Not everyone participates in reading the deeper meaning of media.
Some people just turn off their brains and watch the magic smiles box and come away liking the characters and movie without thinking any further than what was portrayed on screen.
Half the characters on this list are just really awesome visual/character portrayals.
They didn’t misunderstand the message, you misunderstood their intent going into the media.
You watch movies to dissect their meanings, others watch movies to escape reality for a bit.
Rorshach not being on there is disappointing.
Author: Satirizes toxic masculinity via cartoonishly terrible male characters
A concerningly significant portion of men: basedbasedbasedbasedbased
Based? Based on what?
Two more for the pile
Edit: ironically, it seems my media literacy could be called into question here too based on the mismatch between the tone of OP meme and the tone of the responses I posted. Context for anybody missing it below.
The punisher is a revenge fantasy carried out on corrupt policemen. The message was basically acab before acab was a thing people said. Policemen, who tend to have IQ that matches their best mile time in minutes, love to plaster his logo all over everything they own.
The bottom photo is Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine. Rather than summarize his story, I’ll share his response when a prominent conservative politician tweeted about RatM being their favorite band. “I wonder what [Paul] Ryan’s favorite Rage song is? Is it the one where we condemn the genocide of Native Americans? The one lambasting American imperialism? Our cover of “Fuck the Police”? Or is it the one where we call on the people to seize the means of production? So many excellent choices to jam out to at Young Republican meetings!”
I know the point of Tom Morello being included is because RATM is completely misunderstood by conservatives, but it makes me giggle because he did a song for Final Fantasy XIV because a friend he played D&D with also knew a guy involved and it just happened.
But progressives can have hobbies. It’s fine. Lol
Morello was in a Voyager episode?!?!? I don’t even really like RATM, but holy fuckin BASED
Who’s the dude in the bottom picture?
Tom Morello
What’s Tom doing in that list? From everything I’ve heard about him he seems like a great guy
It’s a “misunderstood the message” in the opposite direction. He wrote angry songs about how the establishment is evil, and pro-establishment people thought they were angry songs about how people trying to change the establishment were evil.
I wonder if the message is about Rage Against the Machine and how conservatives always misunderstand the lyrics because they have zero media literacy.
Same with Born in the USA. They hear the chorus and think it’s about how America rocks, but it’s really about how we traumatize our soldiers and leave our vets out to dry.
Fortunate Son too
When did rage against the machine go woke?
Edit: Damn. It’s funny how much you all suck.
Upvoted because I caught the sarcasm lmao.
Before they formed as a band.
Lol.
Do you ever consider why being aware of and against horrible things happening to innocent people, aware of the people in charge scamming and laughing at you while you scrabble around in the dirt blaming other people being scammed just like you is considered an insult by your kind?
Do you just enjoy the feeling of constantly being made a fool? Is that why you think ‘woke’ is such an insult? Some kind of weird kink about being robbed and abused?
It turns out Lemmy is full of humorless morons.
Rage against the machine going woke is a very common joke on the internet. XD
https://www.newscorpse.com/ncWP/?p=7794
Tom Morello, took offense to the fact that Mitt Romney’s choice for vice-president, Paul Ryan, cited Rage as his favorite band
Right wingers are too dumb to have media literacy and tend to love RATM. I do agree just a photo of him was probably the most confusing way to convey that message though.
The photo includes a message on his guitar, “arm the homeless”, should have been a good indicator they weren’t right wing.
Ahhhh yeah that makes sense, I think I was just under caffeinated. Thanks
Guitar strings.
Don’t forget this one
In a similar vein Walter from breaking bad, though that makes less sense. Tony soprano was at least a charismatic sociopath, Walt was just an asshole
Also the classic nerd version, Rick from Rick and Morty. Bojack horseman too, which is extra funny because the show eventually called this out (in a way that almost certainly went over the head of some of the people who idealized him)
Bojack horseman too, which is extra funny because the show eventually called this out (in a way that almost certainly went over the head of some of the people who idealized him)
The thing with Bojack that I think is really poignant, though, is that I think that the people who idolize him don’t do so because they see in Bojack somebody they want to be, but because they see somebody they already are. Bojack is a canary in the coal mine to the depressive viewer. “If Bojack can pull through this, maybe I can, too.”
