Issue with modern T.V. and movies.

I have an issue, or issues rather, with modern TV and movies.

Most modern television is bland, generic, predictable, boring, toothless, tasteless, and quite frankly unintelligent.

I will explain each of the previously mentioned descriptions here:

Let's take Game of Thrones for example.

Game of Thrones is is an HBO-based show. HBO is typically associated with high-quality movies and television series.

However, I have noticed a significant decline in quality TV shows over the years and just when I think I've seen the worst, another will come along to surpass my dreary expectations.

Game of Thrones is one of the most popular shows in the U.S. currently and has seen raving success among people of every class, faith, background, etc. It is for those reasons I am picking on it, however, I will include many other shows that I feel have a significant relationship with the same sub-par qualities that Game of Thrones has.

I will give Game of Thrones props for its unique setting in an older middle-age sort-of era. The show does a wonderful job in it's costume design, props, and architecture. The plot and story are also very unique thanks to having a good author of the books.

But here is where it gets bad... and not just bad as in "that response didn't make sense" bad or "that prop seems incredibly out of place for that era", no! I mean bad as in "I can't take this show anymore... please just make it stop!"

First: the acting is quite poor. I haven't decided if it's simply the actors who are at fault or the scripts given them but to be sure; it's quite awful. I will get back to this in a minute.

Second: the script is absolute rubbish! Completely horrid! I feel as if I might go mad and finally decide to hit the local club simply because of the go-go dancers! That bad!

When the actors are conversing with one another it seems way to obvious that they're speaking at one another rather than with one another. Most people in real-life converse with one another and develop a certain flow or chemistry amongst themselves where one subject is discussed leading to another subject with several quips or remarks made in-between each subject. But in Game of Thrones, the dialogue between characters is painfully awkward and entirely without chemistry. Instead of conversations proceeding like this: " hey [x], how are you today?" "I'm fine [y], how are you?" "I'm great [x]! You know, I was just thinking about gathering an army to defeat mean ol' Joffery, what say you?" "hmmm [y] I like the idea, how do you propose we go about doing that?" Instead this is how things unravel: "hey [x],  how are you today?" "shut your mouth you jerk! You shall never talk in such a tone again." "I hear you might travel to the wall today [x]." "those bastards took my wallet." "I think I'll have some wine"
....... Now keep in mind that in between each painfully spoken sentence, there is some pause and a camera close up on the character that lasts for sometime.

In addition to the terrible conversation pieces where the characters speak at each other in a seemingly chaotic and disorganized union where the full magnitude of what character [x] said to character [y] is almost entirely dismissed, or entirely blown out of proportion.

In addition to that addition, there are several extremely long and drawn out scenes where a single conversation will take place between two people which has little to nothing to do with the ultimate plot of the show, or any relevance to anything whatsoever! It's as if the writers were not sure what to do so they included a scene that has nothing to do with anything and where the words spoken are but few; the emotion is high, and the whole scene is simply put: a waste of time.

Third: the level of rational thinking among any of the characters is completely lost! There isn't a single character in the show that portrays the least bit of maturity for their given age and experience. The producers simply said: "you are bad guy [a]; that guy over there is bad guy [b]; and both of you will simply be bad without thinking much about it." And of course vice-versa for the good guys, essentially saying "you're good so you always do good."

The bad guys are just plain bad and have no intention of thinking anything through. Where as the good guys are good but they have a host of emotional issues. Now a lot of people of high-running emotions I get that; but these guys wake up in the morning and literally piss estrogen. No one is sure of anything, but they're more than happy to give up whatever they think they're sure of in order to get what they think they are sure of that they want. Yes... what I said sound entirely dumb because there is no other eloquent way of putting such a dumb way of thinking.

Fourth: the show has very, very little action, and whatever action is shown is always very, very brief. Most of the show is centered around politics; politics of sorts that are not even in the least bit interesting. This is one of the areas where the show is quite like most other shows on television these days: group [a] wants to take action against group [b], but cannot do so without negatively affecting their relationship with group [c]. Group [c] cannot take action against group [d] without negatively impacting group [a]. Group [b] cannot take action against group [a] without negatively affecting their relationship with group [d]. And within each possible consequence there are a number of other consequences that affect the relationships within a single group: mother sets son up for success; son turns against mother; mother turns against son; and round the tree we go!

