The Big Picture: Mailbag

[Mumorpuger]

Also "mumorpuger"

YAY ME!

 

[croc3629]

Is public high school really that terrible, people? Because I was slightly disappointed by how ordinary my high school years were. There was no bullying, no malicious pranks, no stereotyped cliques that were exclusive to their own groups with no interaction, the nerds were praised for their intellect just as often as the jocks were for their physical ability, and nobody acted like a jerk any more than you would find in the real world.

Frankly, high school was a boring melting pot of harmony and fellowship. Damn it, our 'jocks' were even among the nicest guys in the entire school. I've gotta say that I'm just happy it's an experience I seem to have missed out on.

Oh, and nice video. I'm especially looking forward to your Intermission.

 

[zelda2fanboy]

I didn't think high school was that bad. I didn't really talk to anyone for four years and I considered that a minor win. Compared to junior high school and a lot of college, high school was a cakewalk. By virtue of just showing up, I was in a much better position than most of my classmates and I never had to bring home "homework" because of all the free time before classes, free time in classes, and numerous study halls. Junior high school was a nightmare of being bogged down in pointless busy work I could never catch up on, very bitter and angry teachers who threatened us daily, bullies, puberty, and the utter impossibility of romantic relationships or sex (being an "early bloomer" sucks). I still didn't get any in high school or college, but at least the potential was there without feeling like a pedophile. And college sucks because the classes are often a lot longer, there are irritating online classes with their "discussion questions," night classes, finals, smug professors with their heads up their asses, monopolizing of your time, and the simple fact that you have to pay for all that bullshit.

So yay, for high school. I almost got through a whole post without mentioning my godawful post college minimum wage job from which I haven't a raise for four years. It doesn't get better kids. It really doesn't. I regret not killing myself in fourth grade back when I had the nerve.

 

[yman15]

I'm having a good time in high school... I'm not sure if it's being from a different generation than you moviebob or if its because you put yourself in the position of the victim but I'm pretty sure that me having a good time in high school hasn't made anybody's lives miserable. Actually I see hardly any bullying general at my school, If you don't like someone there you just don't talk to them and they'll leave you alone as opposed to dunking their head in a toilet.
Your little comments about high school have given me an image of you being like a nerd in a 90's sitcom and It's kind of interesting so, could you perhaps do an episode of your high school experience sometime?

 

[Falseprophet]

Sibling rivalry is a good way of putting it.

Heck of a rivalry, though. I remember when I visited England a few years ago, it seemed like the more French ass you kicked in life, the better the monument you got in death.

Besides France and the UK have one of the longest formal alliances in place today, plus our armed forces are to an extent interconnected. Also in response to the French surrender monkey's, I think it is overstated to suggest that they willing wanted German occupation. Also that they surrendered to the allies that's a new and "interesting" way of putting it. France surrendered because they saw it as the rational thing to do at the time, that doesn't make it right, but it might have saved a lot of lives.

That's just it. British pop culture has always taken jabs at the French. In American pop culture between WWII and 9/11, there is no major anti-French sentiment. There are plenty of comedic French stereotypes, but no wholesale vilification. I think people understood that France shared a land border with Germany, and had the UK or US not had deep water and strong navies standing between them and the Wehrmact, they probably wouldn't have fared very well either in 1940. You don't see widespread vilification of the French in American media until the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq.

 

[Gatx]

No shit!

I actually preffered Ang Lee's Hulk to the new one.

Sure it was still bad, but it had more artistic merit in one single scene than The Incredible Hulk had in its entire running time.

I was also pleasantly surprised by the mention of Hulk. Honestly I never watched ALL of it but it seemed alright. It seemed most of the complaints were that it wasn't a mindless action movie (which seems completely at odds with the whole great superhero movies getting recognition as great movies in general thing).

 

[Endocrom]

There's a paint called "Santa's Flesh" in craft stores right this very minute.

Now that's creepy.

 

[aceman67]

As a Canadian, I do have to say that some of us (myself included in some case), tend to view French Canadians in a poor light.

Take the recent protests in Quebec for example. They're up in arms over tuition increases. Why I don't like this: before the increases, Quebecois university students paid less then the national average, way less, with the increases, they're paying what the rest of the nation pays on average. They just want a free ride off the government coffers.

Then there's the whole Quebec Sovereignty movement. While the issue has pretty much all but died out (The Bloc party was all but decimated in the last federal election, and a recent poll shows that over 70% of Quebecois are against separating) As a patriot who's had family defend this country in two world wars (My great great uncle is buried in Flanders), Korea, and several peacekeeping missions, just sours my opinion on the whole issue.

Although, should they separate anyways, the First Nations who hold treaty rights to 90% of the Province (and most of its natural resources) wouldn't, and my Father, who's retired military, says we'd just invade and take the land back anyways.

While, yes, Canada is a Bi-Lingual country, and I've lived in Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia, and I've been pretty much every where else, I can say this, there are only three places where French influence is prevalent: Quebec, New Brunswick (Canada's only Bi-Lingual province), and any government building. Outside of there, you'd be hard pressed to find anything where the french has any influence.

 

[Mr_Jellyfish]

Another great video, love these bite-sized nuggets!

I hope there is never a faithful portrayal of Batman in movies, Robin sucks! And Batman is actually kind of a dick, the more I hear about him the closer he seems to Rorschach. Maybe I just don't get super heroes.

 

[Triaed]

Wow, it was a real mixed bag. I enjoyed it.

