Pat @Pat@qoto.org

@trinsec @freemo

After thinking about this a bit more, I realized that Hamlet is dead, because it's past.

I rewrote this using the simulation hypothesis as a basis of understanding.

https://qoto.org/@Pat/107190347955719391

Hamlet Past

Was or was not? 'Twas questioned and quenched.
Suffered, as was noble, arrows slung at outrageous fortune,
futile arms against a Sea of troubles.
But now friend and foe are dead, gone, asleep, no more.
What duality has shuffled off its mortal coil?
Vanquished, remembered, Forgiven?
'Twas not dreamt nor corpus vexed,
nor past or hence.
'Twas merely a player,
'tis only a stage.

#Hamlet #simulation #hypothesis #Shakespeare

Meta

I once Meta a girl from Nantucket,
who wished for one huge as a rocket.
But when the fruit came to bare,
she gave it a stare,
and said it was too big to Zuck it.

Yeah, I know it's no longer PC (politically correct) to refer to a woman as a "girl", but that's the form of the verse. What can I say, #limericks are a transgressive #platform. (Also, I know, #Zuckerberg is not from Nantucket.)

#zuckerberg #fb #limerick #poem #dry #humor #humour #meta

I once Meta girl from Nantucket...

#limerick #poem #dry #humor #humour #fb #zucket

@zleap

Thank you posting this info.

I'm not sure, but I think the phrase "Wellbeing bullet journals" has a much different (and unfortunate) meaning in US English, especially in the context of self-care.

@freemo

I'm not sure if they are bots or not. One of them seems to just be putting out nonsense (maybe some kind AI-generated stuff) and the other doesn't seem to respond when I answer their toots.

The reason I toot that I'm muting them is so I'll remember why I did it -- for my own memory.

I just muted a couple of qoto accounts that appear to be bots.

@freemo @Science

I think that that map is of where the EM (electromagnetic radiation) hit the Earth a few minutes after the solar flare erupted (traveling at the speed of light). Data suggests that the flare also produced a nice CME (coronal mass ejection -- of mostly electrons and protons). They estimate that the bulk of those particles are moving at slightly over 2 million miles per hour, so about 40 hours or so from Earth. The Earth will have moved a bit in its orbit since the CME, so those particles won't make a direct hit like the EM, but they will cause a nice geomagnetic storm. If the conditions are right, Asia should be the first to see the auroras starting about 15:00 UTC (Coordinated Universal TIme), with the show moving westward on the opposite side of the Earth from the Sun.

https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/

#space #weather #aurora #em #magnetism #sun #earth

@trinsec @freemo

Was or was not? That was the question:
Did I suffer, as was noble, those slung arrows of outrageous fortune,
or did I take up arms against the troubled seas,
And would my opposition have slept, dead; gone...

I dreamt I had a back rub.

#hamleted

@freemo @funny

Perception of intent is everything in criticism.

@mc @freemo

That's for sure!

#dry #humor

@Acer

You pick up a coconut, find a sharp-edged rock, and quench your thirst.
You ponder your situation, your next moves could seal your fate.
What comes next?

@lupyuen

I don't so that this is think it is.

#dry #humor

@freemo @trinsec

2001: A Space Odyssey has a long intermission in the middle. The first time I ever saw an intermission was when it premiered at Grauman's Chinese Theater. Sometimes channels will play the uncut version with that long intermission. It's kind of weird to see it on TV.

@freemo @mrman

This is a graphical thesaurus.

@Acer

I got mixed up with regex. I was thinking that "%%" evaluated to "%", just like "\\" makes a single literal "\" in regex.

@valleyforge

Apparently a bot...

@freemo @zleap @tripu @bonifartius @trinsec

As I said, we're not there yet...

@tripu @bonifartius @freemo

Been away from fedi for a few...

@tripu said...

>" <pat said> '...a thread specifically to comment on the films.'”

