Cliff Varnell Posted July 2, 2018 Share Posted July 2, 2018 6 hours ago, Paul Brancato said: Exactly - you pulled up all the right references. It was a gimme. What kind of sick depraved bastard makes light of deep tragedy? It's a shame -- I tell ya! -- a damn shame... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Varnell Posted July 2, 2018 Share Posted July 2, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Varnell Posted July 2, 2018 Share Posted July 2, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Varnell Posted July 2, 2018 Share Posted July 2, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Varnell Posted July 2, 2018 Share Posted July 2, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Varnell Posted July 2, 2018 Share Posted July 2, 2018 Russ Meyer's "Up" -- totally inappropriate for a respectable Forum. Snowflakes beware! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Varnell Posted July 2, 2018 Share Posted July 2, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Varnell Posted July 2, 2018 Share Posted July 2, 2018 (edited) While we're at it..from "The Life of Brian" Edited July 2, 2018 by Cliff Varnell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Varnell Posted July 2, 2018 Share Posted July 2, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Harper Posted July 2, 2018 Share Posted July 2, 2018 I think Mr. Varnell pretty much took care of this with the attachments, but fwiw as they say: It's always good to be reminded that when Cromwell took over, the theaters were closed. One thing the Puritans wanted was conformity; another was the "respect" for authority - which meant you didn't question or make fun of those in power. Performers and performances can be dangerous. When a group hired Shakespeare's company to perform Richard II during the time of the Essex Rebellion, the company's spokesmen were summoned to the Palace to explain themselves since the Queen - Elizabeth - thought that they were portraying her as Richard -- the weak monarch who gives up the crown. The company just needed work like all theater companies and they got let off with the questioning. But even back then, people knew that performances could be informative, upsetting, and suggestive.People with money had such exhibited. I am attaching a link to last week's story in the Wall Street Journal about the effect of "political correctness" on college comedy tours. Now -depending on the topic - audience members who laugh will get "looks" and signs of disapproval from those around them: https://www.wsj.com/articles/comedies-misfortunes-are-no-laughing-matter-for-hollywood-1529919001 I am also attaching a comment I left on a thread on May17: Watching the first big debate of the Republican Primary during the 2016 election, - with about 12 candidates, senators & governors and all the usual suspects and Trump was center stage. First question to him is by a woman who asks about his comments about women being fat or stupid or ugly or something. In the midst of the question, I recall thinking - how will he answer this? Deny the use of such terms? attack fake news that reports it?Pontificate on the #MeToo rights of women? - and while these thoughts brew, Trump interrupts to say --- No No! No! that was just about Rosie O'Donnell! I burst out laughing as did much of the audience. Why that response from him or me or the audience? Never a good idea to analyze a laugh; but that one begged for one. It was shockingly hurtful and insensitive; it went right at the claim of the reported quote, and it completely upset our mental preparation for the expected pontificating on "values". That he also managed to divert the question itself was a result of the laugh. Things that are unexpected can make us laugh; what we expect at any given time can be evaluated, in some ways, by the laughs they produce.On another thread, there was a discussion of Lenny Bruce opening his act after JFK's death.He handled the unspeakable of that day with a response that got a laugh. This topic is not so far removed from another pet peeve: the "crime" of "hate speech." When the Texas story broke years ago, I told friends that if one ties a guy with a chain to the back of his truck and drags him through the town, that's a crime in my book. It doesn't matter to me what age or race or religion or sexual identity the victim possessed; it was a hate filled crime as all such crimes are. Who exactly is doing the determining that "some speech" is "hate speech?" Not long ago I saw a headline that so and so had been cut up and killed and they were investigating whether or not it was a "hate crime." Now I ask you, where have we come from, that this is the case? I don't want anyone telling me what I can say, or what I can read or watch or what I can laugh at. Taste (the aesthetic elements) of any speech or action is a separate issue. Is it done well? Does it evoke what it aimed to evoke? Was it culturally appropriate? The Puritans didn't even want the people to encounter such notions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paz Marverde Posted July 2, 2018 Share Posted July 2, 2018 Varnell, you are just making spam at this point. Besides, none of them was a commercial and, finally, put Chaplin side by side with that disgusting commercial is just like take side by side gold and s*** Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirk Gallaway Posted July 2, 2018 Share Posted July 2, 2018 (edited) Interesting discussion, almost nothing offends me. But it is a good point that people are using The KA to push a product and make money. Though I suppose you could say all movies and films, even documentaries are commercial enterprises. Cliff, Seinfeld, (interesting, after Newman appears in JFK!) but you had me at "Paris Team America World Police", excellent! That's the most currently relevant to this discussion. After that, I don't think anyone here would disapprove of any of the rest. Certainly no one's going to rush to the defense of Hitler! I think I get your point about Dr. Strangelove. I guess there was an absurd controversy, But it would seem any one at that time who would actually make a point about the movie trivializing the Nuclear situation of the early 60's, would have to ask themselves why this is real?, and how did we all get into such a situation? Monty Python, the first to make satire of the Crucifixion. Satirically, There was a lot of low hanging fruit in the 60's and 70's! (satire) Ok, Mel Brooks, I liked Young Frankenstein, I guess I've always thought him to be just pummeling the obvious. Bill Hicks, definitely a ground breaker, a bit hip for this forum, but you're highlighting the right material. "Land Without Bread", I'll have to check that out , Thank You. Cliff, I noticed Matthew Rhys in your video selection. Does anybody here think that "The Americans" is anti Soviet propaganda? Jim Di ? Edited July 2, 2018 by Kirk Gallaway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Andrews Posted July 2, 2018 Share Posted July 2, 2018 (edited) I dunno, I thought The Americans was pretty even-handed, and indicted America for several evils from an imagined Soviet point-of-view. If anything, I thought it soft-pedaled many ills of the Soviet system, though it also ignored some elephants in our room, notably the Contra war. It was a TV show - it used selective history to make dramatic points. The worst thing about it was the old-hat staging, camera framing and editing that made it look like a 1980s network TV show - a mimetic fallacy that had me expecting to see the NBC peacock logo pop up at the corner of the screen every 15 minutes. Edited July 2, 2018 by David Andrews Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Varnell Posted July 2, 2018 Share Posted July 2, 2018 1 hour ago, Kirk Gallaway said: Monty Python, the first to make satire of the Crucifixion. Satirically, There was a lot of low hanging fruit in the 60's and 70's! "Clockwork Orange" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paz Marverde Posted July 2, 2018 Share Posted July 2, 2018 4 hours ago, Kirk Gallaway said: The KA to push a product and make money. Though I suppose you could say all movies and films, even documentaries are commercial enterprises. Two absolutely not comparable things Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now