Cultural items your age demographic should have knowledge of but you don’t

Started by Max Rockatansky, December 18, 2022, 09:20:40 PM

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formulanone

Quote from: Takumi on December 22, 2022, 06:31:47 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on December 22, 2022, 06:18:41 PM
Quote from: Takumi on December 22, 2022, 06:15:40 PM
Quote from: kphoger on December 22, 2022, 04:53:10 PM
Quote from: abefroman329 on December 22, 2022, 04:20:45 PM
I blame you for not just deleting all of your posts.

Should have known it would end up being my fault.   :awesomeface:

Really it's my fault for bringing the franchise up in the first place. But someone else probably would have eventually.

Really it's my fault for creating the thread when you think about it.

Really it's Alex and Andy's fault for creating the forum in the first place.

Let's roundup Tim Berners-Lee for trial while we're at it.

No, let's dig up Jean Paul Sarte for a summons, because without Being and Nothingness, we can't have the basic binary operations that make up computing.


Scott5114

Quote from: kphoger on December 22, 2022, 06:48:45 PM
It's a pathetic culture we live in when EVERY. SINGLE. MENTION. of her name online will unavoidably devolve into a discussion about her views on this issue.

I mean, the last book in the main Harry Potter series was released fifteen years ago. There are forum members here that have lived their entire lives since she wrote it. On the other hand, she probably last wrote about her views a couple of weeks ago, if not more recently. Is it any wonder that people see her name and associate her with her more recent writing?
uncontrollable freak sardine salad chef

1995hoo

Regarding Bill Cosby, by all accounts he is a very nasty man. But his classic comedy bits remain hilarious, especially the one about parents ("I thought my name was Jesus Christ" and "I love it when your mother gets so angry she forgets your name").
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

Rothman

I can't stomach listening to Bill Cosby anymore.  For my generation, we went from watching him do Picture Pages on Captain Kangaroo to The Electric Company to Fat Albert and then onto The Cosby Show.  On top of that, a couple of his kids attended schools in the same district as mine when I was growing up.  His reveal as a rapist was a tremendous betrayal.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

kphoger

I can separate Cosby's artistic work from his personal life, which means I can detest the things he's done and yet still bust a gut listening to Chicken Heart.  Likewise, I still like watching Mario Batali on old episodes of Iron Chef America, notwithstanding the sexual misconduct allegations.

More to the point, I'm perfectly happy to have a conversation about either person without once bringing up his "dark side".  Why is nobody able to do the same for Rowling (or Chick-fil-A, for that matter)?
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

Max Rockatansky

Quote from: kphoger on December 22, 2022, 08:32:39 PM
I can separate Cosby's artistic work from his personal life, which means I can detest the things he's done and yet still bust a gut listening to Chicken Heart.  Likewise, I still like watching Mario Batali on old episodes of Iron Chef America, notwithstanding the sexual misconduct allegations.

More to the point, I'm perfectly happy to have a conversation about either person without once bringing up his "dark side".  Why is nobody able to do the same for Rowling (or Chick-fil-A, for that matter)?

My expectations for humanity are pretty low to begin with, especially with total strangers.  That being the case when some celebrity does something bad, horrible or criminal it doesn't tend to phase me all that much.  I don't know these famous people, they could all be pieces of crap for all I know.  I don't get why finding out someone was a total POS would have any substantial factor if I enjoyed a particular piece of media past tense or not?  It's not like famous people are trying to come to my house to convert me to beliefs or get me to join in on their criminal acts. 

With Chick-fil-A the biggest issue I have is the mob of people I have to weed through to get food.  There are just as good if not better fast food options that don't require I wade through a sea of humanity. 

Likewise, people get bent out of shape with sports when someone cheats.  I get it to an extent if your team was on the other side of cheating.  That said, things like the steroid scandal in baseball is something almost everyone has taken this weird moralistic high ground on.  I enjoyed the product back then despite having a pretty good inkling everyone was juicing.  Why would that affect my enjoyment now?

