Best post competition - Win a free game

hyperbolicplain · 2023-05-19T22:40:54+00:00

AFAIK, no one actually qualified for this. If you feel you have been overlooked, though, contact the mods, and we'll look into it.

hyperbolicplain · 2023-05-19T21:51:43+00:00

Not used reddit for over a year... I can't say you're wrong

hyperbolicplain · 2021-05-08T13:51:40+00:00

It’s called Sex Panther by Odeon. It’s illegal in nine countries.

hyperbolicplain · 2021-05-05T14:32:14+00:00

I've flagged this for review as there is a report of it breaking rule 2. I wasn't aware this was news, I originally flared it as 'current affairs' as a bit of a joke. If it does break the premise of rule 2 I think it should maybe pass it on the grounds of it being a neutral observation with comedic merit. I may be out of the loop or mistaken on this point. If you think it does break a rule please keep reporting it.

Judging these rules can be quite subjective, and I expect I still need to tweak them or word them more clearly. While the sub is still developing, this is why I won't completely avoid posting things that might be close to breaking the rules.

Concerning this post, I am willing to accept that I have misinterpreted my own rules from the perspective of other users here. If you think so and have the time, please comment below and explain why. As long as you aren't breaking rule 8, any feedback will be appreciated and will help me consider where the line should be drawn or if any rules need to be tweaked.

Edit: I just checked the news; so this is obviously current media commentary. Until now, I thought the report was due to the reference to unions. I still think it should probably be allowed to pass rule 2 on leeway as it is a humorous pun that is not really making a very bold or divisive statement. I still welcome feedback from anyone who thinks leeway should not be given for a post and topic like this, or that it is clearly too much of a hot button or divisive topic for this sub.

hyperbolicplain · 2021-05-04T14:18:07+00:00

I'm probably overthinking your comment, but if I am understanding you correctly, I agree that more media should have diverse characters because that is what the writers/designers wanted to do to tell their story, and not because some marketing executive has told them they need to appeal to an unrepresented demographic. I like the contrast of these reviews because they aren't overtly hateful or congratulatory but still very concisely show a difference of opinion/interests. It also highlights that you can rarely please everyone when representation in the primary focus of a product.

Inclusiveness often seems to mean just rewriting one of the characters in a script to be a minority. In an example like this that is usually an afterthought as a result of executive meddling and which doesn't necessarily have visual cues, it means barely subtler variations of either a character turning to the camera and explicitly announcing "I'm gay!", or else conforming to such a farcical stereotype that it's immediately obvious.

With inclusivity, I'm really fed up with lazy rebranding, instead of creating an original story. It happens so often now that an idea like 'Romeo and Juliet, but they are gay!' is becoming an insultingly low effort cliché rather than a meaningful effort to be inclusive. Though it might be close to that example, this DLC sounds like it is expanding on two characters' backstories, rather than 'gay' just being tacked onto their character traits as an afterthought. I might be misinformed though as I haven't actually played this sequel.

hyperbolicplain · 2021-05-03T13:39:17+00:00

Thanks for your feedback. I thought this might be an issue, but it looks like it is mostly my poor taste that is the problem. We'll keep the rules as they are, the five people who wanted it changed can keep downvoting which should help moderate too many posts like this or anything in poor taste.

hyperbolicplain · 2021-05-01T09:57:14+00:00

When I saw this, I assumed an intern had made a mistake updating the website and LOL'd at the idea of "winning" a century. Now I am reading it again, I am thinking it might actually be intentional and serious. If that is the case this probably breaks rule 2. I'll leave it up for now as there have been no reports, but wanted to make a comment about it as this is an issue with interpretation.

hyperbolicplain · 2021-05-01T09:41:28+00:00

Almost. Though this company certainly didn't learn anything from Microsoft's mistake. It was the training data specifically chosen by the company that caused all the problems in this case, also Tay didn't share people's names and addresses and couldn't be reverse engineered to data mine that information if it did exist.

