Berkeley CSUA MOTD:Entry 41146
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2024/12/24 [General] UID:1000 Activity:popular
12/24   

2005/12/27-30 [Recreation/Dating] UID:41146 Activity:kinda low
12/27   Brokeback Mountain: Rape of the Marlboro Man
        http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=48076
        \_ The author of this article wants it so bad in the ass
           \_ Wow, what insight.  By this single "I know you are but what am I"
              argument, you've moved the level of discourse about the topic all
              the way to 2nd -- no 3rd grade.  Kudos sir!
              \_ He's giving the author his deserved respect.
        \_ Why does Ang Lee like to make gay movies so much?
           \_ Powerful human dynamics?
        \_ gotta love right-wing fearmongering.  yeah, homosexuality is
           really going to be the end of Western civilization. uh-huh.
           \_ What I love is that all of his arguments revolve around how it
              destroys (the gay guy's) marriage.  He seems to miss the point
              that the loveless marriage is a product of the unaccepting
              society.  So he's either being a dumbass or intentionally
              deceiving his audience... almost like Hollywood.
              \_ "loveless marriage is a product of the unaccepting
                 society."  Can you explain that?
                 \_ If the guy is gay, but can't express that, he may enter
                    into a marriage because that's "what you do".  But his
                    sexual needs are being denied in such a marriage, leading
                    to resentment and unhappiness.
                    \_ Can't he just stay single?  Don't you think marrying
                       someone you don't love at all is kind of irresponsible?
                       \_ Perhaps he could.  Perhaps his family expected it
                          of him.  Perhaps he hadn't even considered the
                          possibility that he was homosexual, but wasn't happy
                          with what he had.  As for "irresponsible", people
                          do a lot of irresponsible things when they don't
                          know who they really are or what they really want.
                          \_ Perhaps he just likes a little anal on the side.
                             There are a lot of straight marriages that end
                             up like this. I don't see what homos have to do
                             with it. And don't try to excuse irresponsible
                             behavior by "people do that"... oh yeah people
                             rape others when they aren't getting enough sex,
                             quit your moralizing.
                             \_ Wow.  I'm amazed how quickly the psychos come
                                out on this issue.  Mmm..  homo sex == rape!
                                You r0x0r, duud1!!
                                \_ lol ya rly like wtf? btw learn to read.
                          \_ If you are not sure, or not ready to make a
                             commitment for life, don't get married.  Why
                             is it that people take marriage so lightly
                             these days?
                             \_ "These days"?  You haven't given this subject
                                much research or thought, have you?
                                \_ If you think you have something to say,
                                   try saying it.
                                   \_ How 'bout we give gays the option to
                                      make that commitment, and then we'll
                                      see how lightly it is taken.  Do you
                                      think kids out of high school getting
                                      married are considering it fully?
                                      Do you think that the dynamic discussed
                                      here contributes greatly to the freq
                                      of divorce?  I suggest you are laying
                                      too much blame at Ang Lee's feet.
                                      \_ Yes, if we are ready to send an
                                         18 year old to war where he needs
                                         to make life and death decisions,
                                         then he should be able to consider
                                         a marriage decision seriously.
                                         At 18 you are a grown up, have the
                                         rights and responsibilities of a
                                         grown up.
                                         \_ E_TOOSHORT.  This conversation
                                            is at an end.
                                            \_ You've been trying to branch
                                               out on irrelevant topics. I
                                               was just sticking to the
                                               original discussion.
                                               \_ E_TOOSTUPID.  Can't handle
                                                  the TOOSHORT exception.
                                                  \_ you are cute.
                                      \_ Okay, I missed this sentence:
                                         "Do you think that the dynamic
                                         discussed here contributes greatly
                                         to the freq of divorce?"
                                         Yes, too much emphasis on sexual
                                         desires, and personal fulfilment
                                         as opposed to love, commitment,
                                         loyalty and responsibility.
                                         \_ I suggest that as the stigma
                                            of homosexuality diminishes and
                                            as the acceptance of homosexual
                                            marriage/unions grow, this VERY
                                            SMALL portion of the total of
                                            failed marriages will all but
                                            vanish.  Marriages don't fail
                                            because of homosexuality.