And to clarify, if someone I knew did something like Bill Cosby I would cut them out of my life.  I much rather focus on what happens around me versus some non-entity with no actual tangible effect on me or those around me.  In fact, I did actually cut my Dad out of my life over the criminal behaviors (mostly grand larceny and fraud) he chose to engage in. 

Rothman

Quote from: kphoger on December 22, 2022, 08:32:39 PM
I can separate Cosby's artistic work from his personal life, which means I can detest the things he's done and yet still bust a gut listening to Chicken Heart.  Likewise, I still like watching Mario Batali on old episodes of Iron Chef America, notwithstanding the sexual misconduct allegations.

More to the point, I'm perfectly happy to have a conversation about either person without once bringing up his "dark side".  Why is nobody able to do the same for Rowling (or Chick-fil-A, for that matter)?
Comparing a rapist to JK Rowling's and Chick-Fil-A's ineloquence or intolerance is a false equivalence.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

kphoger

Either way, I'm able to enjoy the products that all of them produce or have produced, whether or not I agree with their behavior or beliefs.  And I don't feel the need to talk about their behavior or beliefs every time their names are mentioned.
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

J N Winkler

I read the Harry Potter books and enjoyed them, though I wouldn't count myself as a fan (that, to me, implies a higher level of enthusiasm and commitment to the franchise).  For that matter, I grew up on The Cosby Show, and the long list of Weinstein Company films includes many I have seen and liked.  Talent, ability, and the capacity to create works whose beauty endures or that speak truth about the human condition do not necessarily come with surface niceness, let alone decency or a commitment to living ethically.  Frankly, it's a pleasant surprise when a given creator unites all of these qualities.

As for J.K. Rowling specifically, I find her anti-trans interventions perplexing as to both motivation and purpose.  I gather that she entered the fray on Twitter on behalf of women academics who had been denied employment on grounds of being TERFs.  Given that her first husband (who is Portuguese) has apparently said in public that he did not beat her enough, I suspect she is a survivor of marital rape, so I don't see it as surprising that she might have a hangup about men seeking access to women's spaces.  But why use one's platform to take out these fears on trans people, who are themselves at elevated risk of sexual assault?
"It is necessary to spend a hundred lire now to save a thousand lire later."--Piero Puricelli, explaining the need for a first-class road system to Benito Mussolini

hotdogPi

My opinion on JK Rowling: You can't agree with everyone on everything. The one disagreement most of these people have with JK Rowling, including me, is not enough to boycott. I don't boycott everyone who I don't share 100% of beliefs with. There are some other people and companies who I disagree with most or all of their beliefs; JK Rowling is not one of them.
Clinched, minus I-93 (I'm missing a few miles and my file is incorrect)

Traveled, plus US 13, 44, and 50, and several state routes

I will be in Burlington VT for the eclipse.

Rothman

I think there should also be room for people or companies to change their behavior.  Chick-fil-A did change their donations regarding opposing same-sex marriage due to the backlash.

Also raised the question of how many companies are out there making questionable donations that we never hear about...
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

bing101

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on December 18, 2022, 09:20:40 PM
Pokémon seems to be one for me.  The recent Ash Ketchum thread aside most people who know me are surprised I have little or more accurately no knowledge base about Pokemon.  I had a Game Boy during the starting era of Pokémon games and I liked RPGs dating back to the NES era.  I was more into PS1 era RPGs when Pokémon was becoming a thing in high school and seemingly totally missed the bandwagon.

In a more modern sense I guess Twitter would be something I don't understand.  I've never had an account despite almost everyone else I know having one.  The service didn't sound interesting to me given the gist I tend to get from users is that it is highly politically charged or is the den of stuff like NUMTOT group think.  Similarly, I'm not sure if I have an educated guess as to what Reddit is supposed to be other than a forum.