The plot moves at such a slow rate it's a pain to watch.

Ultimately the show is emotionally draining; there is very little comedy and almost all of it comes from one man (guess who); the characters are devoid of any level of realism and fail to make any connection with the audience; the dialogue is awful and painful to watch as there is no chemistry or flow to any of the conversations; and finally the show is simply boring as it moves at a snails pace towards an undefined goal.

Like most modern shows (everything on ABC, NBC, the CW, etc) the shows biggest pitfall is the lack of good dialogue. Good dialogue can overcome a poor set, bad acting, just about bad anything.

Watch shows from the early 90's and anything older than that and one thing you will notice is a lot of fun conversations that make the show appear to be moving forward in a direction. The conversations grip you and involve you in ways that modern television fails to.

Aaron Sorkin, the writer for The West Wing, is absolutely brilliant! The conversations flow between characters, often involving several characters speaking at a pace slightly faster than what most conversations take place in real life but it still manages to captivate the audience with complex discussions that involve seriousness, humor, and the whole range of emotion, without involving long and drawn out pieces where the characters are nothing more but pawns on a board.

The West Wing along with Gilmore Girls, has that fast-paced realism that is too good to avoid. Something a lot of older films had too!

Instead of decent television; we fall victim to sub-par shows where the characters all suffer from some sort of mental illness, baggage, and sorrow that trumps any possibility of them acting or speaking using logic. This sort of television is so far detached from reality that it almost seems like it's intended for a DisneyChannel age demographic. Heck, the DisneyChannel is among the worst of the worst!

The DisneyChannel features shows where every character lacks any sensibility, rationality, or maturity... yet the kids still manage to out-mature the parents who are unable to express any emotion other than laughing.

"I was walking then I saw a mouse, looked up at the sky and got hit by a space-man!" *audience laughs uncontrollably as if they are North Korean citizens seeing their leader Kim Jong-un in person* " that's awesome Billy, now watch me roll over the couch and hit my head on that spoon" "waaaaiiiiiit just a minute there young man, just what do you think you're doing?" "oh hi dad, were just playing ordering a deli yogurt." "ok I'm going to bash my head in" "ok dad, just use a proper hammer next time."
... yup, that's about how much sense the DisneyChannel makes.

Heck, television has gotten so bad that now the History Channel no longer features any history at all, ever! Now it's a series of scripted television shows and pseudo-science that belongs on the Sci-Fi Channel rather than on the History Channel (Aliens, anyone?).

For whatever; the U.S. is becoming increasingly lazier and dumber. Willingly subjecting themselves to television that numbs their senses rather than stimulating them intellectually (Murder She Wrote, Numbers, Magnum PI, etc).

How about Big Bang Theory? Surely that's an intelligent show! After all, it features scientists and engineers and has even had guest appearances by real physicists!

Nope, the BBT is pretty bad! All of the humor comes from half-thought up references that aren't funny at all, but are placed into slightly relevant conversations stooping the audience into thinking its funny. "Did you hear Leonard, the train museum is featuring a new train!" "That's great Sheldon, maybe that train can take you far away from here!" That's the writing! After that quick conversation, the entire show will turn another direction from there.

The show does not feature any level of serious science, or even scientific references. Nor does the show boast any qualitative conversation that might draw the audience into thinking "wow that was really brilliant and funny!"

All of it is really lazy writing. I can write entire seasons of shows that are better than either Game of Thrones or BBT, or 90% of shows on television today. And before you say "then do it!" I'd like to say "I am".

I want the West Wing, Magnum PI, Home Improvement, Seinfield, Scrubs, JAG, and anything that has some backbone in it. Something I can get immersed in and makes me think!

