I’ll probably end up careening off course and trashing the rest of social media but my goal here is to tell you how fucking stupid LinkedIn is.
So a million years ago when I graduated college I made a LinkedIn account because “well gee whiz it’s what everyone’s doing and apparently you HAVE to have one to get a job so duurrrrrr” And here I am a million years later and I’ve updated and maintained it and filled in all those stupid little fields, and have like 18,000 contacts or connections or whatever the fuck it’s called and honestly I’ve never gained anything from it.
Yeah I know what you’re thinking. You have a LinkedIn account and you don’t want to face the fact it’s never helped improve your life or your career and then of course admit you’ve wasted dozens of hours of your life maintaining it, so rather than nodding your head in agreement you’re probably doubling down on its usefulness and hate me for saying it’s shit.
But shit is shit no matter how useful everyone says it is. LinkedIn is about as useful as Drano is for your home’s plumbing or as useful as Emergen-C is for your immune system. Meaning it’s not. Or maybe at the very best sorta maaaaarginally useful.
But really though, think about it. If you’re like me you also have your LinkedIn profile. You have a couple hundred connections, 90% of whom you have no fucking idea who they are. You probably get your weekly LinkedIn email notifications that some random ass person you’ve never met wants to connect with you, and maybe you accept their invite… but only if they’re hot.
Make sure your LinkedIn profile really shows off your best… eh hem…. qualities.
Every so often out of the blue one of your friends +1’s on of your abilities/skills/qualifications and then you think “Oh cool!” and then you begrudgingly reciprocate and +1 one of their skills out of guilt, whether or not they actually do know how to use Microsoft Excel.
No matter your occupation, you probably get the occasional sales pitch for a ‘Sales Leads Generating Opportunity’ for only the most highly qualified professionals in your market which naturally got blasted to a quarter of a million other people.
And after all these years of updating your resume, and sharing links to articles you’ve never read but sounded important, you realize LinkedIn has never actually got you a job. It’s probably never even got you an interview. Or a referral.
Ask your friends if they’ve ever been hired exclusively from LinkedIn. You’ll hear a resounding no. How something so useless is so prevalent is beyond me. Kind of like degrees in psychology or communications.
The fact is LinkedIn sucks because it like so many other social networking services tries to replace something that is irreplaceable: Face to face human interaction. Maybe because I’ve always had so much success getting a job I never understood the difficulties people faced with it. I’ve never applied for a job and not been offered the position. No shit. The key to getting hired isn’t in LinkedIn. It’s not even your resume. No one is going to hire your resume. No one is hiring your LinkedIn profile. They’re hiring YOU. If your resume rocks, and your LinkedIn profile is stellar but you kinda suck, you’re not getting hired.
People are hired in bars. People are hired on the golf course and the putting green. People are hired at backyard barbeques. People are hired in the waiting room of restaurants. People are hired in hotel lobbies. People are hired at the mall. People are hired on ski lifts. People are hired in elevators. People are hired at birthday parties and bar mitzvahs. People are hired where real life social interactions take place. Not online. Not on your phone. Not behind some screen.
So if you want to get a job, if you want to network, if you want leads, go out and get them. Just don’t expect to get them online because LinkedIn sucks. And no, I don’t want to join your e-marketing group.
This has been the hardest movie for me to write a review about. Not because it was a horrible movie – it was a great movie – but because of the controversy and fanatic backlash that was thrown against it before it even hit the theaters.
Considering this is the first time ever that the two most popular and beloved comic book heroes in history would share the silver screen together, it’s amazing that Batman v Superman has had such a huge cloud of doubt surrounding it. If Marvel was able to turn heroes with no prior mass recognition like Iron Man, Thor, and Guardians of the Galaxy into hits, then surely Batman and Superman, the two most recognizable characters in existence should be an easy sell. It seems like this movie has been anything but.
Because of the magnitude of the movie, and because the trailers gave away very little about the movie (compared to Deadpool for example), it’s hard to do a review about the film and say why I loved it so much without also spoiling many of the finer points. Fair warning, this review does contain some minor spoilers.
The most important thing I took away from the movie is that you should forget everything you think you know about Batman and Superman. The closest source material I could think of is the graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns and the two-part animated film of the same name. Aside from those amazing pieces, this movie does not feature the Batman and Superman you grew up with and are accustomed to.
Paradigm Shift
According to the dictionary, a paradigm shift means a “fundamental change in approach or underlying assumptions.” What I loved about BVS is that the movie took a lot of liberties with the characters and sort of reimagined their roles. Zack Snyder recognizes that we live in a different world than we used to, and a vastly different world than existed when the two titular characters were created in 1939 and 1938 respectively. As such, Zack Snyder created a paradigm shift in this DC Universe where the things we accept as fact – specifically as they relate to Batman/Bruce Wayne – are no longer the case.
Batman and Superman are no longer simply squaring off against bank robbers and cat burglars. These days our world has to contend with darker realities like human trafficking, drug cartels, pedophilia rings and terrorism. As the troubles we face evolve, so too do our heroes.
But as every cause has an effect, every effect has a cause. BVS shows you how changing the smallest of details about a character’s backstory can result in massive consequences and change of path. As time goes on, the gap between one path and the other widens, and the differences in outcome are glaring.
