General Forum Chat Thread (I) [ARCHIVED] • Page 315

Album reviews have lost their relevance because complete subjectivity has won the day.

 

My ex is following me on Twitter.

 

"Society, Activism, and Philanthropy"? Because we could discuss charities and organizations as well as have discussions regarding social issues, raising awareness, exchanging ideas, what we're involved in, etc.

 

Exactly. I've been thinking about this exact same sort of thing over the past few months — like what does Superman look like in a world with Black Lives Matter and a government using terrorism to eavesdrop on its citizens? What does he stand for in that world? He has the ability to be the ultimate weapon/tool for the NSA (could even take it the Red Son route), does he? Is his dedication to the law, to the people, which people, and why? How did his parents raise him in this environment versus how they did in the 60s. Is he a child of the 80s, of the Reagan years, did he see 9/11 as a teenager? These questions open the character up in new ways.

The idea of Superman as an alien, out of place on this world, has been one they've touched on before, but I think your take, where he does not look like a regular straight white dude would add an angle to the character we haven't seen. The reach to inspire, to lead, and to be a beacon, looks so fundamentally different in 2016 than it traditionally has in history.

While the position BvS takes I think could have been interesting — the idea that this "god" comes to earth and could destroy us all and what do we do, what do other "heroes" do — I think the execution of that story missed in about every way it could because it gives us no reason to root for the man with the cape besides that we kinda know we're supposed to. I think about Creed and the growth we saw in MBJ's character and why by the end we cheer, it's not because of his name or shorts, it's because of what we've seen from the character for the whole movie. The red/white/blue shorts aren't the reason for the feeling in your throat — the man inside them is.

 

I like that. Off the politics forum as a sub-forum. "Official" threads for all the things you mentioned. A place for the discussions of some of the more difficult topics like @OhTheWater was mentioning.

I made a note to come back to this soon, gotta eat lunch and do a few other things.

 

I'm reading a comic about an STD that makes you more attractive, but also makes you spontaneously combust.

This is why I don't date.

 

At least you have a good reason

 

What a wild story concept.

 

@cshadows2887 Jason already suspiciously removed 4 of my posts when I reached 1,000 posts. Don't you dare punish me again

 

I used have that problem. It helps to think of something like baseball or sandwiches of Chandler Bing.

 

I wish DC had expanded more on the Calvin Ellis/Earth 23 stuff. Marvel does a good job of it with Spider-Gwen and Miles Morales both being Spider-Man parallels, I'd love to see a continuing book with Calvin Ellis (or really any other racial deviation of Clark Kent/Kal-El).

Then there's Will Smith turning down being a cinematic Superman like, 15-ish years ago. That doesn't seem like the sort of climate where they would have explored his race meaningfully, though.

 

I read reviews all the time but they aren't provocative nonsense the way most self described think pieces are these days so they probably don't get as much traffic. I heard that their traffic numbers tanked after the Conde Nast takeover too but idk how reliable that is.

I thought pitchforks insistence on prioritizing the album review was noble in some way I guess. It might not be the most effective or thought provoking medium anymore now that we live in a world where anyone can write and everyone writes essentially the same things about the same artists but it was a nice vestige. Maybe it's done for. Who knows. I know AP reviews did well on views but could still get dwarfed in views by even a general forum thread with like 100 replies. People just might not wanna read long criticisms anymore.

 

Was curious if I was just a grumpy old man finding very little of value in the way of most "music thinkpieces" I've seen in recent memory. Glad to know I'm not alone.

Be controversial. That's cool. Just actually say something about it.

 

Maybe it's just me but I guess I haven't checked out a review in forever. It may just be though I didn't have the time like I used to and things like Spotify have made it so much easier to check out something for myself.

 

There's a lot of really awesome, interesting writing being done in the vague "think piece" arena but a lot of it is empty headed nonsense. Pitchfork actually ran a phenomenal piece last year about the Weeknd's music being tied directly to Ethiopian music and his heritage from there. The Weeknd's East African Roots | The Pitch | Pitchfork

I love that kind of stuff. And I like stuff like MTVs piece about "is indie over the white male perspective" because at least it provoked a serious conversation in other formats (Twitter and forums). Most of the best music criticism is honestly done in 140 characters or less nowadays lol

 

Yeah I actually liked that Weeknd article a lot, too. I fucking live for pieces like that because I feel like I don't see them enough.

I didn't like that MTV piece much, but yeah exactly what I mean. Be controversial. Say something I disagree with. Just say something and be substantive about it.

 

I could read more thinkpieces if the majority of writers brought anything new to the table. Things like "privilege" or whatever become buzz terms that actually add no depth to the discourse. People should brush up on Fredric Jameson before attempting to write one of these pieces.

 

hey guys, my boyfriend's sister just found out that the puppy she literally just adopted is super sick. she has a lot of her own health problems, and this pup has been really good for her mental health. if you can spare a few dollars, i would be eternally grateful. she set up a gofundme today.

 

we're scheduling our next cuddle/slumber party

 

I'm not a big superman fan at all but I've always liked this

 

This headline made me chuckle on a work call

Angry man spends $200 at sushi restaurant, leaves 13-foot python instead of tip

 

that sounds hisssterical

 

Oh god dammit. Take my "like" and leave.

 

So my dog decided it would be funny if he slipped out of his collar and me chase him back to the apartment.

 

sounds pretty hilarious to me!