I'll also add Elon Musk to this.  The guy apparently is a a hot button topic in the road community and simultaneously a non-entity in my day-to-day life.
Same boat as you since I was born in the 1980's and Japanese Anime was a huge deal from the 1990's-2000's in the United States.
In a modern sense Twitter and Instagram I know it's a huge deal for certain people but I do not have an account with these outlets even though everyone around me does.  For political type people they use Twitter, for Hollywood celebrities and Sports stars it is Instagram where I hear these things.

webny99

Quote from: kphoger on December 22, 2022, 02:50:36 PM
Quote from: abefroman329 on December 22, 2022, 02:40:14 PM
In the interest of board harmony, I've edited the initial comment I made, along with subsequent replies.

In that spirit, I have now edited mine as well.

I'm actually sad about that. I wasn't totally sure about the seriousness level of your reply, but it didn't even matter. Had you not edited it out, it was probably going to make its way into "Your Favorite Forum Quotes" via yours truly.

And I don't even have an opinion on the matter. I know nothing about JK Rowling or the Harry Potter series (how's that for coming full-circle to answer the actual thread question?).

skluth

The HP books and movies are excellent. I realize the author is a "c word". But I'm old enough to remember when segregated schools and drinking fountains were legal and the only LGBT representation in any media was Liberace. I'm also old enough to have many of my heroes reveal their flaws from Bill Cosby to Woody Allen to Kevin Spacey to pretty much every rock singer who sang about sex with minors like Robert Plant and Mick Jagger.

I still listen to Michael Jackson and still think Phil Spector is the greatest music producer of the 60s. I doubt I could watch Manhattan today but I still love Sleeper and Bananas. I'll watch Cosby reruns and compartmentalize his personal life away for the viewing. These are my opinions and if you disagree, well - last I heard it's still a free country and a lot more free than Russians and Chinese have experienced in their entire lives.

hbelkins

I'm not sure exactly what cultural items a 61-year-old married straight male with a master's degree from a small rural Appalachian county should have knowledge of. Country music, maybe? I will profess ignorance on that one, because I'm mostly a metal fan. Disco was big when I was a teen and later in college, and rap/hip-hop was in its infancy, but I care for neither style.

I saw the first three "Star Wars" movies when they came out, but haven't really watched them since to speak of, so I miss a lot of references that come from those movies. And I haven't seen any of the movies that have been released since those first three.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

Dirt Roads

Quote from: hbelkins on December 23, 2022, 07:03:23 PM
I saw the first three "Star Wars" movies when they came out, but haven't really watched them since to speak of, so I miss a lot of references that come from those movies. And I haven't seen any of the movies that have been released since those first three.

Oh, so you might be the only person left on the planet that remembers exactly how the first three original Star Wars movies played out, before George Lucas reconfigured them for television?  I have a few memories of those different scenes, but they've been conveniently erased by rewatching the newer versions (of Episodes IV through VI) too many times.

abefroman329

Quote from: skluth on December 23, 2022, 06:00:34 PMI doubt I could watch Manhattan today but I still love Sleeper and Bananas.
Love and Death and Annie Hall are still ok to watch as well. Luckily everything Woody Allen directed after Hannah and Her Sisters was terrible.

Speaking of LGBTQ representation, the gay couple and their gay robot butler in Sleeper, oy.

Rothman

Quote from: abefroman329 on December 24, 2022, 08:23:49 AM
Quote from: skluth on December 23, 2022, 06:00:34 PMI doubt I could watch Manhattan today but I still love Sleeper and Bananas.
Love and Death and Annie Hall are still ok to watch as well. Luckily everything Woody Allen directed after Hannah and Her Sisters was terrible.

Speaking of LGBTQ representation, the gay couple and their gay robot butler in Sleeper, oy.
Woody Allen still has his defenders out there (i.e., "She wasn't technically his daughter...").  He still has an ick factor with me, though.

But, unlike the total revulsion I have when seeinng or hearing Bill Cosby now, I can still watch his good movies (e.g., Crimes and Misdemeanors).
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.



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