DeVos' brother is the founder of Blackwater, so if the goal is to staff a privatized war in Afghanistan straight out of high school, well then this is perfect synergy!

A season one deep cut, even! I'll confess I totally missed it, but even if I hadn't I probably would've used my stupid pun anyway.

When Garfunkel is mistaken for Garfield, it's a dark day for Art.

I'm busy working a summer job so I don't have to rely on mom and dad for moolah. Plus, I can buy that special rock t-shirt and album I want so damn much. It's totally grungified!

Come to think of it, that Egg Council costume is just a big palette-swapped avocado!

Apparently, poor people are only supposed to eat food that comes from boxes or cans. The preservatives chemically protect our insides so that we don't need health insurance.

Admit it: you're just jealous that avocado is getting all the spotlight, while toast is getting totally Garfunkel'd.

What a totally awesome and open-minded way to include fans … and to further exploit and monetize their enthusiasm! If these shorts don't end up getting collected and sold by CBS in some way, I'll eat a plate of gagh.

It's one of those movies you can "appreciate," especially if you choose to believe the movie is a condemnation of how toxic and hateful masculinity is (and not, you know, a celebration of same).

Austin Powers did it to itself, though. The sequel repeated a lot of the same gags and set pieces from the first movie, retroactively turning the once original, hilarious stuff into groaning formula.

Agreed. And I think even the banker bros get that. It's just that some assholes think it's something to be celebrated.

It feels like the general movie-going public today is too culturally illiterate to detect a theme based only on actions-as-presented. If it's onscreen, it must be being celebrated, right? So unless there's some big speech at the end where the protagonist blatantly acknowledges the error of their ways while also…

Thanks for all your replies, everyone. I totally understand your stances and have even held them from time to time. It's true, the world of Middle Earth is magical and deities are real, but the magic is largely subtle and the most of the deities very far removed from daily life (with only a couple of exceptions, that…

Like the fate of the world hinges on the actions of a small northwestern portion of a much larger super-continent? I wonder where Tolkien would have picked that up?

Not that I'm aware of. But people make up crazy "god told me to"-type stuff all the time. There would at least be cults, I think.

… and it was so embarrassing to wake up with Mirkwood every day.

I get what you're saying. I guess in that case, it just seems like devotion and ritual should be more "built in" to the society, you know?

Culturally there's no way that each race doesn't have a priestly caste. Presumably elves, dwarves, humans, hobbits, and … miscellaneous would each have their own religious practices and some sort of centre of worship. It makes no sense that they wouldn't be inordinately powerful and also want a say in things.

But what do professional geographers and geologists have to say about the Bending of the World? That's totally scientifically accurate, right?

You gotta get in on the ground floor. For instance, if you were to trademark "Sick Burn" now, you'd be rolling in nuclear apocabucks in no time!