posted
Here's a comics related thing. I hate having Mr. Terrific (Terry Sloane) be retro-actively part of the JSA.
-------------------- Five billion years from now the Sun will go nova and obliterate the Earth. Don't sweat the small stuff!
From: Boston | Registered: Aug 2003
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cleome46
or you can do the confusion 'til your head falls off
posted
Sandman.
There. I said it. I have tried in vain for years, on an off, to feel something positive towards it. But I've always failed. Gaiman's style just always seems overly precious and stifling to me. And so many of his characters' Big Revelations leave me either puzzled or frankly feeling like they got everything wrong.
-------------------- Hey, Kids! My "Cranky and Kitschy" collage art is now viewable on flickr. Drop by and tell me that I sent you.
From: Vanity, OR | Registered: Dec 2008
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posted
Bike riders in big cities. Your safety is your responsibility, not ours @$$hole. Get out if the street.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
actually, it is, lol. But I kinda agree with you. Many don't know the rules of the road when it concerns bikes and automobiles. Auto drivers bear more of the responsibility the way it plays in court.
People that wave to the camera behind home plate on televised ball games. Oh, you are on camera and talking to friends/loved ones/etc... Don't care, I'm there to watch the game, not your need for recognition. Put the freakin cell phone down and pay attention to your kid beside you and the game.
-------------------- Damn you, you kids! Get off my lawn or I'm callin' tha cops!
I'm sorry, but a large part of the appeal of the super-hero genre is that super-heroes have super-powers. I just don't get the appeal. I have a soft spot for some non-powered Golden Age characters, but as a modern-day hero, I just don't get it. What really bugs me when people say the only DC character they like is Batman.
-------------------- The only character in all of literature who has been described as "badnass" while using the phrase "vile miscreant."
From: The Pyngwyn Colonies of Planet Hyustyn | Registered: Aug 2005
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I've come to admire certain things about the character, but, when I was a kid, he was the last hero I wanted be like. He watched his parents get killed. He has no powers. He had an annoying teenaged sidekick following him around (anyone who has had a a baby brother can attest to how annoying that can be). He strikes terror into the hearts of ordinary citizens as well as criminals. He's frequently wanted by the police, distrusted by his super-hero colleagues (whom he distrusts in return), and displays no emotion other than grim. If he were a kid at school, the other kids would avoid him.
That said, I think those qualities translate better in the films than they do in the comics.
-------------------- The Semi-Great Gildersleeve - writing, super-heroes, and this 'n' that
From: The Stasis Zone | Registered: Jul 2003
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cleome46
or you can do the confusion 'til your head falls off
posted
quote:Originally posted by Rockhopper Lad: Batman.
I'm sorry, but a large part of the appeal of the super-hero genre is that super-heroes have super-powers. I just don't get the appeal. I have a soft spot for some non-powered Golden Age characters, but as a modern-day hero, I just don't get it. What really bugs me when people say the only DC character they like is Batman.
It's not the non-powered aspect that bothers me. It's the idea that everyone should worship Mr. Millionaire who is somehow --because he has no powers-- to be regarded as a self-made man, or hero. And a lot of stories, by the admission of some of the character's biggest fans, are essentially "competence porn." Batman is always perfect and right about everything. Anyone who starts out in a story doubting his rightness and perfection always ends up being cured of their dreadful skepticism by story's end.
Plus, he's just really, really, really overexposed. Much like Wolverine and Deadpool over at Marvel.
-------------------- Hey, Kids! My "Cranky and Kitschy" collage art is now viewable on flickr. Drop by and tell me that I sent you.
From: Vanity, OR | Registered: Dec 2008
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posted
Great thread! I've always found contrarianism useful for identifying weaknesses in an argument, and this thread does that well. I really enjoyed Sandman for the parts that WEREN'T precious but in your face, but I had the same thought you did while watching Gaiman's Dr. Who episode--weird, eccentric characters whose eccentricity seems forced and inauthentic.
On Batman, competence porn is a brilliant term! The line to walk with Batman is "always find a way" versus "Ioutsmart everybody without breaking a sweat." Morrison had Batman achieve a peak experience against Darkseid and Dr. Hurt, but it's time for Grant to back off the omniscient stuff.
As for things you are supposed to like, but don't. The rainbow Lanterns. It seems like a great, universe-expanding idea, colors and emotions makes sense, it rationalizes the Star Sapphire thing. But I just HATE it. It dilutes and cheapens the power of the original GL concept, the Guardians are ineffectual boobs, the blood-spurting Rage Lanterns are too gruesome, as are the Fear Lanterns most of the time. Blecch.
-------------------- ...but you don't have a moment where you're sitting there staring at a table full of twenty-five characters with little name signs that say, "Hi, my superpower is confusing you!"
From: Chicago, IL | Registered: Jul 2004
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-------------------- Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water...
From: The waters off eastern Long Island | Registered: Jul 2003
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cleome46
or you can do the confusion 'til your head falls off
posted
Romantic comedies. So many of them are just full of creepy behavior and thoroughly unlikable characters.
-------------------- Hey, Kids! My "Cranky and Kitschy" collage art is now viewable on flickr. Drop by and tell me that I sent you.
From: Vanity, OR | Registered: Dec 2008
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quote:Originally posted by cleome: Romantic comedies. So many of them are just full of creepy behavior and thoroughly unlikable characters.
Ditto on that. Some romantic comedies are wonderful, if the characters being in love is only one aspect of the story, but more often than not, they're more depressing than anything else.
-------------------- The only character in all of literature who has been described as "badnass" while using the phrase "vile miscreant."
From: The Pyngwyn Colonies of Planet Hyustyn | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
They tend to be a tad to formulaic for me. Boy meets girl. Some trumped up thing they have to overcome. Boy has to be the one to chase down girl and convince her that he's worth it. If there's a "LOT" of comedy, then its bearable. Honestly, I'd rather watch something like the DIY channel or the history channel. Thank god Carol loves them too.
-------------------- Damn you, you kids! Get off my lawn or I'm callin' tha cops!
cleome46
or you can do the confusion 'til your head falls off
posted
quote:Originally posted by Rockhopper Lad:
quote:Originally posted by cleome: Romantic comedies. So many of them are just full of creepy behavior and thoroughly unlikable characters.
Ditto on that. Some romantic comedies are wonderful, if the characters being in love is only one aspect of the story, but more often than not, they're more depressing than anything else.
Yup. Kevin Murphy of MST3K fame also points out that A) Secondary characters are often more likable and interesting than main characters and B) It's easy to feel sorry for secondary characters in these things, since their customary purpose is to present some trivial obstacle to the Twue Destiny of Alpha Male and Alpha Female being together. We're supposed to feel like the straw obstacle makes the Twue Wuv stronger, but usually all it does is make the Alphas look like selfish jerks who don't care about anything but themselves.
[ETA- The comparable handful of same-sex RomComs may not be so bad about this, but I haven't seen enough of them to know.]
-------------------- Hey, Kids! My "Cranky and Kitschy" collage art is now viewable on flickr. Drop by and tell me that I sent you.
From: Vanity, OR | Registered: Dec 2008
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future king
Excuse me but can you please direct me to the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles?
posted
Thai/Indian food.
Ok, ok I know this is purely a matter of personal taste. Sorry but aside from the odd little thing or two that I've tried and they were, mmm ok, I just don't get it. My stomach has yet to "jump on the band wagon" I guess! I've tried to enjoy it but I still don't.
Give me my steak and potatoes anyday of the week!
From: ontario | Registered: Feb 2007
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