Pacino’s “Fan of Man” speech tracks closely with the Grand Inquisitor’s speech in The Brothers Karamazov. I love that the Devil’s Advocate director and/or writer decided to go for Dostoevsky, but trashy.

I loved the over-the-topness of Pacino’s performance in this movie. It works very well because John Milton-as-devil and John Milton-as-filthy rich lawyer knows that he’ll never face consequences. As long as he maintains enough superficial charming enough to draw in his targets, he can do anything he wants. Almost every…

I think the word “penitent” is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. Many unforgivable offenses are committed by people who are sorry they got caught rather than sorry for what they did. These people are unlikely to change and should not be taken back. Otherwise, the question comes down to trust, respect, and…

“Monogamy, flawlessly executed over decades and decades, is not the only way a person can demonstrate faithfulness to a partner.”

Yes. There was at least some reason for this creepy law in the days when a girl who was pregnant would have become an unmarriageable pariah if she didn’t marry the (potentially much older) father of her baby. But now? It’s nothing but a way to protect the legal interests of creeps.

I’m never willing to ask if she moonlights as a sexpresso worker.

Imo, once it’s interactive, it stops being porn and becomes cheating.*

It sounds like the husband is paying somewhere between hundreds and thousands of dollars at a time, which I would call big sums, though the LW may not see it that way.

The relevant questions for LW1 are:

I wonder the extent to which people hire non-sex worker professionals largely based on looks (and without the intention to sexually harass them). I’m sure it happens, but personally, I can’t imagine hiring anyone based largely/solely on looks (unless I were hiring a cover model or something). If I did something like…

Hipgnosis has been really aggressive about courting artists and acquiring music in the past few months. The company—and its venture capital backers—figure that popular songs will always be a good investment if they can be pushed hard for licensing. Oddly enough, both The Guardian and the Your Favorite Band Sucks…

My favorite gross novel is One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest. The whole society oppresses individuals/ difference isn’t insanity counterculture vibe is fun, and the committed characters are likeable in many ways. But every single thing the book has to say about women is awful. Every single man in the asylum is there…

The Black Narcissus Scorsese commentary track would make an interesting double feature with Scorsese Considers the Nipple Pasty.

Admittedly, Cooper seems like a pretty good choice for the gig, but is he rally willing to try to wedge this sort of work into his busy schedule (or give up other work to take on Jeopardy)? New Year’s Eve is one night of work, and IIRC, Jeopardy takes a few months to shoot.

*sigh*

I don’t think LW#1 should write her ex a letter. Sure, it might feel good to give him a piece of her mind, and I guess there’s a non-zero chance that it will make him feel badly about how he treated her. But by and large, terrible exes don’t just morph into thoughtful people a year (and one new boyfriend) later. If…

I don’t know that this guy is an addict (though he could be), but I agree otherwise. It’s possible that the girlfriend is controlling (I don’t have enough information to know one way or another), but he’s definitely got some issues. At the very least, he could be honest that he can’t or won’t live up to her…

“Ask me for permission that I’ll probably never give” sounds bad, but it may well be the girlfriend’s way of trying to advocate for her needs without explicitly forbidding the LW to use drugs or issuing an ultimatum. It’s difficult to tell how much the LW’s tobacco/drug use may affect his girlfriend (Does he try to…

Absolutely. So many people make excuses for their significant others, their friends, or themselves when stress is involved. Yes, the pandemic is stressing everyone out, and stressed out people deserve a little grace. But truly bad behavior like abuse isn’t going to just disappear when the pandemic is over. Ditto…

I’m not sure why Dan is being so rough on LW#1's girlfriend here (other than that he likes pot and is averse to people who don’t). Is the girlfriend trying to control DRUGS (in a more general way rather than simply demanding fidelity and sobriety)? Maybe. If she actively links the cigarette/ pot(?) smoking to the…