Genres come in trends. They're in for awhile, then they're out. Zombies have been overdone since 2006, but for some reason the internet still thinks they're hip and relevant. It's like Dad buying you Guitar Hero 1 for Christmas.
"This faux trailer presents Super Mario Bros. as the classic war movie The Inglorious Bastards (or possibly the new Quentin Tarantino remake). It’s called The Inglorious Plumbers and was produced by Nick Murphy."
It's definitely the Tarantino movie, which isn't a remake. This takes footage directly from the first Basterds trailer, and the original Inglorious Bastards has absolutely NOTHING to do with the plot of the new one.
Wah-wah-wah. Coming from someone who's read the book and loved it as a child, I prefer the way the original translates the spirit if not the letter of Dahl's genius. Those who think that good adaptations are literal adaptations doesn't understand the difference between books and film.
It's all about the heart, and Wolper's version has that in spades. It's also far more menacing in a much more subversive way, which preserves Dahl's intent in a completely different and completely complementary way.
"Like it or not, the popular opinion of rap is guns, drugs and pimps."
You're right, to the mainstream culture, that's the popular image. I'm arguing that it doesn't have to be that way.
"Now, be fair. All we have to go on is the stuff we hear. Would you actively track down more examples of a music style you didn’t like, just in case you were wrong? “Hey, i really hate country and western but maybe if I listen to hundreds of tracks I might start to understand it! Still sounds crap, though…”"
Yes. I have sought out more examples of genres I initially disliked just in case I was wrong. I used to hate all country because I thought it was all hick music misinterpreting the Bible and blind patriotism. Then I learned a little more about the origins of country and was able to find some artists I genuinely enjoy, artists whose albums I own now. I understood that the mainstream popular opinion of country music was based on something very distant from the genre's true character.
It seems that your argument is one that supports accepting the cultural definitions of art without question rather than making a concerted effort to educate yourself first.
And by simple answer to our problems, I simply meant that we as a culture have a history of blaming our societal ills on various scapegoats, whether they be 1930s gangster movies, 1950s rock 'n' roll, or modern-day hip-hop.
Finally, if you just don't like hip-hop as a matter of taste, i.e. you don't like the way it sounds, I have no problem with that. That's an entirely different position that what we've been arguing here. You can not prefer something and still be able to respect it.
All I'm saying is that Biggie aside, who is honestly an overrated but compelling public figure, the intention of hip-hop music was never to glorify violence, drug selling, etc. It was to reflect the already inherent problems in the community. See N.W.A.'s song "Dopeman", about how despicable drug dealers are for ruining the community (quote: "If you smoke crack you a stupid motherf*****"). See also Run D.M.C.'s song "Crack", about a man who loses everything by toking up. See Public Enemy's entire canon for more examples of socially progressive messages. See 2Pac's "Brenda's Got a Baby" too.
Point is that most criticisms of hip-hop come from reactionaries who know very little about its history, and have only been exposed to the dumbed-down media feed that is inherent in all mainstream entertainment (sold mostly by old white men to young white teens).
Good hip-hop still exists, but you don't bother to find it because it's easier to find a simple answer to our problems by demonizing an entire medium of expression than to actually do some research. I don't care what you think about Biggie Smalls, I'm arguing the big picture.
I really think it just comes down to racism...otherwise I feel like there would be more backlash against, I dunno, EVERY rock band ever featured on this trivia for their involvement in drugs, sex, and general debauchery. But nope! It's the rapper you target. There's something wrong with this picture.
People who talk down about hip-hop are the same idiots that were saying jazz wasn't real music in the 1930s.
Hip-hop didn't influence a group of people to lead a life of crime. Hip-hop began as a reflection of the black community, largely as a socially conscious artform. The reason rap on the radio sucks so much today is because of white teenagers.
But people need to listen to real hip-hop before they have anything to say on the subject. I'm not the biggest fan of Biggie, but he is a huge figure and the trivia's interesting.
Reading some of these comments makes me seriously consider not reading Neatorama anymore, if I'm sharing webspace with so many jerks.
