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#62679 04/01/02 01:33 PM
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What is there to object to?


Several things. There's Shrek farting in the mud hole, there's magic (this particular family is very conservatively religious), there are mythical creatures, there's torture (of the gingerbread man). Sure, it seems silly to me, but I don't want to argue with another parent about it, especially when they've been nice enough to let their kid come to my kids' birthday party.

I read Gulag I when I was about 12 or 13. I was just starting high school when I read III - gave me nightmares, but I don't think nightmares are necessarily bad things to have on occasion.

I waffle on the violence, depending on the movie. I liked The Quick and The Dead, for example, and The Man who Shot Liberty Valence, but I generally hate westerns. I liked Bridge on the River Kwai, and Stalag 17, and Starship Troopers (can't say it had very good acting), but generally hate war movies. Apocolypse Now was disturbing, but I had no trouble with the blood bath in the opening scene of Blade. It just depends.

k



#62680 04/01/02 02:17 PM
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>Several things. There's Shrek farting in the mud hole, there's magic (this particular family is very conservatively religious), there are mythical creatures, there's torture (of the gingerbread man). Sure, it seems silly to me, but I don't want to argue with another parent about it, especially when they've been nice enough to let their kid come to my kids' birthday party.

There must lie a great UK/US divide. I can't think of a single person that I have ever known who would object to any of those things. Farting, for example, is an essential (some would say the main) part of British humour.

I'd heard that some people objected to Harry Potter but at first I thought that it must be a joke. We just don't have a vocal conservative Christian right wing. I think that the only issue that I am really aware of is abortion. There has been quite a stink recently about a school which was caught teaching creationism and most of the newspapers ran articles trying to explain what creationism is (I've had to explain it to several people). The head of the school was on the radio this morning explaining that it was included as part of a religion course where several different religious views were discussed and no, it wasn't taught as part of the science curriculum as had been suggested, a teacher merely discussed it in class when he was asked a direct question. The coverage has been interesting. It seems to be a widely held view in the press that anyone who doesn't believe in Darwinism should be locked up and the key thrown away - a different kind of religious intolerance, I suppose.


#62681 04/01/02 03:17 PM
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(I'm one of the multitude of You-Essicans to whom British humor proves too often elusive.)

I *have* met a (presumably) former Brit who was a conservative religious type, so maybe their non-presence over there is due to yall's shippin' the odd bird over here. CUTITOUT!

Being raised around conservative religious types, I feel pretty comfortable with them most of the time. I may or may not agree with the reaction of the media over there to the "teaching of creationism," though I can sympathize with their apprehensions.

I'm a little disturbed by the attitude some people have towards conservative religionists. OTOH, it's very difficult to maintain your composure and be civil when the religionists are themselves very often insulting, coercive, etc.
In fairness, I usually am not part of these arguments and I only overhear snippets. It's very hard to tell who started what and why. I'm sure there's plenty of blame to go around for the nastiness. In those few brawls to which I have contributed, most of the time I don't even know how things went awry - even when I was there the whole time - though I'm sure I was partly at fault.

k



#62682 04/01/02 08:45 PM
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>Mad Cows Dissected

You sound like the kind of person we need around here. Humour can be taught for a small fee.


#62683 04/01/02 09:00 PM
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"Humour can be taught for a small fee." Dear jmh: I am a bit sceptical of that assertion. To be sure, humour is learned, but there are many who seem incapable of learning it. I never did learn to enjoy seeing Red Skelton or John Cleese fall down.


#62684 04/01/02 10:20 PM
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Well thank you. That's a very kind thing to say. And you and Dr. Bill are exactly the kind of highly cultured people I want to read my postings.

The criticisms I commonly get are that I write too informally, my references are too obscure, my sentences are too complex and often incoherent, and my diction is too pompous. Also the opinions I express are insipid, parochial, immature, and uninspired. Other than that, comments are generally favorable.

OTOH, a friend of mine was explaining to me over lunch that I could benefit from a few lessons in British humor. "Oh, God," she said, "that's just what you need."

k



#62685 04/02/02 03:59 AM
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What is there to object to?

Well, I thought "Lord Farquaad" was pushing the limits just a little. And then there's...

about Snow White
Magic Mirror: She lives with seven men, but she's not easy.

(re: the very tall castle.)
Shrek: Do you think he's compensating for something?

(the singing welcome to Duloc)
Please....Keep off the grass, shine your shoes, wash your.....face!

In the scene when Lord Farquaad is watching the "video" of Fiona on the magic mirror while sitting in bed, if you look closely (just before he smiles and looks at the camera) you can see the blanket covering his lap rise up slightly.

And I'm sure there's something rude about the dragon and the donkey.


#62686 04/02/02 05:02 AM
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Humour can be taught for a small fee.

The word small being humorous?

[In the jargon of us lawyers, small fee is oxymoronic:

Their's not to reason why,
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wondered.
Honor the charge they made]



#62687 04/02/02 08:10 AM
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>Well, I thought "Lord Farquaad" was pushing the limits just a little.

The "problem" might relate to the much-misunderstood British pantomime (we've discussed it before, you know where the principal boy is a girl, the dame is a man and risque humour is interspersed with the stuff for the tinies [not tinnies]). Pantomime has always worked on several levels, pretty costumes, slapstick and down in the gutter (in the nicest possible way). The gutter stuff goes well over the head of the little ones but makes it work as family entertainment. Shrek works because it plays by the same rules. [But you knew that ]

I heard a radio review of "Ice Age" the other day. It was felt that like all children's tales it is a therapy piece. In this case "be a team player" but the message didn’t work because it only attempted to appeal to the children and left the parents looking at their watches.

#62688 04/02/02 08:48 AM
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>about Snow White
Magic Mirror: She lives with seven men, but she's not easy

I think that they are onto something there. I've always been a little concerned about her. Do you thing she'll need long-term therapy when she gets older? Perhaps we should suggest that if she does have any children with the handsome prince, we should put them on the "children at risk" register, just to be on the safe side.

While we're at it, I hope that Hansel and Gretal are getting similar treatment. I think that prophylactic Prozac for all fairy tale characters would be a good idea.






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