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Modern movies teach us awful lessons [video]

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Re: Modern movies teach us awful lessons [video]

#171

The main criticism of this YouTube video is that the main character doesn't really have to put in any effort and has all those skills from the very beginning. While I agree that this trope can make kids think they're special without trying in life (and that they will be a hero in the future), I think there have been similar tropes in the past. Just take basic story writing of many old movies: There is always a hero t…

No, think about Star Wars. Luke doesn't believe in the Force, doesn't believe Obi Wan is anything but a crazy old man. He has to come to his realization himself and then find the Force in himself. He isn't gifted with it. That truly is a big difference between the classic hero's journey and the newer 2010s films where people just have a magic power. And people are sort of sick of it. It's why Watchmen or Guardians of…

Luke Skywalker is shown as natural born talent. Which is why he can become Jedi despite being too old for it and emotional. His hero journey starts with right genetical inheritance.

> Look at Greek mythology. No one could understand why Zeus got all pissed off, but he was Zeus. He was kind of inscrutable.

I think he is just powerful rather then impossible to understand. Not that I am expert, but Greek gods don't come across to me as something alien. They are fairly human, emotional at times rational at others, political among themselves, but definitely too strong for actual humans to handle.

Re: Modern movies teach us awful lessons [video]

#172
post #24

Another enormous gripe I have with modern movies, other than the (lack of) interesting moral lessons from OP, is the sound design. Loud explosions and music, with quiet, mumbled lines[1]. I'm forced to watch every movie with subtitles on, or to miss a good chunk of the dialogue. And I'd go beyond that, and blame the mumbled lines for our lack of interesting quotes. It's a lot harder to have unexpected turns of phrase…

Can you give examples? I've heard this before but have never noticed it myself. Is it possible you have hearing loss that you're unaware of?

I personally don't find this happening as much as OP says, but nolan movies (e.g. interstellar) are an example where i have definitely had this.

Re: Modern movies teach us awful lessons [video]

#173

This just doesn't ring true to me, at all. Is the Youtube algorithm directing people to make vaguely fascist feeling, "bring back the good old days", 'kids today', 'civilization is doomed' content aimed at young males? Or is that just a natural cycle that repeats throughout history? The biggest film in history was "Birth of a Nation" until it was replaced by "Gone with the Wind", "Star Wars" may have been a rebellion…

> hereditary rulers that are related to each other starting wars

Star Wars (New Hope) is nothing of the sort. The universe just got progressively smaller as they retconned every character into being related to every other character.

Re: Modern movies teach us awful lessons [video]

#174
I watched "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" with my kid recently, and it was still awesome.

I'm struggling to recall the last time I watched a 'modern' movie. I have even downloaded some but I always seem to have something better to do with my time.

Oh. Come to think of it, it might have been "Star Trek II: The Type Casting of Benedict Cumberbatch".

Re: Modern movies teach us awful lessons [video]

#175
In general I’ll watch anything the Drinker recommends (I’ll never stop being grateful that’s he got to me to give the Expanse a second try for example).

With that said, there are lot of fantastic movies getting made, they’re just not big budget. You could watch nothing but stuff Pattinson (to name a single example) has been in over the last 10 years and have a, uh, good time.

I personally think that these days the most effective way to watch great films is to pick actors that are only in stuff you like. Some actors are extremely picky about what they’ll work on, and that’s great.

Re: Modern movies teach us awful lessons [video]

#176

One thing I've noticed is that is seems more recent movies lack character observations. Everything is done is in service of the plot. I think it was in Doctor No there was a conversation between Q, M and Bond. Bond's favourite weapon was the Beretta, and Q explained their downsides. Bond was ordered to use the Walther (IIRC) as a replacement. It was in a box. At the end of the scene, Bond picks up the box, surreptiti…

Are you sure you aren’t just remembering fondly movies you saw when you were younger? Both those scenes are huge tropes/clichés.

Tropes are not bad[1].

[1] https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Administrivia/TropesA...

Re: Modern movies teach us awful lessons [video]

#177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering." -- Yoda These are all 'natural things', doesn't mean we should rush to embrace them and the people who use them to manipulate us.

Do you know what fascist means? Or are we just going to use that word for everything that we find unappealing now? Would love for you to define it, and explain how it applies to American nostalgia for older classic movies that are a foundation of our pop culture.

It is nostalgia for movie era that never really was. By cherry picking old movies and seeing in them what you want to see. Which is something different then trying to analyse actual past production as it actually was.

It is seeing decadence in contrast to past heavenly era, because you want it to be like that.

Re: Modern movies teach us awful lessons [video]

#178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you sure you aren’t just remembering fondly movies you saw when you were younger? Both those scenes are huge tropes/clichés.

Yeah, Casablanca is just a bunch of quotes strung together.

I think you mean "Hamlet" or was it "Macbeth". One of the two.

Re: Modern movies teach us awful lessons [video]

#179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you give examples? I've heard this before but have never noticed it myself. Is it possible you have hearing loss that you're unaware of?

I personally don't find this happening as much as OP says, but nolan movies (e.g. interstellar) are an example where i have definitely had this.

I've watched Interstellar with multiple audio setups and didn't have an issue understanding the dialog. It may have a higher dynamic range than most movies but that's a good thing.

Re: Modern movies teach us awful lessons [video]

#180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you sure you aren’t just remembering fondly movies you saw when you were younger? Both those scenes are huge tropes/clichés.

The thing with tropes is that they weren't always tropes. This reminds me of the Seinfeld effect. Seinfeld was arguably brilliant, but even if you disagree with its brilliance, enough people thought it was brilliant that practically every bit in its entire run has been ripped off so many times that they've all become boring clichés. So pervasive has the ripoff been, that watching Nickelodeon episodes of Hannah Montan…

It’s like people complaining the Lord of the Rings is just all the fantasy tropes. Well they weren’t tropes yet when Tolkien invented them.
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