Thank God it’s ALMOST as if. I came close there, but skated back from the edge! Lighten up, man, it’s Friday. Judge things by their present, and note if it’s interesting how much their present has changed from our present, but remember that it doesn’t invalidate a work of art if its mores have dated, and it doesn’t ele…
RuthlesslyAbsurd
ruthlesslyabsurd
Because to not believe in social class in 1776 was a bold, beautiful progressive belief.
You don’t think it’s fallacious to judge people by standards that hadn’t been invented yet? Well of course you wouldn’t, you robotist. You use your machines, your phone, your computer, without once thinking of their consent before your put your fat fingers on them. You never cared about their sovereignty, just that…
Well no. I started my post with “This didn’t bother me quite as much in this review as your others in this column (because Shaw’s politics match your own)“
I do not think you know what a strawman argument it. Which does not surprise me, because the word “strawman” has become “argument I do not like.” A straw man is when you characterize your opponent’s arguments falsely so that you can refute it because you’re not defeating the person, you’re attacking the “straw man”…
Yes I acknowledged in my OP that this review was a small part
“Moreover, we can only judge things from our individual perspectives, which will involve our present day beliefs.”
But that’s of course not true. I can praise Thomas Jefferson for writing All Men Are Created Equal because I know in 1776 that was a radical statement even if it didn’t include women, which today I…
Yes but not too long ago reviews about movies focused on the art. Could we perhaps focus on whether Stanley Holloway’s character adds anything to the film other than running length? Or why a character disappears with 30 minutes left in the film and never returns? Again, this one’s better than most because it does get…
No it’s not. Film criticism has become primarily sociopolitical analysis. And what that comes down to is “Does this film advance a progressive viewpoint?” And what that comes down to is “Does this movie agree with my politics?”
I actually am okay, as I said in my OP, with discussing it, I just hate the judgmental lens. It is fallacious to judge articles or people from the past by standards of the present. So sure, note that a scene wouldn’t have occurred like this today, but don’t get outraged that people in 1959 weren’t actually people…
We should look at the whole of what something is, absolutely. But we shouldn’t judge the past by the standards of the present, which is what “presentism” means. It’s flawed by its nature, and arbitary
I agree that it’s weird no one mentions it. There’s a PROBLEMATIC thread running through Mary Poppins which is that the Mom is so busy advocating for women’s rights that she neglects her home and necessitates a nanny
I agree that’s particularly silly for Game of Thrones. For the record though, your criticism of my point doesn’t apply here. Mr. Breihan clearly likes this movie a good deal — more than I do, in fact — I just don’t see why the purpose of film criticism is “Oh my, they sure were problematic back then” which a lot of thi…
Why? If you make a great movie about a charter school, do I have to mention in my review that your movie is wrong somehow, “problematic” as they say, because I don’t support charter schools? And if I later change my mind — because these are opinions we’re talking about — does your movie suddenly become better?
....because art shouldn’t be defined by how it relates to MY politics? I heard a lovely song from 1980 the other day that took a piece of Americana and changed it into a protest against nuclear power plants. Should I have to criticize it because I support nuclear power? Art is so boring if your primary lens of analysis…
Man you’re really into that post
Absolutely nothing about my argument indicates bad faith, either here or there
They didn’t serve life in prison. And nor did I argue that.
Sure, and we’re currently analyzing historical pop culture
Why does it “dumb down” articles to eschew “But this movie is bad because it doesn’t conform to my politics?” I actually think it would make things a whole lot smarter