As a character, Bojack isn’t a goal to achieve; he’s a warning. If you treat everyone around you like shit, you’re going to find yourself all alone in your darkest moments. Bojack serves as a reminder that sometimes personal redemption has an expiration date; the longer you wait to correct the wrongs of your past, the more Sarah Lynns will come and go through your life. Bojack shows the viewer that it’s never too late to change, but that there are consequences to waiting; you can’t wallow in pity and self-loathing forever, and you’re not the only one who’s affected by the way you treat yourself.
I’m sure a lot of people don’t make it through the show to really get all that, though. Which is a shame, because I think Bojack tells an incredibly beautiful story that gets missed by many.
Bojack is a great show because it highlights so many forms of depression and destructive behavior. Everyone in that show has problems, even Mr Peanutbutter, who I think importantly shows you can be a flawed person while most people love you and you’re usually happy.
Seeing Bojack act out in so many destructive ways gave me an objective view of a lot of behaviors in myself and it led to me getting help for my major depression. I lead a very different life today thanks to the realistic depictions of broken characters in that show.
I think that people may admire/covet the super-power of doing what you want without caring about other people or being afraid of consequences.
Which is a huge shame, because doing what you want without much worry about consequences is actually super doable WHILE still caring about other people
Not if you’ve been taught that everything is a zero-sum game, which apparently many people believe, especially in the States. If you believe that one person gaining something necessarily means that someone else loses something to an equal or greater degree, caring about other people inherently means having to compromise on your own happiness.
Of course it becomes a lot easier if you believe that it’s possible to win together and that giving a little can make a huge difference in someone’s day.
Only if you’re not a sociopath whose wants to directly against the well-being of others
Agree with your points but I will say that Tony’s charisma seems to wane by the end of the series. Seasons 1-3 Tony 100% charismatic sociopath.
Yeah true, and I think that makes him more authentic tbh. When I worked with domestic violence situations the perpetrators often hit the same vibe, super charismatic and many people around would second guess claims against them. but underneath they had serious anger issues that made them increasingly assholes and eventually straight up dangerous during periods of high stress. The charisma is a cloak that takes a lot of effort. That’s what people ignore with the character and irl too, they rationalize it away to try and make sense of caring about a person who is objectively shitty
God I love the sopranos, I wish I had time to rewatch that glorified crew
I will say I very much suck at picking up the message in media. Not that I end up agreeing with shitty people, but I’m always wondering like “Wait…is the creator saying this is a good thing?”
How is getting the Brand of Sacrifice tattooed missing the point?
I dont get how that one made the list either. As an American, I feel that brand on me whenever I shop and I know my money feeds the machines of giant corporations that want nothing more than to consume me until I die. Even my existing and consuming is feeding those beasts that hurt those around me and destroy the world we live in.
Sure, a bit melodramatic and “I’m 14 and this is deep” but I’m not sure it’s so innaccurate.
based tbh
Was wondering the same thing, I see it as a symbol of constantly enduring a reality of torment and thriving on pure hate. Reminds me of Sisyphus, except that he’s also angry at the gods.
Maybe OP didn’t get the point either on why people might identify with some of these characters.
Rough guess: maybe because it’s a burden on Guts and not something he wanted. His life is basically forfeit and he endangers those he’s around because of it.
You have now been marked with the Brand of Sacrifice. The lives of those who bear the Brand, from the last drop of blood, to the last moment of your agonizing death, will feed life to the new Child of Darkness.
NINJA EDIT: This one is kinda up in the air to me though. You don’t have to necessarily like Guts or any of the characters, but the symbol can represent how one might feel haunted by their past struggles. It can be symbolic of the demons that follow you. How I relate to it: I’ve witnessed every member of my closest immediate family circle pass away from various illnesses over the years, including my brother just recently. So I feel similarly alone like I’m wandering the earth cursed.