In 2005’s Batman Begins, a young Bruce Wayne witnesses his mother and father get gunned down outside the opera, and just before they get shot Thomas Wayne pleads with the assailant and tries to pacify the situation, ultimately getting killed despite his efforts. BVS begs the question, what if instead of trying to resolve the situation without violence, Thomas and Martha Wayne went down swinging? Even if they were still murdered, how might this one little detail impact a young, impressionable Bruce Wayne? And as time went on, how might this affect Batman?
The result, as explained by BVS, is a tougher, hardened, more forceful and less compromising Batman.
(Almost) Impeccable Casting
Bruce Wayne / Batman
Ben Affleck will impress even the staunchest of Batfleck doubters with his incredible performance of the Caped Crusader. This is an older, wiser, experienced Affleck, playing an older, wiser, battle hardened Bruce Wayne, and the pairing could not have been any better. While Christian Bale was a good placeholder in the ever revolving door of actors to don the cape and cowl, Ben Affleck actually fills the role and the suit. The result is a Bruce Wayne that you can actually relate to, and a Batman that is as physically intimidating as he is absolutely terrifying.
This is not your grandpa’s Batman. Not at all. In fact this Batman would curb stomp Bale’s Batman, and then eat Tom Hardy’s Bane for dessert. I love Batman but one thing that always irked me about him wasn’t that he brooded, but that he always brooded. The guy was always a morose, mopey bastard, and at a certain point you want to say “dude come on. Your parents died like 30 fucking years ago. You’re a grown ass adult. Get over it already”. Or as Carmine Falcone put it…
Snyder and Affleck bring us a revised Bruce Wayne. One who is known to occasionally indulge in a night cap, flirt with women, swear, and dare I say it actually enjoy himself. This is a Bruce Wayne who actually gives a shit about the business his family started and seems to care about its success, its future, and its employees and their well-being as if they were an extension of his family.
Clark Kent / Superman
Henry Cavill brings a routine performance. Honestly, how complicated of a character is Superman? It’s not a hard role to mess up. Just be annoyingly good and one dimensional. But I will say this, Cavill was fit for the role visually and he brings the physical prowess that was sorely lacking when Brandon Routh played the character in 2006’s Superman Returns.
Also like Batman, this version of Supes actually has some spice added on. He has some backbone and cojones. He argues with his boss, he says fuck all with authority, and the man gets down with his lady and doesn’t care if the neighbors below complain about a leak in their ceiling. Just like Bruce Wayne, I like that Clark Kent actually has a personality this time around, and that for a change he doesn’t come off as a total boy scout.
Diana Prince / Wonder Woman
Granted her role in the story felt a little forced, I think the casting was fantastic. Gal Gadot is undeniably gorgeous but despite not being ‘roided out she did have a sort of effeminate brawn about her character. A sexy swagger. A bombshell femme fatale. And although she sports a dress like the finest of women, she can also throw down with the best of men. Gadot fits the role perfectly and I am genuinely interested in seeing her in the upcoming films, both standalone and Justice Leagues.
It’s also worth noting that I am very happy that Rhonda Rousey didn’t play Wonder Woman. Just saying.
Lois Lane
Meehhhh. Amy Adams just doesn’t do it for me. She’s pretty but she doesn’t have that va-voom look that Lois Lane is known to have. Plus the role has historically always been a brunette/raven. This is one of the few areas I am having a hard time breaking from the source material. I was a little annoyed at her character’s total disregard. She would run off to do a news piece in some godforsaken part of the world only to need to be rescued by Superman. Her character kind of reminds me of those American idiots that Travel to places like North Korea and Iran. That sort of entitled, let others clean up my mess type of shit that is all too prevalent these days.
Alfred Pennyworth
Again, amazing casting choice. Jeremy Irons is an amazing new take on Alfred. Instead of a butler, he’s more of a trusted confidant. He’s Lucious Fox meets security engineer meets best friend. This interesting amalgamation of roles, instead of the tried and tested man servant is a nice change. Alfred is as important in Batman’s crusade as Batman himself and this is an Alfred who is equipped to help Batman tackle the modern age technologically and morally. I am also interested to see Bruce and Alfred’s chemistry later in the franchise.
Lex Luthor
This is the one that ruined it for me. Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor was just horrible. The big thing was the age. Lex being so young that he could be Bruce’s son was different. And Lex is usually at least semi intimidating. He’s got nowhere near the stature of Bruce Wayne or Clark Kent, but he at least looks like he could throw down, and he often does.
This version of Lex Luthor is more creepy than intimidating and it’s hard to take seriously. While watching the movie I thought this Lex was like a creepy, maniacal take of Mark Zuckerberg, which finally occurred to me while writing this blog that Eisenberg actually did play a creepy, maniacal version of Mark Zuckerberg six years ago.
Spoiler alert, Lex goes to jail at the end of the movie so maybe when he appears in the next Justice League he’ll be prison ripped and toughened up and finally come off as a force to be reckoned with. But as of right now, I’m glad his character is confined to a jail cell and off screen.
The Batman
BVS felt more like a Batman movie with Superman in it, than a joint movie, and I think that’s a good thing. Batman movies sell and people can’t get enough of him.
Having grown up watching Batman it’s hard to put yourself in the shoes of a Gothamite to whom Batman is merely an urban legend. Imagine growing up in Gotham hearing stories of a bat creature terrorizing the criminal underworld. Never knowing if it’s a man or a monster. Imagine being a criminal in Gotham wondering if tonight’s the night you cross The Bat.
This movie reminded me how fucking terrifying Batman actually is. I won’t give it away but there was nice scene in the movie where I actually jumped back at the sight of Batman. It reminded me of something out of Jeepers Creepers.
