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Post by bladestarr on Dec 3, 2005 1:01:02 GMT -5
Excellent review, alot of personal detail which I like, and alot of detail about the MEANING in the movie rather than just a plot summary, which I also like. I might actually check this one out, and that is saying something. The rest of this post has absolutely nothing to do with your review. I apologize in advance. As far as the military goes, I AM a 'navy brat'. From birth to age 18, my life has been superimposed by the military, with both of my stepfathers being in the Navy and moving my sorry butt around every 3 or 4 years to each new base. It was interesting, but also lonely. Since you have to try to make new friends every 3 years of your life, you usually end up a) super-popular person that gets along easily with everyone or b) reclusive shut-in loner. I did something unique as far as I know. I was a smart kid (I wonder what happened!) so I very quickly realized that this gave me the chance to try out new 'personalities' with each new place I moved to. Sometimes I was the 'cool' popular guy, sometimes I decided to be the recluse, and sometimes I decided to be the class clown. What that did to my psyche I will need years of personal reflection and visits to a shrink to uncover, but it did lead to the unusual and unique BladeStarr that you all know and love! ;D ***WARNING - Flame instigating opinion below*** I do see the value of each person in uniform, as I see them all as humans with human feelings and motivations that are the same as any we may have. "...when it comes to human beings, the only type of cause that matters is final cause, the purpose. What a person had in mind. Once you understand what people really want, you can't hate them anymore. You can fear them, but you can't hate them, because you can always find the same desires in your own heart." - Orson Scott Card, Speaker for the Dead"I think it's impossible to really understand somebody, what they want, what they believe, and not love them the way they love themselves." - OSC, Ender's GameAll that being said, I have one simple thing to say about soldiers. They are contract killers. I don't believe that what they do is morally right, in any way. I do not respect them or consider them noble in any way. I believe that to take a human life, for ANY reason, is the worst possible sin, one that cannot be forgiven. I would rather die than to ever kill another person. To quote Ghandi, "I am prepared to die, but there is no cause for which I am prepared to kill." I do not hate soldiers, I do not hate my father who was a soldier for 20 years, but I can never forgive them. Even if their actions never resulted in the death of another, they still agreed to be killers. And for that, I can never forgive them. |
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Post by TheLuckyOne on Dec 3, 2005 1:14:19 GMT -5
Not a big fan of Starship Troopers, are ya, BS?
-D
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Post by bladestarr on Dec 3, 2005 3:05:19 GMT -5
Actually, I have no problem with the killing of other species to ensure humanity's survival, I just have a problem with humans killing other humans. On a sidenote, my main issue here is with the death of a person, because while I do believe in a God, I do not believe in the continued individuality of the soul after death. Thus, after a person dies, I believe that they stop being that person and rejoin God/The Great All/Giant Jello Mold In The Sky. So for me, taking someone's life is prematurely destroying an entire micro-culture, as well as taking away their individual freedom before their time. "The universe speaks in many languages, but only one voice.
The language is not Narn, or Human, or Centauri, of Gaim or Minbari.
It speaks in the language of hope.
It speaks in the language of trust.
It speaks in the language of strength and the language of compassion.
It is the language of the heart and the language of the soul.
And always it is the same voice.
It is the voice of our ancestors speaking through us
and the voice of our inheritors waiting to be born.
It is the small still voice that says we are one.
No matter the blood; no matter the skin; no matter the world; no matter the star.
We are one.
No matter the pain; no matter the darkeness; no matter the loss; no matter the fear.
We are one.
Here, gathered together in common cause, we agree to recognize this singular truth and this singular rule;
that we must be kind to one another,
because each voice enriches us and ennobles us,
and each voice lost diminishes us.
We are the voice of the universe, the soul of creation, the fire that will light the way to a better future.
We are one."
- Preamble to the Declaration of Principles of the Interstellar Alliance, Babylon 5 ....so yeah, we are one.... um... well.... except the Bugs.... yeah. ;D |
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Post by pfrsue on Dec 3, 2005 6:31:56 GMT -5
Excellent review Lissa. I really need to get my Black Hawk Down write up done - I've only been struggling with it for over a year. I haven't seen Jarhead yet, but I am intrigued that the characters are treated as the young men that most soldiers are - as opposed to the John Wayne clones that have been prevalent in films since WWII, or the massively dysfunctional fruitbats in fatigues that started cropping up in movies post-Vietnam. BladeStarr, I'm not going to get into a debate or discussion with you, even though we disagree on many levels. However, I will mention in the spirit of your perpetual quest for grammatical purity that "a lot" is spelled as two words.  |
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Post by bladestarr on Dec 3, 2005 11:13:28 GMT -5
Awwwwww...... you're no fun!
Well it shouldn't be! Because I say so and I'm the BOSS!
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Post by Spiderdancer on Dec 3, 2005 18:26:43 GMT -5
Wow. That was a really long quote, and I'd just like to point out that if I posted the entire first chapter of Romans to the forum, there might conceivably be some negative feedback.
