I like Berry, but her Storm isn't the version of the character I'd like to see. I'd like to see a story featuring a young Ororo Monroe in Africa, learning about her powers and dealing with the challenges of growing up in a troubled community. Maybe we skip the part where she's worshiped as a goddess by a primitive…

I think they made the commercials kind of banking on James having a more victorious end to his season. Imagine the catch if James was doing his victory lap right now.

For some reason, I hear this in Principal Skinners' voice.

I'm more comfortable with violins than all this sax.

Agreed. It's so difficult to have an actual conversation on the topic, thanks in turn for not going overboard with it.

See, this is the thing I dislike about the argument. The evidence as presented doesn't suggest she's an outright liar, it just suggests that she's as prone to confirmation bias as anyone else. She wants to be right, because she's invested in her opinions, so yeah she'll twist over herself to prove herself right. …

Gaming is, for better and worse, dominated by young people (relative to the total population. The average age of gamers has gone up, but it still disproportionately favors people below 30), and young people are dumb. Obviously, that's a low-nuance statement, but it's one I stand by.

That's kind of a shame, since I've been knocking around a spec script for a BTTF reboot where a black teenager from the modern day goes back to the 80s and accidentally invents white culture. Like, he convinces George W Bush to try running for governor, and plays some Huey Lewis music at his parents' school dance.

That's the thing, I don't think that interpretation is in good faith. She isn't saying women need the scheme dumbed down, she's saying that complex schemes which make sense to entrenched gamers but which are counter-intuitive to casual gamers act as one more thing that casual gamers have to deal with when they pick…

Absolutely agreed. Sarkeesian is a voice technically in the right direction, but as a (formerly) avid participant in the culture she's critiquing, I feel the need to respond when she (or the people who are like her) make a point about gaming or gamers that seems inaccurate.

"Uh, hey video game companies, women are pretty offended by freemium games, and also they want an open-world, GTA-style Pokemon MMO, and also uhhhhhhhhhhh they want to know what that Psychonauts guy is up to?

My take is that (provided Sarkeesian's actual quote is akin to the alleged one) her intended sentiment was probably not 'Girls are too simple for big boy control schemes' and more 'Obscure control schemes act as one more barrier to entry among many for women who aren't already entrenched in the gaming subculture.' …

I felt compelled to look up the quote for that. The nearest I can find with a quick google is secondhand, from 4chan (so, you know, the source is unreasonably suspect, but in the interest of conversation, I'd like to dig into the content itself).

I would beg to differ. Gamers are notoriously contentious, about every damn thing they can manage to dig up. Exceptionally so when it comes to women, yeah, but it's not like the community has ever had trouble getting riled up.

I'm not a huge gamer nowadays, but back when she first got funding I checked out a couple of her videos to see what the hubbub was all about.

I like Paranorman a lot, but it's uneven as heck. I think the screenplay needed a little more paring down, so that the movie could properly fulfill the potential it shows off in its high points.

A good friend of mine and I keep trying to come up with absurd movie/show ideas to lure Moranis out of retirement. My favorite involves Moranis as a retired Washington General who has a score to settle with his rival, a retired Globetrotter.

Gasp, magical autism!

Yeah, the expectation of privacy or courtesy is a foolhardy remnant of those days when the people who did the gossiping could be held to account for it.

I have a family history of criminal immigrants. My maternal great grandfather was an outspoken Austrian Socialist named Adolph. This was before all that unpleasantness in the Rhineland, but still.