*Blink* *Blink*
To borrow from the words of Tycho and Gabe, these people are "batshit fucking loco".
Several, several years ago, Taco Bell was forced to give up perhaps one of the best mascot ever, a cute little chihuahua that kept saying "Yo Quiero Taco Bell." Why did they have to do this? Because the "entire" Hispanic community of the U.S. spoke out in outrage, saying that the little chihuahua was "representative" (the words in quotes are actually taken from speeches given on the subject, because I don't have the time or energy to make shit up anymore) of people of Hispanic origin. And, because of that fact, it was "derogatory" against Hispanic people. *blink* *blink*
Riiiiiiiight, because this Spanish-speaking dog was promoting Mex-mix fast food, he was a representation of Hispanic people. And because he was a representation of Hispanic people and also a dog, he was meant to be an insult.
Upon hearing this, all my illusions that the human race - as a whole - were worth saving were smashed to pieces. I discovered that if you ask the question, "How frakking stupid are people?" you will doubtless be given an answer you don't want to hear. However, I took some solace that, perhaps, people had become "sensitive" enough to the feelings (and by that, I mean "anal-retentiveness") of other people that this crap would not happen anymore. Well, at least not pop up in the media.
This blows it all away. In many ways, I had hoped not to still be around, at least not on Earth, whenever something absolutely retarded like this happened.
"300 versus 70 million"
When I read the first few paragraphs, I actually chuckled a little, thinking that this was a absurdist piece of satire. I was horrified as I kept reading and discovered this guy was being serious.
But, I am getting ahead of myself. When I first saw this link, I was looking at the 300 part. I had no idea what the "70 million" was referring to. But, I wanted to read stuff about the movie. My friends and I are going to see it tomorrow, and all that I've heard is that it's the SHIT.
But, the actual article was far different from high praise about the movie. "300 Sparks Outcry in Iran"
WTF!?!?!?!?!?!?!
Apparently, the newest piece of propaganda going on is that this movie is American war propaganda, that the American government promoted and produced this movie as a prelude to war against Iran and Islam as a whole.
WTFx2!?!?!?!?!?!?!
Okay, first and foremost: 300 was written by a single man, name of Frank Miller, who is, without a doubt, among the best - if not the best - of American artists and writers living today. But no, apparently we were all lied to. The ever-evil American government came up with the movie and promoted it so as to raise tensions between the US and Iran, so an eventual build-up can be used as an excuse for the US to invade and destroy Iran.
This is crazy! I couldn't make shit up like this if I tried! I guess it is true, that truth is stranger than fiction. Headlines like "Hollywood declares war on Iran" are all over the place!
ABOUT THE MOVIE: The movie is about the Battle of Thermopylae, where 300 Spartans led a defense of Athens against an invasion by Xerxes, Emperor of Persia (which today just happens to be the nation of Iran).
The story, of course, has been twisted and exaggerated (this is art, not history, natch) by Frank Miller to make it more exiciting and thus more fun to read as a graphic novel and more fun to watch as a movie. In the movie, the 300 Spartans fight alone, whereas history tells that they stood at the head of an army numbering around 5,000, but all but 1,000 were dismissed after a few days. In the movie, the 300 stand against an army of 1,000,000 Persians. History records that the Persian infantry numbered 1.7 MILLION spears. In reality, only around 200K-400K actually marched with Xerxes to the battle, and not even all of them made it to the pass through the mountains. In other words, a tiny force meant to simply "clog" the pass and keep Xerxes' mitts off of Athens. Though now viewed as courageous, it was also foolhardy and an act of desperation. Then again, it worked, so I guess that means it was a "good" plan. It has even affected things today, especially in languag. Why else, when someone mentions "spartan", are they talking about something hard and tough and strong (Master Chief's gonna break his boot off in someone's ass), and when someone mensions "persian", they are usually talking about felines or #&^@ing carpet!?!
All of this is recorded in history books. None of this stuff is in dispute. Nowhere, except in Iran.
There are people in Iran claiming that the story has been twisted by the American government, villifying the Emperor and armies of Persia while deifying the forces protecting Athens. The whole purpose of the movie is to "mock the ancient history" of Iran.
Sorry, bitch, but nothing doing. It may be an artist's exaggeration, but the historical fact is still there. Xerxes marched on Athens to "put down the rebellion" by the Athenians against his "rightful" rule. The Athenians (with the Spartans leading the charge) said, "Piss off," and fought back Xerxes' forces down to the last man.