Playing Catch Up
The big thing about this movie is that it felt a little rushed at times. DC is desperately trying to play catch up with Marvel and I hope they don’t expend all their energy on the first lap. DC did in two movies with BVS, what Marvel did in six with Avengers. BVS is only the second installment in the DC Extended Universe and were bombarded with Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Lex Luthor and poked in the eye with Cyborg, Aquaman, and the Flash – and this wasn’t even a Justice League film.
The difference however is that neither Batman nor Superman need an introduction. Everyone already knows who these characters are so the movie hits the ground running. I do however hope they pause to explain a little more about Wonder Woman and offer more of an origins story for some of the other, lessor known characters that will be brought on screen or future adaptations.
Left Hand v Right Hand
Perhaps the one thing that bothers me the most about this movie is that DC currently has half a dozen other cinematic universes going on at the same time.
DC Extended Universe (Man of Steel, Batman v Superman)
Gotham
Arrowverse (Arrow, Flash, Constantine)
Supergirl
Plus a whole slough of animated universes such as the basic television animated Batman series
The New 52 animated movies
And all of this comes right on the heels of the Nolan trilogy to boot. It will be little hairy to follow all the various storylines simultaneously, especially for people who are new to these characters. I like what Marvel has done by streamlining all of their live action titles into a single, cohesive world. Let’s hope DC and Zack Snyder have a game plan.
Summary
All things considered I thought Batman v Superman was a great movie. It was different. It was edgy without trying too hard. It took a lot of risks (a la Deadpool and Guardians of the Galaxy) and I can certainly appreciate that. Zack Snyder has a real eye for converting comic book and graphic novels into live action movies with taste, and with real flare.
Perhaps I am wrong in saying this but Snyder also seems to have a history of a lacing his movies with a conservative undertone, which again, I really like. Either that or he chooses to make movies based on stories with conservative undertones, such as Dawn of the Dead, 300, Watchman (Rorschach), Man of Steel, and now this film which had root in Frank Miller’s Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, a writer who also infuses his work with conservative undertones.
The movie rocked. You’ll probably enjoy this movie if:
You can’t stand that Superman is such a boy scout
You can’t stand that Batman is always moping around and never enjoys himself
You love Batman but cannot for the life of you understand why he takes such a limp wrist approach to characters like the Joker who have killed hundreds of people
You want to see Batman cuss
You want to see Batman get some giggity
You want to see some bad ass fight scenes
So I guess I like this movie for what it is, as much as I love this movie for what it’s not. And that is that it’s not the same old crap over and over again. A lot of people might not like the liberties DC took with these two archetype characters, but if you want the same old same old, you’re welcome to continue watching your Nolan Batman trilogy. For those of you daring for something new, this is the movie to see.
I would give this movie a 9/10, but because of Jesse Eisenberg and the rushed pace, I give the film an 8/10. It was thoroughly enjoyable and a very refreshing take on time tested characters and plotlines. I will no doubt purchase this movie when it comes out on Blu-Ray and I highly anticipate the next installment in the DCEU.
Earlier, President Obama said this about the Brussels terrorist attack…
“But as I said just a few months ago, and I said a few months before that, and I said each time we see one of these Islamic terrorist attacks, our thoughts and prayers are not enough. It’s not enough. It does not capture the heartache and grief and anger that we should feel. And it does nothing to prevent this carnage from being inflicted someplace else in the world — next week, or a couple of months from now.
We don’t yet know why this individual did what he did. And it’s fair to say that anybody who does this has a sickness in their minds, regardless of what they think their motivations may be.
Earlier this year, I answered a question in an interview by saying, “The world is and advanced place but we do not have sufficient common-sense anti terrorism measures — even in the face of repeated mass killings.” And later that day, there was a terrorist attack somewhere in the world. That day! Somehow this has become routine. The reporting is routine. My response here at this podium ends up being routine. The conversation in the aftermath of it. We’ve become numb to this.”
Oh, no wait, sorry.
I took a speech he gave about the supposed epidemic of mass shootings back on Oct 1, 2015 and replaced ‘mass shooting’ with ‘terrorist attack’.
Seriously though, this sucks. But Obama was right about shootings and our apathy, and it is true for these attacks today. I’m praying, but prayers are not enough. I’m saddened, but sorrow is not enough. I am angry, but anger is not enough.
Action is required. Not half measures. Let’s not ‘bring anyone to justice’. Let’s find and kill some mother fuckers.
Let’s not bring anyone to justice. Let’s find and kill some mother fuckers.
This is not a war that will be won by keeping our hands clean. These are not people who respond to diplomacy, or reason. You cannot, should not, negotiation with them. If you give them an inch, they will take a mile. Look what happened with Iran regarding the sanctions, the ICBMs, and their recent tests in violations of those sanctions and agreements.
These people only know and understand fear, and today we must bring fear. We must teach these aggressors that if they kill one of ours, we will kill 100 of theirs. I honestly mean that. This isn’t me using rhetoric, or standing on ceremony. And it also isn’t war mongering. Americans have no more stomach for war. As quickly as we called for heads on stakes after 9/11, we grew weary of our engagements in the Middle East. Most Americans do not want to risk another war. It’s too expensive they say. It’ll create enemies they say. It is not worth the risk… they say. However, to quote Aragorn from Lord of the Rings, “war is upon you whether you would risk it or not”.