France, let's not forget that with a big help from France the US obtained their independence. Yeah, France was acting in self interest to put a dent in the British Empire crown, but still... I don't get the bad rap they get in the US

Highschool was awesome for me, I partied like a monkey on speed and drank like a fish... then again I was not constrained by that silly rule in the States that says that you are mature enough at 18 to put a bullet in an enemy soldier's head, but you cannot drink a beer in a hot-summer day

Also "mumorpuger"

France is viewed as a group of backstabbers and with good reason.
---snip--- sorry for the scissors.
The French, the guys who helped us, arguably did that entirely out of self interest and that helps mitigate a lot of the gratitude.

That is the way you were taught history wherever you are from. You are very entitled to your opinion.

 

[hermes]

I always thought the rivalry between England and France was the reason to the animosity in America. After all, they shared the center of the civilized western world during centuries and there are even books dedicated to their rivalry (A Tale of Two Cities). When British emigrated to America and founded the US, they carry their prejudice with them.

 

[hermes]

No shit!

I actually preffered Ang Lee's Hulk to the new one.

Sure it was still bad, but it had more artistic merit in one single scene than The Incredible Hulk had in its entire running time.

I was also pleasantly surprised by the mention of Hulk. Honestly I never watched ALL of it but it seemed alright. It seemed most of the complaints were that it wasn't a mindless action movie (which seems completely at odds with the whole great superhero movies getting recognition as great movies in general thing).

I am of the opinion that the problem was not that it wasn't a mindless action movie, but that the parts that weren't were original of the movie (not adapted from the comic book) and were not very good.

While I don't think the origins story of the comic is very good, the changes were obviously introduced to add extra drama to the character, to make him closer to the movies Ang Lee usually directs and, above all, made very little sense. Think of it like a previous version of the whole debacle of Michael Bay making Teenage Alien Ninja Turtles.

Needless to say, I don't agree with Bob in that one.

 

[hermes]

Could someone help me out here and explain just what it is about American highschools that makes them so different and horrible compared to the equivalent level of schools in the rest of the world?

Reading [a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Third_Wave_(Toffler)"]The Third Wave by Alvin Toffler[/a] would probably provide some good explanation for you. Essentially, the criticism is that high school was primarily designed as a means to prepare children for factory and assembly line work. For example, get you accustomed to arriving at your desk at specific times, taking instruction from your teacher/supervisor, perform repetitive tasks, take scheduled breaks of specific duration, etc.

If you get caught up working in government bureaucracy, then you might find that "high school" dynamics continue to apply to you. So consider that a warning to think about your career, unless you're one of the ones that enjoyed high school and would like to continue that until retirement.

That sounds awfully close to any other high school, not restricted to Americans...

I think its mostly because they function as miniature social ecosystem, with some of the people that use these forums being placed at the bottom of the social pyramid (bellow the bullies, the shallow girls, etc). I know it sounds cliche, but its accurate at points and retroactively feeds the stereotypes. Also, I don't think its so different in other parts of the world.

 

[l3o2828]

Soooo BOB, DO YOU LIKE LOST IN TRANSLATION OR NOT?

 

[Saibh]

Actually, I'd like to expand upon that "why men are portrayed as idiots", and what I've come to feel:

In the '50s, TV portrayed the ideal family. A strong, supportive, bread-winning father; a nurturing (if sometimes prone to overstep her bounds) beautiful housewife and mother; and a few scamp kids. This was the idealistic portrayal of men and their family. They were, as the saying goes, king of the castle.

But I still think, to a degree, TV portrays a fantasy life. Rather than having a super dad and father, he's average. He's fat, he's slobby, he's lazy, he's not terribly bright--and yet he has a smoking hot wife (who also makes money now), a gorgeous house in a gorgeous neighborhood, lots of friends, and a comfortable income (even if he works for a low-paying menial job). He usually isn't very affectionate or caring for his family, and yet a single act of kindness will remind his family that, really, despite all his faults, they still love him. He slacks off at his job, but you'll only occasionally get an episode dealing with a job crisis (then everything is back to the status quo).

This is another kind of "idealism". A kind where the man doesn't have to work hard, be affectionate, can sit around and watch TV and drink beer, and yet have a wonderful life. The worst thing that happens is occasionally bratty kids and a nagging wife.

 

[HalfTangible]

... huh.

The second half of high school was actually ok for me.

It was middle school that left me sobbing.

 

[ReiverCorrupter]

High school should be abolished.

Or at the very least made optional. There are so many kids in high school that don't care about how well they do there, and would probably be better off going into the work force. They sure aren't interested in getting into college or learning anything more the state has to teach them, so why not just get them working?

1) Because they will probably sincerely regret it later on in life when they're stuck in a dead end job and have little-to-no upward mobility.

2) Because an education isn't just a means to making money but a requisite for being an informed member of a democratic society.

3) Because minors cannot legally make their own decisions for a reason, they're too immature. (This is obviously related to point #1, but is important enough to mention separately.)

4) The state has a say for the same reason that it is illegal to beat or starve your children. Children are people and not property of their parents, but they do not have the full rational capacity to take care of themselves and make their own decisions, so they are reliant upon their parents. The state is there to ensure that their rights are protected.

(Things like the limited education that Amish students get should be illegal, religious freedom doesn't trump a person's right to an education or health care, though it is still very important. That's also why children of Jehovah's witnesses should be given transfusions in spite of their parent's religious views, which is legal in the UK, but not as much in the US.)

 

[rickthetrick]

I could have sworn Crayola didn't rename flesh to peach till damn near the 90's Or maybe I just had really really old crayons. meh whatever.

 

[rickthetrick]

Edit Please remove this post. Thank you.

 

[itsmeyouidiot]

While I do agree high school may be unpleasant compared to your later years in life, it's really hard to notice because it's still a vast improvement over what comes right before it.

High school may be Hell, but compared to middle school it's Heaven.