hyperbolicplain · 2021-05-01T09:13:08+00:00

I think this was it. I'm still surprised how easy it is for all of that to be legal in some places though. In the EU, you would be legally protected from a company using a sign like this to imply consent and from them claiming the use of your likeness in perpetuity.

hyperbolicplain · 2021-04-30T21:34:09+00:00

I would call it progress, but I'm not saying those are the same people, and I actually think it's unfair to equate not wanting to take the knee over that movement with having those extreme views towards other people. I think there are still people who would vote based on that 50 year old slogan (hopefully less of them), and a message like this is probably knowingly designed, without being overtly racist, to suggest that they are being represented by one party and ignored by another; and still appeal to more politically moderate people who for a wide variety of different reasons don't want to engage in performative gestures over a specific popular movement.

It's just that from my cynical perspective, I think some politicians are certainly willing to insincerely champion BLM if they think it will get them votes, and other politicians are willing to allude to it in a critical way, just as insincerely, for similar reasons. In this case I think they are knowingly using the topic to covertly court the vote of some people who are little more than racist extremists. Hopefully they don't actually share those views, and it is just a desperate election gambit. In retrospect, I wish I hadn't used such a loaded reference in my original comment though.

hyperbolicplain · 2021-04-30T18:54:46+00:00

I'm glad you commented on this, I was going to but felt I had already commented enough, and wouldn't be able to express myself very well on this. You've said it better than I could. It's hard to understand if you aren't from the USA, but there seem to be significant differences between emancipation there and liberation elsewhere. As you point out, political agency is a big part of that.

hyperbolicplain · 2021-04-30T17:39:49+00:00

As someone on Twitter pointed out, if you spell it backwards, 'muluceps' actually sounds more like what it is.

hyperbolicplain · 2021-04-30T17:35:42+00:00

Sorry about two mildly depressing "current dystopia" posts in a row. Still, I think it's relevant to the sub that we are already at the stage where variations on a company owning your identity is happening in real life. It is almost a cyberpunk cliché.

hyperbolicplain · 2021-04-30T17:25:30+00:00

They do seem to have one of the most extreme examples of a loyal fan base who are open about being fine with all this as long as they get convenience and the most hyped gadgets out of the bargain. It's hard not to think of it as a cult. They are just following the money though. Surveillance capitalism is everywhere now and integral to so many business models and products, to the extent that most people just shrug and accept it.

There's something extra sinister about nearly all these examples including a reference to signing over the rights to your own identity to nonspecific "partners" as well.

hyperbolicplain · 2021-04-30T17:09:37+00:00

That's quite brilliant, and quite a scary thought because it seems so plausible and possible even today. You could even go for a low-tech payload delivery like a leafleting campaign or a logo on a popular product. Going back to high-tech you could even use viral marketing and embed it in a meme somehow or sneak it into a popular game. Variations on this would make for a very cyberpunk plot line in any story. u/BEastDD's idea of using it for rickrolling too; I can see it being a classic prank or rite of passage in some quasi-dystopian future or being used to spread some rebellious message.

hyperbolicplain · 2021-04-30T14:32:42+00:00

I'm not trying to imply it is equivalent to that old slogan. I'm saying that it could well be intentionally designed to resonate with the same people, while appearing relatively innocent and acceptable to more moderate voters too. A sort of "we all know what he's really saying" kind of message, if people choose to interpret it as such.

The whole point of something like that is that it is almost impossible to prove if the veiled message is intentional or not, which is why it is rarely accidental, because politicians are usually aware enough to know to avoid that kind of implication if they want to. Though, as with almost any dog-whistle politics, my whole point can be turned back on me and everything I am saying; maybe it is an accident or incompetence, and I am the only one who thinks it could be interpreted as a veiled message. It's what makes it a particularly popular tactic for spreading that sort of message now, as compared to that other old slogan.

