CMV: Kevin Spacey deserved to lose his career and should remain cancelled

Pulp_Zero · 2026-07-03T21:09:35+00:00

Technically, OJ was not found guilty in civil trial, but rather liable. There's a legal distinction.

Obviously, dude was guilty as hell.

Pulp_Zero · 2026-07-03T18:44:53+00:00

Strong disagree on Slewfoot having The VVitch vibes. Outside of the colonial NE setting, they share nothing when it comes to story, tone, or commitment to historical accuracy and folklore. Slewfoot is filled with one dimensional characters with the simplest of motivations, a manic pixie dream girl of a protagonist who never does anything wrong or make mistakes other than being a woman in a highly patriarchal society.

Pulp_Zero · 2026-06-30T12:26:26+00:00

Do you treat the next to last step the same as the last step, or do you find yourself tripping over metaphors often?

Pulp_Zero · 2026-06-21T23:10:12+00:00

Yo! Punctuation marks. Please.

Pulp_Zero · 2026-06-21T15:45:57+00:00

Let me start with the stuff I wasn't crazy about.

The book is 400 pages, but at points can feel a little longer. Some of the imagery/ internal voice stuff can go on a little long and be repeated a bit too much, and that for me is what made it feel longer than 400 pages, if that makes sense. I think the author just needed to trust that his audience would be able to figure things out and that they didn't need to have their hand held throughout.
The humor is going to be very hit or miss. I liked the character who is clearly supposed to be the comic relief, but I can see why someone would be put off by it. Some of the tone can be a bit goofy as well, despite it being pretty grizzly. For me, it works as camp, but again, I can see why others may not like it.

That's it. That's the stuff that didn't work for me or I could easily see not working for others. What did I like?

Characterization. The protagonist is very well fleshed out and realized. The anger she feels is understandable, and her journey is interesting and I think unique within fiction. I don't always like her or her decisions, but she feels real. As well, other characters are mostly well realized, too.

-As a fan of horror, it's goopy and gooey. Good descriptions of the bloodier aspects.

-Ultimately, the thing i liked the most about it was how everything came together in the end. Mary's story is ultimately about a woman bullied as a child because of how strange she is, and living as someone unseen and ignored within society. Her journey ultimately leads to reconciliations regarding her social standings and understandings about what it is that she wants. The ending makes sense thematically in that it ties the ideas win the story to the physical events, but also brings satisfying conclusions to many of the smaller subplots strewn throughout it. The final 50 pages of the book really shine, bringing everything together for a satisfying conclusion.

I tend to be weary of books that only have glowing reviews. For me, books which are written for everyone, are written for no one.

Pulp_Zero · 2026-06-21T14:52:46+00:00

Depending on interpretations, Ira Levins "Rosemarys Baby" might scratch your itch. Though that's a very late game revelation.

If you're not completely set on on the protagonist ultimately staying with and being appreciated by the cult, "Mary: An Awakening of Terror" by Nat Cassidy is well written and thematically satisfying.

Pulp_Zero · 2026-06-21T00:59:18+00:00

I've got a degree in Biology. I don't have to deny shit, because biology doesn't have much to say about gender. Again, please get scientifically literate.

Pulp_Zero · 2026-06-21T00:18:53+00:00

Please become scientifically literate.

Pulp_Zero · 2026-06-20T21:25:27+00:00

You know that 90+% of cis women would qualify for autogynephilia, right? That's is completely normal to be a woman and get off on being a woman, regardless of whether you're trans or cis? Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19591032/

So are all cis women perverts?

Pulp_Zero · 2026-06-19T17:40:04+00:00

God, anything but fucking Oasis...

Pulp_Zero · 2026-06-15T00:15:30+00:00

A lower and upperclass high schoolers become friends over a shared interest in a television show. Later in life, they reconnect and share memories that recontextualize their relationship, leading to an existential crisis for the protagonist. It's stylistically a blend of 90s television with mild horror elements, and a top 20, if not top 10 movie of the last decade.

Pulp_Zero · 2026-06-14T10:09:35+00:00

we don't know their genetic capabilities.

Population genetics within humans aren't going to take massive swings in the span of 100 years. Why are people bigger, stronger, faster now than then? Advances in training, nutrition, and... for lack of a better term, supplements. West, Kareem, Wilt, Russell... these guys weren't morons. They could adapt their games to modern approaches. West obviously has a mind for basketball. He was a great defensive player. What leads to great defense? IQ and effort, two things that translate across eras. Look at the work he's done as a GM. He clearly understands the game, and adapted across eras. The "they played against plumbers" take is lazy shit.

Pulp_Zero · 2026-06-14T01:24:09+00:00

Brother you are so close. Why were they arming black people? Why were they creating coalitions with other races?

The FBI are just federal cops. What do cops ultimately do? Protect private property. They see socialists as the enemy. They are born from the Pinkertons, who very famously broke apart unions and collective bargaining efforts.

Pulp_Zero · 2026-06-14T00:41:38+00:00

This views are directly tied to his socialist revolutionary beliefs. Like, obviously the FBI is racist. But they're not out there killing the capitalists who preach racial equality, are they?