War is upon you whether you would risk it or not
The West has a problem with gradations and scales… we either don’t believe in them or we think they are linear. Black or White. Right or Wrong. Good or Bad. Heaven and Hell. Democrat or Republican. The belief in mutually exclusive polar opposites. The belief that you cannot do something bad for the sake of good. And this leads to the misconception that war is the opposite of peace. Peace can only exist if it is mutually agreed upon. War on the other hand can be thrust upon the peaceful. The difference between war and slaughter, is whether both sides are fighting.
We will not stop Islamic terrorism by being peaceful. We will not stop these attacks by caving to their every demand. The West’s involvement in the Middle East is not to blame for these attacks. Cartoonist’s drawings are not to blame for these attacks. Movies depicting Mohammad are not to blame for these attacks.
Across the globe we don’t just see Americans being attacked. We don’t just see Westerners or Europeans being attacked. We see Islamic terrorism in Europe yes, but also in the Middle East, in Asian, in Oceania, in Africa. We see Muslims attacking Christians. Muslims attacking Jews in Israel. We see Muslims attacking Hindus in India and Pakistan. We see Muslims attacking Muslims damn near everywhere. And did all these groups, all these nations invade the Middle East? The the Philippines invade Iraq? Did Malaysia invade Afghanistan? Are Atheists being accused of creating an ‘apartheid’ state?
We need to stop asking “why did the attackers do this?”
We are no more to blame for being attacked, than rape victims are to be blamed for being raped. This is not something we did to ourselves. This is something being forced upon us. We need to stop asking “why did the attackers do this?” It is counterproductive and insulting to ask why something happened, when the answer makes no difference, when there is no justification. Would you care to ask “Well why did this guy molest this child?” ? Would it matter? Would ANY answer to that question make you go “Ohhhhhh, well in that case.” Of course not. It matters not why lunatics and sickos do what they do. It matters not why people attack us. It matters not what drives people to commit terrorist attacks.
Peace has failed.
Diplomacy has failed. Negotiations have failed. Sanctions have failed. Training and arming militias have failed (and backfired). Empathy has failed. Concessions have failed. Peace has failed. We must bring the fight to the enemy. We must label the enemy. We must put the fear of God into the enemy. This is strategy. This is winning. This is about keeping your boot on the back of the neck of the person trying to kill you. If you ease up even a little, if you back off for even a second, they will get up and resume trying to kill you.
We must do everything we can to demoralize them, to scare them shitless. We must use their fears and religion and superstitions against them. We must make it known that an attack against us has a cost far greater than they are willing to pay.
Today marks a very much anticipated date for me, and that is the release of Daredevil Season 2 on Netflix, the street level epic series about the crime fighting man without fear from Hell’s Kitchen.
Soon enough audiences worldwide will be captivated by Captain America: Civil War, and the decade long overdue Batman v. Superman.
While the Golden Age of Comic Books was from the 1930s to 1950s, it has become evident that the early 21st Century has become the Golden Age of Comic Book Movies. And series. It was in the Golden Age of Comics that many of the most recognizable comic book characters were first published, including Batman, Superman, Captain America, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Arrow, and Aquaman all of whom will be starring in a movie or television series this year.
These original characters were archetypes and set the tone for superheroes to come for decades, unchanged until the Vietnam war brought about a darker, grittier ensemble of comic book characters, often referred to as antiheros, many of which are also enjoying screen time, such as Punisher, Wolverine and the X-Men.
This is truly an incredible time to be alive if you enjoy comic books or the genre. Never having read comics myself as a kid, I have taken a huge liking to comic book movies – and judging by ticket sales and the seemingly unstoppable train of financial success they have enjoyed, it appears the entire world has too.
A genre that largely didn’t exist prior to the year 2000, comic book movies hold three of the top 10 grossing movies of all time, Avengers (2012), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), and Iron Man 3 (2013) all having been released in this century, scratch that, this decade alone. Additionally, CBMs occupy 7 of the top 50 spots. With blockbuster Deadpool breaking all sorts of records, and mega-titans Civil War and Batman v. Superman on the horizon, don’t be surprised if a couple more comic book titles get bumped on to that list.
Almost a year ago I wrote another blog titled What’s Next for Marvel MCU in which I listed various productions that would be coming out from Marvel’s MCU (owned by Disney). Since then we’ve managed to scratch a few titles off that list. But with DC/Warner Bros cranking up the heat with their own DC Extended Universe (DCEU) this summer with not just one, but two films (double doses of Batman!), and Fox’s own Marvel franchise still churning, see this revised list of Comic Book Movie titles stretching all the way out to 2020!
2015-April-10: Daredevil [Netflix]
2015-May-01: Avengers: Age of Ultron
2015-July-17: Ant-Man
2015-Sep-29: Agents of Shield: New Season [TV]
2015 Nov-20 Jessica Jones [Netflix]
2016-Feb-12: Deadpool
2016-Mar-25: Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice
2016-May-06: Captain America: Civil War
2016-May-27: X-Men: Apocalypse
2016-Aug-5: Suicide Squad
2016-Sep-30: Luke Cage [Netflix]
2016-Nov-04: Doctor Strange
2016 Unknown: Iron Fist [Netflix]
2016 Unknown: Defenders [Netflix]
2017-Mar-03: Wolverine 3
2017-May-05: Guardians of the Galaxy 2
2017-June-23: Wonder Woman
2017-July-07: Untitled Spider-Man Film
2017-Nov-03: Thor Ragnarok
2017-Nov-17: Justice League Part One
2018-Feb-18: Black Panther
2018-May-03: Avengers: Infiniti War Part I
2018-Mar-8: Captain Marvel
2018-Mar-16: The Flash
2018-Jul-27: Aquaman
2019-Apr-05: Shazam
2019-June-14: Justice League Part Two
2019-July-12: Inhumans
2019-May-03: Avengers: Infiniti War Part II
2020-Apr-03: Cyborg
2020-Jun-20: Green Lantern Corps
The lists ends at 2020, but Marvel reps have previously stated they have films slated all the way out to 2028. With the complex interweaving of movies, TV shows, comics, web series, and even video games, it seems that there is no foreseeable end in sight for comic book movies and the comic book genre in general. While Spider-Man (2002) has since been relaunched not just once, but twice, and one would suspect it must have clearly been a dud, the movie did spectacularly well and started a domino effect that may very well last three decades. Iron Man (2008) introduced the world to something it had (more the most part) never seen before – a shared universe of movies.
