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The Big [Censored] Theory

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Re: The Big [Censored] Theory

#351

Post by pavon »

isk517 wrote: post #329
MichaelCollins wrote: post #308

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Leaving aside the matter of Mormons and their weird puritan sensibilities, what this company essentially did was reinvent movie rental, but because they did it on the internet instead of a brick and mortar shop we're all expected to think it obvious and self evidence that what they did was horrible. In other contexts on sites like this, "do [common thing] but on a computer" patents get mocked and derided because "but…

Even during the video rental days you weren't allowed to just go out and purchase a bunch of videos at Walmart and start renting them out, you need to have purchased the rights to rent out the video.

Yes, you absolutely could do that legally - it is part of the "right of first sale", however you would have to wait until the videos were available for sale at Walmart. If a video rental store wanted to have access to videos before they were available for home purchase (and most of them did) then they had to make deals with the rights holders and follow the contracts that went along with them.

Re: The Big [Censored] Theory

#352

Post by MichaelCollins »

ginger2016 wrote: post #335
clouddrover wrote: post #322

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What in particular is racist about it?

If you have watched the show and failed see why it is racist, then we need to give some anti-racist education. It is affirming the stereotype Indian males lack confidence with women. Raj can’t speak with women without the use of alcohol, the show constantly mocks his accent, worshipping of cows etc.

> lack confidence with women

Aren't all the male characters in the show this way?

Is the show doing "Character who is Indian male lacks confidence with women" ?

Or is it doing "Character lacks confidence with women because he's an Indian male"?

There's a world of difference.

Re: The Big [Censored] Theory

#353

Post by ginger2016 »

clouddrover wrote: post #342
ginger2016 wrote: post #335

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you have watched the show and failed see why it is racist, then we need to give some anti-racist education. It is affirming the stereotype Indian males lack confidence with women. Raj can’t speak with women without the use of alcohol, the show constantly mocks his accent, worshipping of cows etc.

> If you have watched the show and failed see why it is racist, then we need to give some anti-racist education. Weak. > It is affirming the stereotype Indian males Is your claim that there are no Indian males who lack confidence with women? Or that there are no nerdy, geeky men who lack confidence with women? What's an example of the show mocking his accent? You do understand that's his normal speaking voice, I hope…

Where Kunal Nayar grew is insignificant. Most of the soldiers who fought for British India were Indians themselves but that doesn’t mean the occupation of India was right. In the case of Indian soldiers it was in their personal monetary interest to fight for the British. You are trying to make a similar argument, the role advances Kunal Nayar’s career and I am sure he is in it because it helps him, doesn’t mean the show gets a pass.

I am not sure whether you are Indian or not, but if you fail to see why many Indians consider this portrayal problematic then we really need more anti-racism training in this country.

Yes, I am sure there are Indian men who lack confidence with women, but given India is 1.5 billion strong, I am sure men who are confident outnumber Raj Kuthrapalli types.

Re: The Big [Censored] Theory

#354

Post by [deleted] »

tablespoon wrote: post #282

It's not exactly the same thing, but I've noticed similar kinds of edits in a couple of US children's books I've been able to compare. Some are easily explainable as political correctness or changing social mores, some might be explainable by the influence of helicopter parenting and increasing uptightness (e.g. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/27/opinion/halloween-kids-mo... ), but others I can't make heads or tales…

[deleted]

Re: The Big [Censored] Theory

#355

Post by awinder »

deepdriver wrote: post #118
jjcon wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Numerous scenes and whole episodes of The Office were silently removed from streaming services Some private companies vs entire undemocratically elected governments conversation aside… What entire episode has been removed? I’m an office trivia buff and I’m not aware of this

"Diversity Day" has been removed in its entirety per first link. The distinction between private and government censorship is increasingly irrelevant to consumers, as in heavily consolidated markets the end effect is the same.

It was removed during some Comedy Central marathon lmao, it’s still a part of the series, no episode was renumbered, and it’s on Peacock which might as well be the canonical streaming source

Re: The Big [Censored] Theory

#357

Post by fluoridation »

tuatoru wrote: post #275
wizofaus wrote: post #137

Is aversion to discussion of sex a part of traditional Chinese culture? Seems odd given I'm not aware of any puritanical religions taking hold there.