Now, I don't want to end on a sour note so I do want to mention some great shows that are on TV right now:
1) Blue Bloods-CBS
   -This show is in a class of its own. The acting is superb, the script is good, conversation between characters is good, and they all seem like normal, down to earth people without a host of mental issues. It's a good, clean show with a heavy family emphasis that is awesome and refreshing to see.
2) Shark Tank-ABC
   -Not really a typical show, more of a reality show, but a darn good one at that! Anyone looking to start a business, or just curious to see the process of securing a loan can learn a lot from this show! Not to mention, it's entertaining as hell!
3) Deadliest Catch-Discovery
   -Again, not a conventional show as it is a reality show but it is really addicting! This season is really slow, and I'm guessing its because of the reduced crab quotas set forth by the government.
4) House of Cards-Netflix
   -This show is really good. The conversations aren't incredibly fast like on the West Wing, but there is a level of normalcy about it and Kevin Spaceys acting is delightful! A good script, excellent plot and dangerous twists keep will keep you on your toes!

It seems like most shows now-days focus too much on the clothing, hair, and making a cocky hero out of nothing. Notice that almost all the lead actors who are the "heros" or main stars of the show are extremely one-dimensional? They're all very bravado, masculine, arrogant, cocky, and all-knowing. They all drive nice cars, have nice clothes, perfect hair, and speak cool and calm the vast majority of the time. Because they're all so alike, and because of the shows heavy reliance on them; every show is nearly the same. Here is a list of shows fitting that description:

1 ) CSI: Miami
2) CSI: Las Vegas
3) CSI: New York
4) Castle -how did the police ever solve cases without Castle?
5) The Mentalist -what is the point of the police, and why is the girl a police officer? The Mentalist does everything, making her entirely irrelevant to the show!

I'm sure there are more but I don't watch much TV outside of the four shows I listed above.

Other notable shows that are completely retarded:
1) Vampire Diaries- what is the point of the show if you just make up random crap every episode that only serves to confuse and over-complicate things?
2) Cult-been cancelled finally!
3) Gossip Girl-Cancelled too!
4) One Tree Hill-show ended a few years back, but still horrid.
5) The O.C. -same as One Tree Hill
6) Any and all vampire shows.

And finally, the channels that provide the most unintelligent, most boring, and most tasteless shows known to man (and they should be banned out right):
1) DisneyChannel-when I have kids they will never know what this is! Disney used to produce some good television, but these days it's insane, I mean it... every show is literally insane and worthless. It's dumbing-down kids everywhere.
2) History Channel-why it called the History channel if there is no history?
3) NBC-how is NBC still in business? They haven't put out a good show in years!
5) Fox-providing false information and irrelevant cynicism since before time!

I'd like to see al-Jazeera gain popularity in the states. It's a great news channel, that is also timely, accurate, and more non-biased than any other larger news network in America. I'd take al-Jazeera over Fox, NBC, ABC, MSNBC, HLN, and CNN. They do a good job of just reporting the facts, without including heavy bias.

Current status!

Hello all,

So I haven't been on here much as life outside of the internet has been very demanding. I have almost completed this semester so that means that I shall spend more time on here writing.

In addition to my studies in school; I am also working on writing a book and preparing a fairly large blog post I hope to post on here within the next month regarding 9/11, terrorism, national security, etc. It's a tedious gathering up qualified sources of data, writing, and finally editing/organizing a post of such magnitude in addition to everything else life is throwing at me but I fully intend to finish it sooner rather than later!

Cheers,



RT

Happenings.

Hi all,

I haven't posted in here for a while due to many things happening. My last living grandmother died, followed by one of my close friends. School and life has added to my stress and taken away a lot of time I would otherwise have to post here.

Anyways,

The U.S. government seems eager and more than willing to collapse; economically speaking. With sequester in full-swing we are witnessing the greatest dysfunction within our political system in history. 

To add to the flavor; president Obama has not change much since the Bush era. Allowing drone strikes to occur anywhere in the world and to strike any man, woman, or child anytime and place (including the U.S.) is quite scary. 

The air-force has now wiped-clean all drone strike data with regards to Afghanistan.

The Republicans are quite frankly, insane. Showing complete and utter disdain for logic and for their fellow Americans, they're more than willing to sacrifice men, women, and children for the sake of corporate greed.

I'd like to end this blip on a good note: SpaceX has launched their new Grasshopper rocket to a new height of 263 feet! If you're not familiar with SpaceX or the Grasshopper rocket, then please Google them! The Grasshopper rocket is an autonomous rocket that not only takes off vertically (big deal-right!) but also lands vertical with incredible accuracy!

Is Philosophy Dead?

I've been wondering about this question for a while now: is philosophy dead?