Major studios like Fox, Disney, and Sony have gobbled up every title they can get their hands on. Comic books, once a genre thought to be exclusive to children and virgin computer nerds, have crept into the psyche of the average Joe and Hollywood brass. CBMs have started their own controversial debates over the use of violence, backboards for reflecting real life existential issues like terrorism, security, and freedom and social issues like race, gender, and sexual orientation. To a Spider-Man trailer featuring the Twin Towers being recalled shortly after the 9/11 attacks, to complaints about mass civilian casualties in Man of Steel and Avengers, and racial issues such as the casting of Michael B. Jordan as the Human Torch or Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, it’s clear that comic books are popular, lucrative, controversial, engaging, and here to stay.
One of my recent blogs, Prepare to be Trumped, focused on why Trump has been so popular and why he has been surprisingly so successful in his presidential campaign. I’ll admit that I too got caught up in the Trump fervor. But I am also known to ruminate over decisions and their consequences.
Unlike Obama voters, and the current Hillary swarm, I don’t blindly follow any cause or candidate. I have my doubts and I question things, and I think that’s healthy. It’s useful. It’s necessary. I listen to and read the news, both right and left leaning. I hear what the pundits have to say, the talking heads, the masses, and of course those closest to me.
Mitt Romney gave a speech several weeks ago urging people not to vote for Trump for a plethora of reasons. Mitt is very presidential and a nice, respectable guy. And I voted for the dude in 2012 so I gave him the time of day and listened to his entire speech bemoaning the candidate that I was at the time currently favoring. He brought up some interesting points, and I weighed those points factoring them into my political decision.
Then Louie CK went on about how Trump is Hitler. And then SNL made a post about Trump supporters being KKK members and Neo Nazis. And then of course if you read Huffington Post or Slate, they don’t even make an attempt at unbiased work, and essentially claim that if you support Trump, you’re the devil. Or whatever the atheist version of the devil is. I guess that would be Trump.
One could say that I was starting to ‘lose faith’. Hearing so much garbage about the guy had me wondering if I’m the fucked up person that liberals say I am. I understand this is all part of the left plot to fracture the Republican party in order to win the election, but it had me thinking nonetheless.
But then I met up with a close friend and we discussed politics. Like me, he’s a California conservative, which means we are pro 2nd amendment, but run left on a number of social issues like gay marriage, weed, etc. Not having talked politics with him for a long time, when I brought up the issue of Trump didn’t know what his thoughts of the guy were. I suspected he might foam at the mouth with hatred. He didn’t. In fact he was very coolly and confidently pro Trump, but like me he was reluctant to say it too loud in a place where he frequents.
What frustrated him frustrated me – simple things like political correctness run amok and fear of being shamed and ostracized for holding ‘extreme views’ like securing your borders. Then I talked to my Catholic dad, and my Jewish mom, and my secular friends, who all support Trump. I wondered, if so many people support Trump, why is all I hear on TV, on social media, online, that people hate Trump and Trump is Satan?
I get it now. Conservatives may or may not be the silent majority, but we are certainly silent. Every other day you see liberals of some flavor off bitching and moaning and whining and protesting about some stupid shit. Black lives matter. Occupy Wall Street. Protesting at Republican presidential rallies. Conservatives don’t do that. We’re adults. We have shit to do. WE HAVE JOBS. So you don’t hear from us too often. We’re not out there every weekend with signs, burning down buildings, and shitting in public parks. We’re working our hands away to the bones so you hardly even notice us. We don’t scream from rooftops – because we’re toiling away at work – so our frustrations go unheard and our cries unanswered. Most of the military is conservative, and they’re advised not to be too public about expressing their discontent with the president because he’s the commander in chief, so in a way their cries go un(der)heard too.
And that’s why conservatives favor Trump. In a crowd of political introverts, Trump is our extrovert. Our poster child. Our spokesperson and our cheerleader. I can keep working, nose to the grinding stone, while he sticks it to the establishment. I can go on about my quiet life while Trump tosses up tables and burns down figurative buildings for me. Being an outspoken conservative in a liberal dominated workplace is career suicide (Luckily for me, insurance is a conservative dominated workplace, but still). So while good little Republicans get to work and go on about their day, Trump is fighting the fight we wish we could.
“Work hard and handle your own shit” is a tough sell. It’s not cool. It’s not sexy. And it’s all too easy for liberals to drown out sound arguments with a hail of sarcasm. The whole nice guys finish last thing. Trump will have none of it. Trump isn’t afraid to jump in the ring and spar with you. In fact he enjoys it. He’s got nothing better to do than stir up shit and piss off liberals, and I fucking love it.