                                            \_ Dude, it's irrelevant whether
                                               the third person is a guy or
                                               a girl.  The guy got married
                                               and had kids, and then went
                                               on adulterous "fishing trips"
                                               to Brokeback Mountain for 2
                                               decades.
                                               \_ I agree with you here, but
                                                  if it weren't about a
                                                  homosexual couple, 1) it
                                                  wouldn't be made into a
                                                  movie and 2) you wouldn't
                                                  bother thinking about it.
                                                  \_ There are countless
                                                     movies about marriage
                                                     and affairs and love
                                                     that could not be.
                                                     \_ And you get upset
                                                        about every one of
                                                        them...
                             ---------------------------\
                             No, I just don't agree that the statement,
                             "loveless marriage is a product of the
                             unaccepting society" applies here.
                             \_ The person who posted that was extrapolating.
                                I haven't seen the movie, so I can't say one
                                way or the other if that's what the movie said,
                                but I've tried to suggest scenarios that
                                expound upon his statement.  If you just
                                reject it, then fine.  I'm done walking
                                you through.
                             \_ That's "what you do".
                                \_ Honoring your marital vows is "what
                                   you do".  Loving (an action, not state
                                   of mind) your wife and children is
                                   "what you do".
                                   \_ Indeed.  Funny, though, some people,
                                      for whatever reason, don't or can't.
                                      If that's your only complaint here,
                                      then this is a long discussion about
                                      nothing.  I think you're just creeped
                                      out by homosexuality.
                                      \_ actually the long discussion is
                                         because some people here are
                                         rather presumptuous and mis-
                                         interpreted my comment.
        \_ Author was obviously disappointed by the lack of pudding eating
           scenes and lashed out in an unfulfilled, unloved crime of passion.
2024/12/24 [General] UID:1000 Activity:popular
12/24   

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worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=48076
quoted in the news media for his criticism of the new film "Brokeback Mountain." Here, Kupelian explains how and why the controversial movie is one of the most powerful homosexual propaganda films of our time. com "Brokeback Mountain," the controversial "gay cowboy" film that has garnered seven Golden Globe nominations and breathless media reviews - and has now emerged as a front-runner for the Oscars - is a brilliant propaganda film, reportedly causing viewers to change the way they feel about homosexual relationships and same-sex marriage. And how do the movie-makers pull off such a dazzling feat? They do it by raping the "Marlboro Man," that revered American symbol of rugged individualism and masculinity. "The Marketing of Evil," I show how the Philip Morris Company made marketing history by taking one of the most positive American images of all time - the cowboy - and attaching it to a negative, death-oriented product - cigarettes. Hit the pause button for a moment so this idea can completely sink in: Cigarette marketers cleverly attached, in the public's mind, two utterly unrelated things: 1) the American cowboy, with all of the powerful feelings that image evokes in us, of independence, self-confidence, wide-open spaces and authentic Americanism, and 2) cigarettes, a stinky, health-destroying waste of money. This legendary advertising campaign targeting men succeeded in transforming market underdog Marlboro (up until then, sold as a women's cigarette with the slogan "Mild as May") into the world's best-selling cigarette. It was all part of the modern marketing revolution, which meant that, instead of touting a product's actual benefits, marketers instead would psychologically manipulate the public by associating their product with the fulfillment of people's deepest, unconscious needs and desires. Today, the powerful cowboy image is being used to sell us on another self-destructive product: homosexual sex and "gay" marriage. One night, the bitter cold drives Ennis into Jack's tent so they can keep each other warm. As they lie there, suddenly and almost without warning, these two young men - both of whom later insist they're not "queer" - jump out of the sack and awkwardly and violently engage in anal sex. Too embarrassed the next morning even to talk about