Where are the philosophers that have had as big of an impact on the world as Socrates, Aristotle, Kant, Nietzsche, or Russell?

Is philosophy dead now and fully evolved? Is it practical? Is it worthwhile? Is it still applicable? Is it just paused for a moment? What else is there in the field of philosophy?

I've been wondering this for quite some time now. We don't have any philosophers who have impacted the world in the same way that Aristotle did. No new theories that have any significance, and no models or propositions that hold any weight?

How come?

Current State

Hello,

I have not been keeping up to date with my blog and I apologize for that! I moved to a different state and have been very busy lately but I have not forgotten about my blog entirely. I've picked up programming and web-development that I will use to integrate this blog into a website of its own sometime down the road. Hopefully sooner rather than later!

Anyways...

I have a lot I want to cover so I plan to touch on a lot of different topics here and then further analyze them in my other blogs.

First up: the election/politics.

Obama versus Romney; election 2012! It's riveting, it's thought-provoking, it's.... it's... boring? Lame? Yes! There I said it! This election is meh!

Why do I say that? Well thank you for asking and please allow me to elaborate!

In one corner of the political ring we have Obama. Sitting across from him lies Romney. Romney is terrible, Obama is pretty awesome. Done!

Ok, I will say more than just that.

Romney has become the top dog for the Republican party and what he say's and what he does speaks volumes for the party in its entirety; it doesn't matter how right or wrong he is in regards to his party representation.

I simply cannot fathom why anyone would support this guy. I don't care to understand either to be frank. There is no possible way a person could justify supporting him. Romney has flip-flopped more than John Kerry ever could. He has blatantly and consciously lied to the entire country... repeatedly! He is nonsensical, he is deceitful, and he is a bad planner.

During each of the three debates he failed to clarify his plans for the economy. He cannot tell anyone how his plan to balance the budget will work in the midst of the nations greatest economic organizations and councils saying "it's impossible", but he none the less expects the nation he can do it within a four year term during which he will lower taxes on the middle class, increase military spending [which is not necessary and not asked for by the military], and cut government "waste", again he cannot clarify and has not clarified what "wasteful spending" looks like.
Now cutting taxes to help balance a budget in the middle of a recession where the government finds itself in a deficit actually looks fairly smart from one angle. Why? Well consider this. If the middle-class has their taxes lowered they will have more money in their pockets every year. This alone does not solve anything because now we have to predict what households will do with their extra cash. Will they spend it purchasing goods and services? If they do, they will be creating demand which boosts the economy and can create more jobs and more wealth. It's called the "multiplier effect" and it's a very valid principle.
   But what if they don't spend that money? What if instead, households decide to save that extra cash and put it away in the bank? Well if I have an extra $100 in my wallet that I decide to put away in the bank, the bank will then have an extra $100 to invest. Assuming they use the full dollar amount of that $100 to invest they may or may not be helping the economy out. If it's in the form of stocks or bonds it's unlikely to do much for the economy, depending on the company. If it's a reinvestment in their own company where they add such things as physical, or even human capital, the result is economic growth. But banks are required to have a certain amount of cash stored in their vaults that can be easily accessed in case of an emergency, such as a sudden and dramatic increase in withdrawals made by customers. This is called the banks reserve. The reserve is considered to be money withdrawn from circulation and thus is not moving. It does not create jobs nor help support jobs. It's completely static.

But which choice are households most likely to make if Romney's middle-class tax plan came into effect say, next year? It is likely that households would decide to save that extra cash as opposed to spending it. It's called the principle of thrift. Households saving cash in anticipation of future economic hardship. We are still in a recession and money is still relatively scarce for most folks so it's highly probable that most people would choose to save their money rather than buy a new TV or computer.

So Romney's plan is completely contingent not only on the hope that Americans would spend that extra cash, but also on ignorance. Personally, if I had an extra $1,000 at the end of the year I would save it. Same with $10,000. Unless I had an extra amount of cash coming to me in the amount of $100,000, I don't think I would spend much, if any of it.

This is a partial debunkment of Romney's plan. I say partial because I am assuming a lot of things here based upon the most probable theories. In other words; educated guesses. Krugman, Reich, and others have the computational models to back it up.

