Interesting Links for 08-11-2013

[andrewducker]

• How on earth have we just discovered a new bit of the knee???
  (tags: anatomy humans biology )
• Jaw-dropping breakthrough hailed as landmark in fight against hereditary diseases as Crispr technique heralds genetic revolution
  (tags: genetics )
• First sign that humanity is slowing its carbon surge
  (tags: globalwarming co2 )
• Children who have autism far

Comments

[cartesiandaemon]

I think that's approximately it, but I wasn't sure I could pin it down accurately enough to state with confidence (and I worried that if I was too vague, people would say "but that's not a fair criticism of starship troopers").

I think it did partially fail at getting that across, but I don't know how much that's the fault of Starship Troopers, and how much it's the fault of the viewer, and how much it's the fault of other films for being too ridiculous.

There's lot of moments (eg. where the desk sergeant is shown to have lost his legs, where Rico is whipped, where the scientist shoots the insect) which aren't necessarily funny, but do deliberately show a stark contrast in a "war is bad" sort of way. But then there's moments like "a giant bug farts a meteor between stellar systems and it suddenly without warning lands in the USA and it's a big tragedy" that don't seem to ring true. I don't know if the threat is not supposed to be ridiculous, or "Rico's family all died" is supposed to be parodic, or if they're supposed to complement each other in some way...? (Or maybe there was a war between people making the film whether it was supposed to be action-adventure or parody, and it ended up a mix...)

I've definitely been on the other side of that. I've read or watched things that I thought were cringeworthy, but were hilarious when I decided the author was deliberately being 200% over the top, but straight-faced. So it is possible to miss that sort of parody. But obviously not every unappreciated film can be a work of hidden genius :)

[andrewducker]

But then there's moments like "a giant bug farts a meteor between stellar systems and it suddenly without warning lands in the USA and it's a big tragedy" that don't seem to ring true.

Buenos Aires, not the USA. But yes. I've seen interpretations which say that the attack wasn't by the bugs at all - but clearly faked so that the rulers of Earth can use it to whip up further hysteria (and get rid of the insurgents which were in Buenos Aires). I need to rewatch some time to see how well that holds up...

[cartesiandaemon]

Buenos Aires, not the USA

Doh! Mea culpa. I just assumed :(

clearly faked so that the rulers of Earth can use it to whip up further hysteria (and get rid of the insurgents which were in Buenos Aires)

Hm. That interpretation actually would fit the film a lot better, but I don't remember anything from the film indicating it was intended.

I suspect people are just reaching for an interpretation they like (though if true, it would increase my respect for it). Or, I guess it's also possible it was something like "it was originally supposed to be a false-flag operation, but the director thought that was too complicated for audiences, so they turned the too-stupid-to-believe plot into the real plot of the movie".

Thinking about how these things play out in real life, it's quite rare that governments deliberately kill lots of their citizens for propaganda, but very common that they seize upon a natural disaster, or an isolated atrocity, and claim it was orchestrated enemy action, just because that's a a lot easier. That would also fit -- if it was a random meteor, and the government made up the bug story when they saw it coming.