn good actor!

@ralphdibny Oh yeah, I’ve seen the documentaries but it’s more that I’m not sure Tom Cruise is doing the scary stuff and is more a blatant cash cow that they leech off.

@RogerRoger @nessisonett It’s tough, because we do all have our line in the sand that we draw; all have our specific passions and interests we champion or oppose (although a celebrity’s criminal behavior would likely be a shared deterrent amongst most reasonable people). Yet, I would surmise if we actually knew a lot of detail about these public figures’ lives, philosophies, practices, beliefs, and other skeletons they harbor — well, I figure we’d want nothing to do with any of them. Perhaps that’s an overly pessimistic view of the world and it sounds highly prejudicial and unfair, and I should temper that slightly - but I guess what I’m saying is I think it is sometimes naive to expect the role that a popular public person shows is anything even close to who they really are. I’ve come to expect that actors and politicians are more often corrupt than not, and then I’m pleasantly surprised when they aren’t.
(Gah, I sound bitter...)

@nessisonett this is a total guess but I reckon he is told to act reasonable and not try to indoctrinate people. The reason being is that he is the most famous scientologist in the world and for many people is the face of it. If he, of all people, were to act in the same way that less known members are publicly acknowledged to act then I think they could kiss their tax exempt status goodbye. Way more people who are less in the know would become aware of it and make a big stink (as is the case for every other bit of scandal in Hollywood these days) and the US government would potentially have no choice but to act on it.

@Th3solution not bitter at all! I generally the think the world is a bit like Game of Thrones which I guess is why the show is so popular because it fantasises some of society's most perverted desires. Nobody can really publicly admit to their scandalous behaviour so a facade has been created that people who don't subscribe to fringe perversions think that the whole world is actually like that.

Polyamorous coupling, sado masochism and certain other socially undesired behaviours are all perfectly normal in my opinion. The key thing is consent and everything should be consensual between two parties or not engaged in at all. Unfortunately, and this is just my speculation, the ostracism of these so called perverted behaviours leads people (especially famous people who have a specific image to sell) to act on them in secret, perhaps without consent (because they'd think nobody would consent based on their perception of society's values) and perhaps with a bully culture to silence the non consenting parties.

If the behaviours themselves became more normalised and less clandestine then I think that more people would be aware of them and like-minded people would be able to connect more easily with less disastrous results.

@ralphdibny Armie Hammer's like, "but can I eat people though?"

@zupertramp haha maybe not that 😂

@ralphdibny It’s an interesting thought experiment. I definitely think that society is becoming much more accepting of previous fringe lifestyles due to social media normalizing some previously hidden behaviors. Ironically, it has also created more non-acceptance too because of the way social media coerces those who consume it. It’s a weird dichotomy that we live in.

I think of our society as being closer to The Hunger Games whereby certain subsections of society (the wealthy and famous in particular) have their own normalized behavior and others (the proletariat and the have-nots) have a different concept of normal. In the HG movies the schism is exaggerated with the ridiculous fashions, eating habits, and watching minors kill each other for entertainment, but I think if someone like me lived a day in the life of Tom Cruise or Jay-Z then my head would probably explode.

Wow... how did we get here?! 😂 Sorry for the tangent. (Although I guess at least Game of Thrones is a TV show 😛)

@Th3solution I think your first paragraph hit the nail on the head! I value diversity and freedom but unfortunately it's an all or nothing situation, nobody should be more important or get special treatment because of who they are. Seeing the value in everyone and everything unfortunately makes me unpopular with everyone and everything 😅

Well both GoT and HG are going to have some basis in the authors perception of reality for sure seeing as they were both written in modern times. A lot of the best fantasy and sci fi uses a warped version of real life as the basis of its setting. It's a cleverly used familiarity and a veil for real world issues. I guess whatever the fiction draws upon for inspiration will resonate differently and more effectively with those who have an interest in that aspect of reality. Then again, some of its a load of old tosh!

@ralphdibny I definitely hear what your saying. And I don’t think your philosophy is an unpopular as you suspect. Libertarianism seems to be growing in popularity lately. But I see what your saying, in that many people will claim to advocate for fairness, open-mindedness, and individualism, and then simultaneously are intolerant of opposing viewpoints or lifestyles. So when someone is truly open and accepting, they tend to just get on everyone’s bad side.

Anyway, it’s a really interesting discussion that fascinates me, but I feel I’ve wandered far off the trail and into the weeds here, so back to TV show discussion 😅 ....

I saw that WandaVision dropped a couple episodes already and I’m extremely excited to give them a try later this weekend. Anyone watched them yet and have a [spoiler free] critique?

@Th3solution I’m so tempted to watch Wandavision but I don’t know if it would be better waiting to binge it or not! Besides, I’m on the second most recent seasons of the Arrowverse which is both extremely worrying and rather impressive 😅

@Th3solution fair enough! I would like to distance myself from libertarianism though I think...they advocate the non wearing of masks or at least, it seems they do because they advocate the freedom of choice. I definitely think we should all be wearing masks in enclosed public spaces. I generally don't support any one political ideology, because it normally comes with a load of extra baggage that I completely disagree with.

Anyway....on wandavision. It's probably the new MCU show that I'm looking forward to the most because the Vision is my favourite character. Not least because Paul Bettany is my favourite actor. I think falcon and winter soldier should be good too as it features the return of Daniel Bruhl and George's st Pierre as Zemo and Batroc the Leaper respectively. Between them and red skull and Arnim Zola, captain America had a pretty impressive rogues gallery!

I'm going to use a game pass perk to get a month of Disney plus at the end of January so that should take me through to almost the end of Wandavision. I think the last episode airs on march 5th (which is a bit annoying that it's slightly outside the month!)

Weird that it's only half hour episodes though

@ralphdibny I agree completely and I think we’re on the same wavelength there. 😄

As far as WandaVision, I’ve kept away from detailed information, so only have the trailer as a reference point, but it does seem like a sit-com style with a twist, so the 30 min run time might be because of that. It does make me suspicious that it will have enough time to really get traction on any one storyline with the time constraints.

@nessisonett The Arrowverse is so large that it might be a nice change of pace to have short limited episodes to just watch off and on with the Marvel shows.

Those are my thoughts exactly!

@Th3solution @ralphdibny I think I heard somewhere that the episodes get longer as it goes on, as the sitcom style gets pushed further!

@nessisonett That’s good to know. This may crash and burn, but the gotta give credit to Marvel / Disney for at least trying something creative and different. I do appreciate it when a large franchise takes a chance, even if I end up not liking the final product.

@nessisonett oh right, yeah that's exactly how I think it should go tbh. Start off with a sitcom runtime and then expand up to an hour as the show becomes less of a sitcom (if it does become less of a sitcom)

I watched the first two episodes of WandaVision and really enjoyed them! They’re both essentially half-hour sitcom episodes with a strange sometimes Lynchian sinisterness to them. I’m glad they’ve gone in a totally different direction but I guess there are enough episodes left for it to devolve into a big-budget action movie with explosions 😂

@nessisonett

I’m very jealous! I’m currently going through a couples’ Marvel tug-of-war, as the missus wants to watch it weekly and I’m massively insistent that we save it and watch all 9 eps on a binge when they’re all available... though it is testing every fibre of my geek-strength.