I’m tired of being guilted for my thoughts, or my stance on issues, or the candidate I support. I’m tired of political correctness.
I don’t get why you can’t call illegal aliens illegal aliens since that’s exactly what they are. I don’t get why the term Islamic Extremist is a no-no. I don’t get why protecting our borders is xenophobic. I don’t get why if you work hard and own your home you’re the first person targeted for tax increases, but if you pop out three kids with two guys out of wedlock and manage to stay an unemployed leech on society you get subsidized housing and childcare. I don’t get why killing a baby in the 3rd trimester is totally cool, but water boarding a known terrorist or executing a rapist is inhumane. I don’t get why thinking you’re the wrong sex suddenly makes you a protected victim class in need of protection, as opposed to a mentally ill individual in need of psychiatric care. I’m tired of China reverse engineering everything we make and the U.S. not doing anything about it. I don’t get why shutting off water to people in Detroit who are 60 days delinquent on their bills gets the attention of the U.N., but China violating basic human rights such as their 1 child rule for decades has gone ignored. I’m tired of being made out to be a villain simply because I own a firearm. I’m tired of the U.S. losing. And Trump is a winner.
Towards the end of 2014 a good friend of mine and I started to brew small batches of beer. Some were good, some were meh, some were actually pretty legit.
Again, as is always the case, what’s a good hobby without a good logo?!
We tossed around a couple ideas, and I sketched up the one below. Being that we’re from San Diego, California, I liked the idea of “Anchor West Brewing Company” but apparently there’s already an “Anchor Steam” Brewing Company. Whoda thunk. Nonetheless, I actually really liked this rough sketch, and the fusion of the anchor, compass, and sun with the word “West”, especially since it was my first draft.
Many moons ago in our early twenties a friend and I sought out to start a web design firm. We had worked loosely together a couple projects and decided to ‘go official’. As is always the case when you are a 20 year old who thinks he’ll take over the world by storm, the most important step in any business is….. coming up with a cool logo. Naturally. I was digging through some old files doing some spring cleaning. I chuckled. And before tossing them into the recycle bin, I figured I would memorialize them forever on my blog.
Long live Fly Light Web Design!
“2D bulb w/ wings” This lightbulb with wings around it is humbling to look back at.
“3D bulb w/ wings” A little bit of an improvement. Less of a hieroglyphic and more of a logo.
“Bird Bulb” My scribble next to this one read “bird bulb”… don’t ask.
“Bulb w/ parachute” A lightbulb with a parachute. This isn’t really fly light, so much as it is sloooooowly falling light.
“Wings” I was experimenting with different wings.
“FL in a box.”
“FL out of the box?”
“Fly behind light”
“Casual feel” Sounds like the name of a condom. This ended up becoming our actual logo.
I can go on for days about how and why I disagree with democrats on a number of issues, but what frustrates me the most is one specific flavor of democrats, and that’s white liberals. So please enjoy my blog, The Thing about (White) Liberals. And to be balanced, and because I’m an equal opportunity smack talker, I will follow it up shortly with another blog The Thing about (uber Religious) Conservatives.
White liberals try so hard to help people of color and those they consider minorities, poor people and other unfortunate souls, but they fail miserably because their policies (and to a large extent even their mentality) actually serve to make things worse for the very people they are trying to help. I would actually argue that many white liberals are unknowingly, yet subtly racist.
That’s not to say that I believe in some paradigm shift where all racists are white liberals, and all white liberals are racist. However while I think racism is spread pretty uniformly across all groups, it’s worth pointing out the oblivious racism in that exists in certain parts of society, because a wolf dressed as a sheep is more dangerous than a wolf dressed as a wolf.
White Liberal Policies
White liberals propose legislation like rent control, minimum wage hikes, protected domain, and mandatory unions which they think will better peoples’ lives, but which actually make the lives of their constituents even tougher. We can have a 10 hour debate about the effects such policies have, but let’s instead defer to the 40 year case studies known as the real world, in which such social experiments were expected to flourish, but instead floundered.
Look at rent control in Los Angeles and New York where lower income people either can’t afford to live in a nice place, or live in a place that hasn’t been updated in 40 years because the owner can’t afford to make the needed repairs. Protected domain in places like Santa Barbara have essentially stopped the construction of new housing. As populations swell, and housing remains fixed, rents will rise. And minimum wage jobs would be a great foot in the door for high school seniors and recent high school grads, but why the hell would a business owner pay an unskilled pimply faced teenager $15 per hour when they can spend the same money and hire someone with years of experience and who needs the money. So laws that were intended to help the poor, the disenfranchised, the needy, people of color, minorities, whatever you want to call them – have backfired.
White Saviors
Another tenet of white liberalism is that only white people – specifically white liberals – can save the poor, poor colored people. White liberals have appointed themselves as the savior to who they consider to be their feeble minded, hapless, colored brethren. That’s not my opinion. That’s their opinion.
In a world where words like racist, fascist, ignorant, xenophobe, and literally are among the most frequently misused and misunderstood words, white liberals and their policies of contradistinguishing black people and other minorities, and then assigning themselves as messiah, is literallyracist.
If I told you that black people are inherently so incompetent that white people need to make special laws to make it easier for black people to get jobs (and that, oh by the way, I’m a Republican) you would consider that racist.
However if I told you my name was Joe Liberal, and I had this grand idea called Affirmative Action that would undo the wrongs suffered upon the blacks by white people, (and did I mention my name was Joe Liberal, right?) you would hail it as a victory of racial equality.
