The Film Thread

[Niall_Quinn]

Think back to discussion about being bored with all the superhero movies. How many times can they tell the same stories from the same perspective? How many of the movies we’ve seen star the same white male protagonist? Is that partly the reason why it gets so boring?

My guess it’s the same issue with Dr. Who. I’d say they’ve got the creative licences to change the race and gender of the character because they’ve been working off this reincarnation concept for ages.

But as said before, this sort of thing has been going on for ages but it’s in reverse where producers have chosen a white actor over another ethnicity. When groups have tried to speak up about it, they’re often been shouted down or ignored. If we are to believe there is an agenda in the media today with the ‘tokenism’, would be fair to say there has been an agenda against marginalised groups when it comes to representation?

Could this be linked to Britain having a cultural heritage that stretches back thousands of years? Whilst diverse, Britain's cultural identity is unmistakably western. Mostly whitish dudes coming over here and invading shit and breeding with the mostly whitish (or Welsh) locals. And then, relatively in the blink of an eye, rich dudes who lamented the loss of slave labourphilanthropists and liberal types shipped in a whole bunch of people with radically different cultures. We've had how many short years to dismantle one identity and replace it with another? Not many really. I'd say we were moving along at a commendable crack. I even find it understandable that some people are uneasy with the elimination of a cultural strand that spans millennia. Though I'd never be brave enough to agree with them in public.

[Letters]

If we are to believe there is an agenda in the media today with the ‘tokenism’, would be fair to say there has been an agenda against marginalised groups when it comes to representation?

I think that is fair. Well, I don't know about an overt agenda but maybe a more subtle kind of racism. And that does need addressing. But I do think it's getting to the "positive discrimination" point where they start casting females in clearly male roles.

All that said, I think whatserhface is a brilliant actress and will make a good doctor. Never liked Capaldi much as the doctor, might actually be a better show now.

[Niall_Quinn]

You MONSTER!

I got better!

And I don't appreciate you being so presumptive (and vain) as to refer to me as "you".

[Letters]

At my Grade 6 Easter Play, Jesus was a chick.

He would be spinning in his grave

[Niall_Quinn]

He would be spinning in his grave

Maybe that's how she ascended into heaven. To be seated at the right hand of the primary child care technician.

[Power n Glory]

Could this be linked to Britain having a cultural heritage that stretches back thousands of years? Whilst diverse, Britain's cultural identity is unmistakably western. Mostly whitish dudes coming over here and invading shit and breeding with the mostly whitish (or Welsh) locals. And then, relatively in the blink of an eye, rich dudes who lamented the loss of slave labourphilanthropists and liberal types shipped in a whole bunch of people with radically different cultures. We've had how many short years to dismantle one identity and replace it with another? Not many really. I'd say we were moving along at a commendable crack. I even find it understandable that some people are uneasy with the elimination of a cultural strand that spans millennia. Though I'd never be brave enough to agree with them in public.

Women were immigrants? That cultural heritage excludes women from the picture?

I’m also including what I was talking earlier with Hollywood films. It’s not just about Britain. I’m talking about about recent films like Gods of Egypt, Ghost in the Shell and Argo. If we’re talking about cultural heritage that stretches back thousands of years, is it not valid to ask why it’s ok to ignore heritage and culture in these sort of films?

[Power n Glory]

I think that is fair. Well, I don't know about an overt agenda but maybe a more subtle kind of racism. And that does need addressing. But I do think it's getting to the "positive discrimination" point where they start casting females in clearly male roles.

All that said, I think whatserhface is a brilliant actress and will make a good doctor. Never liked Capaldi much as the doctor, might actually be a better show now.

This what I mean about Dr. Who. It’s a grey area if the character regenerates with a new body and new personality all the time.
Out of 13 different Dr.Who incarnations, one is a woman. Meh. It’s nothing to get upset about really.

[Niall_Quinn]

Women were immigrants? That cultural heritage excludes women from the picture?

I’m also including what I was talking earlier with Hollywood films. It’s not just about Britain. I’m talking about about recent films like Gods of Egypt, Ghost in the Shell and Argo. If we’re talking about cultural heritage that stretches back thousands of years, is it not valid to ask why it’s ok to ignore heritage and culture in these sort of films?

Try to be a bit less literal will you? I'm not focusing on any specific, I'm looking at the whole PC movement in general. It's a very recent thing and its demands are being met at a breakneck pace. So what if we did have English speaking films with white guys playing the lead roles? Weren't most of the English speaking actors white guys prior to planned homogenisation of the species? They're more than compensating now though, aren't they? To the extent you can't watch anything for more than 5 minutes without some minority message being forced down your throat, whether that message has any significance to the subject matter or not. So what's the problem? You give them 200mph and they huff because we're not there yet. Are we there yet, are we there yet, are we there yet? Bloody good job for them they don't live in a communist or eastern influenced nation or they'd have had a right slap by now. Bloody good job for them the west, for all its flaws and profitable mishaps, has been the leading the charge for human rights for centuries.

We're soon going to live in a world where culture, gender, language, the family unit, all the elements that formed the cohesion in our societies will be lost. Replaced by an open ended equality (using the modern definition) that relegates everyone to the lowest denomination. The exact opposite of diversity, by the way, but you can't get anywhere near that realisation without braving of a string of carefully laid minefields. To resist is to be regressive. Resistance is futile.

Even so, this could all be a good thing if enacted in the interests of the many, for the many. But who benefits in reality?

[Niall_Quinn]

This what I mean about Dr. Who. It’s a grey area if the character regenerates with a new body and new personality all the time.
Out of 13 different Dr.Who incarnations, one is a woman. Meh. It’s nothing to get upset about really.

Yes, if you limit your observation to Dr Who, there's nothing much to see here. One lazy and self indulgent writer handing over to a mediocre, at best, writer who needs an edge to give him a fighting chance. The PC agenda is his friend in this instance and it's an easy win for a lazy guy. It's laughable this has been viewed as a brave decision, but there's not much analysis in the mainstream these days.

Take it wider and Dr Who becomes another target on a long list. It's not the TV programme that's the problem, it's the social engineering program.

[Power n Glory]

The social engineering program has been going on for a long time, NQ. But it's only now that you see it at work because it's not doing what you consider as normal.

To the extent you can't watch anything for more than 5 minutes without some minority message being forced down your throat, whether that message has any significance to the subject matter or not.

Really? How do you think anyone outside of being a white male has felt over the years?