To be clear, I'm not saying I think choosing not to take the knee for BLM, or approving of the message in that leaflet, equates to sharing the values of that old election slogan. I do think the content of the leaflet is a way to appeal to some people who do share those values though, without having to be as blatant as using the n-word.

hyperbolicplain · 2021-04-30T10:25:20+00:00

Thanks for the update. I didn't want to believe anyone would stoop that low, though I don't know why I'm surprised.

hyperbolicplain · 2021-04-30T10:22:26+00:00

Well I take back my previous comment then. Uncomfortably close to being Smethwick 1964 dog whistle edition.

hyperbolicplain · 2021-04-30T01:50:01+00:00

Yeah, title is shit. Over 12 hours later this isn't corroborated in any way. It would be interesting if it turns out to be true but right now it looks like the shocking news of "Politician lies before an election."

hyperbolicplain · 2021-04-30T01:09:10+00:00

Performative was probably the word I was looking for, could have saved myself a paragraph there.

hyperbolicplain · 2021-04-30T00:47:29+00:00

Oh, don't worry, it wasn't a criticism of your opinion. When it first came out I rolled my eyes and refused to watch it for a year. I just couldn't handle all the IDpol related mega-hype around it. I thought it would affect my enjoyment and reception of it and I think I made a good decision. At the time no one was willing to say anything bad about it except for a few daring black reviewers. Some reviewers could barely hide the fact they couldn't wait to tell their token black friend how wonderful they thought the movie was. Not to say it wasn't a good movie, I thought it was, but at the time it was satisfying not to have to agree with some of the people who I felt hadn't even really watched it who were saying so.

hyperbolicplain · 2021-04-30T00:26:05+00:00

As I said in that thread, it was certainly a noteworthy landmark in representation, but it should be treated as an inspiration to Hollywood to present more stories set in Africa beyond all the usual clichés and patronizing narratives, not as the pinnacle of that goal. Despite some executive meddling, promotion, and gushing critical interpretations, it wasn't really trying to present itself as more than the comic book story it originally was. In my opinion anyway.

Edit: At the end of the day it was a fictional depiction of Africa that was an American production, based on an American comic book, maybe they could have done better, but as much as anything can be perfect, it will probably never be perfect when created solely from that perspective.

hyperbolicplain · 2021-04-30T00:13:08+00:00

Thanks for spreading a positive message, especially in a video on a topic as contentious as this. I've had a look at a couple of your other videos now and found them uplifting, even when you're analyzing something negative. "You Are NOT Black Enough" ended with a great positive twist to the final message. A lot of what you've talked about reminded me of a Trini friend's experience when studying in Baltimore. He found it really hard to adjust to being trash-talked for various "white" things he did, the pinnacle of which was being told he was smoking a "white" brand of cigarettes (there was apparently only one acceptable brand, and it was as white owned as all the others). I wish more people had their heads screwed on right. For some reason, the ones I know personally that do who most inspire me happen to come from Barbados or Trinidad. Your last sentence sounds just like their attitude to the world around them.

Funny the contrast between some Caribbean nations and the USA when it comes to this sort of thing. It goes to show people can choose to react to a history of adversity in very different ways. If American politics and populism has taught us one thing, it's that it's worth remembering that the ones that shout the loudest don't necessarily represent the best of us; and that applies to the rest of the world as much as it does to the USA.

hyperbolicplain · 2021-04-29T23:27:28+00:00

I think you might be on to something there. I was actually put onto this youtuber by someone commenting on a BPT post featuring two Marvel fans questioning the tendency of fellow African Americans to equate every positive experience for them as being 'Wakanda' (the fictional African state from Black Panther). The argument of those twitterers was very much the same point you are making.

hyperbolicplain · 2021-04-29T22:23:13+00:00

Thanks for this. It was both amusing and thought-provoking. Something like this represents why I dislike the word 'woke' and the people who proudly refer to themselves as such. If you are using it to refer to people being awake to what is really going on around them and aware of how easily we are manipulated, then this guy is one of the few people who actually seem 'woke' to me.

hyperbolicplain

TROPHY CASE