White liberals get an orgasm watching Avatar.
When you boil it down, that is their belief. They say it, they act it, they legislate it.
White Washed Nomenclature and Politispeak
We can’t even have an honest discussion about the struggles of different people in the country because everything has become a buzz word.
Instead of black people, or predominantly black communities, politicians say ‘urban America’.
Instead of non-rich white people, politicians say ‘middle America’ or ‘the middle class’.
Instead of rich white people, politicians say ‘top income earners’.
At various points in time the correct way to refer to people who aren’t white has changed from ‘colored’, to ‘minorities’, to ‘people of color’, and I’m sure some new term like ‘post racial individual’ is in the works as we speak. Let me consult my quack, white social psychologist first. Vernacular created by white liberals is like iPhones – new ones come out every two years, and if you’re caught using an old one you’re a piece of shit and to be ostracized from society.
Vernacular created by white liberals is like iPhones – new ones come out every two years, and if you’re caught using an old one you’re a piece of shit
Each time a new word is ushered in, it’s because white liberals decided the old word was racist, derogatory, and antiquated. Except the stupidity of it all is that it was white liberals who years earlier came up with those terms in the first place.
In my college computer programming class, I read a meme that went “If debugging is the process of removing bugs from code, does that mean that programming is the process of putting bugs into code?”
Put concisely, yes, it does. So if the role of a white liberals in society is removing derogatory words from common usage they coined, does that mean that the role of white liberals is to create new, acceptable, derogatory terms in the first place?
The Liberal Problem Solution Dilemma
Up to this point everything has in some way been tied to race, and I attribute that to white liberals being the constant race baiters of the nation. Well… them and Al Sharpton. I think the truth is the majority of people (white or not) wake up and go on about their day and don’t give race or ethnicity or religion a thought. It’s not that they are avoiding the issue, it’s that for constructive people who have a fucking job and real world obligations, worrying about shit like which word is the least offensive really doesn’t make the priority list.
It’s amazing how in the light of things that actually matter, liberal policies tend to be bleached out. That’s because liberal propositions are not solutions to problems, but rather solutions in search of problems – answers to questions no one ever asked. I’ll conclude with four things which haunt American liberals, and why people can’t stomach them.
Liberals attempt to solve problems that aren’t problems
Liberals attempt to solve problems that aren’t theirs to solve
Liberals create problems, say Republicans created them, and then fail to solve them
Liberals don’t have the backbone to solve tough problems
One – Liberals attempt to solve problems that aren’t problems
Example, California Governor Jerry Brown recently enacted legislation that would remove the word “alien” from all legislation, presumably because it was ‘too offensive’. This will probably cost a good deal of money to implement, and will have no tangible benefits to anyone, yet alone aliens.
Two – Liberals attempt to solve problems that aren’t theirs to solve
Three – Liberals create problems, blame Republicans, and fail to solve them
Rent control is probably the largest contributor to unaffordable housing and poor living conditions in predominantly democrat run communities. Another is unsustainably high minimum wage which discourages employers from hiring inexperienced workers for entry level positions – the very positions that in large cities would be filled by the democrat constituency. Affirmative action is the most notorious of the liberal policies, lowering the bar so much as to discourage competitive behavior in previously discriminated demographics. Decades since all of these social experiments have been implemented and black Americans are still staggeringly unemployed, underemployed, renting as opposed to owning their homes, and living in poverty.
Four – Liberals don’t have the backbone to solve tough problems
Liberals have cornered the market on complaining and being slacktivists. The notion that if you bitch and moan and stomp your feet long and loud enough, you can make change. Oh, and using sarcasm in the absence of an intelligent answer.
When Boko Haram was headline news a couple years ago, we had a bunch of whiney white liberals calling for ‘justice’ – whatever the hell that means – and writing letters, and silk screening t-shirts, and changing their Facebook profile pic, and all around just being annoying. They accomplished absolutely nothing. This is because liberals have no resolve. They lack the spine to do what is necessary. We’re talking about some child kidnapping war lord in war torn Africa and these pansy ass white college kids are talking about ‘delivering justice’ and having some guy stand trial. Oh yeah sure. For fucks sake, just start a kick starter, raise a couple millions dollars and hire some mercenaries to kill the fucking guy if you really want to make some change.
Summary
Whereas liberals think conservatives are trying to destroy the world, I won’t feign such stupidity by reciprocating. I do legitimately believe that liberals want to help the world, end famine, disease, war, and poverty. However despite their good intentions I think many liberals lack real world experience. Experience that when had, lends itself to pragmatism and hard knocks methods more typical of conservatism. While living a life of principle is admirable, living a life of fantasy is detrimental. It leads to inflated and unrealistic expectations, like free college, the prospect of never being offended, and a guaranteed job waiting for you after college even if you got a degree in something like ‘Ethnic Studies’ with no realistic career prospects.
The thing with white liberals isn’t so much in their ideals, as it is their ideas.
Please stay tuned as I plan on following up this post soon with The Thing about (uber Religious) Conservatives.
I had been waiting for Deadpool since Fox officially announced they would make it back in 2014. I was waiting before then, since the idea of a Deadpool movie first came about in 2009 when a horrible rendition of the character appeared in Fox’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the shittiest X-Men movie in the franchise to date. In fact, XMOW was so shitty Fox literally made a sequel where they go back in time to undo the events of the movie, effectively making it non-canon.