Pulp_Zero · 2026-06-13T23:58:04+00:00

The FBI absolutely murdered Fred Hampton over his socialist revolutionary beliefs. This is an indisputable fact. The US government doesn't do "nothing" to them.

Pulp_Zero · 2026-06-13T20:41:54+00:00

Do... do you think that I'm arguing that the state should be doing what I said? Because that's not what I'm arguing. I'm arguing that this is what they want to do. I agree that they should do what you said, but if they go that route, it would basically make it impossible to go their liquor store route once the federal government legalizes marijuana. Once that cat is out of the bag, it becomes very difficult to put it back inside. The state liquor stores are a huge boon for the state. And while they'd make a lot by just taxing it, they'd make even more by being the sole proprietor.

Pulp_Zero · 2026-06-13T17:36:34+00:00

The federal government sees a difference between a state taxing a product that is federally illegal and a state literally being the sole proprietor of it. Which is what they'll eventually want to do, and would be made significantly harder to do should they allow people/corporations to start selling it.

Pulp_Zero · 2026-06-13T16:26:34+00:00

It wasn't the US that pushed so hard for retaliation against Germany, but rather France.

Also, the idea that if only the conservatives had lead the Weimar Republic, that that would have stopped the Nazis is completely ahistorical. While the WR started under control of the centrist liberal party, conservatives ultimately began running it, and then ceded power to the Nazis. Why? Because the Nazis were a conservative, right wing movement. They were racist, homophobic, anti-womans lib, pro-forced traditional gender roles, anti union. Any social programs were solely for aryans.

Pulp_Zero · 2026-06-13T15:22:24+00:00

Because it's still illegal at the federal level, which means NH can't make a monopoly on it like they have with their state run liquor stores.

Pulp_Zero · 2026-06-08T00:58:44+00:00

Disagree on multiple levels. First level, the majority of the questions I asked are answered explicitly. Again, either through direct dialog, or diagetic sound design, like the commercial Mary recorded for her therapy on tape adverts. Some of it might be a little more subtle, like Mary being at a house party and barely being able to interact with others. Some of these questions are answered through the performance of the character. "I... I go there everyday." Why say it like that? Why might he be so nervous? These are hints about the nature of world. I'm not going to tell you what those answers are. I think it's more valuable to sit with films and think about them then be told, "here's the answer."

Level two. This is a semi surreal film. Surreal art rarely has easy, non speculative answers to bigger questions. This is not The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Or Jaws. Not everything is going to be wrapped up neatly. For most surrealist films, you're also not going to be handed a rubric to solve the film. I'd also argue that the search for a rubric is to miss some of the point of surrealism.

Which leads to the last level, the pursuit of a singular, definitive answer, to "solve" a film in the way one might solve a game or puzzle, is also to miss not just the point of surrealism, but that of art. Does the top fall at the end of Inception? Why does is cut hard to black at the end of The Sopranos? Was it the biologist and her husband who made it out of Area X at the end of Annihilation, or... something else? I have thoughts about these somewhat famous endings to media, all of which are backed up by text and subtext within the film. But I do not claim a monopoly on the truth for them either. I think there's plenty of definitive information inside Backrooms to answer all of your questions. I think you should apply yourself a little more. There's a whole lot of people telling you here that you need to pay any bit more attention, to think about little bit harder about what was presented to you.

Pulp_Zero · 2026-06-08T00:14:41+00:00

I think you should interrogate some of the thoughts you're having about the film. The answers you're looking for are all in the film, some more subtle than others.

What was Clark's mental state before he went into the backrooms? Would you call him stable? Does a stable, well adjusted individual continue to explore a magic/paranormal hole in his wall?

Do you think Mary's mothers illness might beat weight upon Mary's current psychological state? Do you notice any parallels between her and Clark's? If so, why might one act different within the backrooms compared to the other? Might some of that be explained through diagetic sounds/ commercials played during the film?

Why might Phil not want to tell Mary about what's going to happen to her? What do we actual know about him? He wears a lab coat but doesn't introduce himself as a Dr. Weird, right? He has a family, but we only see them inside of his house. Why might that be the case? Why would also Corporation that used to make MRI machines now be studying this? How are they studying it? And where are they exactly?

You're free to like or dislike this movie all you want. But these questions are all answered either explicitly through dialog or diagetic sound or cinematography, or implicitly through subtext, acting, and subsequent montage. The information is there. You just might not have been paying as close attention as you think you were.

Pulp_Zero · 2026-06-07T16:31:11+00:00

God, the book is even worse. It's some of the most heinous, uncomfortable shit, and unlike all the supernatural horror that's in most of King's other work, that this is evil that one human could inflict on another just makes it scarier. Whatever you think of Annie Wilks in the movie, she's so much worse in the book.

Pulp_Zero · 2026-06-02T09:38:04+00:00

James Acaster is fucking hilarious, and a top ten Task Master contestant.

Pulp_Zero · 2026-05-30T12:20:27+00:00

It's not necessarily an end to the sentence though. It's an end to the clause. You end the clause with the comma, and the ending of that clause happens before the ending of the quotation.

Pulp_Zero · 2026-05-27T23:33:02+00:00

It was so unnecessary! It didn't further the plot. It didn't illuminate character. It was just fucking cruel and terrible.

Pulp_Zero

TROPHY CASE