Yeah, judging a tattoo without asking about it is often a path toward misunderstanding. A friend of mine has all of their allergies tattooed down their shoulder, but only some are visible when they’re wearing a short sleeve shirt. You’d think they were a freed beekeeper based on the feather and bee peeking out. But the list is fully visible and labeled in a tank top
God dammit didn’t even realise. Dunno why this is being downvoted? Yet another baby account with hundreds of posts and seemingly copying them from reddit. This is like the 4th I’ve seen a couple weeks. The one before this had 588 post and comments in the same time span.
So basically we can’t like Berserk? I don’t like Griffith, I don’t have a BoS tattoo, but I don’t think getting one is “missing the point.” A lot of people have been through fucked up shit, they feel haunted by it, and they relate to that message of soldiering on.
The only Lemmy-approved character you’re allowed to like is Puck. Sorry you had to find out this way.
I think id be more concerned about an enclave tattoo or a caesars legion one honestly. BoS across the franchise is morally all over the place.
What’s the message in Starship Troopers?
It satirizes facism, its a facist dystopia
Read the book not realizing the film satirizes the book and kept waiting for some kind of punchline. Finished thinking “wait, the author was serious?”
To expand on that, it tricks the viewer into getting seduced by that fascism. The main point is to show the viewer that you aren’t immune to it. It’s much easier to get swept up in the jingoistic hate for the subhuman enemy when said enemy is actually nonhuman. Wisecrack made a good video breakdown of this some years ago.
At the start of the movie you’re just in it to avenge Buenos Aires, by the end you’re cheering for the guy dressed as a Nazi proclaiming the enemy is afraid.
I might be reading too much into a specific visual choice here, but IIRC even that might’ve been a false flag operation. The arachnid home planet is shown on a map to be on the other side of the galaxy, so not exactly asteroid throwing distance.
It’s a pity the filmmakers leaved out these details from the book. The bugs not only were capable of sending asteroids through the galaxy, but also made starships to travel to other planets. The humans had power armor and carried a couple of shoulder-mounted atomic bombs each.
Doesn’t fascism need a dictatorial leader? I don’t remember one, at least in the movie.
While fascism has only ever been observed with a dictator, due to its fundamental nature of consolidating power and national identity, in theory a very tight oligarchy could be fascist.
Dictatorship isn’t so much a mandatory component of fascism as it is a logical conclusion of the ideology in practice
Well, there was in fact a dictator in the story: the brain-bug that controlled the swarm.
If you haven’t read Eco’s essay on ur-fascism, it’s a good read: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/umberto-eco-ur-fascism
So we come to my second point. There was only one Nazism. We cannot label Franco’s hyper-Catholic Falangism as Nazism, since Nazism is fundamentally pagan, polytheistic, and anti-Christian. But the fascist game can be played in many forms, and the name of the game does not change. The notion of fascism is not unlike Wittgenstein’s notion of a game. A game can be either competitive or not, it can require some special skill or none, it can or cannot involve money. Games are different activities that display only some “family resemblance,” as Wittgenstein put it. Consider the following sequence:
1___2___3___4abc bcd cde defSuppose there is a series of political groups in which group one is characterized by the features abc, group two by the features bcd, and so on. Group two is similar to group one since they have two features in common; for the same reasons three is similar to two and four is similar to three. Notice that three is also similar to one (they have in common the feature c). The most curious case is presented by four, obviously similar to three and two, but with no feature in common with one. However, owing to the uninterrupted series of decreasing similarities between one and four, there remains, by a sort of illusory transitivity, a family resemblance between four and one.
Fascism became an all-purpose term because one can eliminate from a fascist regime one or more features, and it will still be recognizable as fascist. Take away imperialism from fascism and you still have Franco and Salazar. Take away colonialism and you still have the Balkan fascism of the Ustashes. Add to the Italian fascism a radical anti-capitalism (which never much fascinated Mussolini) and you have Ezra Pound. Add a cult of Celtic mythology and the Grail mysticism (completely alien to official fascism) and you have one of the most respected fascist gurus, Julius Evola.