Look two faces right of Wolverine, and who is that?! Gasp, you should! Reynolds as Wade Wilson the first time, in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
As tangential as that may have sounded, it wasn’t. It’s the shittiness of Fox’s earlier comic book movie endeavors that produced the colossus (ha, get it?) of a movie that is Deadpool.
Deadpool is a wisecracking mercenary who has healing powers similar to Wolverine, and who uses swords, knives, guns, and chimichangas to hilariously kill his way through life. He’s also cognitive of the fact that he’s a comic book character and often “breaks the fourth wall” meaning he addresses the audience directly.
Fox’s 2016 Deadpool stars Ryan Reynolds as the titular character Deadpool / Wade Wilson. What you may not know is that is technically the second time Reynolds portrayed the character. As previously mentioned, Reynolds played a version of the character, albeit a very much under done and poorly written version, in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. So that fact that Fox doubled down and went balls out to make a solo, R-Rated comic book flick about a character known for cussing up a storm and killing people actually got me a little hard.
If you haven’t seen Deadpool, SEE IT. Based on how many records it’s broken it’s hard to imagine there’s a soul left on this earth who hasn’t seen it. Ya know what, if you’ve seen it already, go see it again, smart ass.
Lets be honest, Fox took a bigger gamble with Deadpool than Marvel/Disney did with Guardians of the Galaxy. Which do you think is easier to market to children, talking raccoons in talking trees, or burn victim, foul mouthed, sex addicted mercenaries?
The movie was everything I expected and much more. It wasn’t just the above. Despite cramming in the character’s core persona and mythos, they managed to make the character relatable in and out of the spandex. Wilson talks like us. He walks like us. He drinks like us. He loves like us. He jokes like us. He’s not a choir boy, and he does fuck up every once in a while, but despite the fuckups he’s still a good guy, not a villain. And just like all of us, sometimes bad things befall him, for no wrongdoing of his own. And this movie did a fantastic job of showing what extremes a good people will go to in order to save themselves, and more importantly to better the lives of those we love.
Despite how much I love Marvel and their titles like Iron Man and Captain America, Wade Wilson is 10x more relatable to the audience than Tony Stark or Steve Rogers.
I don’t need to review this movie. The movie was great, and honestly you should see it. The only, and I mean only bad thing about the movie that I say actually has nothing to do with the movie itself. It has to do with the marketing. Fox was so worried about filling seats that they over marketed it. Leading up to the movie there were so many different teasers, trailers, clips, commercials starring Deadpool and viral marketing that by the time I first plopped my ass in the theater seat, I felt as if I had already seen the movie. And to be honest, I kinda did. Spend 20 minutes on YouTube and watch all the aforementioned and you’ve basically seen the movie. But just because I got filled up on Costco free samples doesn’t make the movie any less enjoyable.
Despite having blown most of its load in it’s advertising campaign, I still thought Deadpool was an amazing movie, and it definitely did not disappoint. It was funny, no, it was gut wrenching hilarious. On several occasions I thought I needed a respirator because I was laughing so hard I couldn’t breathe, which is sort of ironic once you’ve seen the movie. I particularly loved the jab about KFC sporks, especially since I thought I was the last person on earth to remember the fabled tool of the ancients. Just as Deadpool riddles his enemies with bullets, the entire movie is riddled with dick and fart and sex jokes and Mexican food. Comical jabs abound. The film has plenty of in your face comedy, but it also has tons of more subtle comedic moments that you have to pay attention to in order to appreciate. Tonally, the movie felt a lot like Archer.
The movie played very fast and loose with the whole breaking the fourth wall bit. Reynold’s Deadpool not only did so, but the movie also was self-aware and made plenty of references to out of movie productions that Reynolds and his former co-stars had participated in, such as Green Lantern, the Blade series, and the overall X-Men franchise even going so far as to name particular actors like Patrick Stewart, James McAvoy, and Hugh Jackman.
It also goes without saying that the movie had plenty of action. Which is interesting now that I think about it because despite centering around a guy with swords and knives and things that go boom, the movie put comedy in the drivers seat, drama in shotgun, and action in the backseat. The X franchise was so dry and dull and comedy-less with over the top action that it was refreshing to see a change of formula. Deadpool, besides his healing, really doesn’t have “super powers”. He can’t fly or control the weather or shoot red crap out of his eyes or lift the entire Golden Gate Bridge. He can run, jump, and shoot, and he does ‘em all with style. This is definitely not an action movie the likes of Michael Bay.
Most of all, I am happy for Ryan Reynolds. He seems like a nice guy who just kept getting shafted career wise. Everyone loved him in Waiting and Van Wilder, but as iconic and memorable as those roles were they probably didn’t pay too well. Blade 3 was okay, but nothing compared to Blade 2. Then he had a series of mega flops like Green Lantern and R.I.P.D. So it’s great to see him getting a stab at a role that’s finally on par with the weight his name brings to a movie.
If you want a hilarious movie, with relatable characters, excellent dialogue, a healthy dose of action, the occasional insensitive remark, and a possibly CGI’ed super suit, then this is the movie for you. Or if you’re just tired of apocalyptic (irony again!) superhero movies.
Having grown up watching Batman it’s hard to put yourself in the shoes of a Gothamite to whom Batman is merely an urban legend. Imagine growing up in Gotham hearing stories of a bat creature terrorizing the criminal underworld. Never knowing if it’s a man or a monster. Imagine being a criminal in Gotham wondering if tonight’s the night you cross The Bat.
Can You Believe That Guy?! 