There are parallels to be found in American history. Seriously, though, 1300 years after this war, the American colonies tossed a giant middle finger at King George, but today it is known by its proper title as the "Declaration of Independence". Yup, that's right, we were rebels. We broke the former taboo of "aim for the officers first and work your way down." We should have no illusion of our country's origins.
I suppose the same can be said about other countries. But, I guess some countries do not want to accept that something really bass-ackwards happened in their country's history. This whole situation just lends itself to the stereotype that no one in the Middle East ever READS.
I hope this country pulls the massive stick out of its ass before something goes way wrong. History records that Xerxes spent YEARS building up a massive armed force (numbering over 2.5 million) for the express purpose of invading and all-but-destroying Greece. They were beaten back and utterly destroyed by an army around 1/50th their size.
Nobody reads history anymore. With the exception of economics (no reason to stunt capitalism, after all), our country - in its past - has had a tendency to keep to itself, until someone tries to drag us into THEIR shit. That was how we got into WWI ("We deserve to rule Europe!"), WWII ("We deserve to destroy your country!" / "We deserve to eliminate all inferior races!"), the Cold War ("We deserve more power than you!"), Desert Storm ("We deserve all the land and everything our neighbor nation!"), the war on terrorism ("You deserve to die because you are infidels!"), etc. Now that so much of this has been thrown at us, we can't seem to keep to ourselves anymore. (Actually, every time we DO, it seems like someone comes along and bombs us again.)
Though our government is replete with corrupt, bureaucratic, and officious politicians and people-hating special-interest groups have a vice grip on the nation's politics and our people only seem to be able to hurt each other, this country is STILL a great country.
Like I said, no one reads history anymore. People who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. And some people's desire for war on the basis of imagined slights is just sickening.
And all over a movie made by 50-year-old writer from Vermont.
I have strived to do the most American thing one can do:
I have faced my opposition,
Set my feet squarely on the path,
Lifted my head upward,
Stared forth upon the danger,
Raised my fist to the sky,
And said...
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCK YOU!!!
...
*sigh* I feel better now. I'm done ranting.
Several, several years ago, Taco Bell was forced to give up perhaps one of the best mascot ever, a cute little chihuahua that kept saying "Yo Quiero Taco Bell." Why did they have to do this? Because the "entire" Hispanic community of the U.S. spoke out in outrage, saying that the little chihuahua was "representative" (the words in quotes are actually taken from speeches given on the subject, because I don't have the time or energy to make shit up anymore) of people of Hispanic origin. And, because of that fact, it was "derogatory" against Hispanic people. *blink* *blink*
Riiiiiiiight, because this Spanish-speaking dog was promoting Mex-mix fast food, he was a representation of Hispanic people. And because he was a representation of Hispanic people and also a dog, he was meant to be an insult.
Upon hearing this, all my illusions that the human race - as a whole - were worth saving were smashed to pieces. I discovered that if you ask the question, "How frakking stupid are people?" you will doubtless be given an answer you don't want to hear. However, I took some solace that, perhaps, people had become "sensitive" enough to the feelings (and by that, I mean "anal-retentiveness") of other people that this crap would not happen anymore. Well, at least not pop up in the media.
This blows it all away. In many ways, I had hoped not to still be around, at least not on Earth, whenever something absolutely retarded like this happened.
"300 versus 70 million"
When I read the first few paragraphs, I actually chuckled a little, thinking that this was a absurdist piece of satire. I was horrified as I kept reading and discovered this guy was being serious.
But, I am getting ahead of myself. When I first saw this link, I was looking at the 300 part. I had no idea what the "70 million" was referring to. But, I wanted to read stuff about the movie. My friends and I are going to see it tomorrow, and all that I've heard is that it's the SHIT.
But, the actual article was far different from high praise about the movie. "300 Sparks Outcry in Iran"
WTF!?!?!?!?!?!?!
Apparently, the newest piece of propaganda going on is that this movie is American war propaganda, that the American government promoted and produced this movie as a prelude to war against Iran and Islam as a whole.
WTFx2!?!?!?!?!?!?!