The Lemmy has decided that it is about facism so it is about facism, just like you might think the matrix is a fun sci-fi future tech action movie but it’s not, it’s actually about the experiences of transgenders
You see when you spend as much time online as the chronically online, you come to learn that if you overthink enough you can find problems with everything
The Lemmy has decided that it is about facism so it is about facism
Well, so did films creators. Though as with all art of course you don’t have to view it the same way its creator did. But there’s no need to be an ass about it.
Neil Patrick Harris is dressed in a blatant SS look alike unform at the end and Switch exists in the Matrix movie. Matrix was more overtly about the illusions of a constructed soceity but I feel like the trans allegory was always there. Isn’t the red pill a HRT reference since estrogen pills were red in the 90s?
Switch
Switch was originally meant to change genders upon entering the Matrix, which coined their name “Switch”. In the real world, Switch would be male, and in the Matrix, Switch would be female - a very clever and critical point of the ‘residual self-image’ idea. When actress Belinda McClory auditioned for the role, she was going for only half the role - Switch’s Matrix form. Warner Brothers made the decision to cut this and give Switch one form for both environments.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starship_Troopers_(film)
It’s satire. For goodness’ sake, the plot begins in Buenos Aires in a majority white school.
I think the SS uniforms, the eagles in the flag and the emblems, the social darwinist attitudes, passionate hate towards the bugs (a disgusting subhuman enemy which needs to be genocided for a final solution) and dismissals of logic in favor of propagandistic appeals to emotion are much more apparent examples. Also the fact that all the actors got cast for their looks in true propaganda movie fashion.
The protagonists home could’ve been anywhere for the same plot, so my interpretation was that the city was named just to drive home the point that there’s only one global state.
That’s the actual demographic in Buenos Aires today.
Having never been to Buenos Aires, I expected to see brown people when I looked up Buenos Aires. But no, their demographics are majority non-native. Colonialism and immigration hit them like a train. To be clear, I don’t mean a mechanical locomotive.
Service guarantees citizenship.
Do you want to know more?
The message: “Look at this heavily militarized society, absurd huh?” But some people: “Looks fine to me”
But would a non-militarized society survive in a conflict against the bugs?
A non-militarized society likely wouldn’t get into a conflict with the bugs. We encroached on their land and bothered them
Regardless of speculation about the movies universe the point is the movie is a satire of facism, as that’s how the director interpreted the book (that is, fascist in nature). A lot of people missed this about the movie. If the arming of kids and sending them off to war, the slogans, the service guaranteeing citizenship and as I mentioned in another comment, the SS uniforms, don’t convince you. Maybe the directors own words will:
Although some contemporary critics and audiences considered Starship Troopers to be an endorsement of fascism, Verhoeven said, “whenever you see something that you think is fascist, you should know that the filmmakers agree with your opinion”
Edit: check out the wiki if you’d like to know more.
check out the wiki if you’d like to know more.
I see what you did there :D
Don’t you think a non-militarized society would probably have not started a war in the first place? The bugs were minding their own business before humans showed up looking to shoot shit and steal other shit.
I don’t remember that part in the movie, sorry.
war is fun, and it’s cool when the enemy is scared of you
Also, big-butt-bugs 🐜
For a brief moment I thought this was telling me my Mechanicus special interest was invalid, and then I processed the ‘ad victoriam’ and realized it was fallout.
I think my BoS Tattoo looks better than the one in the picture.
That, and I dunno. The older I get the more I start to agree that maybe lots of motherfuckers really shouldn’t be trusted with technology.
The Brotherhood’s original intentions were more or less sound, it’s just that like with all religious and quasi-religious organizations the internal power structure and rituals eventually became more important than the mission, and as everyone kind of went whackadoodle as a result the whole thing rather went off the rails.
I think it depends on your BOS chapter. Fallout 3? Okey dokey. Fallout 4? You’re gonna need some rad-x.
I think part of the problem is that Bethesda doesn’t really seem to have a good critical understanding. They like the superficial stuff, like children. Like this meme, I guess.
I’m ngl I still don’t understand the ending of Monster
Uhh don’t save kids.
