Take comfort in the fact that every time someone types out the phrases "should of (sic) complied" or "play stupid games win stupid prizes" a spirit appears like in A Christmas Carol and shows them the future where they die alone without ever having known the love of another living being.
We hear you, we see you, and we know - as you do - that you're a miserable sorta-excuse for a human being who will never know a moment's happiness let alone be tolerable to any other person. Your existence is a cancer on the world and everyone forced to encounter you, even for a moment, is worse off for it. And unlike this woman shot down in cold blood, the moment you die will pass entirely unnoticed and unremaked upon. It will be like you never existed, and you know every word I said here is true. That's why you act the way you do and talk the way you do - because at night, when you're alone, you know all of this. The only thing that never occurs to you is that everyone around you knows it about you, too. You think your act fools anyone, and that's the scariest thing to you: the possibility that people see you for the coward you are.
They do. We do. Sleep tight. ...
It takes an enormous amount of courage to stand there, keep filming, and scream "What the fuck, you asshole" at someone wearing a badge who just shot and killed one of your neighbors in cold blood.
If you're grasping for anything to feel good about right now - and that's a very difficult thing to find - feel good about the fact that not everyone is as much of a spineless, collaborating coward as our elites. Total strangers will risk their lives to stand next to you. ...
Ed says:
I have to cast my official "I don't fuckin' get it" ballot on the OC. I watched a re-run episode and it struck me as one of the worst things I could imagine sitting through. Isn't it just "Beverly Hills 90210"?
Since I really can't see the entertainment value in watching a poorly-acted TV show about the kind of people that you and I categorically loathe in real life, someone needs to explain to me how this show is tolerable let alone enjoyable.
erik says:
I don't really watch it either. However, I can see the appeal. I think it has that sort of soap opera drama sort of thing. The type of show where you will think that it sucks horribly if you just watch one isolated episode. Sort of like the West Wing that way.
Liz says:
My loyalty lies with nip/tuck.
mike says:
liz: dvds of nip/tuck sits at the video store, encouraging me to rent it. How is it? The fact that it is the darling of the FX network seems like enough of a strike against it, but many people are enjoying it (i've never seen an episode).
Ed: I can't imagine you sitting through an entire episode of the show.
as for why I like it, i find it ridiculously funny and clever. I think all (well, most) of the actors work extremely well – Good Acting isn't really the idea; the actors pull the trick of convincing you that their character is more or less how they are at all times.
(and the people who write it are total closet geeks; there have been at least three very to not-so-very hidden references to Magic : The Gathering alone. "could you have least told her the X-Men?" = brilliant)
Ed says:
Nip/tuck has its moments. It tries way too hard to be shocking every 8 minutes. Then again, subtlety has never been an f/x trademark.
Liz says:
I haven't really liked an hourlong show enough to follow if since the early seasons of The X-Files; my attention span tends to be short when it comes to television.
I am a recent convert to nip/tuck, but I think it's just for guilty pleasure. Ed already mentioned that it is really just a shockfest; in one episode they covered transsexualism, incest, Alec Baldwin, and statutory rape, all connected to one another and within the context of plastic surgery. I have no sympathy for any of the characters. They are all terrible examples of human beings, and I'm fairly certain that my love of the show is based on schadenfreude. Perhaps it's so obviously fictional that I find it easier to deal with than the reality tv that portrays the same type of behavior/ people.
Ed says:
Am I the only one horribly depressed by the idea that our expectations are so low that the OC counts as ridiculously clever and the West Wing is a good show if you watch it repeatedly?
Hugo says:
No. Both sides are gearing up to challenge the process/outcome in the courts. Lawsuits – its the American way to democracy.
erik says:
Basically my defense of the West Wing is always, and will always be my love of its idealism in the fact of the current real political absurdity. If you are willing to stipulate that entertainment's goal at any point in time is an escape from reality to a more pleasant place, then I feel perfectly justified watching a show that portrays the president and his staff as smart individuals who actually have the country and the world's best interests at heart.
Valerie says:
Am I the only one who doesn't really trust Florida anymore to honestly or fairly count ballots? I have this horrible feeling that if Kerry won that state (it's too close to call, for all intents and purposes), Brother Jeb would find a way to get the electoral votes sent to Bush. Is there some way we can have a nun with a ruler sent in to "keep them honest?"
Sadly, I don't think the election will be really over after the ballots are all cast. Especially because it's likely to be so close, it seems like there's going to be some sort of legal battle this time, too.
Arrrrgh…. It's embarrassing that our country has come to this.