Okay, first and foremost: 300 was written by a single man, name of Frank Miller, who is, without a doubt, among the best - if not the best - of American artists and writers living today. But no, apparently we were all lied to. The ever-evil American government came up with the movie and promoted it so as to raise tensions between the US and Iran, so an eventual build-up can be used as an excuse for the US to invade and destroy Iran.
This is crazy! I couldn't make shit up like this if I tried! I guess it is true, that truth is stranger than fiction. Headlines like "Hollywood declares war on Iran" are all over the place!
ABOUT THE MOVIE: The movie is about the Battle of Thermopylae, where 300 Spartans led a defense of Athens against an invasion by Xerxes, Emperor of Persia (which today just happens to be the nation of Iran).
The story, of course, has been twisted and exaggerated (this is art, not history, natch) by Frank Miller to make it more exiciting and thus more fun to read as a graphic novel and more fun to watch as a movie. In the movie, the 300 Spartans fight alone, whereas history tells that they stood at the head of an army numbering around 5,000, but all but 1,000 were dismissed after a few days. In the movie, the 300 stand against an army of 1,000,000 Persians. History records that the Persian infantry numbered 1.7 MILLION spears. In reality, only around 200K-400K actually marched with Xerxes to the battle, and not even all of them made it to the pass through the mountains. In other words, a tiny force meant to simply "clog" the pass and keep Xerxes' mitts off of Athens. Though now viewed as courageous, it was also foolhardy and an act of desperation. Then again, it worked, so I guess that means it was a "good" plan. It has even affected things today, especially in languag. Why else, when someone mentions "spartan", are they talking about something hard and tough and strong (Master Chief's gonna break his boot off in someone's ass), and when someone mensions "persian", they are usually talking about felines or #&^@ing carpet!?!
All of this is recorded in history books. None of this stuff is in dispute. Nowhere, except in Iran.
There are people in Iran claiming that the story has been twisted by the American government, villifying the Emperor and armies of Persia while deifying the forces protecting Athens. The whole purpose of the movie is to "mock the ancient history" of Iran.
Sorry, bitch, but nothing doing. It may be an artist's exaggeration, but the historical fact is still there. Xerxes marched on Athens to "put down the rebellion" by the Athenians against his "rightful" rule. The Athenians (with the Spartans leading the charge) said, "Piss off," and fought back Xerxes' forces down to the last man.
There are parallels to be found in American history. Seriously, though, 1300 years after this war, the American colonies tossed a giant middle finger at King George, but today it is known by its proper title as the "Declaration of Independence". Yup, that's right, we were rebels. We broke the former taboo of "aim for the officers first and work your way down." We should have no illusion of our country's origins.
I suppose the same can be said about other countries. But, I guess some countries do not want to accept that something really bass-ackwards happened in their country's history. This whole situation just lends itself to the stereotype that no one in the Middle East ever READS.
I hope this country pulls the massive stick out of its ass before something goes way wrong. History records that Xerxes spent YEARS building up a massive armed force (numbering over 2.5 million) for the express purpose of invading and all-but-destroying Greece. They were beaten back and utterly destroyed by an army around 1/50th their size.
Nobody reads history anymore. With the exception of economics (no reason to stunt capitalism, after all), our country - in its past - has had a tendency to keep to itself, until someone tries to drag us into THEIR shit. That was how we got into WWI ("We deserve to rule Europe!"), WWII ("We deserve to destroy your country!" / "We deserve to eliminate all inferior races!"), the Cold War ("We deserve more power than you!"), Desert Storm ("We deserve all the land and everything our neighbor nation!"), the war on terrorism ("You deserve to die because you are infidels!"), etc. Now that so much of this has been thrown at us, we can't seem to keep to ourselves anymore. (Actually, every time we DO, it seems like someone comes along and bombs us again.)
Though our government is replete with corrupt, bureaucratic, and officious politicians and people-hating special-interest groups have a vice grip on the nation's politics and our people only seem to be able to hurt each other, this country is STILL a great country.
Like I said, no one reads history anymore. People who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. And some people's desire for war on the basis of imagined slights is just sickening.
And all over a movie made by 50-year-old writer from Vermont.
I have strived to do the most American thing one can do:
I have faced my opposition,
Set my feet squarely on the path,
Lifted my head upward,
Stared forth upon the danger,
Raised my fist to the sky,
And said...
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCK YOU!!!
...
*sigh* I feel better now. I'm done ranting.