Revenge of the Sith. No spoilers here, unless you have been living in a hole for the last 20 years. Just voicing a complaint. Is it only crappy acting (Hayden "I can only make this single facial expression" Christensen)? Anakin's "love" for Padme is about as convincing my 350-pound friend's resolve to eat better. Unfortunately, his supposed lust for power is equally unconvincing. He basically comes off as a moody teenager.
I don't know what Lucas was shooting for. I imagine he would like us to have felt a combination of horror, sympathy, and revulsion, as we watched Anakin go down the path to the dark side. Instead, I felt nothing but contempt. Anakin came off as the worst sort of adolescent. Constantly angsty. Complaining about lack of consistency and integrity in others, when he is showing exactly that lack. His actions which should have come off as a result of mind-wrecking worry and hubris just came off as the work of an overpowerful idiot.
Sunday, May 29, 2005
Saturday, May 28, 2005
Interesting piece: Why smart people defend bad ideas - scottberkun.com
I can speak from a certain perspective when I look at this. It's not just cleverness that sometimes carries the argument. Just speaking with apparent certainty goes along way. I know this from having knowingly spouted non-sensical foolishness and having people believe me.
Part of where clever people get you is that you don't want to seem less clever than they are, and there is the biggest trap of all. Even when I am convinced I am much more clever than the person trying to convince me of something questionable, if I have any doubts at all about where they are going, I just tell them I am just not up to their level, and need some things broken down further before we can proceed. Stroking their ego to begin with. Unfortunately, this is usually the set up, because this is where I point out the big hole in the logic, usually. The point, though, is that if you are not trying to defend your image as a smart person, you are less susceptible to clever, yet flawed, reasoning.
I can speak from a certain perspective when I look at this. It's not just cleverness that sometimes carries the argument. Just speaking with apparent certainty goes along way. I know this from having knowingly spouted non-sensical foolishness and having people believe me.
Part of where clever people get you is that you don't want to seem less clever than they are, and there is the biggest trap of all. Even when I am convinced I am much more clever than the person trying to convince me of something questionable, if I have any doubts at all about where they are going, I just tell them I am just not up to their level, and need some things broken down further before we can proceed. Stroking their ego to begin with. Unfortunately, this is usually the set up, because this is where I point out the big hole in the logic, usually. The point, though, is that if you are not trying to defend your image as a smart person, you are less susceptible to clever, yet flawed, reasoning.
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