Non-heterosexual images (and masturbation) are anathema to China's leadership because China is facing a population decline, due to very low fertility.[1] [2] Internally produced TV in China has been censored for portraying "effeminate men".[3] The CCP has also, er, "encouraged", women to spend less time on social media and shopping. Internally the CCP says members must have three children.[4] 1. Here is military age…

I love the implicit assumption that everyone is only a sufficiently convincing argument away from going gay.

Re: The Big [Censored] Theory

#358

Post by anjbe »

wizofaus wrote: post #218
dogleash wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

MPAA ratings are not government censorship, they're cartel censorship. The reason corporations follow the cartel's rules are financial agreements and the fear of PR backlash for not letting parents outsource parenting.

So there's literally no government involvement in what content can be shown in broadcast material in the US? Even for FTA TV? In Australia the ratings system is administered by the commonwealth government, so I incorrectly assumed the same was true in the US.

Obscenity is one of the (very few) exceptions to the First Amendment. What exactly makes something “obscene” is somewhat unclear (see the Miller test), but in practice explicit pornography, for example, is not legally considered obscene, in part because the definition is somewhat dependent on community standards and porn is very, very popular.

The FCC can and does regulate over‐the‐air broadcasts to a stricter standard, thanks to its exclusive authority over the inherently limited wireless spectrum. It restricts not just obscenity, but indecency (explicit sex) and profanity (bad language). However, this power does not extend to (e.g.) cable TV, which is not broadcast over the publicly owned airwaves.

The US really does generally have stronger free speech protection than the rest of the developed world. There is no equivalent in the US to a work being “refused classification” as seen in Commonwealth countries. The First Amendment would prohibit it. Some retailers won’t sell unrated or X‐rated films or AO‐rated games, but others can, because the ratings systems are formed by industry groups and are not compulsory.

When the Christchurch shooting happened, the New Zealand government banned both the shooter’s manifesto and the livestreamed video, making them illegal to possess or distribute. I doubt such a thing could happen in the US. (I remember my surprise that NZ actually has a government office named “Chief Censor.”)

Re: The Big [Censored] Theory

#359

Post by clouddrover »

ginger2016 wrote: post #353
clouddrover wrote: post #342

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you have watched the show and failed see why it is racist, then we need to give some anti-racist education. Weak. > It is affirming the stereotype Indian males Is your claim that there are no Indian males who lack confidence with women? Or that there are no nerdy, geeky men who lack confidence with women? What's an example of the show mocking his accent? You do understand that's his normal speaking voice, I hope…

Where Kunal Nayar grew is insignificant. Most of the soldiers who fought for British India were Indians themselves but that doesn’t mean the occupation of India was right. In the case of Indian soldiers it was in their personal monetary interest to fight for the British. You are trying to make a similar argument, the role advances Kunal Nayar’s career and I am sure he is in it because it helps him, doesn’t mean the s…

> Where Kunal Nayar grew is insignificant.

Not when it comes to his accent. It's wholly unsurprising that someone who grew up in India speaks English with an Indian accent. That isn't "mocking" his accent. That's just what his accent is.

> I am not sure whether you are Indian or not, but if you fail to see

Weak. If you can't demonstrate where this supposed racism is in the show then I'd suggest you need to start considering the very real possibility that it's not there.

> Yes, I am sure there are Indian men who lack confidence with women

Well, there's some small progress.

The only ignorance and bigotry that's been exposed here would appear to be your own. Work on that.

Re: The Big [Censored] Theory

#360

Post by alfiedotwtf »

pimlottc wrote: post #281
Kye wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I still encounter people who don't know "Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles" was a heavily censored version of the real show. They realize how weird the edits are in retrospect, but it didn't register much/at all for them at the time.

> "Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles" Are you referring to the UK version of the 1987 animated "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" TV series? I never realized it was considered controversial! [0] 0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teenage_Mutant_Ninja_Turtles_(...

TIL of Hero Turtles! That literally blows my mind.

On this, Dragon Ball is heavily edited too

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