"He sold drugs so he's a scumbag." Statements like this come from a place of absolutely no understanding for the disenfranchised black communities that exist in your own country. I'm so tired of intellectual self-congratulating white people...
It's definitely the Tarantino movie, which isn't a remake. This takes footage directly from the first Basterds trailer, and the original Inglorious Bastards has absolutely NOTHING to do with the plot of the new one.
THIS is what makes the original a better film. Dahl is meant to scare you.
Wah-wah-wah. Coming from someone who's read the book and loved it as a child, I prefer the way the original translates the spirit if not the letter of Dahl's genius. Those who think that good adaptations are literal adaptations doesn't understand the difference between books and film.
It's all about the heart, and Wolper's version has that in spades. It's also far more menacing in a much more subversive way, which preserves Dahl's intent in a completely different and completely complementary way.
You're right, to the mainstream culture, that's the popular image. I'm arguing that it doesn't have to be that way.
"Now, be fair. All we have to go on is the stuff we hear. Would you actively track down more examples of a music style you didn’t like, just in case you were wrong? “Hey, i really hate country and western but maybe if I listen to hundreds of tracks I might start to understand it! Still sounds crap, though…”"
Yes. I have sought out more examples of genres I initially disliked just in case I was wrong. I used to hate all country because I thought it was all hick music misinterpreting the Bible and blind patriotism. Then I learned a little more about the origins of country and was able to find some artists I genuinely enjoy, artists whose albums I own now. I understood that the mainstream popular opinion of country music was based on something very distant from the genre's true character.
It seems that your argument is one that supports accepting the cultural definitions of art without question rather than making a concerted effort to educate yourself first.
And by simple answer to our problems, I simply meant that we as a culture have a history of blaming our societal ills on various scapegoats, whether they be 1930s gangster movies, 1950s rock 'n' roll, or modern-day hip-hop.
Finally, if you just don't like hip-hop as a matter of taste, i.e. you don't like the way it sounds, I have no problem with that. That's an entirely different position that what we've been arguing here. You can not prefer something and still be able to respect it.
All I'm saying is that Biggie aside, who is honestly an overrated but compelling public figure, the intention of hip-hop music was never to glorify violence, drug selling, etc. It was to reflect the already inherent problems in the community. See N.W.A.'s song "Dopeman", about how despicable drug dealers are for ruining the community (quote: "If you smoke crack you a stupid motherf*****"). See also Run D.M.C.'s song "Crack", about a man who loses everything by toking up. See Public Enemy's entire canon for more examples of socially progressive messages. See 2Pac's "Brenda's Got a Baby" too.
Point is that most criticisms of hip-hop come from reactionaries who know very little about its history, and have only been exposed to the dumbed-down media feed that is inherent in all mainstream entertainment (sold mostly by old white men to young white teens).
Good hip-hop still exists, but you don't bother to find it because it's easier to find a simple answer to our problems by demonizing an entire medium of expression than to actually do some research. I don't care what you think about Biggie Smalls, I'm arguing the big picture.
I really think it just comes down to racism...otherwise I feel like there would be more backlash against, I dunno, EVERY rock band ever featured on this trivia for their involvement in drugs, sex, and general debauchery. But nope! It's the rapper you target. There's something wrong with this picture.
Hip-hop didn't influence a group of people to lead a life of crime. Hip-hop began as a reflection of the black community, largely as a socially conscious artform. The reason rap on the radio sucks so much today is because of white teenagers.
But people need to listen to real hip-hop before they have anything to say on the subject. I'm not the biggest fan of Biggie, but he is a huge figure and the trivia's interesting.
Reading some of these comments makes me seriously consider not reading Neatorama anymore, if I'm sharing webspace with so many jerks.
"He sold drugs so he's a scumbag." Statements like this come from a place of absolutely no understanding for the disenfranchised black communities that exist in your own country. I'm so tired of intellectual self-congratulating white people...
Red mercury makes you all uninhibited and callous and dishonorable. Black mercury can split you into two separate personas.
Really watch out for green mercury--it can kill you.
Not sure what purple mercury does.