But it's not just his incredible lack of knowledge of even the most basic economic concepts. It's also his personality. He seems to want to win so bad that he's willing to flip-flop and change his mind on anything that he's ever said just to get the attention of more people. It's also his lies. I can't stand his incessant ability to lie without remorse to more than 300 million Americans repeatedly. Whatever moral grounds Republicans had is long gone. If their leading representative is also a repeatedly dishonest man I feel that say's more than enough about the party.

But this leads me to digress...

On to the politics of politics!

I've been watching a lot of Neil de Grasse Tyson clips on Youtube and came across one in particular where he goes on an epic rant against politicians.

I will summarize it here:
What are the backgrounds of politicians? The senators, representatives, governors, congressman/women? The overwhelming majority, ~80-85% studied law.
What is law?
Basically, it's arguing. It's about who can be more persuasive. That's what lawyers do right?

So we have a political base that is made up of lawyers or would be lawyers who were trained to argue. Hmmm, does something smell bad here? Maybe that's why bills and legislation moves so slow. Maybe that's why the nation has such a hard time recovering and moving forward. Our politicians are not focused on facts and whats best, but merely arguing with one another.

Now envision a congress that was filled with politicians whose backgrounds were in engineering, math, and the sciences. Where reason, logic, and honesty filled the room like a sweet smoke. Say hello to mars, to distant galaxies, to new technologies, and wealth. No wars, no deficit, no hate. Just simply logic taking hold and leading the nation to new heights. That's an America that would make all men and women jealous!

Life is unpredictable.

I want to discuss how unpredictable life is. I am going to inject my own journal here (yes I keep a journal, I keep a few):

One thing I have learned that I have managed to ignore for all these years, is that life is unpredictable. It is simply and resoundingly unpredictable. You can make plans for your future, and decide today what you will do tomorrow in any order at any time. But, there is no knowing if we will accomplish our plan to any degree of certainty. I may be late to class tomorrow because of traffic, or maybe I over slept. I may not make it to work because someone I know, died. Life is a funny thing in this way. Because we try so very hard to plan for everything and make something that is ultimately uncertain and uncontrollable, predictable and certain.
It’s like trying to grip a freshly caught fish with one hand. The fish is still slimy and wet when you pull him out of the water making it difficult to hold on to him even while he is still, but then he flails around and attempts to get out of your grip making you struggle to gain control over him.
Life is like that, except you never really have control of it.

And when you lose control and feel you can’t gain it back again you’re crushed. It’s like losing a part of you that you never know whether or not you will get it back. Wires become crossed and tangled and eventually you begin losing your mind and resort to seeing only the small, and really non-important fixtures of life that do not deserve as much thought and attention you give. You have just lost the battle; you have just sacrificed a part of your sanctity for something that is not real. You fall down the rabbit hole expecting to land on your feet only to realize that you’re still falling and have not the faintest clue how to go about picking up the pieces.

It's a humorous dance of who will take the lead, who will follow, and ultimately who will remain in control and the longest. Can you dance to the melody that's playing?

Maybe that sounds cliche', but it makes sense to me. 

Sometimes I feel as though I have lost a lot and I get so caught up with that belief that I never really make any progress or experience any growth because I have become a ghost, or a shell of a man that I think I once was.

Life is uncertain. We cannot battle it our whole lives trying to make sense of it. We play by predetermined rules that are not subjective. The best we can do is find a rhythm that we can get into harmonious synchronization with.

All things play according to the Almighty's plan.

My thoughts! [3/20/12]

Hello everyone!

I am here to present my current thoughts and even my predictions on exactly American and global issues and forecasts!

I am open to questions and interpretation no doubt but this post is in regards to how I've been a pedestrian in worldly politics and complex socioenvironmental changes.

This may sound horribly cynical and depressing but it in no way reflects my overall mood and positive outlook of life!

1) The U.S. is done for as the world sole super-power.
---Why?---
a) The U.S. has a large and increasing anti-intellectual base support group that is heavily representative of the Republican party and Christian fundamentalists.
*--- This has a huge and dramatic effect on the way we publicly fund academic and intelligent adventures. It sounds funny but really it's not funny at all! NASA.... currently suffering from a recent cut in government funding handed to them by the Obama administration who feels the pressures of war....

Pressed for time. Will come back to this as soon as I can!