it, Ennis and Jack dismiss their sexual encounter as a "one-shot deal" and part company at the end of the sheepherding job. Ennis marries his fiancee Alma (Michelle Williams, Ledger's real-life girlfriend) while Jack marries female rodeo rider and prom queen Lureen (Anne Hathaway). Four years later, Jack sends Ennis a postcard saying he's coming to town for a visit. When the moment finally arrives, Ennis, barely able to contain his anticipation, rushes outside to meet Jack and the two men passionately embrace and kiss. Ennis's wife sadly witnesses everything through the screen door. During these adulterous homosexual affairs, Jack suggests they buy a ranch where the two can live happily ever after, presumably abandoning their wives and children. Ennis, however, is afraid, haunted by a traumatic childhood memory: It seems his father had tried to inoculate him against homosexuality by taking him to see the brutalized, castrated, dead body of a rancher who had lived together with another man - until murderous, bigoted neighbors committed the gruesome hate crime. Eventually, life with Ennis becomes intolerable and Alma divorces him, while Lureen, absorbed with the family business, only suspects Jack's secret as they drift further and further apart. When, toward the end of the story, Jack dies in a freak accident (his wife tells Ennis a tire blew up while Jack was changing it, propelling the hubcap into his face and killing him), Ennis wonders whether Jack actually met the same brutal fate as the castrated "gay" cowboy of his youth. Ultimately, Ennis ends up alone, with nothing, living in a small, secluded trailer, having lost both his family and his homosexual partner. He's comforted only by his most precious possession - Jack's shirt - which he pitifully embraces, almost in a slow dance, his aching loneliness masterfully projected into the audience via the film's artistry. Yes, the talents of Hollywood's finest are brought together in a successful attempt at making us experience Ennis's suffering, supposedly inflicted by a homophobic society. Heath Ledger's performance is brilliant and devastating. Lost in all of this, however, are towering, life-and-death realities concerning sex and morality and the sanctity of marriage and the preciousness of children and the direction of our civilization itself. So please, you moviemakers, how about easing off that tight camera shot of Ennis's suffering and doing a slow pan over the massive wreckage all around him? What about the years of silent anguish and loneliness Alma stoically endures for the sake of keeping her family together, or the terrible betrayal, suffering and tears of the children, bereft of a father? None of this merits more than a brief acknowledgment in "Brokeback Mountain." What is important to the moviemakers, rather, is that the viewer be made to feel, and feel, and feel again as deeply as possible the exquisitely painful loneliness and heartache of the homosexual cowboys - denied their truest happiness because of an ignorant and homophobic society. Thus are the Judeo-Christian moral values that formed the very foundation and substance of Western culture for the past three millennia all swept away on a delicious tide of manufactured emotion. And believe me, skilled directors and actors can manufacture emotion by the truckload. Co-star Jake Gyllenhaal realized the movie's power to transform audiences in Toronto, where, according to Entertainment magazine, "he was approached by festival-goers proclaiming that their preconceptions had been shattered by the film's insistence on humanizing gay love." "Brokeback Mountain," said Gyllenhaal, "is that pure place you take someone that's free of judgment. What they feared was not each other but what was outside of each other. What was so sad was that it didn't have to happen like that." But then, said the article, Gyllenhaal jumped to his feel and exclaimed triumphantly: "I mean, people's minds have been changed. That is, when you read a book, if you detect you're being lied to or manipulated, you can always stop reading, close the book momentarily and say, "Wait just a minute, there's something wrong here!" You can't do that in a film: You're bombarded with sound and images, all expertly crafted to give you selected information and to stimulate certain feelings, and you can't stop the barrage, not in a theater anyway. The visuals and sound and music - and along with them, the underlying agenda of the filmmakers - pursue you relentlessly, overwhelming your emotions and senses. And when you leave the theater, unless you're really objective to what you've experienced, you've been changed - even if just a little bit. Want to know how easily your feelings can be manipulated? Let's take the smallest, most seemingly insignificant example and see. Sit down at a piano and play a song, any song - even "Mary Had a Little Lamb" - as long as it's in a major key. Then, play the same song, but change from a major to a minor key; just lower the third step of the scale by a half-step so the melody and harmony become minor. If you watch carefully, you'll note this one tiny change makes the minor-key version sound a bit melancholy and sad, while the normal, major-key version sounds bright and happy. ") Now take this principle and apply it to a feature film by expanding it a million-fold. A movie's musical score has one overriding function - to make the viewer feel a certain way at strategic points during the story. And music is just one of dozens of factors and techniques used to influence audiences in the deepest way possible. Everything from the script to the directing to the camera work to the acting, which in "Brokeback Mountain" is brilliant, serve the purpose of making the movie-makers' vision seem like reality - even if it's twisted and perverse. Do we understand that Hollywood could easily p...