I don't really want to argue either - long, bitter experience on other forums (notably Tien Wu Dao) has taught me that it doesn't matter the topic, it's just not worth it - but I do wonder.
How come you use "Bladestarr" as a handle? Or is that in the sense of "Starr of a cutting tool used only for killing animals or cutting up kitchen food items?"
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Post by pfrsue on Dec 3, 2005 19:14:45 GMT -5
Awwwwww...... you're no fun! Funny, my kids say the same thing! You're not the boss of me! |
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Post by bladestarr on Dec 3, 2005 23:03:56 GMT -5
Please refer to the following thread for answers about my screen name. Anyways, I actually have been thinking for a long time about that, and I think that I might actually change it. I don't really 'feel' like BladeStarr anymore, it doesn't fit with me. I think I will change it, and retire the old name. Beware for the new forum go-er. New name coming soon. Hey, here's an idea, how about you all suggest names for me? Or am I just begging for trouble? ;D Edit: I just changed my name to the name I would LIKE to use. But I am still open to suggestions. |
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Post by TheOogieBoogieMan on Dec 3, 2005 23:40:04 GMT -5
I didn't know we could change our usernames...hmmm... *ponders*
Meh, I didn't change much...just capitalized here and there. I'm not sure if I want the "The" in there...
Oh yeah, great review, Lissa.
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Post by Spiderdancer on Dec 3, 2005 23:54:22 GMT -5
I went to the page you linked to (to which you linked, I suppose).
This hits on a particular pet peeve, and also an issue of hard vs. soft science. Social scientists are very fond of trying to extend evolutionary biology to explain or improve society, and the results have often been disastrous. This type of generalization does not work. Even a close look at Bladestarr/Philotix (a quasipacifist/noncompetitive male) and me (a very antipacifist/ aggressive female) reveals this.
Utilitarian pragmatists (Or Objectivists; are you a big Ayn Rand fan, by any chance?) have been saying "women are cooperative and men are violent, and it's because of hormones" for quite some years. This belief is presently visible in the kind of educational theory that has girls and boys segregated into different classrooms, where girls can have "social time" and boys can have "exercise time." (I can just picture if it had been this way when I was in school. "No, Shalen, you cannot go look at bugs. Go sit with the people who hate you and pretend you're interested in hair.")
Biology cannot be used to excuse or to promote human social structures, period. The argument that men and women behave as they do because of hormonal or structural conditions that exist from birth has been used to justify a great many wrongs. This includes the prohibition of women from studying science (their delicate nervous systems can't handle it) and voting (they might get PMS and make a bad decision).
Arguments from evolutionary biology were used to justify slavery as well - white slaveowners claimed blacks were "less evolved" and not able to live responsibly and independently. Their own social structures, media, and humor reinforced this. This is all quite obvious now, of course, but most people in the South didn't think so at the time.
I'm sure that far in the future, the idea that women are more capable of bonding because they have higher oxytocin counts or cooperation because they have higher estrogen will be considered equally absurd.
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Post by bladestarr on Dec 4, 2005 1:05:33 GMT -5
I don't think so. I've found that people here are quite mature and have no problem with a lively debate while respecting each other and our own unique beliefs. Unlike some other places I could mention *coughFoxNewscough* No one here tries to yell over the voice of another. This allows me to play all I want to in the wonderful world of debate, unless mean people like Sue spoil my fun by not reacting to my jocular jabs!  I know just enough science to get myself into trouble, and not nearly enough to get myself out. (looks around carefully for Lissa) Never read any Rand, but from all the talk on the boards since I got here, I guess I should. I AM however a *deep breath* Utilitarian-pragmatic-idealist-marxist-libertarian-deist-agnostic-existentialist-pacifist-humanist-communitarian And yes, I know that many of those classifications are in direct conflict. I've got problems, you all should know that by now! P.S. Love the Day of the Tentacle avatar Oogie! |
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Post by TheLuckyOne on Dec 4, 2005 2:13:10 GMT -5
This hits on a particular pet peeve, and also an issue of hard vs. soft science. Soft science is what's on late night Cinemax, right? Whereas you have to go into the curtained-off section of the science store to find the hard stuff, I think. -D |
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Post by bladestarr on Dec 4, 2005 3:01:08 GMT -5
I can't speak for you of course, but I've long accepted the fact that I most likely have more estrogen in my system than most men. Maybe not enough to give me some altered physiology, but certainly enough to affect my temperment. So yes I actually do believe in this.
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Post by pfrsue on Dec 4, 2005 7:12:29 GMT -5
Soft science is what's on late night Cinemax, right? Whereas you have to go into the curtained-off section of the science store to find the hard stuff, I think. -D And you have to make sure you take your I.D. along, if you look like you're younger than 27. |
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Post by Head Mutant on Dec 4, 2005 9:00:17 GMT -5
If you want to go into the soft science section, get on your tiptoes.
"Everybody's hugging!"
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