>"I saw that. It’s great, thanks! (I only saw two or perhaps three of them, so I can’t comment on those ten specifically.)"

Which of those films did you see? Maybe between us we've seen them all. I picked up a couple over the past few days and I've now seen "Manchester by the Sea", "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol", "Moneyball", "Lion", and "Looper". And I've read about or seen enough clips of "Moonlight", Moonrise Kingdom", and "Logan" to make a confident assessment as to whether or not they contain bias. I'm pretty sure about "Midnight in Paris", but I'd like to actually see all the scenes with Josephine Baker before making an assessment. I know very little about "Mad Max" other than that I really don't want to watch it -- to have to inflict that on myself!

>"I care about injustice. There are injustices much, much bigger than the black/white gap in the US and that are treated very seldom or never at all..."

This is known as the fallacy of relative privation (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fallacies#Fallacy_of_relative_privation), the argument that because there are greater problems in the world, therefore the topic under discussion lacks merit or validity. The end point of that chain of reasoning is that we should only discuss/consider nuclear annihilation or some other existential threat. I assure you that for many people, racial discrimination against black people is a very real and damaging issue. (and it's the original topic of this discussion)

>"How on Earth is film, or any other art, supposed to be realistic, balanced, representative?"

I am not looking for perfection. I'd just like to see improvement. The first step toward improvement is to identify the problem, to actually see it.

>"That’s why I’m sceptical of your “pessimistic” view. You can’t diagnose Hollywood by looking at its worse output only."

This is why are looking at a (psuedo)random list of films. To get a feel for what the prevalence is. Once you see it -- see some of the techniques that they use to promote racial bias -- then you will be able to recognize it in other films as well, and perhaps get a better understand of how pervasive it is.

>" <pat said> 'Regarding bias against white people, I have just one question: Would you rather be a black person in the US or a white person? There’s your answer.'”

>"How is that relevant? ... Why would prejudice against whites, or men, or Christians, be any different?"

Perhaps it's not as pervasive in Spain, but here in the US, it's a pervasive, entrenched social problem. We fought a huge war over it. It's persisted for centuries. It's so entrenched that people see white as the default and black as something different. When someone sees a white man or woman, they think, "there's a man" or "there's a woman". But when they see a black person, they think, "there's a black person". A recent example right here on qoto, @freemo said, "That said while Pat's point is valid that there is bias against blacks to some degree I want to point out when i see movies intentionally made all black, like that all-black version of wizard of the oz I personally find that equally unacceptable."

The Wizard of Oz is a beloved treasure. Everyone loves it. It has special relevance to Friends of Dorothy. But as @freemo points out, Toto was the only black character in The Wizard of Oz. Black people were specifically excluded from the film. But because white is the default, people don't notice that, they love the film without even thinking about the racism. But an all-black version of the film *is* noticed, and objected to by some. (The black version was not made to discriminate against white people, is was made to dramatically draw attention to the fact the "white" is default, that the original was racist.)

This is why bias "against" white people is different than racial bias against black people.

And regarding portrayals of black people as a reflection of society or meeting some percentage ratio of occupations, etc. -- do I have to say it -- two wrongs don't make a right. (Bias in society is wrong, and so is bias in film.)

Regarding all-white films... Yes, that is bias. When there are no black characters, or when black characters are relegated to menial or minor characters, that's bias, especially when it happens repeatedly over and over again, or when those Hollywood producers then turn around and make a "black" film, segregating black actors into a movie that is promoted less to a segregated audience, and the film portrays a negative situation for black people, such as slavery, poverty, etc. (Note: Black films that are written and produced by independent black artists in an attempt to control their own identity, to present a narrative that is more positive than the stereotypical films I mentioned above, those black-produced films are in a different category from the big Hollywood films with black themes that may not have the interests of black people as priority.)

Please let me know which of those ten films you've seen and what your assessment of them is.

Do Cracker Jacks still include a decoder ring?